Thanksgiving

[kshutchins]

I like this topic and didn't want to see it get lost.

[JohnG71097]

It's the Best holiday of the year

Family,Food, Football....... More Food

We have a great bread stuffing recipe which contains all of the basics ( Bread, the Cajun Trinity, mushrooms, sausage etc and might be available on request

But we make lots of it since we love it so.

And we fry up some of that Raw stuffing on T-Day morning in a cast iron skillet with some melted butter

until is turns crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside.

Oh it is, So good

Give Thanks to Family, Friends and to Thanks to Our Soldiers who are off in faraway lands and who can't be home on this

wonderful holiday

John

[ballpeen]

Cajun Trinity

Hard to go wrong with celery, onion, and green pepper.

[calfoxwc]

Green pepper? That's a new one to me.

I've found I love the golden bell and orange bell peppers a lot more than the green ones.

And, as a different side vegie dish, purple asparagus, which ordinarily I despise because

unless it's perfectly steamed, it turns to a nasty mush..

purple asparagus actually is good.

Most years, we haven't stuffed the turkey, just made a big baking dish of it.

But, that dressing out of the turkey is the best.

I like onion in it, but my Wifie doesn't.

Now, the great big candy onions? I never tried them before - but they are GREAT. Had

em in a pot roast.

And, for pumpkin pie? A regular pure pumpkin can has the excellent recipe on the label.

I generally add about an extra tablespoon of sugar, maybe an extra dash of cinnamon.

Cinnamon is very good for ya...

Haven't bought the turkey yet.. want a fresh, non-frozen one... I hope they still have some at the grocery Wed...

[Kosar_For_President]

Zombo said:

Gonna be 80* and sunny.

You F*ck Face.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

This has been a very warm November so far. In the 50's every day. Sunny for the most part. I actually prefer snow during the holidays. After that, you can have it.

[ballpeen]

Zombo said:

My first Thanksgiving with the Zombonestress, she's a good cook so expectations are high ... and judging by the grocery bill it's gonna be a feast. My Mom's coming over, her family too, we'll start drinking Wednesday night and take it on through T-Day with the games on. Gonna be 80* and sunny ... life is good.

Zombo

--but it would be a hell of a lot better if we didn't have idiots interfering on a Hail Mary....

I hear you on the temp....It isn't bad here in Chattanooga, but we have owned a home in Venice for 6 years now....it may be getting to the point we vacate this one for the winter months and play snowbird until we just finally settle down there full time...

[hoorta]

@ballpeen said:

I hear you on the temp....It isn't bad here in Chattanooga, but we have owned a home in Venice for 6 years now....it may be getting to the point we vacate this one for the winter months and play snowbird until we just finally settle down there full time...

Well, I'm not a fan of fowl (I can tolerate turkey if it's buried under a mountain of cranberry sauce), and I don't particularly care for the squash family either- yeah- I have weird tastes in food, and you could classify me as probably closest to the world's most picky eater. I would have starved to death if I had ever gotten drafted into the Army.

So a typical dinner for two on Thanksgiving consists of a dry aged NY strip on the grill, baked potato, sautéed mushrooms, and if I'm in the mood- broccoli with Hollandaise sauce. Of course accompanied by a well aged Bordeaux or California Cabernet Sauvignon. If the relatives come over, it's going to be a prime rib instead.

Dessert could be Roquefort cheese with Sauternes (the real stuff- 1990 or older) or maybe a Chocolate cream pie (if I really want to spend time in the kitchen, it's a white chocolate amaretto cream pie) with vintage port.

[ballpeen]

@hoorta said:

Well, I'm not a fan of fowl (I can tolerate turkey if it's buried under a mountain of cranberry sauce), and I don't particularly care for the squash family either- yeah- I have weird tastes in food, and you could classify me as probably closest to the world's most picky eater. I would have starved to death if I had ever gotten drafted into the Army.

So a typical dinner for two on Thanksgiving consists of a dry aged NY strip on the grill, baked potato, sautéed mushrooms, and if I'm in the mood- broccoli with Hollandaise sauce. Of course accompanied by a well aged Bordeaux or California Cabernet Sauvignon. If the relatives come over, it's going to be a prime rib instead.

Dessert could be Roquefort cheese with Sauternes (the real stuff- 1990 or older) or maybe a Chocolate cream pie (if I really want to spend time in the kitchen, it's a white chocolate amaretto cream pie) with vintage port.

Nothing wrong with that...whatever floats your boat is my attitude.

