Turkey Day Menu Discussion

[storrsroars]

After several years of just wife & I heading to Texas de Brazil for a red meat coma, we're hosting T-day this year for my brother and SIL. I was hoping wife would go with a beef tenderloin, but she insists on turkey for company, with ham on the side. We're going to smoke the bird, beyond that I have no clue what's planned other than that there won't be pumpkin anything within 500 feet of the house. I'm going to lobby for sauteed brussels sprouts as a side, and a dried cranberry/jicama chutney, but we'll probably end up with stuff right out of a Betty Crocker cookbook.

The thing I'll look forward to is making turkey chilaquiles for breakfast on Friday.

I dated an Italian girl in college and went to one Italian thanksgiving. Instead of lasagna, it was homemade ravioli and they were like heavenly pillows. Maybe the best meal I ever had.

Traditional Thanksgiving food bores me. I imagine part of that is because I had an Italian godmother (my mother's BFF). We went there for T-day a couple of times and I loved it. There would be antipasti, sausage & peppers, and lasagne before the turkey came out. When we had T-day at home, I would whine constantly about there not being anything with red sauce on the table.

 

[August_West]

 

[August_West]

It's getting to be crunch time so let's talk Turkey Day.

Turkey - Wet or dry brined, no brine, roasted, fried, smoked, spatchcocked, other?
Stuffing - In the bird or on the side. What's your go to?
Sides - Must haves and hard passes.
Cranberry - Can shaped jelly, homemade or none of the above?
Desserts
Leftovers

(Please note, this is an August West free thread. His stupid take on turkey is outdated schlock and is not welcome here.)

FWIW, I voluntarily retired that this year because I figured all you idiots having to over pay for suboptimal product this year was punishment enough. Don’t wake the dragon, cuh.

Turkeys Will Be More Expensive Than Ever This Thanksgiving, and Harder to Get (Published 2022)

With avian flu, inflation and supply-chain challenges, this could be a rough year for getting just the bird you want.

www.nytimes.com

 

[HuskyNan]

Shop early…

It’s Another Less-Than-Fruitful Year for Cranberries - Modern Farmer

The Thanksgiving staple may be in short supply this year.

modernfarmer.com

 

[superjohn]

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday with my least favorite overall food with my most favorite holiday food item.

What’s that favorite item? Pumpkin pie. All pumpkin pie is at least good, but amazing pumpkin pie is divine. My wife makes my favorite pumpkin pie and everyone else in the family likes store-bought crap, so more for me: not too sweet, good spice, darker flavor notes and the crust is kinda graham-ish w some ground up seeds in there too for earthiness.

Any homemade cranberry sauce is better than canned…I like mine more tart and in general I don’t like sweets.

Stuffing, not for me.

Turkey, lame food so I’ll eat whatever you put out and I’m not picky.

Mashed potatoes, love ‘em, but not too buttery. I like texture too, but I’ll accept a purée. Make ‘em spicy if you want me to sing your praises.

That’s about it. There are other things I’ll eat but nothing that excites me about the holiday food.

My sister-in-law and her husband moonlight as vegan home cooks (they published a cookbook and are signed on for another book) and each year I’m actually very impressed with what they make for Thanksgiving. If you hate how that sounds, try it first, it’s an amazing meal.

The food is horrible.

It's nice being with family and friends catching a buzz and watching football all day though.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Oh, well, if we are talking pre-dinner food, we make our own football spread. Cold cuts and meatballs are cool and all but I can have that stuff on sandwiches any old time

 

[superjohn]

But guys… at Italian Thanksgiving, this is all the third course. You gotta start with some antipasti, prosciutto, tomato and mozzarella, garlic bread, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed cherry peppers etc. THEN it’s the meatballs and sausage and maybe a nice lasagna. THEN the traditional thanksgiving food. And then finally, after some rest… some deserts to pick at and check the box.

Marathon, not a sprint!!

That should be the entire meal.

 

[runner11]

I am jealous of my brother. His fiancé is southern and they do fried chicken, ribs, mac and cheese, etc. I’m sure someone in my family will screw up the turkey but I will be making this and can gorge myself.

