Sly Bald Guys Forum
Various Non-Bald Discussions => General Discussion => Topic started by: warhawk on November 13, 2012, 02:11:43 PM
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Hello fellow chrome domes: I hope all is well with U and your families. As I am posting this thread... I cannot believe that Thanksgiving Day is near. We always have fun discussions on food so what a better way than THANKSGIVING DAY.
I'll start. We are going to have our Thanksgiving Day turkey baked. My beautiful wifey will be preparing a delicious baked turkey along with other goodies. So... how 'bout U? Do U like your turkey baked? fried? both? or neither? What's your story?
WARHAWK O0
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Here at the ranch we are going to have it the traditional way...baked.
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Roasted on a Weber Genesis gas grill!
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Brined and roasted.
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Brined and roasted.
Hi SB: Kindly post a few pics of your TOTD (turkey of the day) on Thanksgiving Day if you don't mind. O0
WARHAWK O0
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Fried here, but I have a big family, so we make two, one fried and one baked and I always partake in both.
What can I say, I'm a tryptophan junkie.
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Hi SB: Kindly post a few pics of your TOTD (turkey of the day) on Thanksgiving Day if you don't mind. O0
LOL!
I'll try. I'm usually juggling a lot of things at the last minute so I can't guarantee that a camera will be one of the things juggled!
Here are some pics from last year (alas, not of the turkey itself):
Make-ahead gravy:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9057.jpg)
Cornbread pudding and sweet potato casserole:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9060.jpg)
Cranberry relish:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9063.jpg)
The table (only one guest last year):
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9068.jpg)
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Hi SB: Kindly post a few pics of your TOTD (turkey of the day) on Thanksgiving Day if you don't mind. O0
LOL!
I'll try. I'm usually juggling a lot of things at the last minute so I can't guarantee that a camera will be one of the things juggled!
Here are some pics from last year (alas, not of the turkey itself):
Make-ahead gravy:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9057.jpg)
Cornbread pudding and sweet potato casserole:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9060.jpg)
Cranberry relish:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9063.jpg)
The table (only one guest last year):
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9068.jpg)
Thanks for the food porn. It looks dee-li-cious!!!
WARHAWK O0
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I usually throw that rascal in the oven to roast around 5 AM. Everyone wakes up to the smell of roasted turkey filling the house.
AWESOME!!!
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I'm probably going to catch some hell for this but....
I spend thanksgiving with my mother,
I do love her very much and I'm not afraid to say it.
HOWEVER...
I hate her cooking.
My taste is extra flavorful... Spiced up
Not dry tasteless cardboard. LoL
I bought a used gas fry set up
For 10.00 pot, lid, the thing that goes in the turkey, and something that looks like a coat hanger
Along with the stand and thing that hooks up to the tank.
I'm bringing that over and frying up a bird
As well as a ham and any other things I can put in there.
Any tips or recipes?
Thanks
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I really never cared much for turkey--to me it's rather lacking in flavor, has a huge tendency to be a dry, crumbly mess, and I really prefer much juicier meat. If I have to I'd follow SlyBear's brined and roasted, but I prefer it brined then butterflied and broil roasted as Julia Child's receipe provides. But, that's a lot of work for a dinner that just turns out to be turkey--that's just me. I do love the oyster dressing, the mirliton stuffed with shrimp and garlic mashed potatoes--so I don't go away hungry. Particularly if my wife makes enough pumpkin pies from scratch--that's really heaven. Fortunately this year the dinner is at a relative's house where they also have a good supply of roasted wild duck in addition to turkey. My wife will bring the stuffed mirliton and pumpkin pies--I will be satisfied.
