Thanksgiving Menu

[Ulysses]

So I'm cooking Thanksgiving this year. Here's what I came up with.

Turkey: Brined overnight in salt/pepper/garlic/sugar/maple syrup brine. Cooking right now on bed of chopped celery and onions.

Gravy: Standard gravy from brined turkey drippings infused w/ those aromatic vegetable flavors.

Stuffing: Cornbread stuffing w/ onions and celery.

Green beans: Sauteed in olive oil w/ salt/pepper/garlic and a touch of soy.

Carrots: Roasting right now, tossed w/ salt/pepper/olive oil. Bourbon and maple syrup glaze.

Buttermilk dinner rolls.

Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce.

Sterling Chardonnay and Clos Du Bois Pinot.

Cherry Pie.


Let's hear what you guys came up with.

[balkii]

I find the lack of mashed potatoes on your menu highly unsettling.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
I find the lack of mashed potatoes on your menu highly unsettling.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, this is the first time ever for that. I just feel like with rolls, stuffing etc., the mashed potatoes always just seems like too much. It'll be weird not to have them, but we'll see how it goes.

[ClaytonN]

My family didn't make mashed potatos this year. I about fainted.

[Rick Nebiolo]

dump the rolls, not the mashed potatoes! /images/graemlins/confused.gif

~ rick

ps i get the impression that the average poster on this forum is a better cook than the average american housewife (or househusband to be pc).

[balkii]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I find the lack of mashed potatoes on your menu highly unsettling.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, this is the first time ever for that. I just feel like with rolls, stuffing etc., the mashed potatoes always just seems like too much. It'll be weird not to have them, but we'll see how it goes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Those atkins people have been brainwashing you huh?

[Diplomat]

Usually I'll do a mirepois with more ingredients, but then again, roasting turkey or chicken with carrot isn't for me. For extra flavour, next time chop some Prosciuttino and throw it in. Throw some paprika on the top of that bird, helps it brown.

Splash a touch of OJ or a squeeze of lemon on those beans.

Decent wine choices.

No corn?

----------------------------------------------------------

Up here we do thanksgiving in October for some reason...this year I did yams instead of potatoes, and watercress soup to start. I've never done green beans with turkey, it's a good idea.

-Diplomat

[Sponger15SB]

I am not a big fan of everything else, and your lack of mashed potatoes is sad, however that Turkey sounds realllllly freaking good.

I am sad because usually went spend thanksgiving with family friends but they have since moved to pennsylvania, and they make an excellent assortment of food as well as very tasty margaritas and me and my mom get drunk together, haha.

So we are going with a very bland thanksgiving of just turkey w/ wet&dry stuffing, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, waldorf salad and rolls.

[dogsballs]

Why mashed? Roast spuds are way better.

beer butt turkey for me. I don't have teh stand, so I jabbed two stainless forks through the breasts to make a tripod. Soup can with red wine and rosemary in there - it's on the bbq now.

my gf just informe me mashed spuds are traditional and thats' what we are having, and no talk back...eh, ok darling.

roast brussel sprouts are my dept though; along with grilled asparagus.

Jacobs creek cab sav and I splurged on a nice california syrah too. Shreck 2 for the dvd.

edit: gf has home made pecan pie in the oven

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
Usually I'll do a mirepois with more ingredients, but then again, roasting turkey or chicken with carrot isn't for me. For extra flavour, next time chop some Prosciuttino and throw it in. Throw some paprika on the top of that bird, helps it brown.

[/ QUOTE ]

The turkey is roasting in an oven bag. The carrots are roasting separately. That Proscittino sounds like a great idea. Did the paprika.

[ QUOTE ]
Splash a touch of OJ or a squeeze of lemon on those beans.

[/ QUOTE ]

Will do!

[ QUOTE ]
Decent wine choices.

[/ QUOTE ]

My parents don't like overly dry/oaky wines, so had to take that into account when choosing wines. Most of my wines are much bigger than they would like, so my selections are limited. I might go with a Gloria Ferrer Chardonnay instead of the Sterling. Also might go with either a D-Cubed or Ravenswood (Big River, I think) Zin instead of the Pinot.

[ QUOTE ]
No corn?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, that was an oversight. I would have added corn to the menu had I remembered.

[ QUOTE ]
Up here we do thanksgiving in October for some reason...this year I did yams instead of potatoes

[/ QUOTE ]

I did mashed sweet potatoes w/ steak a couple weeks ago. It was great, though a bit of a pain in the ass. I almost did that or yams again for Thanksgiving, but a big part of the reason mashed potatoes got dropped instead of rolls was laziness.

[La Brujita]

I cooked the whole Thanksgiving:

Turkey, in a bag rubbed with rosemary, butter and olive oil, sea salt and white pepper. Stuffed with lemons, cooked on top of carrots, celery and onions

Gravy: drippings, a bit of stock, white wine and some garlic I roasted

Cranberry Sauce

Homemade stuffing (one with pork sausage one without)

Candided Yams

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Rolls (I bought em)

Apple Pie Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Pie (I made the crusts as well)

Cider with nutmeg, cinammon sticks, cloves and rum

I am damn tired!

