I am the designated cook in my family. I cook for every major gathering, as no one can cook as well as I do. My thanksgiving meal is pretty traditional, but I do like to make a mean turkey. First you take enough butter to give an elephant a heart attack. Then get a shitload of fresh herbs, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme. Soften the butter, and chop up the herbs. Mash the butter and start mixing in the herbs. Let it sit overnight. Take out your turkey the next morning. Then take out your herb butter and let it soften a bit. Peel back the skin on the turkey and rub that butter in to it like there is no tomorrow. Grease that thing up, covering every bit of it's turkey goodness in herbed butter heaven. Then take some extra butter and put it in chunks in varying places throughout the turkey. Then put the skin back good and tight, cover the outside in butter and then salt and pepper to taste. Then cook as per instructions. One thing I like to do is cook the turkey upside down. I don't know if that helps keep it moist, but I am convinced it does. The bird doesn't look like this: But Alton Brown is right, this notion that the turkey has to be presented perfectly has resulted in a shitload of dry as crap turkey. A couple of other recipies I have used that are a hit:Mulled wine cranberry sauce Focus: Post your Turkey Day recipes here. Bonus focus: Try and post as many recipes that involve alcohol. This will help make sure people are mellowed out.
Booze. Nothing else, just booze. After a few rounds no one will give a flying fuck if there's turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. They'll just want another drink. Is it any wonder I haven't been asked to host another family dinner? Aunt: Where's the turkey? Me: Have a Jack and Coke. 10 minutes later: Aunt: It's Thanksgiving, why aren't you cooking? Me: Drink this bottle. 10 minutes later: Aunt: My mother hated me and made me dress like a boy. Me: I'm never hosting another holiday dinner.
Are you kidding? After a couple of jack and cokes I'm fucking starving. That's when I demand turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes, otherwise heads will be rolling. Focus: I'm a huge fan of wrapping the turkey in bacon and putting it in a paper/cooking bag. That keeps the turkey so much more moist. Granted, I'm not usually the one doing this, I just oversee and instruct while sipping on Newcastle.
Mashed Potatoes: Use your standard recipe, but substitute cream cheese in equal amounts for the butter. It tastes DELICIOUS, and the potatoes won't get gross if you reheat them. You can actually make the potatoes a day in advance and just heat them up the day of the event. I'd like to give a formal recipe for this, but this is one I learned from my mom by just watching. MY daughter demands to make this recipe every year: Cranberry Sauce with Port 1/2 cup ruby port Three 1-by-3-inch strips of orange zest, cut into thin matchsticks 1/2 cup fresh orange juice 12 ounces fresh cranberries 3/4 cup sugar In a medium saucepan, combine the port with the orange zest and orange juice and bring to a boil. Add the cranberries and sugar and simmer over moderately low heat until the sauce is jamlike, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and serve warm or at room temperature. The cranberry sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
I like this recipe. I don't cook for Thanksgiving anymore because cooking for one pretty much sucks. Cherry-Pecan Stuffed Turkey 3/4 cup chopped onion 1-1/2 cups sliced celery 3/4 cup butter 1 cup dried tart cherries 3 tablespoons sweet Marsala, dry sherry, or chicken broth 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup chicken broth 3/4 teaspoon paprika 1 10- to 12-pound turkey 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 6 cups soft bread crumbs For stuffing, in a medium skillet, cook onion in butter until tender but not brown. Stir in the Marsala, sherry or broth; salt; paprika; thyme; and white pepper. Transfer the ingredients to a large bowl. Add bread crumbs, celery, cherries, and pecans; toss to mix well. Drizzle with the chicken broth; toss. Spoon some of the stuffing into the neck cavity of the turkey; fasten the neck skin with a skewer. Lightly spoon the remaining stuffing into the body cavity. Tie the drumsticks to the tail. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer into the thigh muscle. Roast the turkey, uncovered, in a 325°F oven for 3 to 3-3/4 hours or until the meat thermometer registers 180°F to 185°F (cut string between drumsticks when the bird is two-thirds done). Let roasted turkey stand, covered, 15 to 20 minutes before carving.