One brief story. A dear friend of ours was, prior to retirement, the food editor of the local paper. When the fried turkey business started up many years ago she wrote an article and some basic directions for frying turkeys in the paper about a week or so before Thanksgiving. All fine and good, right? Well, that year numerous fires happened in our area as people were just learning about fried turkeys. They tried to do it in their carports, too close to flamable materials, too much oil, oil too hot, wrong type of oil, turkeys were wet & caused trouble, etc. Our friend was beside herself as the news reports about the fires multipled that Thanksgiving night. She thought the paper and she would be sued. They weren't but it has been her "contribution" to fried turkeys!
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I think I've tried a bite or two of fried turkey.
But at our house, it's always a roasted turkey. Occasionally on the rotisserie.
If we did fry, it would be in coconut oil. Never canola.
We'll have fresh vegetables, 100% whole wheat bread or rolls. Yummy. And I've got a yummy pumpkin pie recipe made without gluten and sugar. (uses xylitol and/or stevia for sweetner, and sweet pumpkin -- baked from the pumpkin itself).
Wish we could afford a fully organic, free range turkey. But man they are expensive.
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Saintc,
I agree turkey can be dry. I use this bizarre-sounding method to help keep the white meat moist: I mix finely chopped shallots and tarragon with a good amount of olive oil, then take the mixture in my hand and slide my hand carefully between the skin and the meat, rubbing the meat with the oil / herb mixture. The oily mixture basted the meat and the skin keeps the mixture from drying out. Sounds weird, but it works!
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I got a date with a beautiful young Asian woman, so you know where we'll be feasting.
O0
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I had fried turkey for a couple years. The thing that gets me is that the pots are small so you can only fit a chicken sized turkey in them.
It depends on who bakes the turkey on how it is made. We always get the 25+ lb turkey since we have a large family. When I make it, I put several slices in it and pack them with butter. I use at least 2 sticks of butter and it tends to keep them moist. Once it goes into the oven, it bakes for a bit before I cover it in Longhorn BBQ sauce. I'm sure most of you have never had longhorn bbq sauce, they sell it by the gallon here (we go through a gallon a month) and it is more liquid than the thick sauce. In total through the baking process, the whole gallon goes onto the turkey. That is how I cook it and that is how my grandfather made it and taught me.
For sides, we have the classic cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, pumpkin pie/pumpkin cheesecake, and I know there are things I am forgetting
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Why isn't smoked turkey an option? ???
My brother in law usually does two turkeys (one smoked, the other baked) and both are awesome! I have a smoker, but have yet to try a turkey (I've done pork loin, chicken, salmon, ribs, even made jerky).
Although it's not tradition, smoked turkey is tasty! O0
That being said, I'd love to try fried sometime. Guess I need to road trip to one of you guys homes for Thanksgiving.
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Why isn't smoked turkey an option? ???
My brother in law usually does two turkeys (one smoked, the other baked) and both are awesome! I have a smoker, but have yet to try a turkey (I've done pork loin, chicken, salmon, ribs, even made jerky).
Although it's not tradition, smoked turkey is tasty! O0
That being said, I'd love to try fried sometime. Guess I need to road trip to one of you guys homes for Thanksgiving.
There you go, I was waiting for someone to come to their senses. While I'm not cooking a turkey this year, this is my preferred method. I use a Weber kettle to smoke/grill pretty much everything...turkey, pork, beef, chicken, neighbors cat if it gets too close.
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Interesting, I'll have to give that a try.
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I've seen smoked turkeys, but not so much at Thanksgiving, it's more of a Mardi Gras thing here. Maybe because it's pretty good cold. It's also, IMO, one guaranteed way to have less dryness in the meat. I understand it isn't a quick process, more than 8 hours in the smoker to get the bird cooked.
Another alternative is a turducken--consisting of a de-boned chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, which is in turn stuffed into a de-boned turkey, each stuffed with a Cajun-style stuffing. Locally, in South Louisiana, there are several places that will prepare this artery clogging creature, and you can either cook it yourself or buy it already cooked.