Hasselback Potato Gratin Recipe

This holiday-ready Hasselback potato gratin recipe delivers all the creamy, cheesy decadence of a classic potato gratin but with infinitely more crispy edges.

www.seriouseats.com

 

[87Xfer]

After several years of just wife & I heading to Texas de Brazil for a red meat coma, we're hosting T-day this year for my brother and SIL. I was hoping wife would go with a beef tenderloin, but she insists on turkey for company, with ham on the side. We're going to smoke the bird, beyond that I have no clue what's planned other than that there won't be pumpkin anything within 500 feet of the house. I'm going to lobby for sauteed brussels sprouts as a side, and a dried cranberry/jicama chutney, but we'll probably end up with stuff right out of a Betty Crocker cookbook.

The thing I'll look forward to is making turkey chilaquiles for breakfast on Friday.

Traditional Thanksgiving food bores me. I imagine part of that is because I had an Italian godmother (my mother's BFF). We went there for T-day a couple of times and I loved it. There would be antipasti, sausage & peppers, and lasagne before the turkey came out. When we had T-day at home, I would whine constantly about there not being anything with red sauce on the table.

warning, sopranos language warning - "so what, no *&#&% ziti now?"

ugh, nevermind

 

[AzHusky]

Is that dessert, a side, or both?

I serve it as a side.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Thanksgiving is easily my favorite holiday and this year will be even better with the World Cup starting kickoffs bright and early.

Heading to the in laws this year and I was informed I am in charge of the turkey this year as a couple years ago my smoked turkey overtook my MILs as the fan favorite. I do a Cajun brine and smoke it with a mixture of apple and cherry wood. Then finish it in the oven to crisp up the skin.

All standard sides of mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams, and cranberry sauce.

Wash it all down with some homemade wine and football. Cannot beat it.

I will miss my mother's broccoli & corn casserole which is my favorite side dish for Thanksgiving.

Another reason for Thanksgiving being a favorite means a yearly family tradition of pickled eggplant (100+ year old recipe from the old country) is right around the corner, which is the only thing I like about the Christmas season.

 

[87Xfer]

The food is horrible.

It's nice being with family and friends catching a buzz and watching football all day though.

I don't go looking for it year-round, but if you can't genuinely enjoy good turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and a lot of homemade gravy one day a year, I feel kinda bad for you.

 

[superjohn]

I don't go looking for it year-round, but if you can't genuinely enjoy good turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and a lot of homemade gravy one day a year, I feel kinda bad for you.

I like food that tastes good, don't feel badly for me.

 

[bigknight3]

I like food that tastes good, don't feel badly for me.

Food tastes good when people know how to cook it...

 

[THC]

Surprised none of you guys have talked about putting the bird on the grill. .Beer in the belly to keep it moist along with your favorite flavorings. yada-yada-yada

BTW..Pumpkin Martinis take the edge off of the in-laws being their doing their Karen/Kevin thing

Pumkin martinis? I'm intrigued. Recipe?

 

[ClifSpliffy]

hey! i came to this party becuz i distinctly remember being told that u were not invited. everrbuddy lies to me. but food trumps you, so here i am.
turkey, duck, rib eyes.
baked potato, corn, peas, carrots, sweet potato something, pickled beets, gravy, cranberry (i like anything cranberry -cooked fresh with sugar, canned berries, the gel stuff, all of it), apple, cherry, pumpkin (meh) pies.
this ends the old school/og part of the menu. hat with a buckle on it, optional.

new school part.
snacks- deviled eggs, celery, olives, radishes, some cheese/cracker getup, fried scamozz fingers, fried eggplant fingers.
beautiful iceberg salad with the cornucopia of vegetables in it including spinach, red onions, and hearts of palm. must be served chilled.
stuffed cabbage, roasted brussels, asparagus, sauteed spinach with garlic and mushrooms. sauteed mushrooms and onions.
pecan pie, pombal bakery mini loaves, chavez bakery salt sticks, somebody's sourdough, preferably stew leonards.
my killer crushed chocolate graham/choc wafer/ cremeless oreo cookie crust, lemon curd filling, with 1 inch thick dark chocolate topping pie, served one notch above frozen.
water, water, water, some beer and wine, caffeine free pepsi, foxon birch, club soda. scotch and vodka. apple juice squeezys for the diners who can't reach the table.
coffee.
on further review, the radishes may belong in the old school menu. idk. all or most of these regularly appear, tho the turkey, duck, rib eye, and stuffed cabbage parts are absolute. everyone knows, and expects.

