No Turkey this year

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: Camprunner
Growing up in an Italian household there is always lasagna, eggplant parm, baked ziti as well as Turkey with all the trimmings and enough take home food for all family members to eat well for prob several weeks!


Yeah what's with our families always needing to cook like the Army will be in attendance. Sheesh!

 

[Dallas69]

We had:
Roasted hen
Dressing
Potato salad
Green bean casserole
Sweet potatoes with marshmallows
Deviled eggs
Pumpkin pie
Pecan pie

 

[Rolla07]

You all are making me hungry! Love Turkey but wont be cooking one myself at Christmas since my oven is on the fritz and im too cheap to spend 500$ to fix it lol..will have some at our family's place! I love turkey but after 2-3 meals of it im sick of it.

 

[Nyogtha]

Smoke roasted a brined pork loin, scroll cut & stuffed with cheese & fruit with a fruit sauce. Wife made salad, pan dressing, pumpkin bread, cheesecake, Been doing this on holidays instead of turkey for years.

 

[jakewells]

i went to ryan's buffet for thanksgiving it was good. no since in me cooking since it is only me.

 

[Malo83]

24 pound Turkey, free from work.

 

[vavavroom]

9 pound prime rib, 5 pound turkey breast, pot stickers, scalloped potatoes in creamy sauce with Gruyere cheese, stuffing, cranberries, snow peas, cucumber salad, corn bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, cheese cake, ice-cream and whipped cream. We were six people and everyone went home with enough food for two more meals. I'm stuffed!

 

[SteveSRT8]

20 pound deep fried turkey brined in advance, 5 pound ham in the crock pot all day, mashed taters, broccoli casserole (think cheese), corn pudding, oven fried Brussel sprouts, whole sweet taters, giblet gravy, 3 kinds of stuffing, homemade yeast rolls, and a few more items.

Dessert was homemade pies, pecan, peanut butter, and pumpkin!

Just like Vavavroom we send all the kids home with giant bags full of leftovers so the may eat for days!

 

[Camprunner]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
20 pound deep fried turkey brined in advance, 5 pound ham in the crock pot all day, mashed taters, broccoli casserole (think cheese), corn pudding, oven fried Brussel sprouts, whole sweet taters, giblet gravy, 3 kinds of stuffing, homemade yeast rolls, and a few more items.

Dessert was homemade pies, pecan, peanut butter, and pumpkin!

Just like Vavavroom we send all the kids home with giant bags full of leftovers so the may eat for days!


Steve tell me about this ham you put in the crockpot how does it come out and what do you put in with it? Like water, can of pineapple, etc?

 

[sleddriver]

I think the problem with turkey overall is:

• The flavor has been bred out of it over time. What we eat today isn't the same as 40yrs ago.
  .
• Modern turkeys are bred for large breasts because many favor white meat over dark. Problem is white meat is low on flavor and dries out much faster than dark. Dark is where the flavor is.
  .
• Brining helps keep white meat juicy and seasons it, but it takes much more than just salt to "season" turkey. It takes lots of spices & herbs rubbed both under all the skin on the meat itself + up top on the skin. This paste is the best I've used: Salty, sweet, rosemary, thyme, orange, grapeseed oil, paprika, sage, and onion. No need to brine. Just slather on, put in the fridge overnight with no covering. This will concentrate the flavors and dry out the skin a bit so it will roast up crispy. Result: More flavor. Let it warm up a bit on the counter before going into a preheated oven.
  .
• Slow-smoked pepper turkey with pecan wood is tough to beat. However a herb-roasted bird with lots of seasonings & herbs will be close.
  .
• Turkey meat really needs a good, deep, rich gravy. It's essential on the white meat. A brown roux is the key to deep flavor. I stood, constantly stirring a roux, for about 15min. to develop it. Well worth the time however. I should have made 2x as much. An excellent gravy goes a LONG WAY to making up for bland white meat. Plus it's great on potatos and dressing.
  .
• Fresh turkeys are now 50% off. I'm going to cut the backbone out, flatten it, then split the breast bone. One half is going on the smoker, the other roasted in the oven with lots of herbs & spices.
• Don't toss the carcass. Break up, put in a bag, and freeze it. Great for making stock, chicken soup, posole, etc.

 

[Errtt]

Yesterday Prime Rib
Today doing the turkey. And first time trying the oil less fryer

method (CharBroil Big Easy). Just doesn't seem right as we have deep fried and smoker for some years. We brine, inject, rub and right now it looks good so far at about 2 hours. Using a new double probe bluetooth to phone temperature probes.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Camprunner
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
20 pound deep fried turkey brined in advance, 5 pound ham in the crock pot all day, mashed taters, broccoli casserole (think cheese), corn pudding, oven fried Brussel sprouts, whole sweet taters, giblet gravy, 3 kinds of stuffing, homemade yeast rolls, and a few more items.

Dessert was homemade pies, pecan, peanut butter, and pumpkin!

Just like Vavavroom we send all the kids home with giant bags full of leftovers so the may eat for days!


Steve tell me about this ham you put in the crockpot how does it come out and what do you put in with it? Like water, can of pineapple, etc?


So ridiculously easy. Just a cheap store brand ham, place in a crock pot, put in a squirt of mustard and a squirt of pancake syrup. That is it.

Cook all day and it hardly can be taken out it is so tender. Almost causes fights!

 

[Drew99GT]

Since my mom passed, we went out Thanksgiving day to a local restaurant. It was good, but not the same, so yesterday I said the heck with it and roasted a chicken, mashed potatoes, box dressing (YUCK - making homemade next time), oyster cabbage salad (sounds disgusting, it's everyone's favorite family recipe). Much easier than doing a giant turkey.

I think I'm gonna experiment with different meats each year since turkey gets old.

 

[Tdog02]

I think I want to try the oyster cabbage salad. Recipe???

 

[Drew99GT]

Thompson family oyster salad!

Ingredients:

2 cans of oysters, rinsed and diced into small pieces
1/2 head of cabbage very thinly shaved, not chopped.
Roughly 3 sour pickles diced into small pieces
Several saltine crackers crumbled by hand, they go in at the very end.

The homemade vinaigrette mayonnaise:

2 eggs
4 tbs vinegar
2 tbs sugar

Whisk and heat over low heat until it thickens, then cool. If it thickens too much, add a touch of water.

Combine the salad mix with the dressing and let it sit for an hour or more. Crumble in about 10 to 15 saltine crackers to desired consistency. Stir it up.

The key to the recipe is sour pickles; you won't find them in stores. Maybe if you're lucky. You could try sweet pickles and maybe add a bit extra vinegar. Or order sour pickles online. We have a cousin in New Mexico that gets them locally for us.

Like I said, it sounds weird but it's incredibly good. By far everyone's favorite side dish who's ever had dinner with us.

 

[pandus13]

Brown Rice
Mixed veggies
sausages
beets

homemade gluten-free cupcakes!

Oh,.... and wake up at 4am, drove 800miles, including drove a slow car fast...
and... did it without traffic.....

P.S. 5w30 semi-synth oil looked good after drive....