What is everyone making for thanksgiving?

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving this side of the pond!

I do!! and yeah same ol same ol - Turkey, Herb apple stuffing, Giblet and Port gravy, crispy roast potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, glazed baby carrots with balsamic and honey, sauteed leeks with prunes, chestnut puree, cranberry & port relish, cranberry and orange relish, bread sauce, stir fried brussel sprouts followed by Pumpkin pie chantilly:chef:

Room for pie???

Our get together

My additions are Jalapeno cornbread dressing, Fresh Tomato and Spinach casserole, Chilean squash, and crisp proscuitto wrapped potatoes stuffed with rosemary sprigs, I will also make a buttermilk cake for dessert. My family is pretty large so I try to provide variety with the "standards"

It's just the four of us for Thanksgiving and we do the traditional menu for the most part. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, vegetable casserole, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, giblet gravy for the stuffing, sweet potatoes (mashed with marshmallows melted on top), deviled eggs, rolls, and pumpkin pie.

I'm still debating on the stuffing. I want what we called dressing like my grandmother made from biscuits, cornbread, and turkey drippings but last year's attempt wasn't successful. I don't like the stuff in the box! The cranberry sauce is from the can. I don't know how to make it and we didn't like the stuff that was like jello with berries in it....no floaties in gelatin for me.

I hate this question :mad: because there are so many good choices that I would love to do, but when it comes right down to it I am a creature of habit and I make the same things year in and year out. But we have no family close so it's just the 3 of us, and we're all happy with the meal anyway. So yup, just the usual.

Goodness, haven't even thought about it yet.

We'll spend it with friends, so will most likely make my seafood lollipops as a first course, and, probably, pumpkin bread done in the style of Monkey Bread.

There's just the two of us, so if we were staying home I'd likely do either a pheasant or a guinea fowl instead of a turkey.

Seafood lollipops sound nice - any chance of your recipe? Would be greatly appreciated!

I can do anything, cook anything for my family as long as the stuffing has pinenuts and cranberries in it; the sweet potatos are roasted with garlic, fresh rosemary, cracked black pepper; and I fix the cranberry sauce with oranges and port.

After these staples of our holiday table I can cook anything............ in fact probably don't have to cook, I could send for pizza.

We're going to my cousin's, and bringing the family heirloom dressing. Pretty much usual, stale bread, stale cornbread, the usual herbs and spices, lots of butter, turkey broth and... Brazil nuts. Makes a whole 'nother thing. :cool:

Mike

Oh yeah !!! gotta be done!:roll::roll:

KYH-
What exactly is a Guinea fowl in KY?

I used to hunt something called a Guinea fowl in West Africa - in Liberia, not too far from French Guinea - and I assumed they were named as coming from there. How did they make it to Kentuckey? It was a little larger than a chicken, but it was so long ago I don't remember much more about them.

They made challenging wing shooting, and were pretty good eating. Much better than the local chickens, in fact.

Mike

Same bird, Mike.

They're raised all over the U.S. by folks interested in exotic fowl. My neighbor has them, and does a thriving business in both the birds and their eggs.

And, yeah, they taste better than the local chickens here, too.

Considering last year we were living in a hotel and had Cracker Barrel for our meal on paper plates with plastic sporks.......
Here's what we'll be having pending approval from the menu committee;)


For the Apps................
Smoked Duck and Brie Cheese Quesadillas with Roasted Hatch Chile Salsa
Boiled SE Coast White shrimp with cocktail sauce
Pigs'n'Blankets (for the kids)
Cheese Puffs (for the kids too)


Dinner.................
Caesar Salad with Garlic croutons and Parmesan Crisps
Roast Turkey-deboned (except for leg and wings) stuffed and trussed.
Stuffing- Roasted Chestnut wild mushroom
Makers Mark Mashed sweet potatoes with pecans and marshmallows
Mashed Yukon gold potatoes
Corn (Fresh cut)
Green Bean Casserole (The standard style but this one is entirely scratch made.)
Fresh baked bread
Cranberry sauce

Dessert..................
Ginger Spiced pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Home-made Black Walnut Ice Cream
Home-made Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

(show-off...):lol:

Hey!!!!!! You know the address!;) I bet ya went and told ol'Tommy too.:cool::lol:

KY,

While you're looking for your seafood lollipop recipe, would you mind digging up the pumpkin monkeybread one as well?

