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Sun 13 Nov, 2005 05:46 pm
I'm not cooking Thanksgiving Dinner this year, instead, we'll be staying at a resort and eating at the restaurant.
This will be the first time in quite a while that I'm not making or heavily contributing to a Thanksgiving Dinner, so I couldn't help myself... all day I've been cooking a turkey. With a nod to our diet, I didn't make my incredibly delicious signature "Italian" stuffing (made with pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, dried fruits, sausage, parmesan and fancy breads -- sigh).
Instead I stuffed the bird with chunks of onion and lemon and rubbed it with kosher salt, lemon pepper, sage and sesame seeds. It's cooking breast-side down in Semillion wine and smells fabulous. I'm also roasting autumn vegies --red potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, yams, turnips, onions and carrots -- that were first dressed in a little olive oil, sage, thyme & salt. They're looking good.
Rounding out tonight's meal: homemade cranberry sauce - I like it quite plain and make it with fresh berries and fructose. I've started a soup of butternut squash with apples and shallots which is coming along nicely -- I've just added a bit of butter and some cognac. I still have to make a fruit salad and brown some Brussels sprouts. I might make a dessert but maybe we'll just have ice cream with liqueur.
There'll be mini-bruschettas for hors d'eourvres and we'll be drinking Pinot Grigio.
What are your plans for dinner... tonight or on Thanksgiving??
We are going out, with a bunch of neighbors, to a local eatery. The place has a humongous buffet that they trot out on holidays.
We started discussing tday dinner last week. For the last few years, my sister's family has gone to her mother-in-law's house for tday, but this year they will be at our parents - a full house!
So far, we know we're having turkey. We're thinking about a chipotle theme. I make a carrot dip/mash with pinenuts and chipotle that's yummy. I thought we could keep stuffing (pinenut, chipotle, pepitas, etc) with butternut squash cubes - would that work?
For sides we were thinking of wilted spinach salad (with mint and lemon zest), the big (isreali) couscous, of course cranberry sauce (prolly canned this year). My mother wants to make a red wine - cranberry reduction sauce that sounds good.
Desset making isn't my thing, so I dunno what's in the works for that. I was thinking about making rumballs though.
My mom is having surgery two days before T-day so this year it's all up to me. I'm looking forward to cooking this year and having my first official holiday in my new house.
So far I have decided to do a honey baked ham (not a big turkey fan) with cranberry-cherry chutney. Side dishes will be plentiful with the usual green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, various pies (cherry, apple, pumpkin and pecan) watergate salad, biscuits, banana bread, coffee and cider and a few other things if I can squeeze them in the oven.
Mmmmmm...can't wait....
Going to my husband's cousin's house for dinner, as we have for the last several years now. She will call me this week, I'm sure, with my cooking assignment.
wow, how time is flying. I remember our turkey dinner
discussion of last year, Piffka.
Like true pilgrims, we eat someplace else this year.
We will have a turkey of our own baking. The kids won't be by, I think, so the other dishes will be few. Probably a few pies, vegies. Nothing fantastic.
I like thanksgiving better then christmas.
Phoenix - That sounds like a relaxing way to enjoy Thanksgiving and it is always nice to share with friends. Will you miss cooking a turkey?
littlek wrote:We started discussing tday dinner last week. For the last few years, my sister's family has gone to her mother-in-law's house for tday, but this year they will be at our parents - a full house!
So far, we know we're having turkey. We're thinking about a chipotle theme. I make a carrot dip/mash with pinenuts and chipotle that's yummy. I thought we could keep stuffing (pinenut, chipotle, pepitas, etc) with butternut squash cubes - would that work?
For sides we were thinking of wilted spinach salad (with mint and lemon zest), the big (isreali) couscous, of course cranberry sauce (prolly canned this year). My mother wants to make a red wine - cranberry reduction sauce that sounds good.
Desset making isn't my thing, so I dunno what's in the works for that. I was thinking about making rumballs though.
It's nice to hear you'll be having your Thanksgiving dinner with the whole family. I like the chipotle theme. I think I read that turkeys originally came from Mexico.
Are you wondering about putting stuffing into the butternut squash? Or stuffing squash into the turkey? If in the turkey, I wonder how well they'd hold up. Mine turned to a good mushy soup after an hour or so of cooking.
Love the idea of wilted spinach... that's a great salad. And the couscous sounds great. You'll have beautifully colorful plates of food.
Dessert was not a big deal for us tonight. I put out some store-bought truffles and a few dried apricots. Nobody was in the mood for ice cream. We sipped some port which was surprisingly good.
Mine is going to be unusual... stopping by young friends' who make dinner for their many AA friends. I can, amazingly enough, last for days without alcohol, but I'm not sure I could make it through a turkey party without one. Plus, I've long distance phone calls to make to family. We'll see, I'm pretty distracted right now and am in a nesting mode for the short time I have before moving cataclysms.
However, friend richard emailed me today with a new and interesting turkey recipe, which I'll come back and give links for later. Thing was - it was different for the fact that it involved two small turkeys instead of one biggie. And.... they sit on a baking pan with relatively short sides, resting on carrots instead of some rack. This was new and startling to me. No turkey flipping needed....
