Cook's Country

-"Cook's Country" celebrates the best of American home cooking.

Succulent, tender pork.

The two sauces are perfect together.

-Give that a whiff.

-Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo!

-Mm-mmm!

-We highlight classic comfort food.

This is burger perfection.

-It's so good.

-You can taste the crunch.

-And share shortcuts to make low-fuss, big-flavor weeknight meals.

-It was really easy to make.

-High payoff.

-We find regional favorites, uncovering the people and history behind exceptional recipes.

-Those bell peppers remind you of being in the South.

-This is "Cook's Country."

♪♪ -Today on "Cook's Country," Morgan makes me two-hour turkey and gravy.

Morgan shares the history behind the Cherry Bounce.

And Christie makes Bridget Amish potato filling.

It's all coming up right here on "Cook's Country."

♪♪ -Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills' Denali 605 Pro, made for the family cookout and weeknight dinner, with 900 square inches of cooking space, several accessories, and Bluetooth capabilities.

It's designed with the host in mind.

Monument Grills, the Everybody Everywhere Grill.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Roasting a whole turkey can be a big production.

It's a big bird, and it takes hours to prep and roast and carve.

But Morgan's here today to show us a recipe that she promises takes only two hours.

-Yeah, Julia.

So, the holidays are stressful enough.

-They are.

-We don't want to add any more stress, so I'm making a turkey that takes two hours.

And with that, I'm also doing the gravy.

So, for the gravy, you do start with some aromatics.

I have two onions.

I'm just going to quarter these through the root end.

It's going to hold it nice and intact.

Right into the roasting pan.

This is all just going to be the base of a gravy.

So it's just going to add some nice flavor under here.

It's really nice 'cause then you can also be really rustic about it.

So I have these two carrots.

I'm cutting it into rough 3-inch pieces, but this is not a place to break out a ruler.

So, one celery rib.

So, again, I'm cutting this one into just rough 3-inch chunks.

Now, also, with turkey, you never want to throw away the turkey neck that comes with your bird.

-Nuh-unh.

-This thing's packed with flavor.

So that's going right in there, too.

It's going to roast right alongside the turkey.

Let's put this right on top.

And then, all right.

Let's get on to the turkey.

So, I have a seasoning mixture I want to make for it.

I've got 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

To that, I'm adding 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.

And then 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper.

And that's it.

-Wow.

-Simple does it.

-I like it.

-But we're gonna have a really flavorful gravy with this.

-Mm-hmm.

-And just mixing those up.

-And now let's talk turkey.

So, this is a 12-to-14-pound bird.

That's what you want to shop for.

-Yep.

-This is also a pre-brined bird.

-Ooh!

-We're going easy.

-I like it.

-Yeah.

So, I'm gonna pat it dry to get any moisture off.

So, one of the biggest things with turkey is that the white meat cooks faster than the dark meat, so I'm just doing two quick slits to eliminate that problem.

It's very simple.

You just go in with your knife, and you just do two little slits.

And this just exposes that meat, so it just actually gets a little heat more directly in there.

It just starts cooking a little faster.

-Very clever.

-You're not actually trying to cut into the meat.

You're just trying to cut through the skin and expose the meat.

And then, I'm going to tuck the wing tips behind it.

-Yep.

If you don't, they tend to burn on the very ends.

-Exactly.

So now that's it.

-That was easy.

-That's good.

So then I'm just going to move it over here, on top of all our vegetables and that turkey neck and then brush it with this mixture.

So, I'm just making sure to get every little bit.

I'm not worrying too much about trying to get under to the back side.

I'm just getting the top of it.

Everything that's exposed that's going to get a lot of heat.

So, we landed on this method that you cook it at a high heat first, so I'm going to start at blasting it at 450 degrees and then turn down the oven temp partway through cooking.

So it'll start, it'll get really nice and beautifully bronzed, it'll jump-start the cooking, it'll speed it up, and then, it'll finish cooking really gently so it stays really nice and juicy.

I also am gonna put a temperature probe in here.

