Thanksgiving

I'll happily admit to having experimented with cooking turkey, making stuffing and all at different thanksgivings. I got feedback from my family (wife) and have made further adaptations. I've even had some out and out failures.

So while I would describe it as tradtitional in that it is roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc, I don't make any of it like any of my family or friends do or did. And it is now to the point where I don't use recipes. It's all by eyeball, memory and instant read thermometer.

Pete, a true gentleman .

As for the HISTORY of T-Day, this has been an interesting thread from all perspectives.

I enjoy the origin of a topic.


Petals

Just googled Succotash Susanne. Up till now, i've only known it from bugs bunny cartoons when the Moustached baddie Cries Suffering succotach. Forgive my ignorance. Your recipe sounds grand.

Obviously we dont have thanksgiving in Scotland.

I know from bitter experience re. chrismas, how stuck in a rut families can be and against all forms of evolution. But we've all evolved over the centuries. Surely the food great granny is tucking into now, is majorly different to what her own great granny would have enjoyed. And so on, back to the earliest days. I know Victorian/Edwardian Christmas dinners were a far cry from the supposed tradition we passionately strive for now and for what. The huge majority are bored with dried out turkey and all the trimmings.
I'm quite sure peasants in the middle ages would have been chuffed to bits with a chunk of anything resembling meat. Let alone a stuffed turkey.

So many of these posts resemble my husbands family attitude to christmas, but we've knocked it on the head. They always want to come to us for the holidays. And if they want our abundant fare. And they do. Believe me...roaring fire/presents and general ambience, they also enjoy curry. (we've done it twice and they've enjoyed it. Reluctantly at first, but eventually loved it) They've also had venison steaks with a red wine and rosemary reduction.

Mind you, they have also had (with the steaks) Crisp roast potatoes, mashed potatoes 3 or 4 veges and a clootie dumpling (Trad Scot) and mince pies. Shortbread with a cup of tea later to show i'm not entirely a heathen

Surely christmas and Thanksgiving are about being grateful for what we have. Some folk are stuck in a groove they will never get out of, and see it as a way of continuing a comfort zone with their family. Maybe its the only time they see their kids, or the only time they cook. Maybe its their first thanksgiving/christmas together and they want to make a show of it...

AT the risk of sounding cheesy, Enjoy. If you make an effort and cook with love your friends and famly will enjoy it too.

Turkey Technique ?

I know a chef who stuffs the cavity of a turkey with a small ham....
Has anyone heard of this technique ?

Then I met another chef.....who stuffs a different way.....
He said a turkey should be stuffed towards the neck end only leaving the cavity open and takes legs off . Does anyone do this ?


What is your technique ?

Petals

ps. Do you have a stuffing of choice ?

I don't stuff the turkey. Slows things way down, complicates things and is difficult to cook to food safe temps without overcooking the bird.

I do cook a small turkey a month or so before Thanksgiving so I can make turkeystock to freeze for the big day. This helps me prepare a good stuffing outside the bird that still tastes authentically of turkey, improves the gravy and can help out with the bird too.

Yes, very good idea.

If you aren't organzied enough to do a whole turkey in advance, legs and wings make good stock and can be done the a day or two before. Having a good stock on hand really helps bring out the best flavors in lots of the traditional dishes.

mjb.

I resist the temptation to get too creative with my Thanksgiving menu. Fresh food with thoughtful preparation works best for me.

I don't "mess with" Thanksgiving, but I have pared it down a bit. Up until about a decade ago we always got the family together and my aunt prepared an epic spread. We're talking the usual turkey and dressing, potatoes, yams, etc but also ham, four or five kinds of salad, three veggies, several casseroles- basically a ridiculous amount of stuff. Now our get-together is usually just immediate family. It's more about being together than having a huge spread so I keep it simple. I always make the turkey (with stuffing in the bird and a small pan on the side with no onions for my idiot brother who won't touch them:lol:). There's always gravy & mashed potatoes, and I generally make one other veggie. We always have bread and jelled cranberries chilled from a can (what can I say, everyone likes it). Desert is usually pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream. Often the pie comes from Sam's Club.

It's enough work to do dinner without making it a two day ordeal.

growing up, a friend's family didn't care for turkey (GASP), so for Thanksgiving, her mom made lobster - - two tails apiece, one for dinner and one "for later". Whatever floats your boat. :thumb:

I'll just sous-vide the turkey parts I have left over from easters "free supermarket turkey" i think this year.