I noticed you prefer a strip steak over a ribeye....so if you go the roast route if company stops in....have you ever had a striproast? Same principal as a ribroast....only strip. I am probably going to have one of those for Christmas. Had always done rib roasts, but saw a strip roast at the market last year and gave it a shot....less fat then on the rib, and it is all on the top of the cut which you can trim or broil down....makes a really nice crust once salted down with added garlic, pepper and rosemary sprigs...it's wonderful....there will be 3 for Christmas...Pat's mom is going to be here....so I will call to get a 5 lb cut..perfect for sandwiches the next day

Just slather on some of the left over horseradish cream sauce.....good stuff.

[kshutchins]

@hoorta said:

Well, I'm not a fan of fowl (I can tolerate turkey if it's buried under a mountain of cranberry sauce), and I don't particularly care for the squash family either- yeah- I have weird tastes in food, and you could classify me as probably closest to the world's most picky eater. I would have starved to death if I had ever gotten drafted into the Army.

So a typical dinner for two on Thanksgiving consists of a dry aged NY strip on the grill, baked potato, sautéed mushrooms, and if I'm in the mood- broccoli with Hollandaise sauce. Of course accompanied by a well aged Bordeaux or California Cabernet Sauvignon. If the relatives come over, it's going to be a prime rib instead.

Dessert could be Roquefort cheese with Sauternes (the real stuff- 1990 or older) or maybe a Chocolate cream pie (if I really want to spend time in the kitchen, it's a white chocolate amaretto cream pie) with vintage port.

We can forgive your limited taste in food because of your delightful taste in beverages.

I could use some advice on purchasing port. Can I find a tasty vintage for a reasonable price?

[ballpeen]

@kshutchins said:

We can forgive your limited taste in food because of your delightful taste in beverages.

I could use some advice on purchasing port. Can I find a tasty vintage for a reasonable price?

Probably not a vintage port...not knowing what reasonable is to you, but vintage port is usually very expensive as it has been aged 30 years minimum...or more...in many cases it isn't even ready to drink until it has been in the bottle 40-50 years.

A tawny port is less expensive..you can find lots of those in the $50-60 price range that drink well.

[hoorta]

@ballpeen said:

Probably not a vintage port...not knowing what reasonable is to you, but vintage port is usually very expensive as it has been aged 30 years minimum...or more...in many cases it isn't even ready to drink until it has been in the bottle 40-50 years.

A tawny port is less expensive..you can find lots of those in the $50-60 price range that drink well.

Yup, aged vintage ports have become real expensive, like $100 and up expensive, and they really shouldn't be drunk before they're 10 years old minimum. Vintage porto says that and no more on the label, not "port of the vintage", "late bottled vintage", "cohelita 1986". They also need to be decanted before you drink them because they throw a ton of sediment as they age.

OTOH, there are reasonable alternatives, depending on what style of port you prefer- fruitier, or nuttier-more dry. I second your opinion 'Peen on a tawny, (that's the nuttier, dryer type) buy you needn't spend $50 on it- there are plenty of good 10 year tawnies (that's the time they've spent in barrel) in the $30 range- and my standard tawny- Dows' Boardroom- is $25, at least in Ohio. MHO is it isn't worth the extra money go for the 20, 30, or 40 year tawnies, they get logarithmically more expensive for minimal increase in quality and complexity.

On the fruitier side- look for a "late bottled vintage" porto. They're ports that weren't quite good enough to "declare" as vintage ports (that only happens roughly three times a decade) and they're left in barrel 4-6 years, instead of the 2 years that vintage ports get. Mostly ready to drink right off the shelf. This style is my personal preference over tawnies.

Names to look for? Taylor, (not the New York stuff!!!) Graham, Dow, Fonseca, Warre, Quinta do Crasto.

BTW, the Brits (who invented port- as a perusal of the top names may indicate) recommend walnuts and Stilton cheese to go with porto. Personally, I'm preferential to Roquefort, but any aged blue cheese that you happen to like would go great with it.

[hoorta]

@ballpeen said:

Nothing wrong with that...whatever floats your boat is my attitude.

I noticed you prefer a strip steak over a ribeye....so if you go the roast route if company stops in....have you ever had a striproast? Same principal as a ribroast....only strip. I am probably going to have one of those for Christmas. Had always done rib roasts, but saw a strip roast at the market last year and gave it a shot....less fat then on the rib, and it is all on the top of the cut which you can trim or broil down....makes a really nice crust once salted down with added garlic, pepper and rosemary sprigs...it's wonderful....there will be 3 for Christmas...Pat's mom is going to be here....so I will call to get a 5 lb cut..perfect for sandwiches the next day

Just slather on some of the left over horseradish cream sauce.....good stuff.

Yup, I do like NY strip over ribeye- the ribeyes have a little too much internal fat for my tastes- if I'm just grilling them straight. Nothing wrong with blackened ribeye however.

Never done a strip roast, though I do have access to some real high quality whole NY strips if I have a mind to do one.

[ballpeen]

Most butchers can cut a strip up if you don't want the whole thing.

