Care to share your hits and misses yesterday? Here's

P

pat-nocal

Well-known member
my menu -- all hits. I was very pleased. It was a nice leisurely cooking kind of day. Got the dry brine on the turkey in the morning then spent another 1-1/2 hours preparing the side dishes so they were ready to pop in the oven around 5:30 p.m. after the bird came out of the oven. Went to the movies then came home, rinsed the dry brine off the bird, popped it in the oven, and less than 2 hours later we were dining. Great day, very relaxing. The only things I made the day before were the apple pie and turkey stock from roasted backs and wings, and a mini cheese, olive and charcuterie platter to nibble on with drinks before dinner.

Spatchcocked Turkey with Anise and Orange (a new recipe -- liked the ease of preparation, fast-cooking and subtle flavors)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spatchcocked-turkey-with-anise-and-orange-51255070

Grainy Mustard Mashed Potatoes (a repeat performer at our house)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/grainy-mustard-mashed-potatoes-recipe.html

Homemade Gravy (a nice make ahead to which I enhanced with turkey drippings and fond at the last minute)

http://www.onceuponachef.com/2012/11/homemade-gravy.html

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Streusel (wow, so good! loved the crispy topping and great flavors)

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/sweet-potato-casserole.html

Brussels Sprouts Gratin (a new recipe which I'd make again)

http://www.onceuponachef.com/2015/11/brussels-sprouts-gratin.html

Grandma's Bread Stuffing (Charlie's recipe, another repeat performer that I have SUCH a hard time getting the dish to the table due to picking off the crispy crunchy bread cubes as the dish comes out of the oven -- thanks, Charlie for a keeper!)

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=34436

Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce (Simple and delicious -- my new favorite. The only change I made was to plunge a 2 inch stick of cinnamon into sauce after removing from heat -- gives a very subtle hint of cinnamon and warmth to the sauce after it's chilled)

http://www.onceuponachef.com/2013/11/fresh-cranberry-orange-sauce.html

Homemade Pumpkin Pie (gift from a friend)

Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie (another repeat performer -- verry good!)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108650

 
See above for almost a miss but everything else turned out great

Turkey was juicy and perfectly roasted ( I pour 4 c of chicken stock in the bottom of the roasting pan and baste the turkey with lots of chopped garlic in melted butter)

Ham was lovely- red current glaze

Mashed & gravy turned out great

veggies were tasty and well-received

dressing turned out great- I'm with Pat- hard not to eat the crunch top before it gets to the table.

Cranberries turned out great.

Cheesecake not the best but was enjoyed by the guests.

 
This was ours. No misses for us either!!

DS and DDIL hosted the meal--tables all beautifully set inside and THEN, a beautiful Carolina blue sky and 65* took us outside for the entire affair.

Began with "stuff puppies", made by DSIL and DD. Sausage, bacon, bread, onion, herbs rolled into slightly larger than golf ball size and deep fried, served with baba's turkey gravy. Man, you cannot imagine how delicious!! Then there began a brain storming for further use for the oil. Let's fry some baby carrots (no breading)--delicious and hot. Then whole jalapenoes--good and hot and HOT. Then, collard leaves. Good. Oh, well, why not twice fry some Krispy Kremes--you can't imagine it, but really really good!! And finally, since we could, Sister schubert's roll and King's Hawaiian.

So, on to the dinner. Turkey, scalloped oysters, stuffing, gravy, pea salad, cranberry orange relish, stewed (summer) corn, butter beans, more stuff puppies, and cauliflower steaks (DEEElicious), brussels sprout salad. Pecan pie and TA DA, Krispy Kreme bread pudding with bourbon ice cream that didn't freeze so was creme anglaise.
Good pinot noirs and chardonnays and viognier.
DDIL's table truly looked like a page from an al fresco dinnner in Bon Appetit!!

 
You need to watch this Gilmore Girls clip. I can't find find the link so google this

"gilmore girls" jackson frying.

ah, found it.

 
No real misses, just a disappointing take on a classic....

let's see - the day before I made
- mashed potatoes (from Nigella Lawson's new
book, a recipe that must be made one day ahead)

- cranberry sauce (simplest recipe ever, turned out perfect)

- batch of rolls (Parker House style)

- pie dough

- baked pumpkins and processed the flesh for pie

on TXG day Phil took over the action, making the turkey, dressing, gravy, and a sweet potato concoction that turned out great.. We made the pumpkin pie together.

the only disappointment was my idea to make the green beans sous vide - even though perfectly cooked, the color was pathetic. No bright green the way I like. Never again. Everyone ate, no problems, but nothing beats the regular method of cooking then shocking in cold water - they turn out spectacular that way in both looks and taste.

we had 7 guests plus the two of us, but due to an approaching storm everyone left right after dessert, so Phil and I were all by ourselves by 8pm... Perfect evening! HA!

 
Everything turned out great. The funniest thing was that our host must have his..

Southern cornbread dressing instead of the Yankee bread dressing made by his wife.

But--he ran out of cornbread, so made a dressing that combined both--he called it his Appomattox Courthouse Dressing.

 
not re-visiting that issue smileys/wink.gif (more)

I don't think it is worth it, because green beans cook so quickly anyway - my thought was to do something away from the stove because Phil would be finishing up the gravy etc

I am a bit surprised that the source where I got the recipe would not mention anything about color, since it is a "scientific-oriented" cooking site with sous-vide as one of the main methods.

if I need to fool around with baking soda and other tricks to make it work, I really rather do the regular cooking - sometimes it doesn't pay to get "fancy"

I also was disappointed by carrots sous-vide a few months ago - there were raves about the texture, I did not think it was worth it at all. For some meats, hamburger, lobster tail, shrimp. salmon YES, great method. For veggies, I'm not convinced

 
Since the only thing I made that resembled what would be on the

Thanksgiving table was the dressing, it was a huge hit! This dressing is what my Grandma taught me and is pretty much the same as Charlie's Grandma's dressing. However, this is the first time I haven't made it IN the pan with the turkey which I think makes it taste so good and I'm pretty sure is the reason John has been married to me almost 48 years. But since I wasn't doing a turkey I browned turkey wings and then placed them on top of the pan of dressing covered with foil and baked for 1 1/2 hours. Wow! It is delicious and John is happy with his fried dressing with a fried egg on top and a couple slices of jellied cranberry sauce for breakfast ever day since. All is well in the world.

 
Very cute--BUT not true to life if you've ever fried a turkey!! DS had about a two page

hilarious instruction sheet on "how to fry a turkey", interspersed with much beer, etc. The first time they did it they still have the "crop circle" in the grass to commemorate the oil boiling over!! They now have a dedicated spot in some mulch--and the yellow tape to keep spectators a safe distance away from the "turkey drop". Good stuff.

 
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