"PUT YOUR FOOT IN IT" Southern-Style Peach-Braised Turkey With Cranberry Relish

NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 2 pounds of stuffing in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add enough turkey to top the stuffing. Spoon 1 tablespoon of cranberry sauce on top of the turkey. Stir in 2 cups of pumpkin puree, 4 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice mix, 1 cup grated cheese and 2 cups of cranberry relish. Spread the stuffing evenly over the turkey. Bake for 1 hour or until turkey is cooked through and the stuffing is nicely browned. Let stand for 5 minutes before carving. Serve with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and sweet potatoes.

DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Invert the turkey onto a sheet of foil. Carefully transfer the stuffing to the bottom of the turkey cavity (keep some of the stuffing for stuffing the dish again later). Spoon enough cranberry sauce over the turkey to cover the stuffing.

Place some eggs and a few orange rinds in the cavity.

For best results, make a couple of batches of stuffing, then eat each batch before the turkey is done.

DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Invert the turkey onto a rack in a roasting pan and bring the chicken roasting pan to a simmer over medium-high heat. Season the thighs and drumsticks on all sides with coarse salt. Remove the meat from the bones and flatten it out. If any fat coats the bone, you’ll need to cook it off. Pour enough cranberry sauce over the drumsticks to cover them. Set the rack and roasting pan back in the oven for 45 minutes.

While the thighs and drumsticks are cooking, make some mashed potatoes. Bring water to a boil and add 1 cup of butter and 3 ounces of salt. When the butter melts, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water, 6 tablespoons of flour and a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir the mixture constantly for 6 minutes. The mashed potatoes will be very thick and put a noticeable strain on the bottom of the turkey. Remove the sauce from the chicken, reserving 3 tablespoons for later.

After the potatoes are cooked, lift the sides of the skin off the bones. Carefully open the roast and remove it from the roasting pan. Transfer it to a serving platter. Cover the bones with foil. Place the broth from the chicken over the bones. Cover the roasting pan with foil. Roast the turkey for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and gently brush the turkey with the broth. Cover the roast with foil again.

The turkey will be done when the meat will pull away from the bone, not stick. Let it rest on a flat sheet of foil for about 20 minutes before carving.