Thanks,
KCZ

KCZ,

Didn't know anyone else was interested, so sent Ben instructions for the lollipops as a private message. Maybe he'll repost it back.

It is not so much a recipe as a method I developed after watching Cat Cora make her Seafood "Corndogs." Basically, an amorphous mixture of mild fish and seafood (Cat Cora used just oysters and shrimp, but I include tilapia or crappie, for bulk, plus scallops, as well) is pureed with eggwhite and white pepper. I small disher is then used to drop balls of this mixture into a simmering fumet. The balls are poached just until they tighten up, then drained, sticks inserted, and the balls dipped into a cornmeal batter. The whole thing then goes into the deep fryer until golden brown and crisp.

The pumpkin bread recipe comes from Ultimate Bread, which you can currently find among the book reviews. All I do, because it makes a nice presentation, is bake it in the style of Monkey Bread instead of as a boule. I also, btw, use it to make mini-buns, which are terrific. To my taste, it works better with butternut squash than pumpkin, but you may prefer the original.

Oldschool, your menu sounds wonderful!!!

and KYH I'm going to go check out that pumpkin bread.

My signature dish is a roasted chestnut and hazelnut soup. It's got white wine, cognac, lots of veggies, chicken stock (from scratch of course), prosciutto, a little hand smoked dry bacon, and pureed to extremely smooth in a Vitamix, with a little cream and lil dollop of creme fraiche.

It was "inspired" many years ago by something from the Silver Palate women, but I've changed it to lighten it up and round out the flavors. No one will let me off the hook from making that soup ever since.

I have two turkeys coming from a guy I know who raises them on pasture and with organic feed:bounce: . One I am going to roast fairly traditionally, and my Italian BIL is going to debone the other, smoke it lightly, stuff it and roast it.

For bread I'm making a wild rice multi-grain bread, and epi-baguettes.

He is a She!! - I will post KY's recipe here for the seafood lollipops after I have had a good look LOL:D

KY's recipe for lollipop sticks

'the seafood lollipops are more a technique than a hard recipe. I got the basic idea from Cat Cora, who makes seafood "corndogs."

In her case she makes a puree of oysters and shrimp with some egg white. This gets piped into the liqued from the oysters, using a large plain tip (I'm guessing a half inch) and poached until just done enough to hold shape. She then puts these on short skewers, dips them in a cornmeal batter, and deep fries them.

In my case, I take a variation of the mixture I use for seafood sausages. Start with about a pound of tilapia or other mild fish (for bulk). Add shrimp, scallops, and oysters in an amorphous mass, maybe a half pound of each. Puree the whole thing with eggwhite and a bit of white pepper.

Heat a fumet or fish stock. Using a tablespoon sized disher, or one slightly smaller, drop balls of the puree into the simmering stock. Cook until they hold their shape.

Add sticks (I use the flat sticks used for ice cream bars). Dip into a cornmeal batter. Deep fry until golden brown on all sides.

These are great plain, but even better with an array of dipping sauces.

Sometimes I serve these as a small plate, plating thus: A pyramid of cheddar mashed potatoes is put in the middle of the plate. Three of the pops are spaced around it, with their sticks meeting like a tipi over the spuds (you could use round sticks for this, and actually tie them together with a ribbon of wilted leek or the like). Then the
sauce(s) or choice are squirted around the whole mass. '

Thanks KY - will definitely try these out - probably for a cocktail party or the wine tasting that I am catering on Tuesday - will let you know how I get on. Still don't know how to post a picture of your excellent root soup:confused: I will be doing it again in the cafe when the weather gets a little icier! - still warm in Uk for November!

