I've done a little experimenting with pumpkin desserts because straight pumpkin pie just doesn't do it for me, and I got pretty good feedback from a pumpkin tiramisu and an ice cream/pumpkin pie. I don't have a recipe because I can't follow a recipe to save my life, but I imagine they aren't too hard to come by. Plus you can make both of those the day before.
The family has been getting smaller, thanks to lack of reproduction and the unavoidable attrition (read: no birthin' but plenty of dyin'). Nevertheless, we'll have Thanksgiving at our house,as we've done for awhile now. It will likely be me, the Mrsanthropic, the littlest Missanthropic, the mother in law, my mom, and maybe my sister and her boyfriend. I miss the old days when the extended family went over to my parents house, but I'm fine with a small, relaxing dinner. Things ain't like they used to was, and I've come to grudgingly accept that. Turkey tip: I know the bacon thing has been done to death, BUT- a couple of years ago I used a recipe someone posted here, and made a turkey with chopped bacon in the stuffing, and bacon toothpicked to the outside. It came out fantastic, with really only a hint of bacon flavor, just enough to make it different, but not ruin it. I highly recommended it.
A smaller turkey would be better. I dry rub and inject my turkey when I fry it. I usually just use some cajun seasoning and then one of those creole kitchen premade injections, but you can easily make your own. You can brine it, but you want to be certain that there's no water on the bird when it goes in the oil. Unless, of course, you're a huge fan of fire.
Hah. You guys are scaring the shit out of me about this frying shit, but I'm gonna give it a go anyway. I cancelled the large bird and ordered two small ones. If the fryer is large enough - is it okay to drop two in at once?
No. And the cooking time is so much shorter than roasting, frying them back-to-back won't be a time problem. I wouldn't recommend brining. As mentioned, there's a very good probability you're not going to get all the water off the bird, and water and hot oil don't play well together. Injecting the way to go and most stores carry Tony's around this time of year, at least in the states. If you can't find a prepared injection, you can always make your own with melted butter and seasonings. As for desserts, I'll find my wife's Pumpkin Parfaits recipe and post it.
Tony's pre-made injection sucks. From a PM to Hooker: As far as outside flavor goes, you can definitely season the skin with salt, pepper, garlic salt, lemon pepper, cajun seasoning or whatever you like. In my experience, however, most of that just winds up floating around in the frying oil, so do whatever you'd like sparingly. For inside flavor, I inject and a good meat injector is invaluable. You can buy pre-made marinade but a lot of that shit tastes like movie theater butter and I'm classy as fuck, so I do something like this: 1 cup of white wine 2 sticks of butter 4 crushed garlic cloves Salt and Pepper Herb Bouquet- Sage, Rosemary, Thyme Taste and adjust. I suspect some worsteshire and lemon juice will wind up in there as well. Combine all ingredients and heat gradually to infuse the flavors. Strain and inject. You will want to strain it because the injector will clog otherwise. You can inject the breast in several places and then move on to the wings, legs and thighs. I've done in the night before and I've done it the day of. It doesn't make a huge difference. When you inject the bird, use the same entry point for several areas in the bird to avoid poking it full of holes. We started frying our turkeys about five years ago and it really is the way to go. Do some research online and check out some videos. This is about all you need to know:
Last year I bought our first Turducken for Thanksgiving dinner. I bought it from a local butcher and it was a huge hit. This year I was asked to do it again but they went out of business so I hopped on http://www.cajungrocer.com/food/fresh-foods/holiday-dishes-turducken.html I grabbed one pretty standard, one with Cajun sausage stuffing, and one with seafood jambalaya stuffing (this I'm saving for a later date). To say I'm excited would be an understatement.
I've had turduckhens a few times and I've found with three different kinds of bird and at least one other kind of meat or shellfish used as stuffing, there really is too much going on for it to be anything other than a novelty. They're kind of neat, I suppose, but they are the ultimate downside of "Cajun" cooking becoming popular. Just jam a bunch of shit together, sprinkle some cayenne on it, and sell it to people in the corn and wheat states. It's a lot like putting bacon on every fucking thing. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Here endeth the food related rant.
And the pumpkin pie is in the oven and the turkey in the brine. Supposed to hit 81 here today. After 12 years, I'm still not used to wearing shorts on Thanksgiving.
I have been assigned to bring two vegetable dishes to the big gathering with el husband's coworkers. Fuck. 2 VEGETABLES? On THANKSGIVING? Oh, and someone else is already doing sweet potatoes. I fell back on green bean casserole and a salad. Please, someone. Give me a goddamn excuse to make a friggin pie. This is all I ask.
Well I finally know what I'll be contributing to the table... I will be grilling a bacon-wrapped venison loin. It was a small deer (just shot on Sunday and butchered yesterday) so the loin isn't thick enough to butterfly and stuff, but will be perfect for grilling medium rare over high heat and slicing into thin, tender medallions. Gonna do a little marinade and baste while it's on the grill too. Oh lawd it's gonna be good!
What? Salad is not a vegetable! And, the word "casserole" should never come after the words "green bean." Gross, that stuff is nasty. <shudder> Just make green beans. Squash casserole and broccoli casserole are acceptable vegetable casseroles. Does corn count? What's wrong with bringing corn? It was good enough for THE FIRST THANKSGIVING!
Yeah, I think green bean casserole is foul but a lot of people like it. I will not be eating it, however.
Go for a roasted beet and goat cheese salad. It's delicious. Plus, when everyone's hammered and forgetful later on and someone goes to take a piss, you get the fun of hearing them freak out thinking they're experiencing kidney failure.
Somewhere someone must have the recipe I post yearly for the Corn Thing. I can't seem to locate it to post. Still looking.
So you can't get cranberry sauce here, however lingonberries are a great substitute. So I bought a jar, spiced it with some nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and ginger, then added some jelly sugar which is loaded with pectin and poured it into a can. It jelled and took the shape of the can, so I now have a home made memory of turkey days past. I imagine if you are making your own cranberry sauce this would work too. Just substitute 1 tablespoon of the sugar you add with a tablespoon and a half of jelly sugar, pour into a clean, empty can.