[Zeno]

Instead of a huge heap of the mashed potatoes, try a smaller portion of yams or sweet potatoes, roasted. A good tasting yam only needs butter/pepper or other seasoning to taste.

For the green beans, get them fresh and split them (French style?) and add some chopped onions to the sauté, use less garlic.


Also for an extra side, if yams etc are out, try baked apples. I don't have any 'recipe' off hand but simple butter and first-rate cinnamon should do the trick. The apples add much to the festive fare and are great in just a small portion and add a different flavor to the meal.

Also, have a plate of different cheeses before or after dinner for light munching and to add to the wine you are using.


I Hope you are having a great time with the family.

-Zeno

[Diplomat]

[ QUOTE ]


Cider with nutmeg, cinammon sticks, cloves and rum



[/ QUOTE ]

Good call...damn.

-Diplomat

[Diplomat]

Yeah, I know. I was saying that leaving the carrots out of the mirepois was a good idea.

-Diplomat

[ThaSaltCracka]

for the first time ever, we are going out for thanksgiving dinner. I'll let you guys know how my big mac was.

Seriously, we are going to the Keg, no clean up for the TSC family /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[young nut]

Seeing as my folks live clear on the other coast of the US, I am playing the role of cook (just for me and my sister.) On our menu:

Turkey - oven roasting with butter, chopped celery and onion

Stuffing - seasoned stuffing with chopped celery onion and fresh parsley

Mashed Potatoes - skins on with french onions mixed in

Macaroni and Cheese - homemade sauce with Ricotta and chedder cheese and a little heavy cream (best tasting sauce ever)

Brocolli - simmered in a little olive oil and salt and pepper, use some of the cheese sauce from macaroni for topping.

7 layer flaky rolls - Pillsbury (can't beat em)

Reisling or Sam Adams Boston Brew for beverage.

Desert - buttermilk pie, pumpkin pie, or blueberry yum yum(some chick made it for me, but its good as hell)

Thats the menu, should be pretty good. Eating in about an hour or so. Gotta go baste the turkey!

[astroglide]

god damn dude do you have to ruin everything by mixing it with sweet stuff?

[sfer]

[ QUOTE ]
Turkey: Brined overnight in salt/pepper/garlic/sugar/maple syrup brine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this a first for a maple syrup brine? I've never heard of that before.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Turkey: Brined overnight in salt/pepper/garlic/sugar/maple syrup brine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this a first for a maple syrup brine? I've never heard of that before.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that unique. Lots of stuff like this (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/107284) and this (http://www.cooking.com/recipes/static/recipe1048.htm) .

[sfer]

Is the flavor noticeable?

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
god damn dude do you have to ruin everything by mixing it with sweet stuff?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, the brine worked out insanely great. And how can you not love glazed carrots?

As for the pie, I just like 'em sweet.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
Is the flavor noticeable?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really. There definitely wasn't a sweet or maple flavor. I think the sweetness in the brine might balance the salt and spicy flavors somewhat. I dunno, it just worked. All in all, the brine turned out really great. Super-juicy well-seasoned turkey.

[BottlesOf]

Diablo-

You should've roasted the carrots alongside the celery and onions with the bird. You then save those carrots and serve them.

[eric5148]

An excellent meal. Too bad it was ruined with canned cranberries.

For those who haven't heard of this type of brine: the sugar carmelizes on the skin and gives it a nice dark color and makes a slightly crispy skin.

[BottlesOf]

I took part in the prep, but it was more my parents and grandmother. Cousins made the soup.

First:

Table had some mixed nuts, grapes, and a board with crackers and 3 cheeses: a goat cheese, a soft brie like cheese called daphinois, a hard cheese.

Also served was a shrimp appertizer, made by marinating peeled and cooked shrimp in an apple cider vinnegar based marinade with onions and capers.


The soup: A sweet potato and leeks recipe taken from a recent NYT article.

The meal:

12 lb capon, brined over night in a salt water with onions and bay leaves. The bird was roasted with shallots, celery and carrots for like 3 hours, and was basted often. The drippings were used to make a standard gravy, however standard gravy is made.

The bird was stuffed with some stuffing from Citarella's, it was pretty standard stuffing, bread, celery, onions, currants, etc. We baked the rest outside the bird. It was not as good as Pepperidge Farm or William Sonoma, IMO.

Mashed potatos- Yukon gold, cream added, whipped etc. These are the nuts.

Yams Baked with brown sugar and some other stuff, pineapple on top.

Cranberry sauce- Jarred (not canned!) from William Sonoma.

Brocollini for some green--recipe stolen from Gourmet magazine. They were boiled the night before, and then sauted in butter and garilc right before serving.

I thiiiink that's it.....Oh, Dessert...

Dessert:

Chocolate Mouse cake-bought from somewhere, but it's good.