Here are my potatoes that I make. Just depends on my mood. Jalapeno Corn Mashed Potatoes 12 oz Cream cheese - cut in cubes 2 t. White pepper 1/4 c 2 percent milk 5 tb Butter 5 c Mashed potatoes - plain 4 Jalapeno peppers Seeded and minced 1 1/2 c Corn - cooked and drained 2 t. Salt Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Place the cream cheese milk and butter in a saucepan and cook, stirring, over low heat until the cheese has melted. Place mashed potatoes in a large bowl and stir in cheese mixture. Add the jalapenos, corn salt and pepper. Mix well and soon into the baking dish. Bake about 30 minutes. Deep Fried Mashed Potatotes 2 Tbsp. parsley 1 Tbsp. garlic 1 Tbsp. seasoned salt 1 long green onions 2 eggs 1 tbsp. cornstarch 4 Tbsp. sour cream Salt and Pepper Cook and mash potatoes. (do not use electric mixture) Add parsley, garlic and seasoned salt. Cook green onions for about 5 mintues, add salt and pepper. Break 2 eggs in pan. Take out 1 tbsp. of egg white and add to Potato mixture. Add corn starch and sour cream. Put in fridge overnight. Form potatoes into balls (1 tsp.) and coat with eggs and coat with bread crumbs. Deep fry until golden.
shegirl Deviled Eggs (seems appropriate dontcha think?): Hard boil how ever many eggs you want. The recipe is more to taste so volume isn't an issue if you make more than 12-18 (whole) eggs bump the stuff up. In a bowl smoosh all the yolks with a fork to break them up. Add a heaping spoonful (may need more) of mayo. Add a squirt of any yellow mustard. Add about 1/4 cup of SWEET pickle juice. Enough not to make it really runny but yet will be able to squirt through a pastry bag. You may use more or less to get there. Add a couple shakes of celery salt. Salt&Pepper to taste. Scoop the mixture into a large plastic zip lock (white trash pastry bag). I normally make them to take to parties and such. I have a special egg container for transport but you can use a platter too. I arrive, cut the very corner off one end of the baggie and fill the egg whites. I then sprinkle with paprika. This is not the traditional way because of the sweet pickle juice but I absolutely hate dill anything. Mine stand out and people rave about them because they are different. A very simple appetizer: A package of Lil Smokies into a sauce pan with a bottle of Sweet Baby Rays Original BBQ Sauce and bring to tempature. Transfer to serving vessel (look how techincal I am, too much Food Network) and provide toothpicks for easy fingerfree eating. I hope everyone has a good Gobble Gobble Day.
I have already put up my method for doing the bacon wrapped turkey on the cooking thread (shamelessly ripped off and modified from here). I do it a bit differently then the chow recipe and it has been an awesome winner over the last two years. A real simple and damn good pie recipe that I have done for close to 10 years now is pecan/pumpkin pie with a butter-bourbon-cream sauce. I cheated the last few years and just bought pre-made pie shells. If you do this, just make two of them. You are getting the canned pumpkin anyways, if you buy the shells, they come in two, and it is marginally no more effort to do a second one when you are already making one.