I myself like a ribeye when grilling, but for roasting, I think I prefer the texture of the meat with the stri .

When grilling I like a nice char with a medium rare center. Unless i get mammoth steaks over 1.25 inches thick, it is hard for me to get them the way I like with a strip,,,the less fat seems to dry them out for my taste where with the rib, the fat helps flame the meat which gives me the char i like without overcooking the steak.

When roasting, you have a whole different deal going on and the strips come out great. I will usually start mine on about 450 for 15 or so minutes to really get the outside browning, then cut the heat back to about 300 to finish off...you know the rest.

I hear you on the tawny...I just picked $50 more or less as the high end knowing you can find many in that 30-35 range...I guess I was just stressing you might want to pass if you find one for $12.95.

[Kosar_For_President]

Thunderbird '08.

[yosemitejam]

y'all makin me hongry!!!!

nuthin like consumin massive qty of fowl....aka barnyard pimp

[ChildOfHumanity]

Sounds delicious. No one in my house likes turkey except when it is thinly sliced breast meat from the deli for sandwiches. I am preparing a spiral sliced honey ham, a whole baking chicken with stuffing inside, stuffing, cranberry salad, mashed potatos with gravy, deviled eggs, green beans, an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. Also serving sugar free jello for those like myself who are diabetic and can not have a sugary dessert. I know it is not traditional but there is no point in making the traditional turkey meal when no one will eat much of it and we will throw out a lot of food. Hate to be wasteful. Especially in this economy.

A very Happy Thanksgiving All! May God Bless you today and always!

@ballpeen said:

With the day just around the corner, I was just wondering what ya'll were having for dinner.

Being just my wife and I this year I just wanted to hit one of the restaurants for a turkey spead of some sort, but she wanted to do the home deal....which means i cook since i always cook....I like it and she doesn't.

So, went out a few minutes ago and picked up the basics....small 10 lb turkey.

This year I am going to skip the smoker and all and just go for my basic oven bird.

I like to brine mine 24 hours before hand. The brine consists of 1 gal water, 2 cups salt, 2 cans apple juice concentrate, peppercorns, 3-4 bay leaves, and a cup of Jack Daniels. After brining, pat dry, then let dry further in the fridge,,,say overnight...so start brining on Tuesday evening, take out Wed evening, and ready to go on Thursday..

Before putting in oven. a light coating of oil, salt, pepper and layer 6-8 strips thick slice bacon as the finishing touch...bake like you normally would until done.

As for the rest of the stuff....pretty much standard fare you see on Thanksgiving table all across the land.

Anything you want to share? Some of the things you mention may light a spark in someone else and end up on their table as well. The next few days is when most of us start putting it all together.

Oh....on the turkey i will just stuff it with some celery stalks, maybe a carrot or two, and some herb sprigs,,,whatever is handy....just for flavoring...it gets discarded before carving.

[Cowsrus]

@childofhumanity said:

Sounds delicious. No one in my house likes turkey except when it is thinly sliced breast meat from the deli for sandwiches. I am preparing a spiral sliced honey ham, a whole baking chicken with stuffing inside, stuffing, cranberry salad, mashed potatos with gravy, deviled eggs, green beans, an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. Also serving sugar free jello for those like myself who are diabetic and can not have a sugary dessert. I know it is not traditional but there is no point in making the traditional turkey meal when no one will eat much of it and we will throw out a lot of food. Hate to be wasteful. Especially in this economy.

A very Happy Thanksgiving All! May God Bless you today and always!

On the contrary, it's not what kind of food you have on the table that makes it traditional, it's who you share the meal with that counts! And the sugar free Jello, nice touch. I usually do that too. My favorite way to make Jello is with whipped cream IN it which can also be sugar free

And folks, don't throw away leftovers, if you don't want them, take them to your nearest shelter or mission. With everything they get, they add them together and can feed more people.

Heidi

[Kosar_For_President]

@cowsrus said:

On the contrary, it's not what kind of food you have on the table that makes it traditional, it's who you share the meal with that counts! And the sugar free Jello, nice touch. I usually do that too. My favorite way to make Jello is with whipped cream IN it which can also be sugar free

And folks, don't throw away leftovers, if you don't want them, take them to your nearest shelter or mission. With everything they get, they add them together and can feed more people.

Heidi

Dude I eat turkey for a full week after. It's almost better then the actual meal.

[ballpeen]

After plating the usual dinners for Sunday night and picking for sandwiches, I always boil the carcass down with some veggies, then pick it clean and freeze up the stock and remains to turn in to turkey noodle soup a week or two later.

If not enough I may have to fortify with some chicken stock, but with some egg noodles and more veggies, it provides a nice soup on a late Dec. evening.

If you play things right, you can get several meals out of 1 med. turkey.