Thanksgiving Menus 2002–2011: The Topic

[Wilfrid]

The menu is subject to change as I have yet to do the marketing, but I am considering:

Oysters

***

Roast capon with redwine and cranberry sauce

Cornbread or spoonbread

Succotash

***

Pumpkin and bourbon pie

[GordonCooks]

Duetz Brut Rose

Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir 1999

Beaujolais Noveau

Guigal Tavel

Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rose 1999

Trimbach Pinot Gris - 2000

and some food too.

[chefette]

After a flurry of recent work, we were fixing to just do nothing for Thanksgiving and stay at an Inn, but now, we will not be able to get away until Friday. This morning it ocurred to me that we should cook something - at least buy some food so we will have the option. One year we were all preoccupied rendering an interesting architectural effort in chocolate for the chocolate show and ended up having macaroni and cheese with a pork chop I found in the freezer.

What I think we will make/have:

Champagne, some oyster thing for Steve, maybe brie, who knows - we'll see what is at the store

Riesling with pumpkin soup (with some sesame oil and a little chili maybe), fried shallots, pomegranate seeds, baguette

Watercress salad, maybe with warm goat cheese, more baguette

Pinot Noir with roast turkey breast, bread stuffing with sage and sausage, gravy, mashed potatos, warm lentil salad (with French green lentils) and lardons (bacon)

Dessert wine with caramel apple tarts (on puff pastry), pumpkin creme brulee (with maple sugar crystals from Ontario), poached cranberries (with rosemary)

or maybe hamburgers - but they just had a huge recall on hamburger in the DC area - so maybe its better to focus on other meats.

Edited November 25, 2002 by chefette (log)

[GordonCooks]

Duetz Brut Rose

Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir 1999

Beaujolais Noveau

Guigal Tavel

Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rose 1999

Trimbach Pinot Gris - 2000

and some food too.

Yeah, the food

My family is up for anything - my girl's family is pretty conservative

Apps

Shrimp Cocktail

Artichoke & Spinach Dip

Lobster Dip with sweet potato gaufrette

Zucchini Marinara w Olive foccacia crostini

Salads

Field Greens with balsamic vinaigrette

Pear, candied walnut, and Maytag blue with Dijon vinaigrette

Tropical fruit salad

Mains/Sides

Big, Fat Turkey stuffed with sweet onions & Macintosh apples

Spicy Sausage & sage stuffing

Creamed corn

Mashers

Roasted asparagus with aged balsamic and fresh mozzarella

Caramelized baby carrots with pecans

Corn Bread

Crescent Rolls

Baked Manicotti

[CathyL]

What, no dessert?

Gordon, are you preparing all that gorgeous stuff yourself? Puts my measly little meal to shame.

Please share the lobster dip recipe, if you have a moment.

[GordonCooks]

What, no dessert? 

Gordon, are you preparing all that gorgeous stuff yourself?  Puts my measly little meal to shame. 

Please share the lobster dip recipe, if you have a moment.

My little sister handles the pies (usually store bought - I don't let her come empty-handed)

The Lobster dip is a simple recipe -

3-4 large tails - chopped into chunks

1 large tin of lump crabmeat

1 16 oz container sour cream or yogurt

1 16 oz container "Fresh" ricotta - If other - drain in cheesecloth

1 cup marscarpone or cream cheese

2 eggs

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1/2 cup " " sweet onion

Fresh Parsley - chopped

Fresh Chervil - chopped

S&P

1 tblsp Old Bay seasoning (don't let anyone see - it's the secret ingredient)

Adjust the amount of crab/ricotta accordingly – should have the consistency of potato salad – thick and spreadable – not overly runny

Mix and bake in the oven for 15-20 mins @ 350 or until bubbly

Change the seafood for Spinach & Artichoke and Reggiano parm and spices and you've got my Spinach Dip recipe

[jaybee]

crudites and dip

vegetrarian chopped liver

chopped liver

roast turkey

southern style cornbread and sausage dressing

vegetarian cornbread stuffing

Gene's version of Marie's traditional giblet stuffing

(Gene=brother, Marie=mother)

baked ham

giblet gravy

vegetarian gravy

roasted red snapper provençal

brussel sprouts

peas. pearl onions and mushrooms

sweet potatoe pie

cranberry relish

tarte tatin

apple pie

pumkin pie

chocolate chip cookies

whipped cream topping

Haven't decided the wines yet.

12 for dinner

[RockADS21]

I have noticed many of you pairing Pino Noir with turkey. I decided on Merlot - any thoughts?

[Malawry]

Mom is purchasing a turkey (which she has done for several years) and making a blueberry cobbler. Other folks are contributing a cranberry crumble, fruit pies, sweet potato casserole (with pineapple in it, it's always good), and my talented partner Erin is making his signature vegetarian stuffing. This leaves me to go crazy on the rest of the menu. I am making, with Mom's sous-chef assistance:

A big relish tray with many olives, pickles, and other goodies

A big slab o' home-cured gravlax, with brown bread, mustard, cukes, red onions, capers

Mini dried cranberry and dried cherry scones

Corn muffins

Haricots verts with wild mushrooms and fried shallots

Really good mashed potatoes

Slow-cooked red cabbage

Pecan-crusted trout with an apple cider reduction sauce (this is to sub in for turkey for Erin and I)

I have also been enlisted to make my special pancakes one morning, while Mom will staff the waffle iron for our family "Oh Boy!" waffles.