Aldistar wrote:My mom is having surgery two days before T-day so this year it's all up to me. I'm looking forward to cooking this year and having my first official holiday in my new house.
So far I have decided to do a honey baked ham (not a big turkey fan) with cranberry-cherry chutney. Side dishes will be plentiful with the usual green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, various pies (cherry, apple, pumpkin and pecan) watergate salad, biscuits, banana bread, coffee and cider and a few other things if I can squeeze them in the oven.
Mmmmmm...can't wait....
Good luck to your mom, Aldistar. And good luck to you on your first official holiday at "home." Ham sounds delicious and is nice because it is also a meat that goes well with fruit. Thanksgiving needs fruit, I think.
The squeeze in the oven can give you trouble. A turkey and two small side-dishes is all I can manage in my smallish wall oven. It is so narrow that some of my pans don't fit inside. If you can bake your pies and banana bread ahead of time you'll be less stressed. I am rarely that organized, but I understand the concept.
I'm wondering... Watergate salad??? Is that Waldorf salad?
Good play on words, even if it's inadvertent! I'm going to start calling it that.
eoe -- Your husband's cousin's house? Will the rest of the family be there, too? We do a lot of things with my husband's many cousins -- they're close in age and habits to us. It's good fun to hang out with them.
Calamity Jane -- Cool. Pilgrims! I like that; I guess we could say that we'll be pilgrims too... wandering about, looking for a meal. We'll be at an inn though and I assume you'll be at a friend's house. Will you be bringing something special?
I'm worried about you though. What if they serve turkey? You don't like it, right? You might starve!!!
Hi Edgar - It is feeling a little strange to me that our kids won't be coming by for Thanksgiving. That's why I had this pre-T-day turkey tonight and had a couple of friends over to share it. Does it feel strange to you? IMO, pies are always good.
Amigo - You prefer Thanksgiving? That's so sweet. Is it because there is less pressure on you? Do you help cook? What is your favorite dish?
ossobuco wrote:Mine is going to be unusual... stopping by young friends' who make dinner for their many AA friends. I can, amazingly enough, last for days without alcohol, but I'm not sure I could make it through a turkey party without one. Plus, I've long distance phone calls to make to family. We'll see, I'm pretty distracted right now and am in a nesting mode for the short time I have before moving cataclysms.
However, friend richard emailed me today with a new and interesting turkey recipe, which I'll come back and give links for later. Thing was - it was different for the fact that it involved two small turkeys instead of one biggie. And.... they sit on a baking pan with relatively short sides, resting on carrots instead of some rack. This was new and startling to me. No turkey flipping needed....
Hi Ossobuco. I'm not a huge drinker, but I also like to sip something on feast days. I hope that the AA dinner goes well for you... maybe you can just "stop by" long enough to be sociable.
I never cook my turkey on a rack. I'm all for making the turkey as moist as possible. It worked quite well today to cook the turkey breast-side down in a deep wine base. I flipped it over just about 1/2 hour before taking it out and the breast-side was a little pale so I broiled it until the entire bird was a nice yummy brown. Mr.P said it was the best he'd ever had but I swear he ALWAYS says that. I missed the stuffing.
I have heard of cooking two small birds instead of one. That way, you can put one whole bird on the table as an edible centerpiece and the other is fully carved and passed at the meal. Maybe your friend Richard has something else in mind.
ossobuco wrote: ......resting on carrots instead of some rack. This was new and startling to me. ....
We tend to do a similar thing with a joint of beef.
Peel six large onions and cut them in half. Place onions (flat side down) in baking tray and put beef (nicely seared) on top.
Roast the beef until medium rare and remove, to let it "rest".
Whilst onions are still in the tray, mash them into the beef juices, for a wonderful gravy.
Happy thanksgiving everyone.....whenever it is.
(when is it, by the way?)
Wonderful to see your seasonal column Piff. I remember last years gave me a lot of ideas. Alas, we decided to take a break this year and we're going to our guitar players ranch for a feast with about 35 others. I know there's 2 deep fried turkeys and a traditional one and there's wild Florida Boar on the spit. We'll make a few side dishes and relax this year.
I dunno yet, one of these Thursdays coming right up.
I was also startled by the tray... as the low sides let the birdies brown (I posit) more fully all around...
On the group gathering, yeh, I'll just stop by. Not so much re the imbibing thing (though if I was there eight hours as for family that might get to me) as for the generational difference re the crowd.
Lord Ellpus wrote:(when is it, by the way?)
I think it's the last Thursday in November but your recipe is gonna be served for Christmas...we always do a standing rib roast. Thanks for the idea Lord.
There are no official Thanksgiving Dinners in the UK?
I am jumping the gun, Lord E. with this thread. There are almost two weeks 'til Thanksgiving; also known as Turkey Day, T-day is on November 24th. Since I'll be gone then and busy next weekend, I decided to cook a turkey tonight.
We were comparing turkey-cooking notes with our friends and they said when they cook their turkey, their 'secret' is to cook the turkey atop sliced pears. The pears cook down and become part of the gravy which sounds tasty... as does the onion with beef. Very savory. You Brits are specially good at cooking beef, I think.
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