If you don't have one, you just want to try to avoid opening the oven door way too much because that actually can slow down the cooking and throw off the timing.

-Gotcha.

-Now, when I put a thermometer in a bird, I always like to kind of look at it overhead and see where it's going to land.

So I want what I think is going to be the middle part of the breast.

So I'm, like, kind of looking -- I'm aiming for here, so I can see that, like, this much of the probe is going to go in the bird.

-Yeah, you're looking for the thickest part of the meat, which is the last area to cook.

-Exactly.

So, we're going to roast it starting at 450 degrees.

I'm going to cook it until the breast registers 120 degrees, so I'm looking for 120 degrees on the probe.

At that time, the thighs will be about 135 degrees.

That'll take between 60 and 70 minutes.

I'm roasting it on the lowest rack of the oven so this all fits in there.

-Gotcha.

-And then, we'll turn down the oven temp partway through cooking.

All right.

Plug this in.

♪♪ Okay, Julia, you can see I'm at 122 degrees.

-Yep.

Okay.

-It's close enough.

So, I'm gonna just turn down the oven temperature now.

So, it was at 450. and now I'm going down to 250.

It's going to be a lot more gentle for the turkey.

So now I'm going to reset this, and I'm going to set an alarm for when the breast hits 160 degrees.

-Okay.

-So that'll take anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes.

Around that time, the thighs will be 175 degrees.

♪♪ Okay, Julia, we're at 161.

-On the nose.

-On the nose.

All right, let's check it out.

-Oh, Morgan, that is a gorgeous-looking turkey.

-I know.

I think it's beautiful.

-Oh-ho-ho-ho!

-Let me get this.

Okay.

So, I'm going to try to get out any of those little delicious juices in here, all those drippings, and just move it over here to a carving board.

Now, this does still need to rest, so I'm going to let it rest about 45 minutes, and that's just gonna give time for the juices to redistribute, and it gives us time to make some gravy.

So, I'm just going to get rid of this V-rack.

And I'm just going to pull out all these vegetables.

They're not done yet -- we're not done with these -- but I'm going to get them out of the pan for the time being.

Let me get this turkey neck.

So, I'm going to add 3 cups of water to this and just scrape up any bits.

-Mm-hmm.

I mean, that is essentially the flavor of gravy.

-It is.

It's like free stock.

-Yeah.

-Okay.

So I'm going to pour it back into this measuring cup.

And I'm looking for 4 cups now.

Now let me check this out and see if we're close to 4 cups.

So, we're a little short of 4 cups.

-Mm-hmm.

-If that happens, you just add a little more water to equal 4 cups.

-Okay.

-So, let's bring these down with us and start on this gravy.

So I have 1 tablespoon of butter that I'm going to melt over medium-high heat.

-Mm-hmm.

-All right.

That's looking good.

So now these vegetables are going back in.

-Nice.

-I'm getting everything I can out of these.

-Oh, yeah.

-And the turkey neck's going in there, too.

So, I'm just gonna cook this until the vegetables get a little more brown, and a nice fond's going to start to form on the bottom of the pan.

Take anywhere from three to five minutes.

All right, Julia, you can see we've got some nice fond on the bottom of this pan.

I'm just gonna add 1/4 cup of dry white wine.

-Mm-hmm.

-Gonna use this to scrape up any bits.

And I'm just going to cook this until it's mostly cooked down.

It'll take about two minutes.

So then we're going to sprinkle in 1/4 cup of flour.

So I'm just gonna cook this for one minute.

Okay.

All that fat looks like it's nice and hydrated.

I don't really see much more dry flour.

Saw a little bit, but I think that's good now.

Time for some aromatics.

So I'm going to add in four sprigs of fresh thyme, sprig of sage.

-That is the Thanksgiving herb right there.

-That is the Thanksgiving herb.

-Sage.

-And then, I have 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Again, this is kosher salt just 'cause I only like to use one kind of salt in a recipe.

