Well, I suspect with all us food lover's and cooks out there in Blogland, there will be a flurry of food posts about Thanksgiving in the next couple of days! After two days of prepping and cooking, Friday, Sat., and Sun. will be filled with great ideas for leftovers!
Our T-day meal was about 3:30PM, and I can say I didn't screw up one dish! All came out on time, and the bird was flavorful and moist... Brining a turkey is a pain in the butt, but it is worth it- I guarantee!
1. Cranberry relish- a coarse texture and tart, some orange added- I don't use it, but the people who did liked it.
2. Mashed potato casserole- Yukon golds boiled and mashed, with additions of sour cream, butter, salt, and pepper.. Made a day ahead, and heated before dinner- son's girlfriend liked them a lot!
3. Gravy- I admit to mixing jar turkey gravy with pan drippings, and spices.. it's no fail and quick.
4. Asian green bean casserole- I put bean sprouts, water chestnuts, sliced mushrooms, soy sauce in with the green beans and cream of mushroom soup, and top with fried onions and crumbled bacon. Earthy, with the water chestnuts giving a pleasant crunch.
5. Rolls- Bakery fresh, with butter and honey
6. Sage sausage dressing- Dry bread cubes, sage sausage browned with chopped celery, and chopped onions (undrained!), chix broth, and butter- all poured at once over the
bread cubes, covered and baked. I am not allowed to make any other on Thanksgiving!
7. Roast turkey- 17.8 lbs. Brined overnight, trussed, with celery tops and a sliced orange in the cavity for moisture, coated with olive oil and roasted for 3hrs. loosely covered, then another hour uncovered. Left to rest for 20-30 minutes, then carved... As always, moist and tender!
8. Graham cracker crust pumpkin pie, done in a rectangular baking pan.. Dense, and with whipped cream it was a hit!
The bones were made into stock, which will probably be our turkey noodle soup supper tonight!
I wish I could have taken more photos, but I was a little busy! Hope you all had good ones- tell me about your T-day!
43 comments:
My turkey day hummmm? I spent half of it at the airport waiting for my daughter to get in from NYC.
But we ended the day in fine fashion. We went to our favorite restaurant! I had scallops, my daughter had a rack of lamb. YUMMY! Neither of us are crazed about turkey and it was kind of a relief not to have to cook it this year.
(But we did have a baby roasted pumpkin stuffed with pumpkin brulee.)
I wished I had a jar of gravy right now, since hubby wants turkey sandwich for lunch...some sausage would be nice too...
Your meal sounds great!
Your right leftover ideas waiting as we speak...
looks good - leftovers will create a plethora of things on my end - turkey tamales for starters - every thing sounds and looks good buff!
Barb- One year, we took our kids to Disney World at Thanksgiving- best time we ever had at Thanksgiving! My Mom was pretty cheesed at me, though!
ChefE- I've got big containers of dry gravy mix- brown and chicken..2 parts chicken, and one part brown makes a fair turkey gravy- especially if you made turkey stock!
DogB- Son had to go to girlfriend's mom's house first, and he said "I forget how good you are until I go somewhere else!"..
Loved your gravy tip but what really caught my attention (naturally) was the Asian green bean casserole. That sounds great! We had the standard green bean casserole which was good but the Asian style sounds really good.
your meal sounds great... just discovering the thrills of brining... works great!
And we had a small neighborhood potluck. All I had to do was the turkey, everyone else did the rest!
The skin on that chunk of turkey looks so flavorful !...What a perfect specimen of what an Thanksgiving plate should be BD!... I also love the twist on the green bean casserole !...PS : Me so tierd of cooking though...need a serious break !...only cooking baby food today...
Gene- I kicked the green bean casserole up a bit- just as easy, twice as good!
Griller- People spend too much money on turkeys! A 12-18 pound bird is young, and with brining- I've never had a failure! Tom or hen doesn't matter- it's the age and treatment of the bird!
Nat- The bird was a perfect golden brown, not mottled at all! I know what you mean about tired.. soup today!
oh wow...that menu sounds great...so whatcha got in store for the leftovers...cause we got plenty and need you to tell us how to spice it up! smiles.
All I care about is the turkey, miracle whip and white bread!
Brian- Turkey barley soup tonight! Slow cooker, with turkey stock, carrots, onions, and celery chopped
Your greenbean cassarole sound great, makes mine sound kinda bland by comparison. One day of turkey about does it for me.
I trust your judgement Buff but..?
I hate commercial gravy!
Did you run out of drippings?
OMG I am so in love with you! And n ot solely for your buffalo appendage ,either!!!
Tiem to trade in the wife FOR ME!
Char- I love turkey and the leftovers are fun! That casserole is a keeper- try it!
G-man- Try it..Heinz and drippings with spices works! Smooth and flavored right!
Uber- My cooking is the only thing that keeps me out of the doghouse! Will ponder offer.. are you like really rich? :)
otin- Tomorrow, turkey sliders..lettuce, mayo, cheese, and tomato on little left over buns!
