From my comment at Stella’s Place, on her recipe post, here’s our family’s sweet potato casserole recipe, with a pecan topping.
It’s not Thanksgiving for our family without a good sweet potato casserole. I wouldn’t eat sweet potatoes until I was in my twenties, but now I love them. I became the person who brings the huge pan of them to our big family meal long ago.
My husband’s huge extended family goes all out for the day, with all his siblings trying to show up with kids and grandkids. There may be one very elderly but super active and fit aunt to come. The members of that oldest generation are sadly almost gone.
Everyone who comes brings their specialties, and after so many years, we don’t plan a menu. We show up before noon, and there will be maybe a dozen or so sides, more than a half dozen desserts, two or three turkeys, several hams. A bouncy house in the huge yard for the kids, which makes for a much more peaceful day, and good fun all around complete the day.
I don’t have a recipe anymore, so these are approximations. You can find recipes for similar casseroles, but the topping ingredients always include flour. Don’t add flour! It ruins a good crunchy topping, makes it cakey.
About 3# sweet potatoes, half stick of butter, 3 large eggs, pinch of salt, cup of milk, quarter cup of sugar. Mix cooked sweet potatoes with all ingredients and beat well.
Mix about 1/4 cup butter, softened, one cup brown sugar, and one cup pecans into a crumbly topping and drop onto the sweet potato mixture. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until topping is browned.
I tried to reduce quantities to make a smaller, normal size casserole. To adjust according to taste, etc., don’t add all the ingredients at once. For example, start with a quarter cup of sugar, and check the tast after you mix the other ingredients in. You may want more sugar. Add milk gradually. You want the mix to be a little thicker than a pudding. If topping has too much butter, add a few more nuts and a little brown sugar.
You can also add vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon if you wish.
Also posted over at Stella’s, here’s another family favorite.
For those who’d like to try a true Southern cornbread dressing, here’s my favorite recipe, my Aunt Gay’s dressing. She was one of the best cooks I’ve ever learned from. She loved to give out her recipes, and kept index cards with her favorites, ready to gift to anyone who asked, so unlike me, she measured!
I have a lot of her recipes, and may share more later. She made the best, the most addicting Chex mix I’ve ever had. I often make a quad batch to give out during the holidays. And she gave me a cookie recipe, not originally hers, that is far and away the most delicious cookie I’ve ever tasted.
The family does some underhanded and dirty dealing to steal, yes, steal, as many of those cookies as they can. Let’s just say that you can’t turn your back on them, and not one of them can be trusted to deliver cookies to an absent friend or family member. Although they will solemnly swear to deliver them, they never do. Learned my lesson.
7” pone of cornbread, cooked, cooled, then crumbled one day ahead
10 biscuits, also cooked and crumbled ahead
5 slices white bread, laid out the day before. Note here, I like 3 slices thick French bread, torn in pieces, instead of white bread.
5 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (I use a lot more)
3 tsp sage, or less. I like less.
2 cups chopped celery and one cup chopped onion, sautéed in 3/4 stick butter
4 cups chicken or turkey broth
Aunt Gay notes that she used Ketner’s Mill cornmeal, which is from a local mill, and you may not need as much broth if you use a store bought brand.
Bake at 350 1.5 -2 hours until very brown. My own note here. Although she was pretty careful about measuring, you want this dressing to go in the oven sopping with the butter from the vegetables and the broth. When you assemble it all, if you don’t have broth slightly covering the cornmeal mixture, you don’t have enough.
Oh, so good with fresh turkey and cranberry sauce. I can eat dressing for days after Thanksgiving, and never get tired of it. I love both kinds, our cornbread dressing, and the wonderful bread varieties. Maybe I’ll spare some of my sourdough bread or rolls to make some this year.
I like to buy fresh sage, which I also use in the cavity of the turkey, when I cook a whole one.
Here’s to you Aunt Gay, in gratitude for all you taught me, and the wonderful recipes you left me. May you rest in peace.
And finally, my favorite turkey recipe. One of our first commenters posted this at the prior blog we all hung out at, and I tried it the next day. Hard decision for me, because I’d always used Aunt Gay’s super easy no fail recipe, and man, was it good. So, it was a big risk, and I still use this method to brine and prepare the turkey. Nowadays I smoke my turkeys, but the recipe stays the same.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe-1950271
If you’re interested in a much easier way to cook a great, super moist turkey, here’s Aunt Gay’s recipe.
Place the prepared bird in the roaster. Generously salt and pepper the bird, and stuff the cavity with at least half a stick of butter.
My own exception: use some of the aromatics from the Alton Brown recipe instead of just butter in the cavity.
Depending on the size of the bird, put 2.5-3 cups of water in the pan. Use a double layer of wide heavy duty foil and crimp tightly all around the pan. Essentially, you are going to slow steam the turkey.
Cook at 200-225* overnight. Again, temp and length of time depends on how big your bird is.
This will not give you a beautiful bird you can platter up and make the center of your table. It’s going to fall off the bones into the juices. It will be very moist, and delicious, but not pretty. You must really get the foil tight and sealed in order to keep the juices in. If you don’t, the water will evaporate and your turkey will dry out.
You’ll wake up starving due to the wonderful smells all night, and have the oven available for all your sides and desserts!
No.1 You must get the whole cranberry sauce contents out of the can in one piece. Bonus points if you can get it to stand on end so it wobbles a lot. It was my favorite Thanksgiving food as a child and I always wondered WHY we couldn’t have cranberry sauce the rest of the year but we never did.
I love cranberry sauce too Boogy. The canned kind, the home cooked recipes. All of them. And cranberry everything else as well.
I love all the cranberry juice combinations, especially OceanSpray. Cranberrys have my vote for most underrated fruit alongside kiwis. I could survive on nothing but fruits and seafood.
I keep frozen cranberries in my freezer to add to all my smoothies. Especially my seabreeze slushies. 😉
I always start buying an extra bag or two when they are in the store and put them in the freezer so I have a supply.
Cran Grape … I have 4 on the way. 64 oz .
That juice makes the BEST marinades!