I plan to celebrate Friday (my birthday) by making other people treat me to meals out to thank me for all my hard work.

[Suzanne F]

1 tblsp Old Bay seasoning (don't let anyone see - it's the secret ingredient)

Oh, Gordon, Old Bay is the perfect secret ingredient -- so much going on that no one can ever guess. Have you ever used it in the flour coating for fried chicken? Yum.

[suzilightning]

roast turkey

stove top stuffing

creamed spinach

roast sweet taters

mashed white taters

some form of frozen biscuits

hopefully one of the guys is swinging a cheesecake from his mom in law to be....all at work yaaaaaaaaaaaaay holiday OT to the MAX!!

just stay safe.

my thanksgiving

at the hawk watch

soy yoghurt

pb & j on whole wheat

apple pie

home

homemade macaroni and cheese with hot dogs

salad

since the husband will be up in poughkeepsie and i have to work friday and saturday i am cooking to please me; stuff my husband can;t eat

[tsquare]

Salad made with mixed garden lettuces, radicchio, red grapefruit, pomegranates, avocado, and pecans - grapefruit vinegrette to dress.

Brought to dinner at a local restaurant, to be eaten by a bunch of chefs (and family) preparing the rest of the dinner! I heard "turkey", the rest will be a surprise. Yum.

[Suzanne F]

I was all set to make roasted brussels sprouts with garlic and ham, but instead saw some beautiful purple kale in the Greenmarket today. (Last day of South Street Seaport, NYC). Not that frilly ornamental kale, but big purple oak-leaf shaped leaves. Still going to cook it with garlic and ham -- actually, pancetta -- though.

[bushey]

We'll be a small group this year so we're trying to keep it simple.

Nibbles: cheddar cheese, assorted olives

Field greens with sliced beets and camembert, sherry vinaigrette

Mushroom barley soup (sister-in-law)

Roast marinated turkey

Cornbread stuffing

Acorn squash and swiss chard gratin (from Chefshop, new recipe)

Heart attack mashed potatoes (butter, cream cheese, sour cream)

Brussel Sprouts

Sour cream coffee cake (husband)

Chocolate Mousse

Razzleberry Pie (Marie Callender) a la mode

Haven't quite decided on wine yet. Probably a Cote de Brouilly or Cote du Rhone.

[CathyL]

Like Suzanne, I scuttled my original veg plans (broccoli rabe) when I saw the gorgeous greens at Union Square: green kale, collards, red mustard. On Sunday I visited a market in Washington DC and found beautiful red kale too. I'm going to saute the greens and make a warm salad with chopped hazelnuts, dressed with a plum vinaigrette (plum jam, Dijon mustard, champagne vinegar & oil).

The DC market also had romanesco broccoli, so I had to buy one. It will be a centerpiece, hopefully to the delight of my littlest guests.

Still haven't done the wines; I'm leaning toward German riesling to start, and a Pinot Noir or Rhone with the bird. Sparkling cider the the underage set, courtesy of the T'giving wine thread.

I nominate Bushey for the best-new-sig-line-of-the-week award.

[bushey]

Thanks, Cathy. The signature line isn't really new, but I haven't been posting much is the past few weeks. It was inspired by a bumper sticker I saw locally.

What is romanesco broccoli?

We love broccoli rabe and have it as often as possible. A local paper ran an Alice Waters recipe for melted broccoli rabe that is insanely delicious --saute blanched rabe and slivered garlic in olive oil over low heat and add a little water after about 5 minutes or so. Continue to cook slowly, season with s & p and a dash of cayenne, then drizzle in heavy cream (approx 1/4 - 1/2 cup) and cook until absorbed. Total cooking time is about 15-20 minutes and the results are divine.

[CathyL]

What is romanesco broccoli?

Blondie posted a picture in the Dinner thread here. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page.)

Melted broccoli rabe? Although I love it with just the oil, garlic and hot pepper - such a clean flavor, and the bitter edge is a good foil for rich dishes.

[bushey]

Thanks for the link. Looks almost too pretty to eat.

I agree about the bitter edge appeal of broccoli rabe. We alternate between straight saute with garlic, oil and red pepper, melted rabe and broccoli rabe and sausage (mixed sweet and hot Italian). I also love it as part of pasta with bitter greens, alongside escarole and chicory, with some pine nuts and raisins all sauteed in EVOO and garlic. Mmmmmmmmmm.

[bushey]

Cakewalk -- I meant simple as in pretty simple to prepare, no last minute fussing, and no dish with over-the-top ingredients.