And 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

And then, I'm going to add in this liquid gold, that 4 cups of jus from earlier, from those drippings.

And we're just going to add that right in there.

So, I'm going to stir this, make sure everything's really nicely incorporated.

It's still over medium-high heat, so I'm going to bring it to a boil.

And then, I'm going to turn it down and let it simmer over medium-low heat until it's thickened.

-Okay.

-Take anywhere from 12 to 15 minutes.

-Oh, not very long.

-Not very long.

♪♪ -[ Sniffs ] -Gravy's looking nice and thick?

-It smells so good.

-Again, you just want to thicken to the consistency of gravy.

I always like doing checking on the back of a spoon so you can see and you can run your finger through it.

Nice and thick.

-Perfection.

-So, now I'm going to hit off the heat, and I'm going to strain it.

We have all those bits from the pan.

We have all those vegetables.

Now we want a nice smooth gravy.

This also is a little cheat for if you ever have a lumpy gravy.

-Oh, yeah, right.

-Just strain it out.

And I'm just going to push any of this through.

-Mmm.

-Now I think those vegetables and that turkey neck have done everything they're going to do for us.

-Yep.

-And I'm just straining this into a saucepan so I can keep it over low heat, if I need, or reheat it.

It's just ready to go whenever I'm ready to serve.

And it's almost time to carve the turkey.

-Okay.

-It's time to carve, Julia.

-It is such a looker.

-It is such a looker.

And it's time to carve.

I already started earlier with those slits.

-You did.

-So I'm just going in right here and taking that same skin and just kind of continuing that slit.

And then, I actually like to turn my turkey.

I don't want to totally flip it over 'cause I don't want to get any of that crispy skin messed up, but I want to make sure I can get the oyster back here.

-Mmm.

-So, I'm going in with my knife and just making sure I'm getting a nice little slit there, getting that started for myself.

And then from there, I can pop the leg back... ...and then go in with my knife.

-Nicely done.

-Exactly.

And slide right through it.

So, then I just like to separate the thigh from the drumstick.

You shouldn't actually have to saw through bone to do this.

You should just see that there's a nice little joint, and you go right in between the joint.

Next up, the wings.

Again, you're going in between the joint.

You're not trying to actually saw through any bone.

You start to, like, use your knife and your own muscle... -Yeah.

-...and you pull it out a little bit.

So, I'm just going to separate the drumette from the flat, just so that there's a little more wing to go around for people.

Two more pieces.

-All right.

-And now for the breast.

So, I always like to just work down alongside the breast.

So, there's a bone right here, and you just try to hold your knife parallel to that.

-Yeah, the keel bone.

-Exactly.

And then, you know that the wishbone's up here, so you're kind of working your knife around that, as well.

Sometimes the meat gets stuck there.

-Mm-hmm.

-And then, you really just use the bones as your guide to slice it off.

Once you can kind of open it up, you can see a little better.

And then, pulling that right off.

Okay.

So then, we have the breast.

I don't like these wimpy little thin slices.

I want, like, a nice, thick slice, so I go in there.

I kind of want to go in on an angle, 'cause it feels a little fancier.

I also think you're less prone to tearing up that skin if you do nice thick slices or thicker slices.

-Gorgeous.

-Okay.

-Mmm!

-I'm giving you some good slices there.

-Yeah, that's picture-perfect.

-Thank you.

-I'm gonna help myself to a little gravy.

-Oh, yeah.

Go for it.

I know.

I'm like, you can't have turkey without gravy.

-No.

And this gravy has such a beautiful color.

Oh, I'm going right for the center.

-I know.

Same.

-Oh.

-I'm going to get plenty of gravy on it, though.

I don't know if that's cheating, but... -Mnh-mnh.

Mmm!

-Mmm!

-Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm.

-Perfectly cooked.

-Yeah, it's so juicy.

It's so moist.

I also feel like, with that gravy, you get those herbs.

That thyme and sage really come through.

-Well, and the skin.

-Mm-hmm.

-It still has a little bit of crispness to it 'cause of that browning.