I found apple and cranberry together was the ticket to a good taste with hickory or cherry smoke!
So do I, when cooked cranberries develop an almost raspberry flavor. I include them in a pear pie I sometimes make or a cranberry crisp which is heaven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
I’m going to have to try a cranberry crisp – LOVE apple crisp but cranberries would be a great change and interesting also. Thank you for this, Mary! And God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving!
Great anti-oxidant food as well.
Ad good for the UT.
Sundance must be real proud of you. You’re like the pinch hitter who comes out of the dugout and hits a fastball over the center field wall. God Bless You and love to you and yours!
Thanks Boogy, but this is nothing special. The recipe posts have been a thing here since we first started. How lucky can I be? Other people have to dig out cookbooks or google and search lots of sites looking for new ideas. Here we can ask for a special dish and people put it right at our fingertips!
Glad to see this up Menagerie.
It will only get better with time (like fine wine), more and more are finding this blog! More and more ideas emerge!
I was wondering when this would be posted! I have found some great recipes on this thread in the past .
So here’s the big (and quite important) question: Turkey or Ham?
This is a pass-fail quiz, because there is really only one true Americana answer! 🙂
Turkey, of course. 🙂
So since that is settled (at least in my mind); what kind of cooking process for the turkey?
Roasted, deep fried or smoked on the Big Green Egg? (I have a BGE, so you know my answer.)
I smoke our Mary’s Organic turkey for 3.5 to 4 hours on hickory at about 300 to 325 degrees. Place it in a large blue speckled roasting pan. Cover the legs. Crack the top for 1.5 hours to let the smoke bath the bird. Cover the rest of the time. If it’s a small turkey, add just a little bit of water diluted with apple juice to help keep it moist. No seasoning.
We put the giblets in a pan and boil them until cooked and the water is reduced. My wife takes the pan juices and makes a gravy with the chopped giblets, chopped boiled egg and a rue. Sometimes she grills some chopped onions to add to the gravy.
The bird comes out moist and tender. The gravy is a thing of delectable beauty. I just use the potatoes and side veggies as a receptacle for the gravy to reach my mouth.
Later we make a turkey goulash with left over turkey, green peas and a soup base made of chicken stock and thickened with either blended zucchini or cauliflower and season with salt, white pepper and garlic powder. We bake biscuits and place them in a bowl and ladle over the goulash. Great on a cold Fall night.
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Is there still a site called Stella’s place?
For the day after….the cranberry sauce is the ‘icing’ on the sandwhich…of turkery, gravy, stuffing…
Absolutely!
I’m a cold stuffing maniac, leftovers are better than the dinner
Try shaping into patties and pan frying.
Yes it is, though I don’t care for the stuffing on a turkey sandwich I love a good spread of jellied cranberry cranberry sauce on the bread
A few days after I like to make large baked potatoes topped with turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce. So yummy.
GREAT idea!!!
I prefer home cooked. It is such a beautiful colorful dish. To me I t has more Christmas in it than Thanksgiving.
I tried a new recipe this year, and I really like it. Supposedly it is from “Jambalaya”, a cookbook by the Junior League of New Orleans. Good contrast of tart, bitter and sweet flavors with some texture! It keeps well, so you can make it well ahead of the big day.
Yields about 4 cups.
12 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed (3 cups)
2-1/3 cups granulated sugar
1-1/4 cups/6 oz. golden raisins
1 small navel orange, roughly chopped (remove any seeds, of course)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Pinch of salt
In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar, until the mixture is simmering vigorously and the cranberries have burst, 25-30 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool until warm, but not hot. Scrape into a lidded container and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. It keeps very well for a long time in the refrigerator.
If you haven’t tried this cranberry cake give it a whirl. It is soooo good. I like adding a little almond flavoring and orange zest to it. First time I made it I followed the recipe exact and ended up doing the hoover over it. I had to make a second one for the pot luck because I couldn’t stop eating it. Love me some cranberry cake.
https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/cranberry-christmas-cake/#wprm-recipe-container-20448
“Doing the hoover”?
Here’s a recipe I’ve been meaning to try. I have all the ingredients, just haven’t put it together yet.
https://cookingwithcocktailrings.com/thanksgiving-turkey-cranberry-pot-pies/
I felt sinful just reading about it. If that food gets out into the public domain, people will be throwing their halvah and lobster in the garbage! Just, “Wow!”
That looks wonderful
This looks perfect to modify into an individual ‘shephed’s pie’ style meal. There’s someone I know who has chewing problems and isn’t able to eat pie crusts or breading/cakes.
The only thing I would change for her is to put the filling in an individual baking pan, and cover with a layer mashed potato instead of surrounding with a crust.
Definitely trying this this year.
Oh wow that sounds delicious. I’m definitely going to give it a try. I will be using pre made pie dough though. Every time I try to make homemade dough it never turns out. 😩
Wow, they look great! Will try these after thanksgiving.
My daughter makes often a knock off thanksgiving sandwich for her kids with the canned slices cranberry deli Turkey and stove top.
I make those, I like using toasted Ciabatta rolls. I use mayo, cranberry needs to be next to the mayo, then the turkey, then the stuffing, then some bacon, then smoked provolone cheese that has already melted on the toasted bread.
For me, they are an out of this world sammich, but the placing of ingredients is key, like w/any good sandwich.
Oh that made me smile, every year my sisters & I when we were little would speculate if the jellied cranberry sauce would arrive standing up jiggling or defeated laying on it’s side with a ding or crack in it’s side on the serving bowl. Even now when I make cranberry orange relish I include the jellied sauce.
Mary, do you make your own relish? I do, from the recipe on the bag of berries. I originally learned it as a child helping Grama grind the cranberries and orange.
I always have both the relish and the canned sauce. My youngest says it isn’t Thanksgiving without the canned sauce standing tall. My middle says cranberries are from the devil but allows the two dishes onto her table at the far end. She has the same opinion of deviled eggs.
Yes, I make it from the recipe I first saw on the Ocean Spray cranberries bags. My daughter loves cranberry relish
The poor cranberry sauce! It’ll never get recognition when compared to the other gourmet Thanksgiving masterpieces but it tries!