A friend at work just gave me her two-to-three hour method for cooking turkey and I'm looking forward to trying it. Completely cover roasting pan with a tight seal of foil over turkey -- add a couple of cups of liquid such as water, wine and or broth and some chopped aromatic vegetables -- and cook at 450 for one hour. Uncover turkey, lower heat to 400 and cook for another one to one-and-a-half hours. Will report back on success or failure .

[awbrig]

sounds nice Blue!

I am making - for 25 people-

Tamarind glazed chicken Satays with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Mixed nuts

Usinger Summer Sausage and cheese platter

Pomegrante Salad

Sage and Garlic Roasted turkey

Chestnut brioche Stuffing with Pear and Pine Nuts

Double Baked Potatoes

Orange Asparagus

Roasted green Beans with slivered almonds

Rosemary Rolls

Pumpkin, Apple and French Silk Pies

Edited November 27, 2002 by awbrig (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

OK - here's our menu,

Hors D'oevres

Crudite with Spinach Dip

Assorted fried and steamed dumplings with two dipping sauces

Pretzels & Popcorn (inspired by No. 1)

Appetizer

Minestrone Soup - I made it yesterday - homemade chicken stock with diced carrots, celery, zucchini, butternut squash, escarole, tomatoes and orzo pasta - came out really good.

The Main Event

Turkey - Roasted on the Weber Grill, click to see their TurkeyCast - with bacon strips (on top of a kosher turkey (used to save the brining, not for kashruth))

Gravy - made with drippings, but not giblets

Cranberry Sauce Tasting (see that thread, we're going to answer the question - Doctor it up, homemade, or just the canned and nothing but the canned?)

Apple-Cranberry Chutney

Sidekicks

Bread Dressing - Basic boxed stuffing mix, with lots of sauteed onions, celery & mushrooms

Mashed Red Potatoes - I boil the garlic cloves with the potatos - butter & whole milk

Sweet Potato Casserole - the pineapple bits & marshmellow variety

Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots with Tahini Sauce - got to show my mom how the roasted cauliflower is supposed to come out, I've told her about it but she said it didn't come out the way I described.

Sauteed Gailon (Chinese Broccoli) with Garlic - something green is a requirement

Roasted Butternut Squash - just a few pieces left after making the soup

Cornbread

Desserts

Apple & Pecan Pie - brought by our friends

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Grilled Pineapple with Cinnamon

[Sandra Levine]

Here's what we ate at my sister-in law's:

With aperitifs: smoked salmon

eggplant caviar

First course: Mushoom bisque

The main event: roast turkey, giblet and mushroom gravy

wild rice, chestnut and fennel stuffing

cranberry/raspberry sauce

two-potato gratin

broccoli with crunchy topping

endive and arugula salad

Dhateau St. Jeane Pinor Noir, 2000

Dessert: my mother-in-law's apple pie

my mother-in law and James Beard's pumpkin pie

Edited November 29, 2002 by Sandra Levine (log)

[Cheffie3]

This was my menu:

Brined Turkey (from Cooks Illustrated)

Giblet Gravy

Cornbread Dressing with Sage Sausage

Whole Cranberry Sauce (canned)

Macaroni and Cheese

Green Beans

Biscuits

Sweet Potato Pie

Edited November 29, 2002 by Cheffie3 (log)

[seawakim]

I did a combination sit down and buffet style dinner.

The (very small) Appetizers are served in 4 courses.

1. Butternut Squash Soup with Pumpkin Seed oil and toasted pumkin seed

2. Maple Sweet Potato Ball with Toasted Pecan Crust

3. Wild Forest Mushroom Soup served inside Portobello Mushroom Cup

4. Cranberried Brie en Croute

The buffet consisted of the following:

Rosemary Sage Roasted (brined) Turkey

Maple Sausage Cranberry fruited Stuffing

Herbed Green Pepppercorn Cognac Gravy

Zested Orange Cranberry Sauce

Shittake and Oyster Mushroom Green Bean Casserole

Toasted Pecan Yams

Cornbread Pudding

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Gingeres Swiss Chard

Coconut Sweet Potato Casserole

Southern Greens

German Braised Cabbage

Creamed Spinach Marie

The Dessert Course was served sit down once again in 4 courses:

1. Gingersnap Graham Pumkin Pie

2. Chocolate Chestnut Ganache Torte

3. Mini Pecan Pie

4. Autumn Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart

The dinner was a success! There were only 4 of us, so we obviously had lots of leftovers and look forward to eating them all.

Edited November 30, 2002 by seawakim (log)

[col klink]

Turducken

Porkpa, how did your turducken go? I'm planning on smoking one here in a couple of weeks.

My turkey-day meal went as follows:

chips and salsa (ad hoc, most of the guests hadn't arrived)

smoked turkey (18.5#)

2 smoked geese (15# and 10#)

breakfast sausage dressing with mushrooms and cranberries

candied yams (no marshmellows or nuts!)

mashed taters

goose giblet gravy

2 assorted salads

basil, feta and tomato salad

pear/cranberry crisp (mmm, mmm)

2 store bought pies, blackberry and pumpkin

booze and everflowing wine

for 12 people.