When I talk about tradition, I don't mean any tradition other than your own. Most people have turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I know people who take those items and roll them all up in a lefse. That's Thanksgiving tradition to them. If you have lobster, fish, ham or any other thing, that's your tradition and that's what I'm talking about. A basic meal that you can count on to be the same year in and year out without any surprises. As for the original, I don't know or care as I wasn't there. The origins of the Thanksgiving most people celebrate is based on Squanto and his tribe bringing food to some starving pilgrims. What the pilgrims labeled a Thanksgiving dinner came some years later and they were celebrating something entirely different, which I won't go into as I don't want to tarnish a holiday that is celebrated for the right reasons. I am Cheyenne, Irish and Norwegian in equal parts. The rest is composed of Dane, Romanian and other European goulash too numerous to mention. Indians generally don't celebrate Thanksgiving as they regard every day as Thanksgiving. They don't understand setting only one day a year aside for it and kind of resent everybody associating that holiday as originating with them. And sure, they didn't have green bean casserole at the first Thanksgiving. Neither did we. I think somebody made and brought it sometime in the '80s. Before that by about two years my mom melted Velveeta with some green beans and we loved it. Prior to that, we never had any green beans on the table. Now, we always do.This thread made me so hungry for green bean casserole that I have some in the nuke as we speak. It comes out fine in the nuke in 5 min. Pass the jellied cranberries please, I'll eat 'em right out of the can.

Speaking of green beans, friend of mine is involved with a group that does a Thanksgiving potluck every year. Usually a pretty good spread, the host for the year does the turkey, the guests provide everything else.

I didn't attend the year in question, they are 900 miles away, but it was green beans. The host did the turkey, and *everyone* brought some sort of green bean dish. No potatoes, no bread, no salads, no cranberries, no pies - nothing but turkey and green beans. An amazing variety of green bean dishes, so I was told, but still....

mjb.

Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday aside from the weather, partly due to my dislike of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and yams. I could eat any one of those things by itself but somehow when they present themselves in combination I don't want them.

Since most of us didn't care much for turkey we ended up doing a pork roast or a prime rib for the main course and roasted a turkey breast as a side dish. That was our tradition.

Starting with Columbus Day through Thanksgiving I'm a little iffy on these American holidays and don't care for them as happy celebrations considering the truth of history. I do however like to think of this time as a celebration of the harvest and focus on that - thank goodness it's apple pie time in NY!

The only thing I change on Thanksgiving is the sweet potatoes. Since there are only 4 of us, from 12, who eat them, I try to do them differently every couple of years. Two years ago I added a praline topping to the potato chunks.

We're not fans of turkey, so we only get a twelve-pounder. Our main meat is ham, with the secondary actually being a lasagna with meat sauce. The turkey is considered the third meat, and is there mostly for the two diabetics in the family.

Theresa;)

I don't mess with my Thanksgiving meal either. I have considered mixing up my desert though.

I got 5 words for you to put a twist on your thanksgiving:
apple zucchini pumpkin muffin stuffin'
enough said!

I agree with those who enjoy the traditional turkey dinners, my "twist" is more on display than ingredence or technique.
First I remove the breasts from my roasted turkey by running my knife down the breats bone and follow the ribs on both sides to get out the whole meat breasts. Then place the bird on a large serving platter( larger than the turkey by about 1/3rd or more). Next fill one cavity with mashed potatoes(Reserve some potatoes to finish the display),the other side with stuffing, to create the shape of a whole turkey.
Then slice the breasts and shingle them down over the potatoes and stuffing and continue to fan them out in front of the turkey on the platter.with my reserved potatoes in a pipeing bag, pipe them down over the breast bone, then set scallion poms and/or steamed carrots, and mabey some herb stems to finish it off.
the reast of the platter can be filled in withyour cooked vegetables, crudite, or grapes and strawberries. The presentation is both beautiful and functional as a one dishe family style service.

Just found a flavor combo that's freakin me out it's so good... this year's turkey will be rubbed with smashed coriander and cumin. :peace:

A winning combination, Koukouvagia. Don't forget to dry-roast the seeds before crushing them.

You might want to consider addition some crushed allspice berries to the mixture as well.

Do I need to toast them if they are already going to be roasting?

Allspice sounds perfect, in it goes.

You don't have to roast the seeds, ever. But it intensifies their flavors when you do.

People seem to have trouble roasting spices, and tend to burn them (same with pine nuts, btw). My solution: Use a small, dry frypan heated until very hot.

Pour inthe seeds and remove from the heat, stirring or flipping the seeds while the residual heat of the pan does the job.

Not to sound too corney but..........Tradition is as tradition does.