-You get this nice contrast between the crispy skin and that really juicy, delicate meat.

And then, of course, the creamy gravy.

-And it took only about an hour and a half to roast.

-Yeah.

-So it doesn't take too long, and then you have all these gorgeous leftovers and a carcass to make soup.

What a nice Sunday meal.

-Yeah, exactly.

-A spectacular recipe.

-Thanks so much, Julia.

-If you want to make this terrific two-hour turkey and gravy, start by using a 12- to 14-pound pre-brined turkey.

Start roasting in a 450-degree oven.

Then, after an hour, drop the oven to 250.

And then finish by using the drippings to make a fabulous gravy.

From "Cook's Country," a very clever recipe for two-hour turkey and gravy.

I could really see this making this on a weekend.

-Yeah.

-You know?

-This would be a great Sunday meal.

♪♪ This -- this right here -- it's a Cherry Bounce.

Cherry Bounce is an alcoholic drink with a history that dates back to our founding fathers.

It hovers the line somewhere between an infused liqueur and a cocktail.

It's sweet, it's fruity, it's strong, it can be sipped as is, or you can mix it with other ingredients if you want to make a cocktail.

First Lady Martha Washington was known for making big batches of Cherry Bounce from the cherry trees at Mount Vernon.

In her journals, she wrote down a recipe that combined cherry juice from ripe morel cherries with French brandy, sugar, spices, and crushed cherry kernels.

The mixture was left to ferment, and then she'd seal and store and pack it.

Even her husband, George, enjoyed it enough that he packed a canteen of Cherry Bounce for a journey with him across the Allegheny Mountains in 1784.

If it's good enough for the Washingtons, I think it's good enough for the Bollings.

However, it took a man named Amos Owens to popularize it throughout the South.

He got the nickname "Cherry Bounce King" because he produced and sold the drink in the late 19th century all over North Carolina, and he locked in its regional reputation.

And today, Cherry Bounce is the official drink of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Our version of this fruity Southern drink is pretty simple.

You combine brandy, sugar, frozen cherries, and a few warming spices.

Stir them together and let time do the work.

After a month, the cherries will give up their color and brightness, and the brandy deepens into something mellow and aromatic.

You can sip it as is, or you can cut it with some seltzer or other mixers for a lower-proof drink.

As the saying goes, where Cherry Bounce flows, mischief frequently follows.

♪♪ -Is it stuffing?

Is it dressing?

That debate's going to go on, but we've got a new contender -- filling.

Well, to tell us more is Christie.

What exactly is filling?

-Well, Amish potato filling is actually the best of two worlds.

It's bread stuffing, and it's mashed potatoes.

-Stuffing and mashed potatoes.

Or as I would say, dressing and mashed potatoes.

-But we don't think you should have to choose.

-No.

-And neither do the Amish.

So we're going to mix them together.

And the key is to strike the right balance of creamy mashed potatoes and kind of crunchy bread stuffing without sort of tipping the scales too far in either direction.

You want to make sure that you start with the right bread.

So I have a pound of hearty white sandwich bread, and I've started to cut them up.

We want to cut these into half-inch cubes.

So, I use my ruler to get started, but then it's always helpful to just kind of keep one so I can use that as a gauge to cut the rest.

-Mm.

-'Cause who wants to keep dragging out the ruler?

So, there we go.

I'm gonna pop these all onto my rimmed baking sheet.

And I have my oven set with the rack in the middle position, and the temperature is set to 400 degrees.

-Okay.

-So we're going to pop these in the oven, and we want to get them really nice and dry.

And that'll take about 22 minutes, but I will go in halfway and stir everything up, make sure that those interior pieces are getting dry, as well.

-Okay.

-All right.

Bread is good.

Now, potatoes.

-Yes.

-So, I have 2 1/2 pounds of Yukon Golds.

I've gone ahead and peeled most of them.

We just want to get rid of the skin.

And now we're going to slice these instead of cubing them.

Gonna do 1/2-inch slices.

