Thanksgiving USA 2020

[ambra]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

I think it's fun to do non-traditional foods for Thanksgiving.....if we were to be just the two of us next year, I'd do something like lasagna.

I agree!!  Though we make lasagne as part of our tradition every year. It makes my son happy. ☺️☺️

[heidih]

Me too if alone. Spiny lobster season is open. My favorite food, but not braving fish market. I ate dinner way too late so now I can't face food. It was just a light fish soup but.... All ingredients are laid out though. 

Both @gulfporter turkey mole and @KennethT duck birria appeal. Ha you guys are restoring my appetite! Of course after the Indigenous people webinar at noon I'll probably lose it again.

Edited November 26, 2020 by heidih (log)

[KennethT]

oooh, I could really go for some spiny lobster... too bad it's only available frozen here, and super expensive.

[heidih]

10 minutes ago, KennethT said:

oooh, I could really go for some spiny lobster... too bad it's only available frozen here, and super expensive.

 

Yes this is locally caught. I had a diver friend but his back gave out. Poaching is a big issue. Usually between $35 to $40 per pound but worth it.

Edit - I meant that it is live 

Edited November 26, 2020 by heidih (log)

[dtremit]

On 10/20/2020 at 2:30 PM, heidih said:

 

I imagine the roasting adds mileage. She is a pro at this technique. My problem is the local markets don't stock stock parts - this is breast land! I can order through the butcher guys. 

 

Maybe not this year, but check Whole Foods in the days after Thanksgiving. At least here, they always cut up the leftover turkeys and sell 'em cheap cheap cheap.

[heidih]

38 minutes ago, dtremit said:

 

Maybe not this year, but check Whole Foods in the days after Thanksgiving. At least here, they always cut up the leftover turkeys and sell 'em cheap cheap cheap.

Interesting.n My closest is super meticulous about contamination. Those color coded knives hanging above work space. Are they fresh ones, or defrosted?

[dtremit]

27 minutes ago, heidih said:

Interesting.n My closest is super meticulous about contamination. Those color coded knives hanging above work space. Are they fresh ones, or defrosted?

 

I don't know, honestly — I've always bought them to cook immediately, so I didn't care. But the butchers there are typically very helpful — I'm sure you could call ahead to verify both availability and provenance.

[gulfporter]

Well, I managed to get a photo of the turkey thighs resting after they came out of the instant pot.  I plated them sliced and smothered in the shiny mole' sauce, along with camote (baked MX sweet potatoes), pickled onions, cilantro and tortillas, but before I could get a photo, everyone ran out of the kitchen with their plates.  And by 'everyone' I mean me and my DH.  

 

 

[robirdstx]

Dressing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy were made early this morning. All waiting in the fridge with the Turkey Thighs for their final cook or reheat this afternoon. Dining Room table has been set as well.

 

 

[gulfporter]

@robirdstx Tres elegante!  We ate in front of the TV watching last night's Jeopardy.  

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, robirdstx said:

Dressing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy were made early this morning. All waiting in the fridge with the Turkey Thighs for their final cook or reheat this afternoon. Dining Room table has been set as well.

 

 

You have a beautiful place!  Wallpaper is stunning!

[robirdstx]

 

We are full and thankful! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Thanksgiving for two.    Roast chicken

 

Stuffing, mashed potato, braised fennel, cranberry sauce, GRAVY.

 

Enough of the classics to be recognizable, but not the many starters and side dishes.    Pumpkin pie with whipped cream for those (not me) who had room.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Thanksgiving at the beach! Friends have a lovely villa on the beach in Nayarit, México, where we made T-Day dinner. There were 7 of us, so I made gravy and dressing (onions, celery, portobello mushrooms, oven-toasted bread chunks, chicken broth, sage, thyme, garlic, etc.) and roasted a couple of boneless turkey breasts on top. There were also sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts, cranberries, red wine, prosecco and pumpkin pie. I have to say, this was the first Thanksgiving dinner I cooked while barefoot. Right now I'm listening to the surf as the tide is coming in. As a friend says, this doesn't suck too much.

[heidih]

How lovely. My friend are in Baja and the images are - well you know. So you were in Nayarit seafood nirvana spot. Details welcome.

[gfweb]

Reduced TG this year. Just kids and d-i-l....all tested negative within a day or two.