I've never brined a turkey. Maybe next year. Your sausage dressing sounds wonderful. We've not had our turkey yet, just picked up my mom at the airport today, family coming over tomorrow for the big feast. On Thanksgiving just Bob and I: Steak with balsamic/honey glaze, crab legs, baked tater, creamed spinach. It's been so odd not having turkey yet and not preparing TG dinner with the Macy Day Parade in the background.
Highlander- Crab legs... saw nothing after that..just slather me in drawn butter and feed me crab!
I use the same gravy trick you do - nobody would ever know the difference and it stretches out the gravy too so we don't run low for leftovers. I sneak it in when nobody's looking so people don't point and say mean things ;-)
Here's my Thanksgiving food post if you want to take a peek ...
http://meandering-martha.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-know-last-thing-youd-want-to-see-this.html
A jar of gravy!!!!! Your killing me. I cook the turkey in a dark non stick roasting pan. I brown the neck to make turkey broth when the bird goes in the oven with some onion, celery, carrots. Then, I use the broth to baste during the last hour of cooking.
I put the drippings into a large glass measuring cup when the bird come out to separate the grease and broth. I make a roux out of the fat and some flour, then add in the turkey broth. Excellent!!! My gravy is over the top fabulous.
My MIL also killed me making her gravy out of a can of chicken broth, water and flour without even making a roux. Watery mess. I didn't say a word. She is in her '80s.
The turkey is at my house for xmas :-)
That Asian green casserole souns like a nice variation to the one on the crispy onion box. I'd love to try it! Your dressing sounds out of this world and so does the graham cracker crust pumpkin pie with whipped cream and all. Wow, I'm stuffed but after reading this post I could eat again...and again!!
I'm glad you had a great day!
Nice twist on the green bean casserole. We had shrimp cocktail to start off. (a recipe handed down three generations so far) 23 pound Butter Ball turkey, with stuffing in every nook and cranny possible. Mashed potatoes and gravy, lime jello salad, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie.
I ate till I was full and then had just a little more just cause.
Martha- Truth is I don't use gravy all that much... I know how to make good gravy, lump free- which I gather some people have trouble doing!
Ace- The gravy is fine, believe me! My son and BIL are the only ones who use it much...
Red- I'll show a photo of the pie next post!
Jeff- Sounds like you went traditional too!
nice...may have to try the turkey barley soup...
Cranberry relish sounds fab. I had some on top of my niece's pineapple stuffing and it was perfect.
Brian- Barley...the forgotten grain- except it's in beer!
UrbanV- I'm funny about fruit on meat, but the guests enjoyed it! Pineapple stuffing!
So much food! That is enough to feed an army!
Your Thanksgiving meal sounds wonderful! Good idea about using the gravy in a jar and mixing with pan drippings-I will have to remember that for next year.
Happy belated Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Mona- It was a lot, for sure!
Velva- It works..The purists need better gravy to cover up mediocre food!
Great looking menu, BD. The water chestnuts in the green beans was an interesting touch, I bet it brought a nice texture.
Hi Unclebuf,
Thanksgiving must be a true cook's favorite day. :) Our Thanksgiving was small, cozy, and went down way too well. Played a game of lost and found with my keys at the end. I swear I had a food hangover the next day!! However, that hasn't stopped me from craving leftover pumpkin pie. ;)
--snow
Your stuffing sounds delish..I do make ahead mashed potatoes also. Make ahead turkey gravy too using turkey wings, can be done weeks ahead and frozen, otherwise Id do what u did..:)
Whole meal sounds perfect, kudos to you.
Chris- We'll have what's left of casserole today, with an Asian flavored salmon fillet!
Snow- Not much left of our dessert!
Donna- I'm sure your table was filled with good stuff too!
One day I will come to dinner at your house LOL whether invited or not :)
x
I like your take on the green bean casserole - none of us are fans of the 'normal' gbc, so I didn't make one...might try your version next year! ;) You also make the same/similar mashed potatoes that I do, too - I made mine on Wednesday and warmed them up on low in the crockpot on Thursday...they're Princess Nagger's favorite, too! :)
I've never brined a turkey - I might have to try my hand at that one of these years... ;) I did make my usual Champagne Turkey (15.3 lbs even just for the 3 of us so we'd have plenty of leftovers) - with apples in the cavity for moisture. Turned out moist, delectable, and perfectly browned again! :)
Fresh cranberries cooked in port wine with spices, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, hot buttered corn (another PN favorite) and fresh homemade bread. Oh, and an apple cranberry pie and fresh pumpkin pie for dessert. :)
Like you, I was planning on taking more pictures, but it gets so crazy busy making sure everything is ready at the same time...heh, heh!!
Glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! :)
Stacy- Sounds great! The wine cranberry sounds superior!
In personality, I am. But I could afford a few new kitchen gadgets for you. :)
Sounds like a yummy day!
Bravo!!! All sounds delicious. I fully endorse this message.
Uber- Some day I'll show the world how many kitchen gadgets I got!
Tam- t'weren't too bad!
Pink- Wish you were here...
I did a lot of make ahead stuff...makes you wonder though...it's more like make ahead leftovers - lol
Everything sounds fantastic Buff!
Who Dat!
I tried "Mama Stamberg's" cranberry relish recipe this year -- it has horseradish and sour cream and it's the oddest pink color, with flecks of cranberry red. It was zingy!
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