Seems like the approach of the Thanksgiving holiday has me running pillar to post lately. (And I’m English - we don’t even celebrate Thanksgiving back where I come from!) For instance, I just finished shooting photos and writing a menu for People magazine's Holiday Entertaining issue, based on the theme: "What do you do when guests suddenly arrive, there's no time to shop, and you’ve got to throw a beautiful dinner together from the fridge and pantry?" This sort of thing has become the story of my life since I’ve started working on Dinner: Impossible! I also had the honor and privilege of performing on a show called, "Dear Food Network", wherein viewers wrote emails to have a Food Network star ride to the rescue to help solve their Turkey Day disasters. I spent a great day cooking side by side with a wonderful woman near Pittsburgh, PA who was putting together a feast for 30 firefighters. (After she got over the initial shock of me and a full TV crew showing up at her door unannounced…) Thanksgiving seems to be all about the turkey, so I'd like to recommend something a little bit different for you to consider: Turkey Breast with Oyster Stuffing cooked this over an open hearth fireplace in the 18th Century, but you can make it at your house for a wonderfully different holiday experience. Ingredients 1/2 pound Bacon cut into 1/2-inch pieces 2 cups Onion finely diced (about 2-3 large onions) 1 1/2 cups Celery diced (about 6 stalks) 1 ounce Dried sage 12 cups Day-old bread (about 1 loaf), broken up 2/3 cup Fresh parsley chopped 1 1/4 cups Clarified butter 18 medium Oysters shucked Salt & pepper 1 (2.5-3 lb) Turkey breast skin on 1 cup Turkey stock 1 cup Dry white wine 1/3 cup All purpose flour

Instructions
In a large skillet, cook bacon over low heat until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside to drain. Add onion, celery, and sage to the bacon fat rendered in the skillet, and cook until onions are translucent and celery is soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add sage and broken-up bread to the skillet. Stir in parsley, butter, oysters, salt, and pepper. Lightly toss stuffing, but mix well, and let cool.

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F.

Butterfly the turkey breast with smooth side down and stuff, folding edges over to hold stuffing. (You may want to secure with skewers or cotton kitchen twine.) Season turkey breast with salt and pepper and place into the oven to roast until it reaches an internal temperature of about 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

While turkey is in oven, place the turkey neck and giblets in a medium saucepan with 4 cups water and cook until you have about 1 cup of giblet stock. Reserve the neck and giblets, removing meat from neck when cool enough to handle and chopping giblets. When turkey is done, remove breast to a platter to let rest for 20 minutes before slicing. Skim most of the fat from the pan juices, reserving 1/3 cup of the fat. Add the wine to the remaining pan juices and cook over medium high heat until reduced by half. In a separate saucepan, heat reserved 1/3 cup of fat and whisk in flour over moderately low heat for a few minutes to make a roux. Add stock and wine reduction, continuing to cook until gravy simmers. Add reserved cooked and chopped giblets and neck meat. Slice turkey to reveal stuffed interior and arrange on plate. Serve with gravy.

We are all graced with bounty in our lives, in greater or lesser measure, and have lots for which we should all be grateful. Thanksgiving is the best time to celebrate with fantastic food and to look around and appreciate not just our material possessions, but more importantly, the people all around us who make life worth living. Raise a glass and say a heartfelt "thanks"!

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Yields: 8 Servings
     Chef Robert Irvine

notes:  Robert Irvine is the Star of Food Network’s "Dinner: Impossible", and author of "Mission: Cook!: My Life, My Recipes, and Making the Impossible Easy". Robert Irvine has led a one-of-a-kind life. He joined the merchant marines as a teenager, and went on to become a cook in the Royal Navy where he happened to befriend a man named Prince Charles. Since then, Chef Robert has gone on to cook for presidents, prime ministers, royalty and celebrities. It's been a remarkable life and career, ranging from cooking on the beaches of Yemen for thousands of refugees to making a seven-course meal for First Lady Laura Bush and her friends on an aircraft carrier. Trained by the best European chefs, Robert also shares his cooking philosophy, his best recipes and tips on how to add that special twist to any dish. For more information and news about Robert Irvine, and for information on appearances and products, go to www.chefrobertirvine.com.

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