Fried turkeys are fast, really fast. Last night on the local news they had a feature on how to safely fry turkeys, not too much oil, the right equipment, the right kind of oil--they said peanut--, dry bird, and if there is a spill over of fat that ignites to definately not put the garden hose on the fire--that spreads an oil fire. One example was a pretty awesome intentional burn of the fryer by the fire department, the tent covering the fryer--another no, no-- burned up, and they showed what hosing water on the fire would do. It's definately something to be extremely cautious with and keep the kids far, far away.
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I've had turducken. Honestly, I didn't think it was worth the additional expense.
Here's a video on turducken as prepared by an expert....BOOM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-hMx4NrxT8
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I've had turducken. Honestly, I didn't think it was worth the additional expense.
I'd have to agree, especially since I'm not a turkey fan. In addition to ruining a perfectly good duck--which I really like--all the fat which drains off when you cook a duck alone makes the dish extremely greasy to my taste. The cooking times for all of it cause the turkey on the outside to be even dryer than it would if just cooked on its own by any other method.
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Roasted is in my opinion the best way so we can have gravy and dressing. ( for those who care, the proper English word for turkey dressing is farture )
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Those that don't roast can have dressing and gravy as well. I never cook the stuffing in the bird, but always make dressing separately. There are too many issues with stuffing in the bird.
And I do a "make ahead" gravy that you can make up to two days before, that refrigerates wonderfully, and reheats in the microwave (see photo earlier in thread).
No fussing at the last minute with the gravy! That always drove me crazy!
(Recipe available upon request!)
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Turkey is far too dry for me, even when stuffed with shed load of butter. Its all about GOOSE for me and then the spuds cooked in the goose fat.
Wow I'm hungry.
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Those that don't roast can have dressing and gravy as well. I never cook the stuffing in the bird, but always make dressing separately. There are too many issues with stuffing in the bird.
And I do a "make ahead" gravy that you can make up to two days before, that refrigerates wonderfully, and reheats in the microwave (see photo earlier in thread).
No fussing at the last minute with the gravy! That always drove me crazy!
(Recipe available upon request!)
SlyBear, recipe would be appreciated. I also do "day ahead" gravy which is good, but there is room for improvement.
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All you fryers out there be safe...just saw a vid about some grease fires that consumed people and homes.
O0
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Turkey is far too dry for me, even when stuffed with shed load of butter. Its all about GOOSE for me and then the spuds cooked in the goose fat.
Wow I'm hungry.
Goose--that's REAL food! Now where and when did you say you're having dinner? ;D
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OK, here's the make-ahead gravy recipe. It really saves pulling out hair (figuratively for us guys, obviously) at the last minute when everything seems to converge at once and hungry diners are ready to get out the pitchforks and troches.
BEAR'S MAKE-AHEAD TURKEY GRAVY
Makes about 3 cups
3 turkey drumsticks
neck and gizzard from the bird, if you have them (but never the liver!)
vegetable oil
3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped
3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
5 c chicken or turkey stock (low sodium or home-made)
1 c dry white wine or dry vermouth
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 stick butter
1/2 c all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat oven to 450ºF.
2. Place turkey parts, carrots, celery, and onion in a roasting pan; toss lightly with oil. (Line the pan with foil for easy cleanup.)
3. Roast for 1 hour, then transfer the vegetables to a Dutch oven or large pot. Roast the turkey parts an additional 30 minutes.
4. Transfer turkey parts and any juices to the Dutch oven. Add broth, wine and thyme. Bring to a boil.
5. Simmer until visibly reduced; about 25 minutes.
6. Strain out solids and refrigerate strained stock for 2 hours.
7. Skim off excess congealed fat.
8. Heat butter until bubbling in a saucier or medium saucepan. Whisk in flour and cook to a honey-colored roux.
9. Whisk in strained stock stirring briskly, and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes until thickened.
10. Season with salt and pepper and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in microwave oven.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2011/IMG_9057.jpg)
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Thanks SlyBear ... very similar to mine (which is good). But yours has the wine and thyme which will make a significant improvement.