I made this gravy last year and it was truly delicious. It all starts with the Turkey Stock: Ingredients (yields ~7 cups) 4 1/2 pounds turkey wings, cut in half 1 large onion, chopped 1 large carrot, chopped 1 large celery stalk, chopped 6 fresh Italian parsley sprigs 1 bay leaf 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns Preparation Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange wings in large roasting pan. Roast until deep brown, turning once, about 2 hours total. Transfer wings to large bowl. Spoon 3 tablespoons turkey fat from roasting pan into large pot (reserve roasting pan). Add onion, carrot, and celery to pot. Sauté over medium-high heat until vegetables are golden, about 20 minutes. Add turkey wings to pot. Add 2 cups water to roasting pan; place over 2 burners and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Add liquid to pot. Add remaining ingredients and enough cold water to cover wings by 1 inch. Bring water to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered until stock is very flavorful and reduced to 7 1/2 to 8 cups, about 2 1/2 hours. Strain stock into large bowl. Cool 1 hour, then chill until cold, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled. (Can also be made and frozen 2 weeks ahead.) Spoon off fat from surface before using. Then to the PAN GRAVY (6 servings): Ingredients 2 cups hot turkey stock 1/3 cup all-purpose flour Melted unsalted butter if necessary Reserved chopped giblets from stock (optional) Preparation Make gravy while turkey stands: Strain pan juices through a fine- mesh sieve into 2-quart measure and skim off fat (or use a fat separator), reserving fat. Pour pan juices into a bowl and add stock. Whisk together flour and 1/3 cup reserved fat (if there is less, add melted butter) in a heavy medium saucepan, then cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 2 minutes (mixture will be thick). Add pan juices and stock in a fast stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, then bring to a boil, whisking. Stir in any turkey juices from platter. Chop and add giblets (if using). Simmer gravy, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
I have a client who is an EMT I spoke to a few minutes ago. In the course of the conversation I asked him if he was working on Thanksgiving. He said he was and that believe it or not it's one of their busiest days in regard to deaths. He said people eat too much and in some cases literally, to death. He told me to Google it if I didn't believe him but I've known the guy for 10+ years so I have no reason to believe it would be untrue. However, wouldn't your body try ummm..."forcing the food out"? How is this possible? I need to know more. I don't know why, but I do. Where's Savage Henry?! I'm still sitting here astounded and completely grossed out. Just thought I'd share. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
This is not a recipe, so if it gets deleted then so be it, but it's a warning. Last year my uncle lured the family over with the promise of a Prime Rib roast, and instead served this. Do not do this. Some people may claim to know how to cook a dee-liscious one, but when you've promised people prime rib (we switch it up with turkey, sometimes) and you serve them a hybrid monstrosity instead you will have a mutiny on your hands.
I fucking hate that shitty red jelly they sell in cans and try to pass off as cranberry sauce. That shit sucks, and it's really easy to make something a million times better. Here's my dad's recipe that I just got today: 3 c fresh cranberries (or 12oz bag of frozen) ½ c white sugar ½ c brown sugar 1 c water ½ tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp ground allspice 1/8 tsp ground cloves ½ an apple (or 1 small apple) sliced (granny smith or other firm, tart apple) Mix sugar and spices with water in medium saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Add apple and cranberries and bring to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add additional spices if needed. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. Enough for 4, maybe 5 people.
Not mine. The only ones that will know who's it is are those that listen to Mark&Brian. Kelli's Corn Thang: 1 (one) CUP SOUR CREAM 1 (one) 7 OUNCE BOX OF JIFFY CORN MUFFIN MIX 2 EGGS 2-3 TABLESPOONS SUGAR ½ CUP MARGARINE CHEAP CAN OF CREAMED CORN 8 ½ INCH CASSEROLE DISH (THINK YOU COULD ALSO USED SMALL BROWNIE PAN) PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 DEGREES AND MELT MARGARINE IN PAN MIX ALL THE INGREDIENTS TOGETHER AND POUR INTO MELTED MARGARINE WHICH WILL THEN SURROUND THE MIXTURE. BAKE FOR APPROXIMATELY 40-45 MINUTES UNTIL THE TOP CRACKS AND THE SIDES ARE GOLDEN BROWN. How could that be bad? It's not.
Cranberry Relish. I tried this recipe last year with fresh cranberries and no matter how much sugar I used it was still too tart so this year I did this: 6 Oz (half a bag) of Ocean Spray crasins. 2 cups water. half an apple finely diced. 1/2 tsp orange rind 1/2 cup sugar Simmer the crasins four about 5 minutes until they plump up a bit then add the sugar orange rind and sugar and apple. Simmer for about 10 minutes and chill, the next day you will have an oh, so fine treat for turkey day. This recipe makes enough for two, so just double or quadruple for more.
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pum ... -container In my opinion, waaaaaaaaaay better than pumpkin pie