Are you hosting or bringing a dish to a friend or family dinner? Please share your specialties, traditions, or a new aspirational dish you cook this year. And don’t be shy about sharing any disasters (yours or others ).
We’re leaving on a ‘road trip’ through Eastern Oregon so hopefully we’ll find a truck stop open. Chicken fried steak would be super.
I find the traditional Thanksgiving/turkey dinner to be perhaps the most boring meal ever. And I like CARBS!!!
I’m thinking of stuffing my turkey this year. I’ve never had stuffed turkey. Does the stuffing come out soggy? How do you serve it, scoop it out?
Ina Garten and Paula Deen’s cornbread stuffing are good recipes. I’ve stolen my former neighbor’s recipe for herbed stuffing with sausage, chestnuts, and wild rice. It’s not soggy if you have the right amounts of liquid and eggs. I’ve scooped it out of the bird to serve, but everyone’s favorite part is the crusty bits sticking out at the end. To maximize the crispy crust, you can bake it separately in a baking pan.
I haven’t stuffed the bird in years. I usually fill it with citrus, herbs, and garlic. It perfumes the bird beautifully.
This year I’m actually cooking for the family. Here’s the menu as it currently stands.
- Buddha Jumps Over the Wall
- Steamed Striped Bass
- Vegetarian boazi and dumplings
- Cold tossed marinated sweet potato leave “salad”
- Dry stir-fried hand-pulled noodles
- Taro root custard with ginkgo nuts and goji berries
Only a little bit of stuffing fits in the bird but to me it’s far more interesting than that savory bread side dish people usually make instead. I’d trust either of these.
In the South we call the pan done stuff “dressing.”
Mother used cornbread instead of ‘regular’ bread for her dressing. I don’t make the stuff. My equivalent is from an old Sunset magazine article about a Southwestern Thanksgiving. Here’s the recipe for chorizo-stuffed Anaheims
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chilies-with-chorizo-stuffing
I served probably the worst Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever made last night. Turkey was dry, potatoes lumpy, stuffing boring, and I forgot to make gravy until halfway through the meal. The only good things I made were the cranberry sauce and an excellent green bean casserole.
Last year I had to throw dinner together with six hours notice (including shopping time) and it was much, much better. You know that annoying thing people say about “love” being an important part of cooking? I think they may be right.
Fret not.
It’s an unspoken truth and secret that no one really cares about the food at Thanksgiving. They just care about the “Three F’s” – family, friends and football. Well, ok, maybe the pies as well. But the rest of the food? Irrelevant.
I care about the turkey, though my favorite part is the mayonnaise sandwiches the next day.
You’re so nice! Thank you. We watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving during dessert, so that made me feel better.
@robert Another fail was not making twice as much food as expected company this year. So today, I am making a fresh batch of stuffing, more cranberry sauce, and properly roasting some turkey legs and a breast. Because sandwiches really are the best leftover food ever, and I will not ruin that tradition.
Just mayonnaise? Nothing else?
Are you pregnant? Or just make really kick-ass mayo?
Kindred spirit.
Me love me some Charlie Brown during all the holidays. In fact, me love me some Charlie Brown whenever.
#CharlieBrownRocks
Turkey’s an important ingredient in mayonnaise sandwiches.
I brined and smoked my turkey. Made a rich and gelatinous turkey stock for the dressing and giblet gravy.
Brined in salt/sugar solution with apples, fresh herbs, garlic and red onion. Stock I roasted the bones and then simmered with the giblets for about 3 hours. Also made jalapeno cheddar cornbread for dressing. Diced and sautéed the jalapeño to release the natural moisture and intensify the jalapeño flavor. Added cave aged cheddar to a basic cornbread recipe. Added the mixture into a hot buttered cast iton skillet to develop a nice exterior crust.
Smoked the room temp turkey for about 3 hours at 300 F degrees. Sat for another hour to cool. Used applewood to compliment the brine flavor.
Nothing exceptional to report, and no great disasters or other stories. But that’s what I miss most about that site-not-to-be-mentioned: All the great holiday family strife/chutzpah stories – like the one about the in-law who grabbed the big serving bowl of chocolate mousse from the table, sat down on the couch, and proceeded to eat it with the serving spoon.
Currently working on a delayed Thanksgiving dinner since we spent the holiday elsewhere. The bird is stuffed with citrus and herbs and covered with a woven bacon blanket. Bacon mac & cheese and corn casserole will go in when I pull out the bird to rest. Garlic mashed potatoes will be made via the Instant Pot. Carrots will be sous vide with butter and thyme, and the haricot verts will just be sous vide with a bit of bacon fat. Vanilla bean ice cream was pre-made two days ago and is ready to accompany whatever dessert is being delivered by another family member.
If all works well, this may be one of the easiest holiday dinners ever. I’m already an hour ahead of schedule.
Does the turkey skin end up crisp under the bacon?