For my tradition...... I've either celebrated the day with family at my Aunt's home (funny how that occurred in two different states with two different Aunts), with friends at our home or at theirs or with family (extended or otherwise) at our home. Being Italian, the ironic thing is and was......there have never been any of the typical family Italian dishes served. Never any pasta, never any seafoods (other than the raw oysters, clams and shrimp cocktail for appetizers. This was the only Holiday meal where we served what was suggested as "traditional" Thanksgiving day foods.;)

Since we arrived in Virginia, it's been just my Cousins family but this year we add 2-10 ppl from another family/friend celebration that has gone array.

As far as the food goes, since probably the 90's I started doing the turkey like Suzanne mentions. Always a hit! Best thing too is that the stuffing doesn't become toxic after the meal and can be saved. Bird seems to be much juicier too. Also this year...... we add a smoked country cured ham from Adams Peanuts and smoke house. It's a tradition here in VA (and I'm sure other areas too) and is the tradition of the added guests.

Anyhow, I was the only one to ever "tweak" the foods but never found myself straying too far from the original dish. It was easy because things were never served to the family that the traditions were started with. We're scattered all over from Virginia to Chicago to Atlanta to Denver to Tucson

For the Turkey......other than deboning the bird, I like to take a compound butter and stuff it under the skin (between the meat and skin everywhere except the back) whereas my family and friends always just basted it with butter pan drippings. I still use the pan drippings to baste.

Stuffing was always a sage/gizzards and breakfast sausage where I've made it into a melange of fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme), chestnuts, morels and low country sausage (although this year I'll be using Surry sausage. This is a smoked country sausage from Surry Virginia.) By the way, I've removed the gizzards and they go into the stock with all the rest of the gibblets.

Cranberry relish was always of the canned variety but I never liked that so I opted for fresh made. I started to add real maple syrup instead of all the sugar as well as cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, lemon and orange zest as well as some orange segments from the fresh oranges. Since I made those changes......we never have any left over. Hehehe

Green bean casserole is hard to leave off and....... as yuk as it can be.........we just like it. Plus it wouldn't be the same without it. Most of the time..this is brought by a guest although.......... I have made this entirely from scratch (non Campbell's soup/Durkee fried onion recipe and it does improve it to the point where everyone has some.......:rolleyes:

Sweets (Yams) rotate from a candied pecan casserole type (yes....with marshmallows and all) to a Makers Mark roasted and mashed variety. Both have their niche and the funny thing is those that eat one won't touch the other. Have thought of just serving baked sweets and have butter, cinnamon and sugar available .....we'll see this year.

I quit doing a salad because of all the other foods. We have one person (one of my Cousins kids) request just some lettuce with french dressing so we always have that available. Corn is fresh sweet (when we can get it) cut off the cob and just buttered. Have thought of leaving it on the cob.....we'll see. Sure would save a step.;) This year we may add Greens too.

Breads are home-made white bread and biscuits. We had yeast rolls on the menu but since we left KC (BIL made these) we have just used the bread and biscuits. Made Croissants first year out of culinary school.....funny....haven't had them since.:rolleyes:

Pies are homemade and typical of the season. The pumpkin is as basic as possible but with fresh, roasted pumpkin instead of canned. We also have apple pie but usually a Caramel apple variety. Home-made ice creams' usually accompany these. Last year the choices were Vanilla bean or Spiced Jack Daniels/Cinnamon. This year I'm not sure.

Then there is the late evening snack of leftover turkey. This is served either on the bread (as a sandwich wth lettuce and mayo) or biscuits (hot browns style with the biscuits) or pulled and dipped in a bowl of just mayo.

That's our day of celebration in a nutshell. As with all....waayyy too much food. Good thing we have a month before Christmas to recuperate.

P.S. I shared a lesser known factoid about the day in last years discussion. Here is a link to info on it. (Not the discussion)
Virginia Fall 2009: First Thanksgiving

I like making a galantine. That way there is no bickering over who got more dark meat. :peace:

Thanksgiving

Our meal has evolved over the years too. Hubbys family consisted of his parents and 15 kids and had the smallest of meals ever, usually a 15 pound turkey, instant mashed potatoes, canned green beans and canned cranberry sauce....and never any kind of gravy for the overcooked dry bird. My dinner was always spent at my aunts, she had a nice traditional meal. Once we married and I started making our meal I changed some things, I make gallons of turkey stock in the weeks before the holiday to be used for stuffing and gravy, I bake herb breads to dry and use for stuffing and make lots of side veggies all fresh. I also make usually a lasagna and a ham too. Over the years attendance at home has steadily increased to numbers up to 50 with people coming in at all times during the day and evening and included our 3 kids friends as well. Now with all the kids grown and married off they usually go spend the day with their wives parents and then come by here to pick up the dinner they are used to from their youth for the next day.....yes, I roast them each a smaller turkey and they take the leftover lasagna and ham too, the grandchildren love it all and I normally babysit them the next day while their parents do the madness of black Friday shopping. I love spending my time in my kitchen and it's all worth it just to hear the 8 year old grandson say "my nana loves me cause she cooks me such good stuff". I picked up 2 turkey breasts during this weeks grocery shopping to get a start on the day, the prices are dropping here on them so I stock up because we eat turkey all year long, I roast them just for sandwiches too when the prices drop down so low.:thumb:

Mattie-
What a lovely tradition. We're about the same stage of life as you, but only one of our three kids is nearby. We do something of the same, with a couple grandkids - on a smaller scale - plus a cousin and his daughter every year.

