I did a similar turkey last year. I posted it in the Iron Chef OOT Thanksgiving thread. I'll copy it here for you all. I'm cooking and only for the three of us, which will allow me to be creative. No plans so far.
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Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I started out my cooking the day before like P Chippa making an Alton Brown inspired brine for the turkey. I started though by making my own vegetable stock.
Then I added salt, brown sugar, and some other things. It was just three of us this year so rather than plunging the turkey in a bucket and ensuring proper refrigeration with ice I just plopped the bird into the stock pot and threw on the lid. I took out a shelf in the refrigerator and refrigerated it overnight. It worked out very well for a small 10lb turkey.
That night I also made a couple of pumpkin pies. My son is stirring in the sugar/spice mixture here.
The next day I filled the cavity of the turkey with apples, a cinnamon stick, and fresh herbs (rosemary and thyme) from the garden.
Here's the business end of the bird.
Another shot from the side.
This was the first time I didn't stuff the bird and instead baked the stuffing separately. I was happy with how quickly the turkey roasted. I make a wild rice stuffing varying only slightly from a family recipe. Here is a shot after combining ingredients and before putting the stuffing in the dish to go in the oven.
I then made mashed sweet potatoes with chopped pecans, bacon, and a little bit (not too much) brown sugar and maple syrup. I agree that candied sweet potatoes are too sweet, but a little bit of sugar I think compliments the natural sweetness and makes a nice contrast to the saltiness of the bacon. The pecans make for a nice texture contrast. I also made asparagus, and garlic mashed red potatoes.
It's hard to make Thanksgiving dinner for 3. We had enough food for at least 12.
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