2009 Thanksgiving Menu

woodsyi · « **on:** 19 Nov 2009, 04:55 pm »

One week to go. It's time to plan for your feast. What are you having?

I got oven roasted turkey with oyster stuffing, Nut Roast, Chateaubriand with red wine sauce, green bean casserole, various side dishes, Foie Gras with 1986 Chateau Guiraud and Stilton with 1995 Quinta Do Noval vintage port. I have vegetarian, fishitarian and gourmands on the guest list. As for table wine, I will have various CDPs, Brunellos and Pinots for reds, Domaine Carneros Brut 2005 for bubblies and Cali Chardonnay and "dry" Vouvray for whites.

macrojack · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 05:01 pm »

Lasagna

ctviggen · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 05:40 pm »

Goat soup. I'll be in St. Croix.

MaxCast · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 07:51 pm »

Rim, that's quite a line up there compared to the others.

This is one of the days I take off from cooking and eat at Grandmaw's house.

droht · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 08:07 pm »

Quote from: ctviggen on 19 Nov 2009, 05:40 pm

Goat soup. I'll be in St. Croix.

we have a winner...

It's all "location, location, location", even for Thanksgiving dinner.

droht · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 08:09 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 19 Nov 2009, 04:55 pm

One week to go. It's time to plan for your feast. What are you having?

I got oven roasted turkey with oyster stuffing, Nut Roast, Chateaubriand with red wine sauce, green bean casserole, various side dishes, Foie Gras with 1986 Chateau Guiraud and Stilton with 1995 Quinta Do Noval vintage port. I have vegetarian, fishitarian and gourmands on the guest list. As for table wine, I will have various CDPs, Brunellos and Pinots for reds, Domaine Carneros Brut 2005 for bubblies and Cali Chardonnay and "dry" Vouvray for whites.

If any of the vegetarians base that choice on animal cruelty the foie gras should be well received. Could be interesting...

woodsyi · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 08:40 pm »

When we married, we agreed to meet certain standard for animal cruelty. I agreed to give up veal and use only free range chicken and eggs. Everything else, I have green light -- I am OK with Gavage.

macrojack · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 09:04 pm »

Rim - What about fruit cruelty? How do you feel about those grapes being stomped to death?

turkey · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 09:54 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 19 Nov 2009, 04:55 pm

One week to go. It's time to plan for your feast. What are you having?

I got oven roasted turkey with oyster stuffing,

I love oysters and never get to eat enough to say I'm stuffed.

You don't need the oven roasting BTW. Some good bourbon and I'm roasted.

WGH · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 10:33 pm »

Our pot luck group is getting together again for Thanksgiving because last years dinner was fabulous and we all had a great time.

This year we put together a new menu that gives everyone a few side dish choices to make. I put the recipes online for my friends to download. Check it out if you are looking for something a little different.

http://www.wghwoodworking.com/potluck/thanksgiving_2009.pdf

Crunchy roasted pepitas
Sweet and Savory Spiced Nuts

Butternut Squash Soup with Cumin & Coriander

Mashed Potatoes with Lemon and Garlic
Pureed potatoes with parmesan
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Chives

Wild rice dressing with apple, apricot & sage
Dressing with apples, bacon & caramelized onion
Classic bread dressing
Cornbread Pecan Dressing

Pureed potatoes with parmesan
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Chives

Browned Brussels sprouts with hazelnuts and lemon

Cranberry orange relish with ginger
Cranberry sauce with Star Anise & Port
Boozy Cranberry Relish

Brown Sugar Baked Sweet Potatoes with Acorn Squash

Green Beans with Toasted Slivered Almonds
Long-Cooked Green Beans with Oregano
Orange-Dijon Green Beans

Roasted baby vegetables

satfrat · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 Nov 2009, 10:42 pm »

Mmmmm, good. 2 dinners always puts me to sleep.

Cheers,
Robin

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #11 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 04:10 am »

Rim....

Quote

I got oven roasted turkey with oyster stuffing...

I've seen the past photo....looked delicious...

Here's how to carve that "bird".....Link......