>He is a She!! <

Sorry, Ben. Should have known better than to assume....

No probs KY - Bombay Ben's is the name of the cafe - stole it from Bangkok Charlie's (Ben is my son's name) my REAL name is Lizz!! and I am from LA Calif - just live here in UK. I am am originally from India though!

Thanks Stir! Likewise!

Just checked on resevations for the fresh turkey at the local grocer. Set to arrive next Fri. 25lb'er. Now all I have to do is locate some of the ingredients needed for the other things. Turns out duck is very sparce on this end of town, and several other things are hit or miss. Looks like I'm gonna have to take a road trip to Charlottesville or Norfolk for the Whole Foods and Trader Joes. It's amazing the lack of real diverse culinary ingredients here in the Richmond area. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place but.......... I don't know. And I thought KC was behind in things.

Mia nonna found a recepie from FoodNetwork.com. It's a corn casserole. Tastes very good especially when you top it with shredded cheddar. Aw yea thats good.

Thanks, KY. The pumpkin monkeybread sounds like a possibility for Thanksgiving, the less traditional seafood lollipops for New Year's.

My family is also very boring Southern family and they demand the same recipes year in and year out...and heaven help me if we change any of the principal players up and go gourmet! We'd be linched before we could say turkey! The only thing we get some latitude on is the potato course and the appetizers and salad. :D

Appetizers: (These are just tiny, salty munchies for early in the day. We eat at 6pm)
Blue Cheese Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon
Spiced Pecans
Cayenne Cheese Straws
Dilly Bits

Salad:
Mayonnaise Salad (For my mom) - Iceberg, tomato, green onion, mayo, salt/pepper
Spinach and baby greens, craisins, purple onions, radishes, blue cheese, bacon with Vinaigrette

Main:
Roast Turkey and Gravy
WaWa's Dressing (my gram's recipe) - a mix of Bread/Cornbread
Marbled Potatoes - a casserole of mashed sweet potatoes and idaho's
WaWa's Vegetable Spaghetti - (forgot Mom had requested that this year...old family tradition)
Green Beans in Garlic Infused Olive Oil with Garlic Chips
Roasted/Caramellized Cipollini Onions
Homemade Yeast Rolls with Sweet Butter
Cranberry Chutney
Cranberry Sauce - (for my bro-in-law) - canned jellied cranberry stuff

Dessert -
Pumpkin Pie
Oatmeal Pecan Pie
Whipped Cream with Crystallized Ginger

Blue I am with the rest of your family.....one time a year I want

Roasted turkey stuffed with white herb stuffing....standard recipe celery, mushrooms, sage, butter, chicken stock, onions, parsley

Mashed potatoes...nothing else in um, just 1/2 and 1/2, butter, salt

Fresh Cranberry Goo

Sweet potatoes, now this I do add maker's mark and my non drinking family cannot figure out why they taste like that......fresh sweets, cinnamon, butter, bourbon....maybe the orange marshmallows if compelled to do so.

Green Salad with lots and lots of oranges, mandrian works fine.....toasted pecans, sometimes red onions......usually a vinagrette and buttermilk herb

Paul Prodhomme's Mama's yeast rolls.....simple yummy

Green Veg....usually green beans but has been broccoli or peas or brussel sprouts or a couple bowls of any of the above

pumpkin pies
pecan pies
usually a fruit pie
sometimes a cream pie
can you tell we are a pie making/eating family......
loads of vanilla whipped cream

Pretty much standard Thanksgiving food......there's just something about having that tradition, altered it during the early years of my marriage but always sort of felt like something was missing.

Now, when my step mother's daughter's husband cooks Thanksgiving it involves truffle oil....

Shroom your menu sounds very yummy! Dayum now you have me leanin' back toward the traditional mashed tators instead of our "newfangled" marbled tators! It's still basically just cream and buttah to each type of tator then combined in dollups in a casserole and swirled and dotted with butter then browned in the oven.