a few years back, dippy cuz brought her even dippier college bf to the sacred event. everyone loads up, sits down, and dipster doofus whips out a bottle of that siracha garbage. unreal. we have a lot of mutts at the show - sniff city - 'how yoo doin? long time no see, u still gettin that fresh salmon in the bowl? invite me over! no? now im gonna pee on your head, incoming!'
we tried to feed that guy to the dogs, but they don't like siracha, either.

 

[superjohn]

Food tastes good when people know how to cook it...

Sure but there's only so much you can dress up inferior food if you're going with a traditional Thanksgiving. I spent one Thanksgiving with a bunch of chefs who spent all day making the meal. It was certainly better than normal but there's just not much you can do with a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

The Christmas meal is always great.

 

[bigknight3]

Sure but there's only so much you can dress up inferior food if you're going with a traditional Thanksgiving. I spent one Thanksgiving with a bunch of chefs who spent all day making the meal. It was certainly better than normal but there's just not much you can do with a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

The Christmas meal is always great.

This is an entire thread about all the things you can do... Seasoning helps

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

My vegetarian niece was presenting a paper at a conference in Orlando 3 years ago, and flying in on Thanksging day.

I like to paint my dinner plate with a small portion of the dozen or so colorful non-desert meal items each year. I roasted a lot of vegetables that year, and stuffed the acorn squash with a wild rice-craisin-almond mixture, so my niece would have an entree.

Thanksgiving is the most autumn-y meal I have each year. Some dark meat turkey and a good glazed-skin wing always complement the vegetables, grains, gravy, and additional sides. It seems beside the point to weigh in with where the traditional harvest-celebrating fare ranks among my favorite foods. There's always more than enough to eat with great pleasure.

I cherish my family's company, and really value a holiday that is centered in gratitude. I'm more interested in college basketball than football. I wish that a consensus would gather around a hike, but the vibe is generally good and neither gluttony nor intoxication are the focus.

 

[tdrink]

I host around 20 relatives every year and this is now my go to for cooking turkey. Draping it with bacon for last 45 minutes of the cook.

Mashed, roasted root vegetables, onion casserole, Kung pao brussel sprouts, peas, carrots, kimpira. My dad always brings a smoked salmon as an appetizer. Pumpkin, apple and apple/rhubarb pies with ice cream.

 

[temery]

Haven't decided yet.

 

[Hamms30]

Turkey: Oven Roasted Dry Brine (In Kenji I trust) and Breast on the Big Green Egg since the family seems to prefer white meat and left overs.
Stuffing: Sausage stuffed in the bird. We make enough to have a dish baked in the oven too for those who don't want it in the bird.
Sides: Mashed Potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, canned cranberry sauce, glazed carrots, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon.
Dessert: Americas Test Kitchen Pumpkin Cheesecake (two birds one stone), Apple Pie, Italian pastries, Irish coffee.

 

[jibsey]

Frozen butterball’s at ALDIs for $1.06/ lb.. Turkey needs flavor to taste good and most recipes here reflect that. Just cooking it with salt and pepper is not that good. Here’s one that doesn’t fail. Coat bird all sides with olive oil. Then generously rub mixture of 4 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp ground pepper, 3 tsp granulated garlic and 3 tsp paprika onto all sides and back, go heavy. High temp first 30 minutes then lower for duration. You can throw onion, celery, carrot and chicken stock into the pan. It comes out looking amazing too.

 

[Deepster]

Kung pao brussel sprouts

Recipe please.

 

[August_West]

I am jealous of my brother. His fiancé is southern and they do fried chicken, ribs, mac and cheese, etc. I’m sure someone in my family will screw up the turkey but I will be making this and can gorge myself.

Hasselback Potato Gratin Recipe

This holiday-ready Hasselback potato gratin recipe delivers all the creamy, cheesy decadence of a classic potato gratin but with infinitely more crispy edges.

www.seriouseats.com

Ive made that exact recipe, its a pain in the butt and entirely worth it.