Pumpkin pie, and Apple pie. The crusts are hommeade, as is the apple pie, but the pumpkin is made from a can, and you just add evaporated milk and maybe something else and bake.

[Ed I]

Hutterite free range turkey

yams

wild and brown rice

baked beans

deviled eggs

broccoli and cauliflower

spinich salad with manderan oranges

homemade rolls

homemade pie pumpkin and pecan

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

[Dark Force Rising]

Monster Thickburger

[sfer]

Brining is the way to go. A Bay Area secret that's spreading.

[beerbandit]

pumpkin pie?


hope everything turned out well

cheers
beer

[beerbandit]

hows that buttermilk pie?

ive never had it, i looked up the recipe and it looks intersting--


cheers
beer

[Blarg]

What is broccolini?

[The once and future king]

Roast the yams in with the carrots.

[jakethebake]

Smoked turkey.
Cajun rice dressing.
Garlic cheese grits.
Cranberry sauce (not from a can!!!).
Sweet potatoes with the little marshmallows melted on top.
Dinner rolls slathered with butter.
Sweet potato pecan pie!!!!!!!!!

[BottlesOf]

Very similar to brocolli, and as the label on the bunces said, "it's a new vegetable." I find that interesting, as I've never heard of a new vegetable.

It's basically the same as brocolli, as far as I could tell, except there were many more bunches with less flowers on the top. They appeared to be slimmer than bunches of broccoli.

[Diplomat]

Trip report?

-Diplomat

[sfer]

[ QUOTE ]
It's basically the same as brocolli, as far as I could tell, except there were many more bunches with less flowers on the top. They appeared to be slimmer than bunches of broccoli.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is spelling correctly an iterative process for you, or are you content to leave a couple guesses out there? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[BottlesOf]

broc.... is a tough one, and I don't plan on using it enough to bother looking it up.

[eric5148]

[ QUOTE ]
Sweet potatoes with the little marshmallows melted on top.


[/ QUOTE ]

Marshmellows on sweet potatoes? Sounds a little heavy on the sweet. But, I guess if you eat a lot of sweet food you're taste buds are desensitized, and it won't taste very sweet to you.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
Trip report?

-Diplomat

[/ QUOTE ]

Smashing success!

[ QUOTE ]
Turkey: Brined overnight in salt/pepper/garlic/sugar/maple syrup brine. Cooking right now on bed of chopped celery and onions.

[/ QUOTE ]

This turned out great. I'm not sure how much flavor the vegetables really imparted, but the turkey turned out really juicy and very well-seasoned. There's really no comparison between brined and non-brined turkey. IMO, the best preparation is brined, deep-fried turkey, but that's a pain in the ass and roasting in a bag turns out almost as well. The sugar/maple didn't add much if any flavor, but as eric(?) mentioned, it does make for a little browner/crispier skin.

[ QUOTE ]
Gravy: Standard gravy from brined turkey drippings infused w/ those aromatic vegetable flavors.

[/ QUOTE ]

The gravy turned out great. No need for any extra spices/seasonings.

[ QUOTE ]
Stuffing: Cornbread stuffing w/ onions and celery.

[/ QUOTE ]

As expected.

[ QUOTE ]
Green beans: Sauteed in olive oil w/ salt/pepper/garlic and a touch of soy.

[/ QUOTE ]

This was great. Also tossed in some minced onions.

[ QUOTE ]
Carrots: Roasting right now, tossed w/ salt/pepper/olive oil. Bourbon and maple syrup glaze.

[/ QUOTE ]

I love glazed carrots and these were no exception.

[ QUOTE ]
Buttermilk dinner rolls.

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, rolls.

[ QUOTE ]
Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce.

[/ QUOTE ]

Slices of this stuff with turkey. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, delicious.

[ QUOTE ]
Sterling Chardonnay and Clos Du Bois Pinot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Went ahead with these original two selections, which everyone enjoyed. The parents got a little buzzed.

[ QUOTE ]
Cherry Pie.

[/ QUOTE ]

Someone asked about pumpkin pie. I had just had pumpkin pie last week, which is why I went with cherry. I am a fan of all kinds of pies, so this was a somewhat random choice.

The lack of potatoes was really a non-issue. Didn't miss them at all. I do think that some roasted yams sound like a good idea, so maybe I'll add them and some corn next year.

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
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Green beans: Sauteed in olive oil w/ salt/pepper/garlic and a touch of soy.


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This was great. Also tossed in some minced onions.


[/ QUOTE ]


Not because I said so? /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I need your advice on some wine. I'll make a separate post.

-Zeno

[beerbandit]

[ QUOTE ]
Someone asked about pumpkin pie. I had just had pumpkin pie last week, which is why I went with cherry. I am a fan of all kinds of pies, so this was a somewhat random choice.


[/ QUOTE ]

i see

thanksgiving and christmas are the only two times a year when i eat pumpkin pie. eating it during any other time of the year seems a little odd to me.

glad everything went well

cheers