Seems like there is a “Little Golden Book” story just waiting for someone to put into print.
Open the can of cranberry sauce on one end, hold the lid on, turn it over and just start to open the other side. Turn it back right side up, take off lid, and the whole sauce slides right out!
Same law of physics as ‘how to remove a jello mold from the Tupperware container.”
I don’t care for cranberry sauce but I will share this recipe that I really love:
12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed and sorted
1 cup white sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
Seeds of one pomegranate
Mix the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and zest, cloves and cinnamon sticks together in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool. Then stir in the pomegranate seeds and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight. Remove cinnamon sticks.
The pomegranate seeds really this give cranberry sauce a tasty snap with each bite. I buy a container of just the seeds at a farmer’s market and use quite a lot (more than one pomegranate).
You should have had it all year long since it is nutritious and usually on sale after the holidays.
Right there with you brother. But good cranberry sauce is best ladled and not sliced.
My Cole family cranberry sauce recipe…generations old:
Six ingredients:
3 cups bagged cranberries3 cups sugar3 cups water3 cups tawny portHeat (less is more)
Time (more is…better), mainly time x heat, but also in the form of careful attention
…and here’s a nine-step process:
Wash the berries in a coriander; discard the rotten ones.Boil sugar and water in a large pot until the sugar is completely dissolved.Empty the coriander full of berries into the water/sugar solution. Cook at low heat until berries have burst, cooked and reduced. Lower heat and more time are better. Hurrying this may burn the whole affair. I’ve done this over a day or two with no burning whatsoever.When berries have cooked to your satisfaction, add port wine and continue to cook at just-below boiling so the ethanol cooks out of the port while delivering a beautiful woody flavor. More time and heat will be needed. Cook to taste.This recipe is best prepared over a minimum of 2-3 days. A four-day prep cycle just makes a good thing better.For multi-day preps, let the sauce rest overnight at room temperature. The starches will bind together as water evaporates. Resume low heat in the morning or whenever you restart the project. Add half a cup of water when restarting the heat and let it cook out to your satisfaction.Adding small amounts of port or even sugar to the sauce as you cook will allow fine-tuning for flavor toward the end of the project.Let the sauce cool for a bit. Move sauce to 12-20-ounce plastic containers. Store sauce containers for two days. Cold storage over several days cures the sauce. Don’t skip this very important step.
Notes:
This recipe that goes back centuries achieves the best balance between the astringent cranberry and the sugar added to counter it. Port wine transcends the dialectic between the cranberries and sugar by adding a woody element.
Substituting dark brown sugar for white sugar further deepens the seasonal impact of the overall flavor.
At all times monitor and stir for berries burning on the bottom of the pot. Time, attention and love really show themselves in this project.
I’ve achieved similar results in less time with a pressure-cooker, but the same attention & time dynamic nevertheless holds true.
This produces better results the longer and slower it is cooked at every stage. I’ve never gotten anything but joy from those who have tried it.
But I think that’s entirely appropriate for the occasion—we don’t just give thanks; we give, and we’re all thankful!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 🤠
Apologies for the mess—working with lists here isn’t my forte 😒
Too bad, because it’s really good for your UT health.
Here’s an appetizer recipe to serve while we wait. Is there any longer wait than waiting for Thanksgiving dinner?
https://carlsbadcravings.com/bruschetta-cheese-ball/
And this is one of the treats I make with the grandchildren. I’ve found a number of fun things to make with them that don’t involve cooking and big messes. More fun, less cleanup. Each child gets a big paper plate to assemble things on, and the mess is minimal. We have a history lesson on the Pilgrims as we make this one. Even my too cool teenage grandson likes to participate in treat making.
https://www.hersheyland.com/recipes/pilgrim-hat-cookies.html
I can’t wait to try the bruschetta cheese ball recipe. We get together with my sis and her hubby every other Sunday, and I’m always looking for something to take. This cheese ball sounds divine. Thanks for sharing.
That’s one of my favorite websites — beautiful and delicious recipes. This one is a great side salad and can be a main by adding chicken or leftover turkey: https://carlsbadcravings.com/fall-salad/
Tip to keep fruit from browning: prepare a solution with ratio of 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (use less if using fine table salt) per 1 cup cold water, stir to dissolve salt. Soak cut fruit for 10 minutes then do a quick rinse in cold water, let drain on paper towels. For a sweeter option with no rinsing use a honey solution of 2 tablespoons honey per cup of water, stir to dissolve. Soak fruit for about 30 seconds, let drain on paper towels.
Tip to easily peel butternut squash: wash, dry and put whole squash in the microwave on high for 5 minutes. Remove squash from microwave using pot holders, let cool on cutting board until warm. Cut in half, scrape out seeds (I sharpened the edge of a cheap spoon from my catering supply, works great for getting the stringy stuff out, I store it in a quart freezer bag in my odd utensil drawer). Slice a little off both ends of squash halves, slide a knife (even a butter knife will work) under the hard shell and pull it off. If it doesn’t come off easily microwave on high for 1 minute. Repeat if needed.
That cheese all looks divine! I know my daughter will want to make the pilgrim hat treats too
This one from that same website also sounds delicious.
EASY CRANBERRY PISTACHIO CHEESE LOG
https://carlsbadcravings.com/easy-cranberry-pistachio-cheese-log/
One more new thing I’m going to try this year.
https://www.afamilyfeast.com/nantucket-cranberry-tart/
Also, for those who are making pumpkin pies. If you want to up your game and make a lovely pie, cut some small leaves with a cookie cutter and place around the edge of the pie with these scattered in. I egg wash the leaves, bake on parchment, and decorate the pie after it’s cooked.
https://flavorthemoments.com/orange-sugared-cranberries/
With all of this talk about cranberries — I thought I’d share something new I’m trying for Thanksgiving breakfast to have with our breakfast casserole:
https://myblessedlife.net/2012/10/pumpkin-muffins.html — Salted Caramel Pumpkin Muffins (with Craisins inside). Sounds lovely, hoping it is!
Cheers, and thanks for all of your recipe sharing, Menagerie!
