US Thanksgiving 2021

[Kim Shook]

Well, I've got one thing done.  The plus is that I made enough to stick into the freezer for Christmas dinner, too:

Fresh cranberries, OJ, orange zest, and dried cranberries.  

[heidih]

Nice @Kim Shook The color alone makes me happy.

Stepmother went to the upscale market today and found turkey necks @ $3.49/lb - no bargain but she was excited - an option should dad get out of hospital by Thanksgiving - they are bone nibblers Whole turkey not happening. Who knows what his food plan pre-surgery will be.

[Kim Shook]

8 minutes ago, heidih said:

Nice @Kim Shook The color alone makes me happy.

Stepmother went to the upscale market today and found turkey necks @ $3.49/lb - no bargain but she was excited - an option should dad get out of hospital by Thanksgiving - they are bone nibblers Whole turkey not happening. Who knows what his food plan pre-surgery will be.

I think it's smart not to have a big plan when you don't know what's going to happen with your dad!  I've been thinking about you!

[weinoo]

Finally!

 

 

Padma's making a turkey (but really, she isn't using a real roasting pan, just an aluminum disposable one?).

 

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“I’m not a chef,” she said. “I have no professional training, no complicated instruments. And I don’t like cooking when I’m stressed, so my cooking is very forgiving.” It’s that home-cook sensibility and her natural love of bold flavors that make her turkey recipe foolproof and far from bland.

 

Well, except for maybe this?

 

Quote

To start, she swirled a wide ladle full of Kampot black peppercorns over one of the seven burners on her custom Lacanche range

 

And she knows (or knew) my butcher!!

 

Quote

She lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan then, and asked the butcher at the nearby Essex Market how to keep the meat moist when she was picking up her bird. The butcher suggested soaking the turkey in buttermilk before roasting, which helped Ms. Lakshmi realize that cooking a turkey is essentially like preparing a really big chicken.

 

The only famous people I run into at Essex Market are guys like Michael Colameco. Imma keep looking!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/dining/padma-lakshmi-thanksgiving-turkey.html

[gfweb]

23 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Finally!

 

 

Padma's making a turkey (but really, she isn't using a real roasting pan, just an aluminum disposable one?).

 

 

Well, except for maybe this?

 

 

And she knows (or knew) my butcher!!

 

 

The only famous people I run into at Essex Market are guys like Michael Colameco. Imma keep looking!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/dining/padma-lakshmi-thanksgiving-turkey.html

 

Those flimsy aluminum pans are an invitation to disaster.  And how do you make gravy in one?

[weinoo]

16 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

Those flimsy aluminum pans are an invitation to disaster.  And how do you make gravy in one?

Yes. And you don’t!

[kayb]

Cooking begins today. Cranberry salad and coconut cake. Bird moved from freezer to fridge yesterday.

 

[TicTac]

18 minutes ago, kayb said:

Cooking begins today. Cranberry salad and coconut cake. Bird moved from freezer to fridge yesterday.

 

Skilled bird (and so helpful).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[heidih]

Personally I'll look forward to @kayb's image and description of the coconut cake. I've never had one. Odd for someone who loves coconut. But I'm not a big cake person generally. 

[Porthos]

4 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

Those flimsy aluminum pans are an invitation to disaster.  And how do you make gravy in one?

You put in on a sturdy cookie sheet. And since I make my gravy in a saucier it wouldn't be a problem. 😀

[Annie_H]

10 minutes ago, Porthos said:

Those flimsy aluminum pans are an invitation to disaster.  And how do you make gravy in one?

I had a hard time getting through that article this morning. A disposable aluminum pan next to a customs expensive stove. No mater what is used to make gravy---deglazing the good bits on lumpy foil is unsavory. 

[Porthos]

We're hosting Thanksgiving. Our daughter, SIL, their 7 and 3 y/os and SIL's mom. His mom had COVID, the rest of the adults are vaxxed.

 

Roast turkey (possibly gravy - must ask my sweetie), giblet dressing, Scottsdale (funeral) potatoes, Bourbon-finished carrots, creamed corn gratin, Bacon-Brussels Sprouts- Green Bean Casserole*, cranberry-orange relish, deviled eggs, and King's Hawaiian rolls. Dessert will be my late MIL's Apple-Raisin-Walnut-Cranberry Pie with whipped cream and/or ice cream. We send some leftovers home with others.

 

* Our daughter suggested this: Bacon-Brussels Sprout-Green Bean Casserole. We're making a half-recipe.

[Annie_H]

This will cleanse the palate. A seven minute pod-cast with Anthony Bourdain from 2016. HERE 

I seem to come across it every year. Probably why we are so good at prep aheads. If we are hosting I even set the table a day or two ahead. Just a pile of dinner and salad plates and all the serving dishes piled on the corner of the table closest to the kitchen. 

[paulraphael]

I don't understand why those foil pans exist, unless there are really lots of people who decide to host thanksgiving, but are sure they'll never use their oven again ever. 

If you don't care about deglazing on the stove top (sad!) just get a half sheet pan. You'll use it for a million other things, and you can probably pick one up for next to nothing. You'll even benefit from more even browning than you get in a roasting pan. You just have to be careful not to let the bird slip over the low sides and onto the floor. 