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #12 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 04:53 am »

Isn't anybody doing a Barbequed turkey on the rotisserie??? I've been doing one for many years. It's real easy. First of all I stuff the bird. I use a bread,celery.onion and oyster mix. Tie the bird up real good so it don't flop around on the rotisserie. Stick the spit rod through the bird making sure it penetrates the breast bone. Lay about 30 or 40 coals in a row toward the back of the barbeque. You'll have to add 10 or 15 coals about every 1/2 hour or so. All said and done it takes about 5hrs. 5lbs.of charcoal and 5 martini's to cook the bird. My family calls it "The drunken bird"

Cheers
And a happy thanksgiving to all
Charlie

woodsyi · « **Reply #13 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 01:01 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 20 Nov 2009, 04:10 am

Rim....
Quote
I got oven roasted turkey with oyster stuffing...

I've seen the past photo....looked delicious...

Here's how to carve that "bird".....Link......

Well, it wasn't oyster stuffing from what I remember....

turkey · « **Reply #14 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 01:46 pm »

Quote from: Charles Calkins on 20 Nov 2009, 04:53 am

Isn't anybody doing a Barbequed turkey on the rotisserie??? I've been doing one for many

I'd like to try deep-frying a turkey. I've heard it's really good. I've also thought about cooking one in the smoker. I've done chickens in the smoker and they are excellent.

I always get out-voted though. Everyone else wants the same traditional turkey roasted in the oven, stuffed with the same stuffing we've been making for years. Cranberry sauce from the can, sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, a jello mold with fruit in it, etc.

Everyone looks forward to it for weeks before Thanksgiving. Then the next day they don't want any of the leftovers.

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #15 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 02:45 pm »

Turkey:
I've had deep fried turkey and it was very good. But our fire department says be careful. Do it outside on the patio. Even then be careful. I saw a film about fires caused by spilled deep fryers. The hot oil that spills and catches fire can cause a lot of damage.

But Hey!!!
If you want to do it I say do it!!! Let the rest of your guests eat oven roasted turkey. Since I've been doing mine on the barbeque I'll never go back to an oven bird. They seem to be to dry or something like that.

Cheers
Charlie

BobM · « **Reply #16 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 03:03 pm »

Hey, anyone planning to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving? I've been thinking about it but I'm not sure I can convince the wife that I should give it a try this year. She would be afraid of me ruining it, or at least not having it come out good.

We only have 6 of us for dinner, so she got a smallish bird (13 lbs). How long would I need to smoke that for? Should I use water in the smoker to keep it moist, or not?

turkey · « **Reply #17 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 03:28 pm »

Quote from: BobM on 20 Nov 2009, 03:03 pm

Hey, anyone planning to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving? I've been thinking about it but I'm not sure I can convince the wife that I should give it a try this year. She would be afraid of me ruining it, or at least not having it come out good.

We only have 6 of us for dinner, so she got a smallish bird (13 lbs). How long would I need to smoke that for? Should I use water in the smoker to keep it moist, or not?

I have an Old Smokey electric smoker, so any advice I give on cooking times probably wouldn't do you much good. My smoker is also different in that you don't need to put in water.

As I said in a previous post, I have done chickens quite a few times. They are absolutely delicious, fall-off-the-bone tender goodness.

In fact, if you let them cook too long in my smoker, they actually fall apart when you try to take them out. I just used a couple of spatulas to lift them out and put them on a platter. It made it really easy to serve though. I just cut the skin open and then forked out chunks of meat - I didn't even have to use a knife.

turkey · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 03:29 pm »

Quote from: BobM on 20 Nov 2009, 03:03 pm

Hey, anyone planning to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving? I've been thinking about it but I'm not sure I can convince the wife that I should give it a try this year. She would be afraid of me ruining it, or at least not having it come out good.

We only have 6 of us for dinner, so she got a smallish bird (13 lbs). How long would I need to smoke that for? Should I use water in the smoker to keep it moist, or not?

BTW, what kind of smoker do you have? Maybe the maker has some info on smoking a turkey? Or maybe someone else has done it and wrote about it on the net, so you could search for it with Google?

ctviggen · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 Nov 2009, 04:14 pm »

I semi-smoked a turkey in a Big Green Egg style cooker with one or two large chunks of maple. I brined this turkey using a simple brine and we compared this versus a turkey brined using a recipe from cooking light and cooked in the oven. The "smoked" turkey was the winner.