FR Thanksgiving Thread (Share Traditions, Recipes, etc)

20-nov-2003 | stb

[pro libertate]

I have the same problem. I ate them all the time as a kid, but can't stand them now.

[Vigilantcitizen]

As far as tradition goes; As a kid, the county pop warner football playoffs were always on Thanksgiving weekend,along with the dawgs-jackets game.

Most deer hunters around here go hunting on Thanksgiving day.

Many around here, including me, will serving smoked venison tenderloins and roasts along with the turkey.

I've got two tenderloins that will marinate in my "Butter, Herb, and onion" meat marinade for 2 days prior to being cooked Wednesday night. This marinade can be used for several kinds of meat cooked on a smoker, but is best on chicken, pork, and deer meat.

Ingredients:

3 sticks real butter(Margarine if you have to, I don't.)

3 glugs out of whatever beer you choose. I use Sweetwater brewery Honey brown. A burgandy wine also works well, but I'm not a wine type of guy. A good bourbon also would work.

1 medium sized onion - finely diced- Vidalia's best if you can get them. I can, being I live here.

Around a 1/2" cup of finely shredded parsley and garlic.

Couple shots of honey mustard.

For chicken, I add old bay seasoning. For pork, deer I add tenderizer(mixture of salt and sugar, dr. pepper also will work.)

Slowly melt butter under low heat, then add ingredients. Mix, and the longer it simmers, the better it is.

Allow to cool completely before pouring marinade in large ziploc bag with meat. Put in fridge at least 24 hours, 48 is preferable, if you trust where you buy the meat.

I'm working on a copy of a walnut/plum sauce that a local fancy restaurant serves on lamb chops, which I figure will also be tasty on deer tenderloins. But my attempts have come up short so far.

[Lady Jag]

Thanks for the cartoon, I printed it out and it is going to be my central decoration for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Are you a vegetarian or a cannibal?

[EagleMamaMT]

Thank you for that sweet story! :)

[EagleMamaMT]

Since medical transcription is a 24/7 job, I'm going to be working Thanksgiving day, but since my home office is only 10 feet from my kitchen, I won't get out of cooking! :)

We're having a cajun smoked turkey, purchased from my oldest son's choir teacher as a fundraiser. We bought one last year and it was unanimously voted the best turkey we'd ever ate. It comes from Southern Heritage out of Madison, Mississippi.

I'll also be doing cornbread dressing, roasted brussel sprouts and a pecan pie, a couple of pumpkin pies and an apple pie, along with whatever else pops into my head to cook!

I usually cook a lot in case someone needs a place to go on Thanksgiving. I love to cook and I think the more the merrier when it comes to dinner guests. This year, my oldest son's girlfriend and her father are supposed to be flying in from California to stay with us for a couple of days. This should be interesting...we've never met!

Here's my cornbread dressing recipe. It's an oldie but a goodie!

Cornbread Dressing:

Make a pan of cornbread the night before - from scratch or from a mix, whatever's easiest. Let cool and then crumble and allow to set out overnight to dry out. I make mine in a #10 iron skillet.

4-6 cups of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix, plain or seasoned - your choice.
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 cup diced celery
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 cup cold diced butter
1 pint of turkey broth or 1 can of chicken broth
2 eggs slightly beaten
4 boiled eggs.
Green onions (optional)
Oysters (optional)
Shrimp (optional)

Cook onion and celery in 2 tsp. butter until soft. Mix together the cornbread and stuffing mix in a LARGE bowl. Add slightly cooked celery and onions, seasonings and cold diced butter. Mix lightly. Add broth and slightly beaten eggs. Add chopped up boiled eggs and a few chopped green onions, if you like, for color. Mix well and pour into a greased pan and bake until firm. I bake mine at 350 degrees. Can be stuffed in the bird, too. I cook it separately because there's less chance of bacterial contamination if it's not stuffed in the turkey.

NOTE: You can add more broth to this recipe if you want. I usually do, because I don't like dry stuffing. Can also add a pint of oysters, too, and some shrimp, if desired.

As far as the pies go, I don't follow a recipe but just add spices, etc., until it feels "right".

This is a good pie that I do follow a recipe for:

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1-1/4 c. corn syrup (light or dark)
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. pecans
6 oz. chocolate chips
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Combine eggs, corn syrup, salt, vanilla and sugar. Mix well. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes.

Happy eating, folks!

[EagleMamaMT]

Here's one more recipe that just makes Thanksgiving complete for us:

Old-fashioned Sweet Taters

Peel and slice sweet potatoes.

In a big iron skillet, melt a generous amount of butter. Put the sliced sweet potatoes in the skillet and fry lightly on each side. You can add a little oil to the butter to keep the butter from burning - just a touch!

Once both sides of the sweet potatoes are lightly browned, dot with butter and sprinkle white sugar heavily over the sweet potatoes. This is not exact. You want to be able to see sweet potatoe through the sugar. That's the only way I know how to tell you to do this. Put the skillet in a 300 degree oven and cook until the sugar and butter melts together and gets a little crunch and the sweet potatoes are tender.

