Posted on 10/31/2021 11:14:58 AM PDT by Jamestown1630
This month: Thanksgiving! Are you doing anything different this year?
(If you would like to be on or off of this monthly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.)
-JT
Fish or a wild hog; deer if God wills..
What do you do with your fish?
I grill it or bake it.
That sounds delicious, but I am embarrassed to say I use the classic bread cubes, celery, & onion from my childhood.
I have to say last year, the day before Thanksgiving I made Ina Garten’s gravy base & then just mixed in the drippings & brown bits from the turkey & GRAVY! The best I’ve ever had. The second time I made it I let the onion basically melt into the base instead of spooning out the onion. It made it richer & deeper & meatier. It’s online & the leftover gravy freezes beautifully.
I usually make the same kind you do. And I know my brother won’t go for this; so he’ll get the usual, if he’s here.
I’m anxious to see how well this freezes and then vacuum-packs. It’s a lot of dressing!
(I’ve never made an Ina recipe that didn’t turn out well.)
Is Ina still on TV with new episodes? I always found her to be very likable and watchable — unlike so many other Food Network celebs.
I make our traditional stuffing...out of White Castle hamburgers!
Very nice thread. We will do our same small dry brined turkey. We gave up on stuffing years ago, too many carbs. We discovered white acorn squash this year, AKA the mashed potato squash. We tried one and yes, with the same butter, salt, pepper, roasted garlic and a little cream, tastes just like potatoes and less carbs. Veggies vary, some of our favorites are this years sweet corn, carrots, Brussel sprouts, and I must have a dry baked yam. Always scratch gravy. Dessert only if we have company, usually apple or ricotta cheese strudel.
Ha! When my parents were poor college students they often had white castle dates because you got a lot for not a lot ; )
I need to get a vacuum sealer. I’ve been wanting one for awhile. Almost every comment on Ina’s recipes say they come out perfect each time. She’s a common sense genius!
Too bad ......Ina was unveiled as a raging liberal.
People Exclusive
Ina Garten Is Hosting a Fundraiser for Joe Biden’s Campaign:
‘We Need to Stop Being Divisive’
The Food Network star will be sipping her signature Cosmopolitan with Dr. Jill Biden and virtual guests to support the former Vice President’s presidential bid
Wife unit gets a turkey from work every year as well. I like my fish.
The turkey gets cut in half with generous amounts of Tony Cachere’s and goes on the grill/smoker. Its ok. Makes for good soas or with dumplings. I’m just not into farm turkeys.
Wild Turkey (Thunder Chicken) is another story.
I don’t think we’ve done turkey at all for the past two years; but before that, my husband dry-brined ours and it turned out the best of any before. We used the Judy Rodgers/Zuni Cafe method. (I remember that you have to be careful NOT to get a Kosher turkey if you’re going to do this kind of thing - those are already salted):
https://food52.com/recipes/15069-russ-parsons-dry-brined-turkey-a-k-a-the-judy-bird
The corn muffin sausage stuffing recipe sounds intriguing, but I often try a small batch of a recipe before using it for an event with guests. I’ve had enough accidents (sometimes happy, but often not) to have learned my lesson.
This year we will be guests at our son’s home, but I feel confident that I’ll be in the kitchen a lot. My son is great with his grilling skills, but in the regular kitchen they don’t feel the need to go to much food prep. Of course, I can’t do that every meal either, but I guess I have a few more years under my belt and don’t have to look up every recipe any more.
We will probably stick to many of the same comfort foods. I make killer mashed potatoes and apple pie so those will probably be my finest contributions to the feast.
I’m sure you could just halve that recipe.
And how exactly do you do that?
That’s what I usually do. If the gang wants me to try that, I will. Otherwise I will stick to the regular stuffing. Oh, and I make pretty good gravy from scratch. Goes great with my taters. Our son will probably smoke the turkey again this year, and it’s one part of the meal that I’m happy to relinquish! The kids gotta take over at some point, so let them learn!
I’m not crazy about turkey either - once a year is enough. But the dry-brined one turns out much better than the average turkey; and I like having the leftovers to do things with.
Thanksgiving meal always seems better to me on leftover days.
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