I'm slicing the potatoes because we found that they cook more quickly and they cook more consistently than if you cut them into cubes.

-Got it.

-All right.

So, we have 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes all ready to go.

And I have a large saucepan, and I'll add all of my potatoes.

I have a little bit of water in here to start -- cold water.

Always want to start with cold so we can slowly cook the potatoes, so they'll be able to release their starch before they cook all the way through.

So, my potatoes are in the water, but now I want to do two things.

First, I'm going to add 1 tablespoon of table salt to season them.

-Great.

-And now I'm going to cover them with an inch of water.

So we want enough so that they'll be able to cook all the way through but not so much that it takes even longer.

-Got it.

-So, we'll go on the burner, and I'm going to start this on high to bring it up to a boil.

And then, I'm going to turn the heat down to medium to let it simmer and let the potatoes cook until they get nice and tender, and that'll take about 12 minutes.

-Okay.

♪♪ -All right.

It's been about 12 minutes, so let's take a peek.

You can see that knife just went in super easily.

-Oh, yeah.

-No resistance.

Perfect.

All right.

So we'll head over to the sink and drain the potatoes.

-Okay.

♪♪ -They smell so good.

-Yes.

So, we're going to mash these, get them lump-free.

Take out our aggressions on the potatoes.

-Uh-huh.

-[ Laughs ] So, now we're going to add the rest of our ingredients to make perfect mashed potatoes.

-Okay.

-So, I have a cup of half-and-half.

-Right balance of richness there.

-Yes.

yeah.

-Yeah.

-And 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

Cut these up into pieces so they'll melt right into the potatoes.

They're warm enough.

-Yes.

-I have 1 teaspoon of salt and 3/4 of a teaspoon of pepper.

-Okay.

-And we'll just work this all together.

It's time to check on our bread.

-Yes.

-Ho ho!

Look at that.

So, we're gonna let this cool.

We want them to cool completely.

Once the bread has cooled completely, you can pack this up in a zipper-lock bag and hold it for up to two days.

-Okay, great.

-We'll let that hang out for a moment.

And now we will start thinking about adding flavor to all of that.

-Okay.

-So, back in my pot, I have 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter.

I'm going to add those over medium-high heat until the butter melts.

All right.

So, my butter is nice and hot.

Now we will add our onion.

This is two onions that I've chopped and two ribs of celery, also chopped.

Now we have 2 1/2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning.

That's just going to give it a little -- a little something-something.

-I love poultry seasoning.

I mean, it is Thanksgiving in a jar, right?

Sage, little bit of thyme.

I think marjoram in there.

-This is 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

So we're seasoning both components all the way through.

So, it'll take between 7 to 9 minutes to get the vegetables fully softened, but we will keep going in and stirring them frequently to make sure we keep an eye on them.

-All right.

♪♪ -Look at that.

-Gorgeous.

-Those are nice, softened vegetables.

Now we're going to add a little more savoriness.

-Okay.

-I have 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth.

We'll let this come up to a boil.

And I'm also going to dig up any fond that might be clinging to the bottom or the sides of the pot.

-Nice.

-All right.

We are at a boil, so we'll turn the heat off.

And this is going to go into our mashed potatoes.

-All right.

-All right?

-So, stand back.

-Yes.

-Now, you notice, the mashed potatoes were already a little loose to begin with.

-Yes.

-We are going to make them really loose right now.

-Yes, I am noticing this.

-But don't think you're doing anything wrong.

-Yeah, this is exactly when I would be going back to that recipe and reading through it a few more times.

-Mm-hmm.

-It is going to look soupy, and it's going to feel wrong, but we need to be able to incorporate the bread at this point, so we need it to be much looser so that it will all mix together.

All right.

So that looks pretty combined.

So, we'll take our cooled breadcrumbs... ...and work these in.

And I might actually do this in two stages just so we don't have an overflow.

-Got it.

♪♪ -All right.

I think we're good.

So, we're going to move down to the other side of the counter.

-Okay.

Oh, that smells so good, Christie.