Sounds like another thing I gotta try!
Oh, and one more. This is a strange-sounding recipe (called Pumpkin Pecan Cobbler), but it is so easy and so good. I serve it with ice cream and/or Redi-Wip.
https://laurenslatest.com/pumpkin-pecan-cobbler/
I’ve made this — really good and easy. It only calls for 1/2 cup of pumpkin so I measure 1/2 cup portions from the remainder of the can and freeze to use later.
I just shared that cobbler recipe with lots of friends and family. That will definitely be an additional desert this year. Thank you!
That’s another of my favorite sites and that’s a recipe I want to try too. I use this recipe a lot: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/mexican-pulled-chicken/ Makes a nice change from Thanksgiving leftovers and turkey sandwiches. Sometimes I use it for tacos, sometimes chimichangas, sometimes a casserole.
Note the directions say to cover chicken with parchment paper, then foil. An alternative to that is to cover it with plastic wrap, then foil. No, it won’t burn in the oven, just make sure the foil is crimped tightly over it. This is an old professional kitchen trick often used when baking pans of rice in the oven. (When baking rice use your usual measurements for rice and water, place rice in pan, add seasonings if desired, heat the water or use hot tap water and pour over rice. Stir and cover with plastic wrap and foil, let rest for 30 minutes, then bake at 350° for about 30 minutes. Carefully remove foil and plastic, fluff with fork.)
That tart puts me in mind of a cherry clafoutis, that sounds like something I’d love to try.
I’m a foreigner and I’m not entirely sure about some of the ingredients – or what the food should look like as an end goal.
So, I’m willing to work within my skill set, and be a guest! 😂
(Before you all invite me, I’m just kidding. I definitely have no travel plans.)
Bless you, Rach. There’s nothing better than Thanksgiving Dinner and everyone saying what they are thankful for this year. Take care, and Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are!
I have many things to be thankful for. Good family and friends, a job, and more. And some wonderful people here at the Treehouse.
Thanksgiving holiday time always brings two thoughts to mind: 1.) It’s not Thanksgiving until someone says the magic phrase that sends your aunt storming out of the house to sit in her car & 2.) Show up just once to the feast with a slightly undercooked turkey & you’ll be the Chips and Pop guy forever.
P.S. Turkey cooked in a roaster oven IS awesome!
Have to admit, a couple of years ago, my turkey was so underdone that we ate what we could and my daughter took the rest home to finish cooking for her thanksgiving dinner. Just to explain, we often had thanksgiving on a different, earlier day as some had to work thanksgiving day.
When I have to do multiple turkeys for a large group I roast in advance and freeze (off the bone). Works well and even if you’re just doing one turkey it eliminates the hassle and frees up the oven for other dishes.
The year: 1967, seven months pregnant, young, naive and volunteered to bring the turkey, a 13lb. for approximately 10 close friends. Had absolutely NO idea the turkey required defrosting. “Just bring the turkey” they told me!. Well…I did bring the turkey, a “frozen” turkey!! Wow, the looks/feedback/negative whispers I received has stayed with me all these years (50+).
Lesson learned: Volunteer a side dish and NEVER bring a frozen turkey to a Thanksgiving dinner! Our dinner was finally edible around 11:30p.m. Thanksgiving evening. That was the last time I was asked to bring a turkey for Thanksgiving.
Ha, ha!!
That’s pretty funny!!
When my oldest daughter was in HS, she was on the National Honor Society committee that delivered frozen turkeys to needy families. I told her PLEASE buy a ham instead of a turkey. Many needy families don’t have the necessary skills, a working oven, and a large roaster pan, I told her. She poo-poo’d me. “No, Mom. They said to buy a turkey.” I drove her to her assigned family’s home to deliver the frozen turkey. When she returned to the car, she said, “Mom, you were right. I should have bought a ham.”
In our house, Thanksgiving dinner is about the turkey, stuffing, etc.. and Easter dinner is about the ham and the lamb.
On Christmas morning, however, I am too exhausted to worry about serving dinner. That’s our ‘anything goes’ potluck supper.
My SIL always bakes a wicked vegetable lasagna, and our Italian relatives are all about the seven fishes and the cheesecakes.
..Works for me!
Hahaha reminds me of time we had thanksgiving where my sister in law wanted to try the “turkey in a bag” technique….we finally got to eat close to midnight but had been drinking so long couldn’t have cared less at that point if the 22 lb turkey was cooked or not! 🤣
Reminds me of a tip learned long ago. If the Thanksgiving hosts have their own stomach pump, you might be better off making an excuse to leave and get a McGobbler.
Speaking of drinks, there is no better autumn cocktail than a spiked hot apple cider!
This involves simmering fresh apple cider on the stovetop with cloves, cinnamon powder, nutmeg and orange rind. When it’s ready to be served, strain through a cheesecloth and then add Captain Morgan’s spiced rum.
I serve this with a cinnamon stick stirrer.. settle in by a roaring fire.. and holy moly! The simmering also creates a wonderful, lingering aroma throughout the house!
I always post the same recipe but its so good and so easy.
Stuffed mushrooms:
Stuff with sausage, I use jimmy dean
Bake 45-60 min.
Thats it.
If you want to mess around tweaking the sausage stuffing go fo it.
Onions, breadcrumbs and cheese (parmesan works well) mixed with the stuffing works well. One of our faves, Slick!
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This is my daughter’s favorite side dish. I sauté (uncased) sausage in olive oil with garlic, and add basil, oregano and parsley. Then scoop into hollow mushrooms, top with locatelli grating cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake until the cheese is gooey.
This is a good appetizer also, since it fits into the oven on a cookie sheet along with the turkey.
First time cooking turkey for thanksgiving, anyone has a good idea the xx could share?
Thanks.
Two recipes above in the post. Both are great.
I found dry brining a turkey makes it very tender and moist with golden crisp skin. It’s much easier than doing a wet brine.
The longer you let the turkey brine (up to 3 days), the more tender, moist, and flavorful it becomes, but just one day makes a big difference.