[Annie_H]

We took a road trip last week and back Thursday. Started prep Friday night. Roasted turkey wings with a bone-in thigh and lots of veg. Covered with leek tops. Stock for stuffing and gravy. Very minimal water as veg is full of it. Tripple batch of mirepoix for the stuffing/dressing. Bonus bowl of ham, veg and white bean 'piggy-back' soup for dinner while prepping anywho.

 

[gfweb]

Having been the one who brought up deglazing, I must confess that I make gravy days ahead using last year's turkey stock and various veg and flavor enhancers. No pan drippings at all.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

11 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

I don't understand why those foil pans exist, unless there are really lots of people who decide to host thanksgiving, but are sure they'll never use their oven again ever. 

If you don't care about deglazing on the stove top (sad!) just get a half sheet pan. You'll use it for a million other things, and you can probably pick one up for next to nothing. You'll even benefit from more even browning than you get in a roasting pan. You just have to be careful not to let the bird slip over the low sides and onto the floor. 

Totally agree.   And worse, they are probably used by novices who don't anticipate their instability when loaded. 

[heidih]

I will admit to using the disposable pans for years when I was the solo cook and dishwasher  for large gatherings. $1 at discount store. Like @Porthos I learned to use the heavy sheet pan underneath after an Easter ham incident. I roasted necks and wings ahead and made stock. I deglazed with hot stock and my trusty wooden spoon. The ridges not an issue. Finished gravy in saucepan

[rotuts]

when I had to use these aluminum pans in the pas

 

I used a second one so they were  stack of two

 

its not hard to pour the Jus and scrape up the fond

 

into a saucier for the gravy

 

the turkey is od course transferred to 

 

its warm serving dish first

 

if that's all yoy have for the once a year feast

 

it dies work well enough if that's all you have

 

winning the Turkey Boat w parchment paper 

 

first is also an idea  it makes it easier to clean the Boat and use it again Next Turkey

[Annie_H]

We have decided, as of yesterday, not to travel this year. .Mom and Pop are exhausted from their visit from my sister and husband last week. I sent them a holiday treat box of veg and cheeses. Arriving today. If we did visit we would leave tomorrow. Do-aheads would be important in that zoo family environment. Tonight would have been do-ahead gravy, the two cranberry sauces, pie crust, corn bread, toasted misc bread ends, wild rice and the mushroom ragu for the stuffing/dressing. Packed cooler, yada, yada. 

Off the hook. 

Fauci Urges Americans to Use COVID as Excuse to Skip Thanksgiving with Horrible Relatives

 

 

[Annie_H]

I pull out a few Food-n-Wine mags every year I've saved. From the early 90's. Dog-eared with post-its and even grocery lists. 

A foto file of holiday meals over the years. We rarely good off-script. Traditional basics and zip up different some sides each year without getting squirly if I can't get a specific ingredient. Mixed roasted roots and veg are always what is easily found. 

Not dated but that pic is 2018 or 19. That is H-Mart cabbage. Shredded Brussel slaw with prosciutto bacon I've totally forgotten about. 

DH just got his booster and flu vax Friday at Costco. Prosciutto is on super sale so we stocked up. 

When we have gone off-script with rotis ducks or goose or prime rib---meh. Once a year turkey is what we want. Next day hash, brunch biscuit sandwiches. Stock for freezer soups. 

 

 

[heidih]

I was wondering about the deviled eggs I see on several of your menus. To me they are "Easter" but they are not art of my tradition - never had one until well into adulthood. Is it just an easy make ahead for general festive occasions (and Super Bowl) ?

[Annie_H]

16 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Fresh cranberries, OJ, orange zest, and dried cranberries. 

We do the same. Thanksgiving do-aheads cary over to all the holidays. All our stocks and the rich roux DH made for gravy in 1/4 pints frozen will be used for a few holiday meals. Make it once, chestnut brown, and freeze. 

[Kim Shook]

26 minutes ago, heidih said:

I was wondering about the deviled eggs I see on several of your menus. To me they are "Easter" but they are not art of my tradition - never had one until well into adulthood. Is it just an easy make ahead for general festive occasions (and Super Bowl) ?

I think, like mac and cheese, that it must be a southern US thing.  We had both with every festive meal at my grandparents in NC.  

 

 

Everyone has different needs and ways of doing things.  I’m 62 years old and I’ve never owned a real roasting pan.  I use the disposable aluminum ones for mixing and holding stuffing/dressing, for roasting the turkey necks and vegetables to make my stock for gravy.  I rarely roast a whole turkey anymore, but when I have, I've used the same aluminum pans.  And, yes, I put it right on the stove top and deglaze with white wine and a silicone spatula.  I use them for oven ribs and for mixing huge amounts of potato salad and slaw.  Mr. Kim uses them to collect mountains of BBQ while we are picking apart a pork butt.  They line the refrigerator when we’re thawing large roasts and poultry.  We wash the ones that aren’t too icky and we thankfully toss the sticky, baked on goo ones that are WAY too icky.

[heidih]

13 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

They line the refrigerator when we’re thawing large roasts and poultry.  We wash the ones that aren’t too icky and we thankfully toss the sticky, baked on goo ones that are WAY too icky.

When I had an extra freezer I'd give them a good wipe & rinse and tuck them in until next use. In my mind that kept them sanitary enough for next go