 

Shrimp and artichoke dip

Football

 

Roasted dark meat...SV Breast...gravy  (converted a turkey-hating dil)

Sprout/cranzin/onion thing

au gratin pots

smoked yam

stuffing (but unstuffed)

jalapeno cornbread (made by the son)

pear tarte tatin

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[chefmd]

We usually travel outside the US for Thanksgiving week.  International travel is cheaper since everyone is traveling domestically.  And it’s easier to take time off around Holidays due to office logistics.  Alas, it’s a different year.  And it’s just the two of us.  So every meal yesterday included leftovers because why wait till Friday for that

 

 

Fried rice with odds and ends from the fridge.

 

straight up leftover gyro and chicken from office meal for lunch.

 

Beet and hearts of palm salad with lots of herbs.  Rose sparkling brut.  Duck confit with shiitake mushrooms and left over French fries.  CSO does a great job reheating French fries.

[BeeZee]

The lesser clean up this year was a pleasure. Once I carved half of the turkey breast and plated it, we decided to leave the dressing and twice baked potatoes on the counter and do “buffet style”. Also left the gravy in the small saucepan it was made in. I realized how much of the clean up was due to both the baking pans and the serving dishes! To cap off our minimal dish meal, pint of ice cream was shared on the couch, one spoon, passed back and forth.😋 Don’t tell my mother.

[Shelby]

I had a lot of fun cooking for just the two of us.  I was glad to have made the gravy early (thanks again @Kim Shook).  I prepped the green beans for the tart Wednesday (cutting and blanching) and hardboiled the eggs (more on those in a bit).  Looking back, I should have peeled the onions for the creamed onions Wednesday too.  Those little suckers took forever lol.  This post will be a little long....I want to document so I can look back next year in case I want to make our own dinner again, even if it's not exactly on TG.

 

Anyway, on to the food--and yes, I made a lot, but it's a pandemic and I wanted it lol.  Ronnie has already had some stuffing, a piece of green bean tart and some turkey for breakfast.

 

Wednesday night I set out my favorite Harbison cheese from the fridge so it would get nice and runny.  I made a little snack platter for us to graze on during the day.  Tried to watch the Macy's parade, made it for about 10 mins and then changed the channel.

 

 

Our new favorite olives, Genoa salami, jalapeño jack, prosciutto, crackers, some (crappy) snack mix and one of the best apples I've ever eaten.  All on a board that my mom bought me from @Ann_T that I love.

 

Then the deviled eggs.  Don't look too close.   They aren't pretty.  Since the beginning of my IP adventures, I've NEVER had a problem with the following recipe for hard boiled eggs:  1 cup of water, place eggs from fridge on trivet, low pressure for 5 mins.  Wait until the thingy drops, remove eggs and put in cold water.  I started to try to peel the eggs (I used the oldest grocery store eggs that I had).  Terribly hard to peel and the yolks were still a bit jammy!  Arrrrgh.  I went ahead and made them, but they weren't my best.  So, @Kim Shookyou are not alone in the bafflement of IP eggs lol.

 

 

At 11 yesterday morning I brought all of the turkey in (we cut up two and brined them).  I vac packed everything but a half a breast and a quarter and got them in the freezer.  Then I vac packed the breast (salt and peppered with a couple of sage leaves) and got it in the sous vide--6 hrs. at 142.5F.  Next I seasoned the quarter and got it on the CSO pan and poked it in the fridge to rest until about 6 pm.  When that time came  I poured some turkey broth in the bottom of the pan, rested the quarter on top and roasted it in the CSO at 350F until 165F internal temp.

 

Backing up, I prepped for all of the other dishes and figured out the timing and which oven was going to be used for what (that was the hardest part of the day lol)

 

First up, the green bean, blue cheese, mushroom tart.  Ronnie never really cared for it, so I switched it up this year.  Puff pastry, blanched green beans, sautéed mushrooms, blue cheese and Vivian Howard's r rated onions (I left out the thyme, added the onions and salted and peppered a bit more). He really liked it this year!

 

 

Corn pudding using our (blanched and frozen corn from the freezer).  

 

 

Creamed onions with peanuts  (this was a new recipe).  I wanted the onions to be nice and soft and I knew that the amount of time the recipe says to bake it for wouldn't make that happen (maybe if you used frozen pearl onions?  I couldn't find any).  So I threw the onions in a pot with some butter and salt and pepper and just barely caramelized them, then added a bit of water and a lid and let them get a bit soft.  I'd definitely make this again! Oh and I didn't have the breadcrumbs that I thought I had, so I used crushed up cornflakes.  Worked great.