This recipe was handed down from my grandmother's grandmother so it's very old - over 100 years old.

[riri]

Do you have a good recipe for Pecan Pie sans the chocolate chips?

[knak]

thanks, can I cut up the cranberries really small? I like jellied cranberry sauce but I can't stand whole cranberries. I sound you with the bananas!

[Rushmore Rocks]

I'm orginally from Texas. They will not let a woman out of the state until they can smoke a brisket, fry a chicken, or make a really great pecan pie. This is one of the best I've tried....gets lots of compliments every year!!!

THE BEST PECAN PIE

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
4 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or dark rum)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, toasted *
Pastry for 9-inch pie

Combine first three ingredients, cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Cool slightly.
Add eggs, vanilla and salt to mixture. Mix well. Stir in toasted pecans.

Pour into unbaked pastry shell (I use a 9-inch quiche pan)
Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour or until set.

Serve warm or cold with whipped cream or ice cream.

* to toast pecans....place chopped pecans on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown and smell wonderful.
Don't burn them! Takes about 20 minutes.

[knak]

oh man I might have to have that tonight! I love pie!

[knak]

I'm from Texas too and love a good brisket. What's your recipe?

[tubebender]

2 gallons was enough when using the tall skinny fryer pot that came w/the burner. To make sure you won't have overflow when the frying starts, you can put the bird in the pot, fill it w/oil just covering the bird, then take the bird out and fire up the burner.

You should post this in large fonts as deep frying a turkey is a potential fire hazard if you heat too much oil and then it over flows on the burner when you put the bird in. Also put the Bird in "Real Slow" and wear long gloves. Every year emerengency rooms see many deep fry burn victums.

[riri]

Thanks! I never thought to even try one until two years ago when buying a new house my realtor brought one by. I thought to myself "Ugh, pecan pie" Then I broke down and gave it a try. It was the most marvelous thing I had ever tasted.

[N. Theknow]

[spectre]

CARLO...HELP!

Yesterday I bought an 18 pound partially thawed out frozen Turkey and refridgerated it.

Today, this monster feels like it is thawed on at least the outside.

My question. If this bird thaws out completely in the next day or so, and I KEEP it sealed up...not clean it...will it still be good to cook on Thanksgiving or spoiled?

I spoke with a meat-market worker at Krogers the other day, and he said that they are putting their thawed out "fresh" Turkeys out for sale, and THEY would be fine to keep till Thanksgiving.

Anyway, Carlo...I hope you understand my question. HELP!

sw

[fml]

-- Thanks for the cartoon, I printed it out and it is going to be my central decoration for Thanksgiving Dinner.--

LOL...reminds me of a neat and easy centerpiece. Cut off the top third of a gallon plastic milk carton and place a soda bottle in the center, soda bottle needs to be weighted with water or soda. Place leaves, fruit or any sort of decoration you wish in the gallon container, fill with water and freeze. When you take it out of the freezer and remove the soda bottle you have a neat ice sculpture-wine bucket that can sit on the table and keep your drinks chilled.

[StarFan]

How long do you keep it in the brine Ken? Do you then cook it covered with a cheesecloth soaked in the brine (which I believe Martha Stewart did but am not sure if it was brine)?

[Right_in_Virginia]

Lettuce?.....LETTUCE????....we don't need no stinkin' lettuce...takes up way toooo much space on the sandwich...

ROFL! My thoughts, exactly ;^D

[CyberCowboy777]

Turkey Recipe - How to Smoke a Turkey



What you will need: 1 – 10 lb. to 12 lb. (No Larger) fresh or frozen turkey ( If the turkey is frozen place it under refrigeration in a pan until completely thawed. Do not force thaw your turkey. Much of your flavor and moisture will be separated from the turkey if you do so.



1 Smoker - large enough to house your turkey. A smoker with a tempeture regulator will be the best way to safely smoke your turkey.

Hickory or Oak Wood Chips – They simply work the best.



Brine Ingredients - The brine is important so that the turkey will maintain its flavor and moisture. A good recipe for brine is: 1 cup of salt – 2 cups of diced onions, 3 diced celery stalks, 10 sage leaves, 10 sprigs of fresh thyme, 1 bay leaf, 4.25 cups of distilled water, 1 orange or lemon quartered, 3 tablespoons of dark corn syrup, 4 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine, and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch.



Brine Cooking Instructions – Make a solution by carefully mixing the above ingredience. Place the turkey in the brine solution in a large pan under refrigeration and thoroughly baste periodically. Leave the turkey in the brine solution for at least 24 hours.

When you are ready to smoke your turkey, pull the turkey from refrigeration, and rub the entire turkey with butter. With the smoker tempeture set at 240 degrees Fahrenheit, allow about 30 minute per pound of turkey to cook. For best results, only use hickory or oak wood chips.

[Right_in_Virginia]

I'm going to try your Peacan Pie recipe....wish me luck!