This process is also wonderful for chicken, but only dry brine for one day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’d like to try this – can you please explain approximately how much salt should be used? Also, does it make the turkey extra salty?
Use about 1 tablespoon for 4 pounds of turkey. I probably use more salt because I don’t measure.
It doesn’t add saltiness to the meat at all, although it will make the skin a bit salty.
Dry brining brings out the natural juices of the turkey which then soak back into the meat.
You can also use herbs along with the salt.
This can be done for a pot roast two — about 1 tablespoon kosher salt per 1 lound of meat and brine overnight before cooking.
too
Thank you!
For a 10-14 lb turkey, ½ cup kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or 6 tablespoons coarse salt (such as Morton’s).
I part the turkey (breast, leg/thigh, wings) and dry brine too. Delicious moist meat and cooks very quickly. I dry brine for two days, uncovered. I sometimes add sugar and spices to the brine mix.
This year I’m also going to roast with a mayo/herb rub. Tip from J. Kenji López-Alt.
1½ cups mayonnaise (such as Hellmann’s or Best Foods)
1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, stems reserved
½ cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, stems reserved
2 tablespoons fresh thyme or oregano leaves, stems reserved
2 scallions, roughly chopped
zest of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
While the turkey dry-brines, make the herb mayo: In a tall container just wide enough to fit the head of a hand blender (or using a regular blender or food processor), combine the mayonnaise with the parsley, sage, thyme or oregano, scallions, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon water.
Season generously with salt and pepper. Use the hand blender to blend until it all forms a relatively smooth, pale-green sauce. Transfer to a sealed container until ready to use. You should have about 1¾ cups of herb mayo. (You can make the mayo in advance up to a week and keep it in the fridge.)
With your hands, slather ½ cup of the herb-mayo mixture over the exposed side of the turkey, making sure to lightly coat every surface. With your hands, spread a couple of tablespoons of the herb mayo between the skin and meat of the breast. Generously slather the rest of the turkey with the herb mayo, getting it into every crack and crevice. (Reserve any remaining herb mayo for your day-after-Thanksgiving sandwiches.)
Thank you for the details on dry brining. This mayo/herb rub recipe above sounds SOOO good!
Remember to take out the organ meats and such from inside the bird, also the neck. I cooked my first turkey in 1967 with everything left inside!
Be honest ,has anyone not forgotten to pull out the organ meats.
Hey. One year my mom forgot to take off the plastic wrapping (internal, not the shipping plastic) on a ham. Best ham we ever had, but we teased her for years.
Advice from my dear departed mother to test done-ness: wiggle a leg. If it wiggles freely, the turkey is done. Or, poke the breast with a fork. If the juices run clear, it’s done. If NO juices run, you’ve overcooked it. Darn.
Overdone turkey is AWFUL. My then-boyfriend, now-husband of 52 years couldn’t believe how good my mom’s turkey was. His mom (God rest her soul) always overcooked the turkey. His family kept a jar of mayonnaise on the table to moisten the turkey.
My simple tip: read the directions on the turkey wrapper. They’re succinct and simple.
Also, a large picnic cooler is a great way to defrost the turkey the day before. It may not fit in the refrigerator while it’s thawing, but it will fit in a cooler.
First, get the cheapest bird you can find – no additives (like Butterball) or flavor enhancers. Pull all the guts out of the cavity (the packagers usually include them for you.) Wash the entire bird in plain water, inside and out. And then follow any recipe you want to tackle according to the size/weight of the bird. I prefer very plain food, so I just salt and pepper mine all over inside and out and stuff with loosely chopped celery, onion and carrots (to be tossed, later.) Cover with foil and bake as directed on the bird – for browning you remove the foil about an hour before it’s done. When you can jiggle a leg joint, it’s well done. If that works for you, then you can experiment all year round.
I baste the skin in the juices, adding water to the bottom of the roasting pan while the turkey is cooking. The skin is often brown and crispy without having to remove the foil.
The pan drippings make a delicious gravy. Just scrape and pour the pan drippings into a saucepan as the turkey rests on the carving board. Then add two heaping teaspoons of corn starch to a small glass of cold water, stirring until dissolved.
Heat the drippings while stirring in the cornstarch and water to thicken the gravy. You can add more water if it’s too thick, or else pour another glass of cornstarch water to thicken if your sauce is too thin.
I do exactly what you do, Judith!!!
My German mother-in-law taught me how to make all my sauces. When everyone started to eat “healthier” I really missed these sauces!
A simple white sauce to pour over leftover asparagus spears and toast makes a delicious lunch:
Gradually warm 2 cups whole milk and 2 TBS butter (and salt to taste) in a saucepan on low heat until hot, but not boiling.
Stir two heaping teaspoons of corn starch into a small cup of cold water to dissolve, then pour it into the saucepan and stir until the milk thickens.
If I want more flavor, I add a few teaspoons of the vegetable stock from the steamed asparagus. This simple white sauce also enhances brussel sprouts and other green vegetables.
Cook on a charcoal grill using B&S Mesquite lump charcoal.
Double Spatchcock the bird; eg cut into two halves down the breast bone and backbone. I inject and bast my turkey with pecan wine; or pecans boiled in apple wine. Cook slowly and use a digital alarm thermometer display to cook to proper doneness.
Here is a side recipe for dinner. Follow package directions to cook wild rice(the real stuff not an Uncle Ben’s mix) in Turkey broth. It takes about an hour. Saute coarsely chopped mushrooms(I use a mushroom medley but use what you like) in a little butter. After they soften, add them to the cooked wild rice. Add heavy cream. Enough to make it creamy. Salt and pepper to taste. I also add chopped roasted Hatch green chiles but that is completely optional.
This recipe sounds awesome but I would add a little sherry to the mushrooms while cooking, before adding to the rice.
Endorsed!
I just bought some turkey broth because the vendor at Harris Teeters who was stocking shelves said it was flying off the shelves so fast he couldn’t keep up with it. I think I will try this with the rice; I can’t do the cream but everything else sounds good.
Appetizer recipe.
Preheat oven to 375
Place sandwich pepperoni in a muffin pan. Put a little grated mozzarella in each cup. Add a piece of roasted pepper or olive(or hot pepper) in each if you like.
Bake until cheese melts and begins to crisp the pepperoni.(12-18
Minutes depending on preference)
Menagerie/Stella
Sweet potato casserole modification to soufflé- separate the egg whites from the yolks, whip the egg whites and mix in – will make it fluffy and light. Will need to blend into sweet potatoes like whipped potatoes before putting into pan.
Prepare the crushed pecan topping on stove top making it kind of syrupy.
Near the end of baking the soufflé, spoon the pecan topping on the soufflé and put back in oven for a few minutes, then turn on broil for just a little bit to crisp up the pecan topping (but watch carefully so as to not scorch – won’t take long).
My favorite side dish during the holidays bar none.
Goes good beside some collard greens with homemade pepper sauce.
Yum yum 😋
Can you freeze this?
We did a bacon-turkey last year in the pellet grill/smoker. Best bacon ever, and the turkey was good too!
Started doing turkey spatchcock style a few years back, a crowd pleaser, votes have it right there with fried.
Season it a couple days in advance let sit in fridge on covered helps for even crispier skin, cooks in around hour and a half.
Funny side effect is there are now requests for turkey year round.
Going to fry a whole chicken in the turkey fryer this year also just to get some feedback, should take around 20 mins.
As some wise person said, “There will be more bad turkey served on Thanksgiving than good.”
Another fan of spatchcocking! (See below, I must have been composing my message just as you were posting yours.) One doesn’t get the “Norman Rockwell” turkey photo this way, but the quick and evenly cooked bird makes up for it. Besides, I’ve discovered most people now carve the turkey and place it on a platter before bringing it to the table, so not having the photo-op is no longer a worry.
Yes, that’s what we do. Carving can be a messy process!
If you aren’t after the photo presentation, consider jumping right past spatchcock and dismember the turkey before cooking.
I detach both wings, both breasts, both drumsticks and both thighs. I have a stack of quarter sheet jelly roll pans, and grates to fit them. I put the turkey parts on the grates, skin side up, and apply my normal turkey dry rub. Then I cook in the smoker. Takes less than half the time of smoking it whole, and you can pull each part out as it is done.
(Amusingly, I just smoked an intact turkey upright on a ceramic “beer can” last weekend because my girlfriend was hosting a party and she wanted the photos and presentation for her friends.)
I part (dismember) my turkey too, but I leave the breast whole, and dry brine, then oven roast. Takes less than 2 hours to roast.
I buy several turkeys at the sale price (75¢/lb. for Butterball this year) and keep them frozen to use year round. Great option if you have the freezer space.
Have you tried spit roasting on a gas grill in the summer? Best turkey I ever cooked.
I’ve been leery of cooking on an electric rotisserie for years thanks to my dad. He decided to cook a turkey on the tabletop electric grill that was a wedding gift that he and mom had never used in the 7 years they’d been married. Said it was too hot to cook indoors (FL) and it would be the best turkey we’d ever eaten.
I learned lots of new swear words that day. I learned later when I tried them out that none were appropriate for a 5 year old to use.
Dad stabbed himself in both hands spearing the turkey with those wicked spikes. Lot of blood, mom washed the turkey off twice. Then he got it secured but the screws holding the prongs in place kept slipping. He got the motor started and was ready to sit back with a cold one and watch the turkey be automatically roasted. But no — the spit spun and the turkey jerked around. Seems the turkey was too big for the spit and there was a thing called counterbalance too. Dad gave up when the motor did. He grabbed the spit but forgot potholders. He burned his hands, dropped the turkey and it went flying off the spit, prongs still attached. Our German Shepard tried to rescue it for himself but mom grabbed a broom and shooed him away, grabbed some towels and put the turkey in the trash. Dad threw the tabletop grill in after it. Then he went to downtown Hollywood and bought some BBQ from one of the guys on street corners who cooked in 55 gallon steel drums.
This wasn’t dad’s first or last turkey fiasco.
But hey, I might as well give it a try, I’m sure it would be delicious. I have a Weber and I bet those rotisserie accessories are better and have stronger motors now. Nothing ventured . . .
😳
Ditto.
Birds are .49 cents this week here in sunny Florida.
$1.27 per pound here with a $150 purchase, limit 1, here in the PNW. Otherwise $1.77 a pound. Cannot wait until my husband retires and we can finally escape this nightmarish place.
Costco often puts them at $.99 a pound plus and additional $10 off on black Friday, so we usually get one then.
Thank you Menagerie, you are a real treasure here. I look forward to this thread every year. And like previous years I’ll repeat that I’m still a fan of spatchcocking my Thanksgiving turkeys. I started it about ten years ago, and now do it every year, and with other poultry throughout the year.
There are so many benefits to cooking a large bird this way, but here are three of the biggest ones. It’s quick (cooking time is cut almost in half), the bird cooks evenly (white and dark meat gets done at the same time), and the skin gets nice and crispy (there’s more of it since more skin is exposed).
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-to-spatchcock-a-turkey/
Taste of home — another of my favorite food sites!
Taste of Home made me a good cook. I used to just wing it, trying to cook like I remember my mom cooking. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that using a recipe works much better. Taste of Home’s White Chili (but not for Thanksgiving) is, in my adult children’s opinion, better than s_x.
I’ve used the Taste of Home white chili recipe that the poster got from her sister — very good! I think there are several different recipes on the site. Nice to have an alternative to red.
Some of my favorite recipes are from Taste of Home.
55 years old and I had never heard of spatchcock. Thank you Treepers!
79 years old and never heard of it. But, I am going to make a turkey this way – I think it would work for a chicken too. I have a chicken in the freezer and I think I will try to spatchcock it first, then I can try it on a small turkey. It really looks simple to do.
Yes, spatchcocked chicken is excellent. Spatchcock, dry, salt generously, then leave uncovered in fridge for 24 hours. You can put a rub on it and let it come to room temp before cooking. It’s my favorite way of cooking chicken, either barbecued or in oven.
I found this recipe for Frosted Pumpkin Crisp in a cookbook from a store in Charlotte, NC. The store owner assured me it was “absolutely to d-i-e for” and she was right. Best dessert ever.
FROSTED PUMPKIN CRISP
Yield: 12 to 16 servings.
Cake
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin Dash each: ginger, nutmeg, & ground cloves
1 (13 oz) can evaporated milk 1 package Yellow Cake Mix
3 eggs 2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup sugar 1 cup margarine, melted and cooled
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
Frosting
1 (8 oz) carton Cool Whip, thawed
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
*1 ½ cups powered sugar
*I start with 1 cup and add until I achieve desired sweetness
Directions
1. Prepare a 13x9x2-inch baking pan by greasing, lining with wax paper and greasing the wax paper.
2. Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and ground cloves, mixing well.
3. Pour into pan. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture.
4. Spread pecans on cake mix.
5. Drizzle margarine over pecans.
6. Baker at 350o for 50-60 minutes.
7. Invert pan on serving tray, remove wax paper and let stand until cool.
8. Spread frosting on cooked cake and chill until served.
I just made the pumpkin pie cake dessert (sometimes called pumpkin crunch) last week for a weekly box lunch order, no frosting, just left it in the pan and cut it into portions. I’ve seen the recipe for the frosted version before but haven’t tried it, nice to know it’s delish, thanks for the info! That frosting, with the addition of Kahlua is what I use for tiramisu.
I guess most people are familiar with deep fried turkey, but have y’all ever deep fried a ham? The “bark” that develops on it is just wonderful. The bbqpitboys have a good video on how it’s done.
‘And she gave me a cookie recipe, not originally hers, that is far and away the most delicious cookie I’ve ever tasted.”
PLEASE – SHARE!!!!
Seconded and yeah that was quite the tease. Especially when she noted family was not above stealing them.
That is quite an endorsement.
Where’s the recipe!
Thank you, Menagerie, for your wonderful posts! I especially the Recipes!
Here’s a very easy cranberry recipe I make in lieu of cranberry sauce. It’s from the now long-gone Gourmet magazine.
BAKED CRANBERRIES
2 cups cranberries (the deeper red, the better)
1-1/2 cups sugar
Spread cranberries in the bottom of a well-buttered baking dish. Sprinkle on top with the sugar, but DO NOT STIR.
Cover tightly and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Stir, put cover back on, and let sit in the turned-off but still warm oven.
When cooled, they look like candied cherries, especially if large cranberries are used.
Leftover cranberries can be spread on biscuits or cornbread, added to pound cake loaves, or a few of the cranberries added to a salad.
One of my favorites from Gourmet! I’m using this one more now though — so pretty with rosemary sprigs.
https://natashaskitchen.com/sugared-cranberries/
What a great idea! I have rosemary growing in my garden and will garnish with rosemary sprigs.
Thank you!
I’ve made this for years – bake the cranberries in a sheet pan (always called a jelly roll pan when I grew up) – covered tightly with aluminum foil. Scape into a bowl & add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of bourbon or sometimes orange liqueur. Never have any leftovers 🙁
Dont now the recipe at my quick recall, but my mom’s sweet potato dish is called Olney Inn Sweet Potatoes. I think named after the inn. I do know it has black walnuts in it.
I’ve been there! Brings back memories.
Here’s the recipe with some history behind the dish too. I’ve never tried them but I may give them a try this year.
https://oldlineplate.com/olney-inn-sweet-potatoes/
Thank you! Loved reading the history — I knew Mr. Yates but can’t remember if I knew he owned Olney Inn. He was a Quaker who was greatl respected. Love getting the sweet potato recipe too
I make these biscuits every Thanksgiving — they’re tender and delicious!
ANGEL BISCUITS
4-1/2 teaspoons (2 pkgs) yeast
3 Tablespoons warm water (about 110 degrees)
5 cups all-purpose flour (White Lily all-purpose flour is the best for biscuits, cakes, pie crust)
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt ( or non-iodized table salt)
2 teaspoons baking powder (I use Rumford’s)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, cold
1/2 cup shortening (or coconut oil)
2 cups buttermilk (can substitute kefir or plain yogurt mixed with milk)
Dissolve yeast in the warm water to a thick paste.
Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter and shortening until there are small pea-sized bits of the fat.
Stir yeast paste into buttermilk.
Add to biscuit dough and knead just a few times.
Pat dough into a rough rectangle about 1″ thick. Fold in half and rotate. Repeat 2 more times.
Cut and put into a greased cast-iron pan — other pans can be used ut I think cast-iron is the est.
Cover and let rise 1 hour. Brush tops with melted butter, if desired.
Bake in 400 degree oven for 16-18 minutes, depending on size of the biscuits.
Freezes beautifully. Reheat in foil-covered pan until warmed through.
I was thinking of making some bread or rolls for turkey sandwiches, too.
Still deciding between Walter Sands’ White Bread (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2010/01/28/sandwich-bread-fit-for-the-king )
or Japanese Milk Bread Rolls (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/japanese-milk-bread-rolls-recipe )
My sister found this quick and easy Japanese milk bread roll recipe. I tried it and they are fantastic. Soft with a hint of sweetness. Less fussy to make for a non-bread expert like myself.
Milk Brioche / Japanese Milk Bread
2/3 cup heavy cream (at room temp)
1 cup milk (plus 1 T, at room temp; you can use whole, 1%, or 2% milk)
1 large egg (at room temp)
1/3 cup sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour (you can also use ½ c cake flour combined with 3.5 cups bread flour)
1 Tablespoon active dry or instant yeast
1/5 teaspoons salt
Egg wash (beat one egg with 1 teaspoon water)
Simple syrup (1 Tablespoon sugar, dissolved in 1 Tablespoon hot water)
Instructions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment,
Add the ingredients in the following order: Heavy cream, milk, egg,
sugar, cake flour, bread flour, yeast, & salt. Turn on the mixer to “stir,” &
knead for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough
together. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add a little more
flour 1 T at a time until it pulls away from the sides (it should be sticking to
the bottom of the mixing bowl, but not the sides.). If kneading by hand,
extend the kneading time by 5 – 10 minutes. Next, cover the dough with a
damp towel, & place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size
(1 – 2 hours). In the meantime, grease two baking vessels on all sides with
butter. You can use two standard loaf pans, two 9-in round pans, or 1 loaf
& 1 round pan. After the dough has doubled in size, put it back in the
mixer, and stir for another 5 minutes to get rid of the air bubbles. Dump the
dough on a lightly floured surface, and cut it in half. To make loaves, shape
each dough half into a round rectangular shape, cut it cross-wise into three
equal pieces, and place in the loaf pan. Alternatively, you can cut each dough
half into 8 pieces, roll them into balls (or ropes that you can twist into buns),
& put them in a round pan. You can make 2 loaves, 16 rolls, or 1 loaf & 8 rolls.