-[ Laughs ] -Mmm!

-Well, it's just gonna get better.

Now, we are going to bake this.

So, I have a 13x9-inch baking dish, and I greased the whole thing with 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter.

-Okay.

-I'm actually going to spoon it in because having a craggy filling is key to a success.

-Okay.

-So we want to get a nice even filling, but we want it to have some peaks and valleys, if you know what I mean.

We don't want to pack it in, so it has a chance to get some nice browning on the top.

All right.

Now, to optimize the browning further, I have 2 more tablespoons of butter.

I've cut them up into pieces.

So, there's eight pieces of butter so that we can kind of dot some butter all across the top.

A little more richness and some more opportunities for browning.

All right.

This will go back into our 400-degree oven.

We want to bake this until it's nice and warm, until the top is golden brown.

And that's going to take 25 to 30 minutes.

Oh, wow.

Oh, my goodness.

Thank you.

-You bet.

-Mama.

-Oh!

Whoa!

-[ Laughs ] Look at that.

You can taste the crunch already.

-You absolutely can.

-We do need to let it sit for about 10 minutes because it's so hot right now.

-Yes.

-So, you know, we can just go about our business or...just look at it for a little bit longer.

♪♪ Bridget, the filling has cooled a bit.

Now, one last thing.

We're going to add a little bit of parsley, and we want to add it at the end so that it maintains its freshness.

This is 1 tablespoon of minced parsley.

We'll add a little love.

-Yes.

-And a little color.

All right.

-Oh, she went for the corner.

Yes.

-Look at that.

-[ Gasps ] -See?

Butter around the edge.

-Yes.

-Okay.

-All right.

Now you can see the mashed potato right there.

See, of course, the dressing.

All right.

Some of the bread.

Some of the potato together.

-Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

-That's outrageous.

-Mm-hmm.

Buttery.

-Crispy, savory little bread crouton there at the end.

-Mm-hmm.

-And the poultry seasoning.

-Yes.

Just enough.

-Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

-Mmm.

Well, I know it's called filling as opposed to stuffing or dressing, but it is filling.

-Mm-hmm.

-It definitely should be called filling.

-It's quite rich.

-Yes.

It's a big hit, too.

-Mm-hmm.

-The combination of flavors tastes like you poured gravy inside of this already.

-Mm-hmm.

-That poultry seasoning, with the aromatics, is just perfect.

Thank you so much, Christie, for opening us up to the world of filling.

-It was my pleasure.

-So, you're going to want to include this on your holiday table.

And it starts by mashing boiled potatoes with half-and-half and butter.

Stir chicken broth into sauteed onions, celery, and poultry seasoning.

Then combine the broth mixture with the mashed potatoes, toss in toasted bread cubes, and bake.

So, from "Cook's Country," two recipes baked into one.

It's Amish potato filling.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes, and you'll find them all on our website, cookscountry.com/TV.

Enjoy this season's recipes, read our ingredient and equipment reviews, and cook alongside your favorite test cooks at cookscountry.com.

You'll have access to every episode from this season and more, all at cookscountry.com/TV.

-Your favorite recipes, rooted in history, plus the tips, ingredients, and equipment you need to cook them can now all be found in one place.

Introducing our complete "Cook's Country" cookbook, now with every recipe from all 19 seasons.

This volume of "Cook's Country" helps with planning, prep, and cooking, and at a cost of $24.99, $15 off the cover price of $40.

To order, head to our shop at cookscountry.com/TVBook.

-Funding for this program has been provided by the following.

-Monument Grills' Denali 605 Pro, made for the family cookout and weeknight dinner.

With 900 square inches of cooking space, several accessories, and Bluetooth capabilities, it's designed with the host in mind.

Monument Grills, the Everybody Everywhere Grill.

-The Black+Decker VacuSteam handheld steamer combines the power of suction, steam, and heat to hold fabrics in place and remove wrinkles in one pass.

For all your iron-suitable fabrics.

Now available at Walmart.

Black+Decker.

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