 

 

Lobster Mac and cheese (ordered from Goldbelly--sorry @weinoo and others...I couldn't scratch it off my bucket list 🤣). Oh my, creamy and rich.  I guess I'm a heathen because I inhaled it.

 

 

I browned the breast up in a darto with butter

 

 

 

This was the best turkey I've ever had.  I will never do a breast any other way.

 

Also heated the gravy, made the mashed potatoes and the stuffing (stove top)

 

My plate (with the  requisite canned cranberry)

 

 

And the super fun ending.....Piecaken!  (ordered from Goldbelly). yes a splurge, but I really don't like making desserts and this combined 3 in one!

 

 

The bottom is pecan pie, middle is pumpkin pie, top is apple spice cake.

 

 

I was so full, but I still did some damage to that dessert  

 

I hope everyone had a great day.  I'm off to raid some leftovers!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Shelby (log)

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

Wow ! what a spread !

 

and I agree :  I think SV was invented for TurkeyBreast.  I use those same times myself.

 

someday Ill going to have to have a slice or two of

 

PieCaken.  Ive going to have to look it up

[weinoo]

GREAT JOB, @Shelby!

 

 

Enhanced relish tray with one poached wild gulf shrimp for Significant Eater (I ate my shrimp in the kitchen).

 

Brussels sprouts with bacon - for the first time cooking them this way, I sliced the brussels sprouts, and they were better. (I saw a Jacques video earlier in the week and went for it).

 

Stuffing for two outside the tiny birds.  Melissa Clark's stuffing for two. Delicious, I have to say.

 

 

Roasted sweet potatoes. (I saw a Jacques video earlier in the week and went for it).

 

Pan roasted and then oven roasted partridges.

 

As I discussed with a friend last night (ex post facto), I am not the greatest cooker of these small "game" birds. To begin with, Sig Eater doesn't like them, and would never order them in a restaurant, were we at a restaurant where they actually cook them properly. Now, if I had a backyard, and if in that backyard was a grill, I'd love to cook them plainly, heavily salted, and enjoy just the flavor of the bird, salt, and smoke. But no...instead, I have to dick around with them to make sure they're cooked enough so she doesn't run away from the table in horror, and by then the breast is destroyed (for me, at least). Gimme a Joyce Farms' small chicken, and I'm happier (so's she). And I'll defer to letting other people cook small game birds for me.

 

Ice cream. Homemade.

 

An American pinot noir. Fairly young. From the Russian River Valley. Natural, as these always have been. Porter Creek.

Edited November 27, 2020 by weinoo (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Oh my--piecaken is evil! But who's counting?

[TicTac]

On 11/26/2020 at 11:04 AM, KennethT said:

oooh, I could really go for some spiny lobster... too bad it's only available frozen here, and super expensive.

 

There is a local Asian market that has a fantastic fish counter who recently has started bringing in live spiny lobster.  As you said, at $30/lb I will take a hard PASS and stick to my beloved Canadian East Coast 1.5lb lobsters at $10/lb!

[chromedome]

We bought some (local, Atlantic) lobsters just off the boat through a former-fisherman friend last night at $9/lb Canadian, well below the current retail price.

[kayb]

 

Clockwise from 12 o'clock, cranberry salad, corn pudding, green beans, asparagus with almonds and hollandaise, bird, sweet potatoes, dressing. I passed on the mac and cheese and the rolls. Desserts were pumpkin pie and butter cake. 

 

Pretty easy day. I made everything the day before except the asparagus and the mac and cheese, and one butter cake and the rolls. Got up and made the butter cake to replace the one I tried making in the brownie tins (FAIL! Don't do this!)then put the turkey (he'd been brining since Tuesday night) on to roast, and made up the roll dough and let it rise. Pulled the turkey about noon, started rotating casseroles through the oven, shaped the rolls and set them in the garage for a long second rise in a cool spot, and started the mac and cheese. Roasted asparagus and baked rolls when son-in-law called to report he was en route.

 

Gave away enough food that I don't have to contend with an ungodly amount of leftovers.

 

ETA: Breast meat looks dry. It wasn't. I'm a firm convert to dry-brining.

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by kayb (log)