I neglected to post my turkey roasting experience this year, but needless to say, this year the turkey went without much drama. I did add a new ingredient to unify the Thanksgiving meal, and it made a much bigger impact on my gravy and mashed potatoes than the turkey itself. The star ingredient: Swanson’s Chicken Broth with Roasted Garlic.

I attempted to use 5 cans Chicken Broth to brine the turkey, but the flavor got too diluted when I added about 6 quarts of water during the brining process. Therefore the 1.5 cups of garlic salt and 1 cup of brown sugar I added was unable to fully flavor the turkey during the nearly 24 hours that it sat in the fridge.

However, the Roasted Garlic broth added an entirely new dimension to mashed potatoes. I emptied 4 cans into a pot, brought it to a boil, and added slices of red, skin-on potatoes. After they softened, I drained and reserved the broth. I then placed the potatoes in a metal mixing bowl and proceeded to mash them over a low heat. I added butter, chopped rosemary, and shredded cheddar, making sure the cheddar melted into the mash. The result: a fantastic cheesy garlicky mashed potatoes dish.

The reserved broth went promptly into the gravy. Granted, I had to supplement the gravy with more regular chicken broth. I made this year’s gravy with a flour base (unlike previous years in which I used cornstarch as a thickener). My whisk saw plenty of kitchen action this year as I made a roux-based gravy that thickened nicely over low-medium heat. I threw in some mushrooms, eggs, and turkey giblets that resulted in the thickest gravy I’ve ever made. Now if I could only learn the secret to cooking up a translucent gravy…