Masala Turkey Thanksgiving

"It aint never too late!!" (yes, I'm aware of the double negative).

We had Thanksgiving today on Saturday. Gives me a chance to get likkered up, enjoy all the Thanksgiving threads and posts on the forum and basically relax. Some prep on Friday, made the pie, and a side, then egged the turkey and cooked the remaining sides today. Had another family over, but it was generally a small affair.

We wanted to things differently this year, so we changed up some of the sides, and SWMBO asked for some "desi" flavors. So plans were made for a "masala" turkey, creamed corn casserole with feta and jalapenos, cornbread stuffing, and a chocolate espresso pecan pie.

Low on pics, but here's the gist of it - brined the turkey on Thurs night, pulled it out of the drink on Fri to dry in the refrigerator overnight.

The brine (because it looked pretty):

Made the pie from scratch on Fri, as well as the creamed corn casserole. Sat morning I lit the egg, indirect, 375°F, apple wood for smoke. Pan of broth, celery, onions, carrots under the bird. Turkey was done in about 2 hours (10#) then rested I the cooler. Made a masala butter with some rubs I had mixed at home previously - carom seed, cumin, rock salt, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, cloves, and some other stuff. Rubbed the masala butter under the skin, over the skin and melted the rest to inject into the bird. Vegetables and stuffing were cooked indoors. Oh. I also made paneer tikka since our friend's mother is visiting from India and she's  vegetarian.

The spices for the masala butter:

Le bird:

The masala turkey was not bad. Did not taste the masala so much, but it had a wonderful smoked flavor, so I guess it was good by me. The gravy made from the drippings was fantastic though! probably the best gravy I have ever made. The sides were also excellent, and I think I will skip mashed potatoes from now on and make the corn casserole instead. We make the vegetables every year (Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, etc) but added turnips, beets, and parsnips this year, and they seemed to make a big difference.

The pie was a big hit. First time I've made pie crust from scratch and it was pretty damn good. Used an old tip from Cook's Illustrated I think - substitute vodka for half the water in the recipe for the crust. The espresso flavor complemented the chocolate flavor very well.

The pie:

Caliprince's first Thanksgiving!

 We had a great weekend with some friends, and I got to cook my heart out. Loved it.   Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some drinking to do before bedtime.