Hope you have a warm and busy T-day this year!

Mike

What a great Grandma you are to lovingly prepare such a feast for your family, starting weeks in advance. I'm floored that you bake each family a little turkey to take home with them, how ever do you manage that in a home kitchen?! I wish my family was close by to share this holiday with them.

Thanksgiving

I love doing it or else I sure wouldn't so that helps immensely! The grandkids love to cook and they are hungry to learn everything, their mother (our DIL) was not allowed near the stove when she lived in her parents home so consequently she never learned to put even basic meals together, I find that to be a horrid situation and she is embarassed by it, her mother loved to cook and wouldn't let her children take away from her own pleasure by being in her kitchen when meals were prepared........the kids were, however allowed to do all the clean up, our DIL always calls me for suggestions of things to try and she has come a really long way and also now enjoys being in her kitchen. Our kids on the other hand (3 boys) were all constantly in the kitchen with me, also in my sewing room, they can all run a house better than most young people of today, they cook almost anything and can sew clothing and drapes too, they are in other words pretty self sufficient, on several occasions their wives/girlfriends have thanked us for their having to do everything during their years at home with us.

Back to the dinners, I do a large 20-25 pound bird for us here at home and usually 2 12-15 pounders for the boys that live here in town, I make lots of extras of all the side veggies so it's just a matter of packaging up some for them. I roast our turkey overnight and when it is done I put the other two in to roast, my stove has 2 ovens and I also have a countertop convection oven so it all gets used all day. I do a lot of preprep of the veggies and such, sometimes I blanch them a week or two in advance, season them and then bag them with a Foodsaver and freeze, then they can just be heated in the bags in a large vessel of boiling water on the day. All the bread for the dressing gets baked weeks in advance and left to dry out, stock is made and containered and frozen. The only item that gets no prep done until the big day is the fresh mashed potatoes. The kitchen here is actually as small as my old apartment in NYC but my stove is bigger and I have some counter space and a spare room to store all the equiptment needed to cook for a crowd, if you have the right equiptment it's not such a big job, although if I tried to do it all in one day I would probably hang myself.

The kids really appreciate it and it keeps this old lady busy and happy, I hate to think of the day when I might not be able to do it, but the best of all is watching those grandchildrens eyes light up around the table and they are really a joy to cook for, they will literally eat anything I prepare and at their ages I find that wonderful, they are 8, 4, 3, 2.

If there is any part of the meal that is lacking it is the desert area, I'm not big on sweets so I usually only make one or two simple cheesecakes and hubby makes a pumpkin and an apple pie and depending on how many we think are going to show up for the meal and how much prep I have done, there have been years when I didn't even make the cheesecakes, it all works out because everybody always asks what they can bring and I tell them something for desert if they insist.
All this just brought back a memory of my apartment in NYC when in 1991 I made dinner for the crew I was working with and when they all arrived we realized how really small my apartment was, they all made plates and proceeded to eat on the stairs in my walk up building, pretty soon all the tenants wandered in too and started to eat, I got to meet all my neighbors that day, it was one of the best days ever.:smiles:

Mattie.....Heart and soul is definitely what you've got!!!!!! Personally those are the to most important ingredients to any menu/meal prep. Nice to see the effort to make it special for the family in attendance and those not. I'm sure the boy's that you have in town are happy campers!

By the way........still have that sheet of Teflon you sent me. Haven't had to replace the first repair as of yet but it hasn't seen the same usage as in years past. That was really a great thing and I can't thank you enough. So I can say from my own personal experience that the Hear and Soul comment is the real thing.:thumb:

Thank you

Thank you, OldSchool!!! I am so happy that the teflon worked out for you, was thinking about it the other day when I got out the 2 Foodsavers here and dusted them off to start getting ready for the holidays.

I love to feed those I love and even sometimes those I don't. I hate the thought of people being hungry or alone so our door is just about open to all who need a meal. Our oldest son lives back east with his wife and kids so he misses out on the free for all here with his brothers and us and we miss him terribly but they all do a conference call from here on the day just to harrass him so we always have lots of laughs with the ribbing that goes on among them.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday and may your table be full with good food and family and friends!:peace: