The Derry Farm's Herbed Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

The Original Recipe is Here!

o   2 Idaho potatoes

o   2 white potatoes

o   1-2 cloves garlic

o   3-4 Tbsp Butter

o   Half and half

o   1/4c – ½ c Sour cream

o   Salt and pepper

o   4oz Herbed goat cheese

§  Add 1-2 cloves of garlic to pot of water, bring to boil. 

§  Meanwhile, peel and cube potatoes, add to boiling water. Cook until fork-tender and drain.

§  Add butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and mash. Add half and half as needed to reach desired consistency. Add in goat cheese and mix.

§  Serve with gravy or alone!

This is my own recipe adapted from my mother's way of making mashed potatoes. I love her mashed potatoes, they are that perfect restaurant texture and so rich! I add in a few things to take it to a new level. Pairing it with this recipe for gravy made from this turkey on Thanksgiving is just my little piece of heaven. These mashed potatoes are so good, we even eat them without gravy. I actually make extra on the day of Thanksgiving because we'll eat some before we even make it to dinner, ha!

These will heat up well in the oven, so you can make it a day ahead. I actually make them right after I get the turkey in the oven and use the starchy hot water to combine with a concentrated stock packet to use for making the gravy, stove-top stuffing, etc. Using the starchy potato water is something my mom taught me to do (she boils the turkey innards, chunks of onion, and celery stalks to make an actual stock), this year was the first time I just used it with the broth concentrate packets instead of using the innards and it was honestly a nice shortcut. You can actually just use the starchy potato water as-is, too, it just won't add as much depth of flavor.

My Notes:

Let's talk about the goat cheese, if that's not your thing, you can absolutely leave it out and just add cream cheese instead. I suggest adding some herb blends if you do, as that is where a lot of the unique flavor comes from.

Potatoes, I honestly just use what I have on hand. Ideally, you want to use two different types to get some more complex flavors. This year (2019) I used some gold potatoes and russets. Last year I did this as written. They were both amazing. The key is not 1) not overcook the potatoes (if you cube them and boil, check them after about 8-10 minutes) and 2) don't over-mash them. I do not like the smooth, whipped style of mashed potatoes (think KFC), but if that is your thing, go for it. I prefer mine to have texture and to "mound" up nicely to create a little bowl for my gravy. If you like this, be gentle when draining the potatoes and add everything to the bowl before you smush anything. The potatoes will mash naturally as you stir things in. Taste as you go, these measurements are approximations and you should adjust the various dairy products to fit your taste and texture preferences.

Speaking of dairy products - I have made this recipe using whole lactose-free milk instead of half-and-half. It's slightly less rich, but it's also less fat and more friendly to mildly lactose intolerant tummies! (2020 Edit: Lactose-free Half and Half is now available from Land o' Lakes and Organic Valley!!) If you or someone eating this has a severe intolerance, however, you might find the butter and sour cream to still be too much. I recommend this recipe from Natalie over at Tastes Lovely as a great option for those who need a totally dairy-free recipe.

Green Beans and Bacon

Original Recipe: Here

o   2 ½ lbs green beans, trimmed

o   Kosher salt

o   ½ lb bacon, roughly chopped

o   1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

o   3 cloves garlic, minced

o   1 tsp red pepper flakes

o   Lemon juice

§  Toss grean beans into a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until bright green in color and crisp-tender, about 5 min.

§  Drain beans and shock in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and pat dry.

§  Cook bacon in a large, heavy saute pan until crisp, about 5 min. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Spoon off the excess bacon grease, leaving 2 Tbsp in the pan.

§  Add onion to pan and saute until soft and very tender, about 4-5min

§  Sprinkle in the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until just fragrant, about 1 more minute.

§  Add the green beans and cook until heated through, 5-6 minutes.

§  Return bacon to the pan, pour in lemon juice and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

If you're making that delicious Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Turkey you're probably wondering, what do I do with all this bacon? Well, you could absolutely just serve bacon as a side, or eat it up while you're cooking the rest of the sides. Or, you can skip the green bean casserole and freshen up the plate a bit with this delicious recipe I first saw on a Food Network Thanksgiving special. I highly recommend putting in the effort to get fresh green beans and trim them, I do that the night before to save on prep time. If you're using the bacon from the turkey, make sure to continue cooking the bacon (I get a cast-iron skillet heated and ready for it as I remove it from the turkey). The bacon will still be very soft, and you'll want fully cooked bacon with a crunch to it for this. This will also provide you with the bacon grease you need to cook the onion in.

