If you’ve never had a brined turkey, trust me, you are missing out. And once you try it, you’ll never go back. This recipe is the piece de la resistance of our Thanksgivings. I have to say, if I was going to have a last meal, this would be it. When I make a turkey, even if I’m only serving 4 people, I always make one to serve 12. Turkey is the perfect leftover meat because you can keep it in the fridge and turn it into so many other dishes like sandwiches, turkey hash, turkey pot pies and so on. In our house you never have to worry about it going bad because it’s all gone before that can even happen. It feeds us all for a week: lunch, dinner….sometimes even breakfast!
I’ve been brining turkey for several years and I have to say it’s THE trick to making a perfect turkey. It makes turkey extra juicy and imparts the perfect flavor. I like to use cloves and bay leaves as aromatics in the brine, but you could also toss in some onion, cinnamon stick, apple, celery, or basically any flavors you love. I brought a turkey to our regular “kids dinner party” last night and everyone devoured it. At the same time, though, most of the mother’s were saying “I couldn’t EVER roast a turkey”. Don’t be intimidated, it’s really easy.
After making the brine and placing it in a large pot with the turkey, I cover it and leave it outside overnight. Yep, outside and overnight. First of all, I don’t know anyone with a refrigerator large enough to hold a gigantic pot and second, it’s usually 55 degrees or lower in
most of the U.S. this time of year, so it’s the perfect temperature to brine in — certainly as good as your fridge, if not better. Besides the cooking time, this recipes is reasonably
economical, super easy and everyone in the family will love it! Even the tiniest members.

The Best Brined Turkey (Makes 8-10 Servings)

Water
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Salt (preferably kosher)
1 10-12 Pound Turkey, defrosted if frozen
4 Cloves
4 Bay Leaves
1 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil

1. Place the sugar and salt in 4 cups of hot water. Stir until the sugar and salt to dissolve.
2. Place the brine in a large stock pot with a gallon of cold water, cloves and bay leaves and a handful of ice to make sure the water is cold. Stir to combine.
3. Wash the turkey inside and out and place breast side down in the stockpot with brine (you want the water to just cover the turkey).
4. Refrigerate 18-24 hours (or set it in a cool safe place outside as long as it’s below 55 degrees outside).
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
6. Take the turkey out of the brine and rinse inside and out with cold water, discarding brine.
7. Place the turkey on a roasting rack inside a wide low pan and
blot the turkey with a paper towel.
8. Tuck back the wings and rub the skin of the turkey with the oil.
9. Roast on the lowest rack of the oven for 30 minutes and then place a piece of foil just over the breast of the turkey to cover (the breast cooks faster then the legs and wings so this process helps it to cook more evenly).
10. Pour 1 cup of water in the pan, reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue to roast 1 hour.
11. Remove the foil from the breast and cook another 15-30 minutes. Insert a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the thigh (avoiding the bone) to reach a temperature of 160-165 degrees. The turkey will actually continue to cook a little even after you take it out of the oven (the total cooking time in the oven will be 1 hour 45 minutes-2 hours total).
12. Let the turkey rest for 20-30 minutes (this is an essential step to allow the juices to redistribute and settle).
13. Slice and serve.
14. So good!

When I was 6 months pregnant with Kenya, my husband and I went to Paris for some work as well as some much needed R and R. I had actually lived in Paris for years when I was younger so I was excited to walk all over the city showing him my favorite neighborhoods and old haunts. There’s nothing like being pregnant in the most romantic city in the world and walking by patisseries and bistros all day. It’s an automatic excuse to eat a lot. As a result, we didn’t take one form of public transportation the entire trip, since I didn’t want to miss a single culinary delight and we needed to walk our multiple meals off!
One of my favorite treats are crepes. These heavenly, light, little pancakes are the perfect base for all types of fillings like mashed bananas, almond butter, fruit preserves and, dare I suggest, Nutella (very common in France).
I made these for Kenya and myself for breakfast and he loved them. I covered them with apple butter and rolled them into little cigar-shaped cylinders which he held and ate at his leisure. When the rest of the batch was cool, I just wrapped them up and put them in the fridge so we could still eat them for a few days.

Crepes (Makes 14 Crepes)

2 Eggs
1 Cup Flour
3/4 Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2-3 Tbsp Butter, melted

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree.
2. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight (this helps the bubbles to settle and the crepes not to tear).
3. Grease a saute pan or crepe pan with butter. Pour in 2 tbsp of batter and swirl to cover the pan.
4. Cook for 1 minutes, flip and continue to cook another 30 seconds or until just starting to become golden.
5. Remove to a plate and continue to make remaining crepes.
6. Spread with apple butter, almond butter, mashed bananas, fruit preserves or any other favorite filling.
7. Roll into a cigar shape.
7. Serve.

Sweet, creamy, beautiful, delicious… there are so many words to describe these little edible jewels filled with silky puree. These bites are easy to pick up with your fingers and look gorgeous on a platter. You could even serve these at a fabulous cocktail party and make extras for the kids.
But back to the recipe. Purses?? Huh? Well, I found some gorgeous gala apples at the farmer’s market and was trying to think a fun and original recipe for a birthday party. I had also kept passing wonton wrappers at the market and wanted to play around with them. Apples are full of fiber and vitamin C and sweet potatoes are a powerhouse of nutrition especially given their abundance of beta-carotene and vitamin C and E.
These only took minutes to prepare and you can serve them warm or cool. You could also serve the puree on its own to babies over the age of 8 months.
Of course Kenya ate almost the entire recipe in one sitting (that seems to be the norm with him these days), so I highly recommend making a double batch!

Sweet Potato, Apple, Cheddar Purses (Makes 10 purses)

1/2 Sweet Potato (yams), peeled and cubed
1 Small Apple (about 1/2 Cup), peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/8 Tsp Cinnamon
10 Wonton Wrappers (found in the refrigerator section of your grocery)
*Bowl of water

1. Place the sweet potatoes in a steamer pot over boiling water and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Add the apples and continue to cook another 3 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Place the apples, sweet potato, cheese and cinnamon in a food
processor and puree until smooth.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
5. Place a wonton wrapper on a clean surface. Place a tablespoon of the puree in the middle of the wonton.
6. Take the four corners of the wonton and lift them up around the
puree.
7. Pinch the wonton together in the middle, just over the puree, to seal. Moisten your fingers with a little water and pinch once more to ensure a good seal.
8. Repeat process with remaining wonton wrappers. When all 10 are formed into purses, place 3-5 at a time in the boiling water.
9. Cook for 2 minutes.
10. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate, cool and serve.