Posted on 12/24/2009 8:47:10 AM PST by Patriot1259
Alright, here's the deal. Since Thanksgiving was just four weeks ago and since Turkey generally tastes like cardboard covered with gravy and since American's aren't real big on a Christmas Goose, I'm thinkin' you're thinkin' ham for Christmas.
Now if there's one thing a true Southern Cook knows it's how to make a good possum stew...if there's two things a true Southern Cook knows it's how to make a tasty ham.
Here's the secret. It's really easy.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecypresstimes.com ...
Turkey tastes like cardboard? Hello? Somebody can’t cook.
I can honestly say I have never EVERY cooked a turkey that tasted even remotely like cardboard - or anything else distasteful. It is all about preparation, seasoning, and proper cooking.
For turkey to taste like cardboard, one must not season it at all, not add any moisture, and finally you then over cook the crap out of it.
Anyone that ignorant doesn’t deserve any “help” or “suggestions” other than to learn how to cook.
I prefer cornish game hens or duck(ling) for special meals.
That jalapeno jelly sounds like a nice base for a glaze.
Unfortunately, neither my wife nor my daughter would agree.
Brine that turkey, and then cover the breast meat with tinfoil so it isn’t totally dried out by the time the thigh meat is done. Or else butcher the thigh and leg off and cook them for 1/2 or so before putting in the rest of the bird.
We do the game hens for Valentine’s but do the goose for Christmas. I only do it once a year and usually forget from year to year how to cook it. Julia Child is best for oven steaming goose (and her duck recipes are superb). I don’t know if you do wild game but one out of three wild geese is worth it. The farm geese have alot of fat (like the succulence of wild duck versus farm duck) but the favor is unparalleled.
I have grown up mostly in the South, had the southern grandmother to beat all southern grandmothers and have never seen or eaten possum on any table I have been graced to attend.
And leftover turkey is a joy. The benefit of a large bird not the dregs.
I brine a fresh turkey, stuff with citrus and herbs, butter the skin, truss it and roast it to the breast doneness not the thigh. Perfect every time.
I baked and maple-glazed a ham earlier this week. Yesterday I boiled the bone and end meat, cooked it down to a hearty stock and added split green peas, carrots and ham chunks. That and homemade yeast rolls for lunch. Yum!
Even a perfectly prepared turkey is rather tasteless compared to the lowely chicken. It’s only advantage is size in feeding large numbers.
I’d rather have duck and prime rib for a holiday feast. Although next year, my family wants to try a turducken and I’ve been watching vids on the deboning process and we may just try it.
I use Alton Brown’s city ham recipe. From memory it’s brown sugar mixed with bourbon (we use juice since we have alcoholics in the family), then mustard, any type works but I do like the hot kind... then pack on the brown sugar and spritz with the bourbon or juice and then pack on ground up ginger snaps. Bake whatever for however long, I forget and it forms a crust. Totally junky and I’m leaving the ginger snaps off one end of it this year since we have someone with a gluten free diet. Yum.
We are breaking tradition and having prime rib this year...yum!
My kids have loved these since they were little.
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
It was a joke...sheeeesh. An innocent turkey carcass was insulted.
I made Cornish game hens one year when there were just two of us for Thanksgiving, and they were delicious. I’ve cooked them fairly often since then. The trick is to keep basting them, like you would a turkey, so they remain moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. I always make a jalapeño-cranberry-cilantro relish to go with them.
A standing rib roast, preferably with Yorkshire pudding and plenty of good red wine is the only way to go.
You ought to pass along that possum stew recipe. I saw tracks in the snow the other day, and I think they were possum.
We have standing rib for Christmas with Yorkshire pudding.
Ham is New Year’s with black eyed peas and greens.
I made a bunch of jalapeno jelly and orange marmalade this year and will try this recipe ASAP. You’re right, it sounds really yummy. Jelly is a fantastic base for a variety of things. Grape jelly and barbeque sauce makes good gravy for little smokies ... use chili sauce instead of barbeque if you prefer some heat.
Oh, “A Christmas Ham”, I thought you were talking about Obama.
parsy, who misunderstood
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