Giangi's Kitchen

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Pin It on Pin Interest

Skip To The Recipe

As we are ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, the centerpiece of our feast and celebration will be a turkey. The turkey has become the star of the meal, or as some love to refer it to ” Turkey Day”.

A little bit of history behind it

Thanksgiving Day is an annual holiday in the United States. A way of celebrating the harvest and other blessings for the past year. It is believed Thanksgiving was modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonist, or Pilgrims, of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people. Always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

Sarah Josepha Hale is referred to as the “Godmother of Thanksgiving”. Her early New England celebrations emphasized a roast turkey.  Thereafter, adopted by the rest of the country once proclaimed it a national day by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.  A way to unite the country in the midst of the Civil War.  Signed into a federal holiday in 1870 by Ulysses S. Grant.

Of course, the first Thanksgiving was not as copious as it is now with cranberries, potatoes, as well as stuffing, which were not introduced until another 50 or so years later.

Today’s Thanksgiving

We love our turkey and the celebration remains the same. However, we have expanded our culinary journey and as you may have noticed, our turkey has taken so many new ways to be prepared. Fry, smoked, baked, it will always be present at our table on Thanksgiving day.

Stuffed with all sorts of wonderful savory flavors we all bring our own touch, life, and personality to the bird.

Since my first  Thanksgiving, I have brought a bit of France with me and united it with the turkey. I make the chestnut stuffing and as you can see by the recipe below, it is a bit different than you may be used to.

TIP

• The sausage meat, pork, sausages cooked with apples and chestnut and spices, are all brought back together with cognac. I always add some to it and it works like magic.
• I cover the breasts with lots of thick bacon and I use almost a whole bottle of white wine to bast it. Do not forget to add the giblets and livers, you will be surprised how delicious they are.
• By not placing the stuffing in the main cavity, my turkey cooks faster. Always poke between the breast and the thigh to let out all the natural juices. Do baste the turkey every 15 to 20 minutes to keep it moist and turn it around if it starts to cook too fast on one side. I have an older oven and this happens.
• Use a very thick aluminum foil to cover the turkey until the last 30 minutes of cooking so it will get nice and golden.
• Always let the turkey rest before slicing.
• Optional: Add some chopped onions, carrots, celery, garlic to the bottom of the roasting pan. They will emit a great flavor if you are going to use it for gravy.

I have enclosed links to items and the chestnuts that I use to make this recipe, below the recipe itself. I have added the fat separator which I use to extract the juices of the turkey to use with the Shiitake Mushroom Gravy. 

Equipment and Products that I have used to prepare this recipe

Please read my privacy policy for more info. I only recommend the products that I actually love and use.
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no cost to you.