Turkey Pan Drippings Gravy

Original Recipe: Here

o   ¼ c turkey fat* (sub: vegetable oil or butter)

o   ¼ c all-purpose flour

o   1 c pan drippings*

o   1-2 c broth or water (I use the potato water and a stock concentrate packet)

o   Salt and pepper**

o   Optional: splash of sherry, splash of wine, teaspoon of minced herbs like rosemary, thyme, or sage

o   *these come from the turkey pan

§  Gravy prep – remove the turkey from oven and set aside to rest. Set the pan over med-high heat on the stovetop (will probably span two burners). When the pan drippings are hot and sputtering, pour in a cup of broth and begin scraping all the bits from the bottom of the pan.

§  Separate the Fat and Drippings – Pour the deglazed pan drippings into a measuring cup and place this in the fridge or freezer. In the 30 min that the turkey is resting, the fat and drippings will separate and fat will harden. This will ease in skimming the fat. Ideally, you’ll end up with a cup of pan drippings and ¼ c fat. Make up the rest in broth or oil, respectively, if necessary. If you have a LOT more, you could even double the recipe.

§  Make a Roux – Skim fat from top of pan drippings or use a fat separator. Warm in saucepan over med-hi heat. When the fat is hot, whisk in the flour to form a thin paste. Let this cook for a few min until bubbly.

§  Add the Pan Drippings – Next up, pour in the pan drippings and whisk to combine with the roux. This will form a thick, gloppy paste.

§  Add the broth – finish the gravy by whisking in a half cup of broth. You can add more broth for a thinner gravy or let the gravy cook a few minutes for a thicker gravy. Taste the gravy and add salt, pepper, and any extras to taste.

·       Additional Notes:

o   For a very smooth gravy, strain the pan drippings before adding them to the gravy

o   Gravy can be kept refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for up to three months. Reheat gently over low heat while whisking occasionally to prevent the sauce from breaking.

**If you're making the bacon-wrapped turkey, DO NOT ADD MORE SALT BEFORE TASTING. Always taste before adding salt or pepper, but the bacon from this turkey creates drippings that already very salty, so be sure to not even add a pinch! Also, this particular turkey makes the BEST gravy, you will get a ton of fat separating out thanks to the bacon and all the butter, so you can easily double or triple this recipe by using the stock to add to the drippings that separate out.

As another note, this is just a generic method of making gravy. You can use these basic steps and ratios to create gravies from all sorts of things!

Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Turkey

Original Recipe: Here

o   13 lb whole turkey*

o   Kitchen twine

o   Aluminum foil

o   2 c butter (softened)

o   1.5 oz fresh sage (3 packages of the fresh herb)

o   1 lb bacon

o   1 onion

o   2 garlic cloves

o   Salt (to taste)

o   Pepper (to taste)

§  Preheat oven to 325*F

§  Remove giblets and neck from Turkey. Rinse turkey with cold running water and drain well. Blot dry with paper towels.

§  Roughly chop onion and garlic and mix together. Stuff the mixture into Turkey.

§  Chop sage and mix in with softened butter, use a mixer to blend well and make it easier to spread.

§  Rub the sage/butter mixture under the skin and over the skin of the turkey, I aim for about 60-75% of the butter under the skin and the rest on top.

§  Salt and pepper turkey to taste.

§  Tie up the turkey’s wings, legs, and drumsticks with twine as desired.**

§  Place uncooked bacon slices all over the skin of the uncooked turkey. They will stick to the buttered turkey.

§  Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer into the inner thigh area near the breast of the turkey but not touching the bones.

§  Place turkey in a roasting pan and use foil to tent the uncooked turkey.

§  Remove foil tent for last hour of cooking turkey.

§  Continue to let bacon cook on turkey for an additional 15 min then remove.

§  Remove Turkey from oven once the internal temperature reaches 160*F.

§  Allow turkey to rest for 20-30min under foil, then carve. (Turkey should cook up to 165*F while resting). Pour juice from resting turkey into the finished gravy and whisk it in.

*Use whatever size turkey you want, just adjust your plans to account for roughly 20min/lb. We've noticed that turkeys take a tad longer to cook with this method due to the bacon covering it. Our 11lb turkey this year (2019) we did 2 hours under the foil, removed foil and continued for 20 min, removed bacon, and then it took another full hour. 

** Tuck wings under the bird. Cut off a few feet of twine, find the center and loop it around the neck in the front of the turkey, draw the twine down and around the wings, into the crevasse between the legs and breast of the turkey. Draw the legs together and tightly tie the "ankles" together. Do not skip this step! It helps the turkey to cook more evenly and it presents better, as well.