I agree, gravy is the one thing you don't want to be fussing with just before serving.
The other thing I like about "make ahead" is you can make a large quantity, which was my mom's practice.
Thanks again.
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My pleasure, FG!
I do a lot of prep ahead of time for the dishes that don't need to be made on Thanksgiving Day. I start on Sunday (with pulling the turkey from the freezer) and do a little prep each day until the feast.
That makes Thanksgiving Day a lot more pleasurable and I can actually spend time with guests (only one this year) rather than being frantic in the kitchen.
Make-ahead dishes include: the gravy, cranberry conserve, sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows!), and corn bread pudding (last year's photos posted earlier in thread).
That just leaves the turkey and mashed potatoes for Thursday.
I haven't decided upon dessert(s) yet.
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Hi Gents: I have enjoyed reading your posts and look forward to seeing your Thanksgiving food porn pics if you are able.
WARHAWK O0
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However you eat your turkey, I hope you all have a great day. Enjoy the time with family, friends and good food. That's what it's all about. O0
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We made lots of food today just to save time tomorrow. Instead of the traditional sweet potatoes with marshmallows, we decided to blend them up and serve them with brown sugar and pecans on top. Of course the classic green bean casserole and many, many pies. Something new we're also trying this year is a brined turkey. I have seen many folks here and on facebook talk about brining their turkey so we're trying it.
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Given that I'm trying to eat a little healthier...gotta go with the baked!
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OK, I had a treat last night. We went over to friends' house for Thanksgiving, and he did a fried turkey! It was awesome!
The dark meat especially comes out incredible.
I drove home, got the turkey we had in the fridge, and deep fried that bad boy. 40 minutes later, Team Schro has a treat for a weekend!
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OK, I snapped a few mobile phone pics while I was cooking yesterday. Sorry for the poor quality.
Stuff getting ready for their turn in the oven: green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and make-ahead gravy. The pot contains the potatoes waiting to be cooked and mashed.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0437.jpg)
Cornbread dressing fresh out of the oven:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0431.jpg)
Cranberry relish:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0436.jpg)
The green bean casserole:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0443.jpg)
The sweet potato casserole (almost as good as dessert):
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0445.jpg)
The half a turkey -- no one in attendance cares much for the dark meat, so I cook two breasts instead:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0441.jpg)
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Mighty fine SlyBear. Thanksgiving is the one time each year I appreciate having a double oven available. The cornbread dressing looks exceptional.
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SlyBear - the spread looks awesome.
I got up early yesterday to get the turkey started and thought I'd go back to bed once the bird was cooking. My wife got up and felt lousy from a cold she caught from her pre-school class, so I never made it back to bed. I ended up preparing the rest of the dishes (stuffing, green bean and mushroom casserole, garlic mashed potatoes). All turned out well in the end.
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Well.....
My sister and I went to my mothers place
I planned on doing a fried turkey, However I did not due to my damn back feels terrible.
so it was business as usual.
However one of the guests brought a new dish
spicy corn bread and I must say it was fantastic :)
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OK, I snapped a few mobile phone pics while I was cooking yesterday. Sorry for the poor quality.
Stuff getting ready for their turn in the oven: green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and make-ahead gravy. The pot contains the potatoes waiting to be cooked and mashed.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0437.jpg)
Cornbread dressing fresh out of the oven:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0431.jpg)
Cranberry relish:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0436.jpg)
The green bean casserole:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0443.jpg)
The sweet potato casserole (almost as good as dessert):
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0445.jpg)
The half a turkey -- no one in attendance cares much for the dark meat, so I cook two breasts instead:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/food/Thanksgiving2012/IMG_0441.jpg)
Hi SB: Thanks for posting the food porn. That looks simply delicious.
WARHAWK O0
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Wow, that spread does look fantastic! O0
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Thanks, guys. It was yummy.