Once shaped, let the dough proof, covered, or an hour. Position rack in center
of oven, & preheat to 350°. Brush the risen dough with egg wash. Bake for
23-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven & brush the warm
Bread with the sugar water to give it a shine and sweetness.
Thank you! This looks similar to the recipe on King Arthur.
Yes, they are similar, mine omits the tangzhong portion. Great step, but some days I am not up for the extra steps 🙂
That’s the woksoflife.com recipe and it’s excellent — easy too!
Thank you so much for the milk bread recipe link. The one I shared was from my sister. She is always sharing recipes with me from various apps. I make it a point to never use apps.
I really appreciate have a full recipe I can read through and keep!
Got to have Angel biscuits with ham! I’ll have to try baking them in cast iron.
Menagerie, great idea to add water and foil to steam the turkey.
The biscuits are a new twist to cornbread stuffing Looking forward to including them this year. My grandmother’s recipe includes sausage which adds a little zing and extra texture.
The best part of the meal is smashing all of the leftovers onto a dollar roll for days after Thanksgiving!
May the Lord bless you, Sundance and the team. I am thankful for you all!
What is a dollar roll?
Thank you Menagerie for sharing so many amazing recipes to get the day off to a good start.
I hope you will also share your Aunt Gay’s most addicting Chex mix. I love Chex mix almost as much as anything cranberry!
You like cranberry sauce? I don’t care for canned, always fresh here. Try this – sorry no measurements, everything I cook is to taste.
fresh cranberries
chopped orange including peel (seeds removed)
sugar
water
port wine
brandy
cinnamon stick
Stir on low heat on stove top until orange peel is soft, adding liquid as needed, cool and refrigerate before serving
can prep day(s) before – flavor improves
keeps for ages in fridge, we often have year old, due to me making a large batch!
From my amateur chef stepdad who is in the afterlife: rub the turkey in butter, place in a pan, put it sideways into a grocery paper bag, staple shut. Cook in oven or grill(indrect heat opposite the flame).
Works every time. Juicy as all get-out.
Love you all.
Blessings, Joy, Love & Peace to All!!
I follow a turkey recipe similar to Menagerie’s. I too roast at night at 225 degrees for 7.5~8 hours (14 lb turkey). I plan to have the turkey finished about an hour before serving. I use the timer to adjust my roast start time. Normally I look for an 11am~noon finish and so start around 3~4 am. I put the bird into the oven the evening before. I haven’t had any problems as I like to start all my roasts at room temperature.
I season/marinate the turkey with Montreal Steak Spice or Montreal Chicken Spice when I put the turkey in the oven (usually around 9pm the night before). The thawed turkey is sitting in the oven for 6~7 hours before the timer starts the oven. It is important to note that I use a roasting pan, usually the bottom of a turkey roaster. I roast uncovered to brown the bird. The trick is to baste the bird late in the roasting period.
I start the bird dry. No water initially. About 4 hours into the roasting (7~8 am) I add a few cups (3~4) of water to the roasting pan. After I do that, I wait for an hour and then start basting. The water has dissolved some of the roasted juices that caramelized in the roasting pan. I baste every hour from that point. I find the bird browns up nicely after being basted a few times. The turkey juice ends up loaded with fat and at the end makes a excellent basting juice. (Remember, uncovered roasting pan). A final basting is done as I pull the turkey out of the oven. The remaining juice/broth is used to make gravy.
I have always had good luck with this approach. Roasting for 8 hours gives me “fall of the bone” consistency. 7 hours roasting gives me the best carving consistency. (Remember, 14 lb bird.) Basting guarantees a moist turkey.
If I’m taking the turkey to another household, my roasting pan is the insert of a portable roaster oven. That way, I play with my times and portable oven temperatures to complete the roasting.
I’ve roasted with dressing/stuffing with no problems. I would go with an 8 hour roasting time.
I forgot to mention the cranberry sauce made from dried cranberries. This is the only way to go. There are lots of recipes on the internet but I just soak/cook dried cranberries in water the day before. When the cranberries have been simmered to the consistency you like, I add some lemon juice concentrate.
Good to go. Make as much as you like.
cathead biskets with shrimp sauce as a side.
blackened redfish for the win.
going 100 percent big lake thanksgiving this year.
got into some big redfish down at west cove calcasieu pass in the last several days. smallest = 24 pounds.
note: whenever the “app” or web experts tell you which tide and moon and barometric pressure to find the fish, just turn that off and go fishing. Big Bull Reds feed when they want to, how they want to, as they want to …regardless of “science”.
I kind of appreciate that kind of behavior.
God Bless America
No turkey for me this year. Pork chops with braised pears and apples, roast potatoes, and sauerkraut!
Pork chops thick cut were a bargain at Sam’s Club last week. $1.99 pound. Grabbed a years worth!
I read something (possibly on Treehouse) that soaking pork chops in soy sauce overnight makes them less dry when cooked. It works! The soy sauce does NOT appear to add a salty flavor. I buy the cheapest soy sauce for this marinade, saving the higher priced name brands for my homemade chop suey.
I will try that. Thank you!
Mince Meat Cresant Roll Pockets
This is a simple one for us lonely family members who need a Holiday Mince Meat fix … like myself … but the relatives just can’t seem to sympathize with the need.
Buy in a 1 to 1 ratio:
1 x Pillsbury (or what your brand) Cresant roll tube. Heck home made rolls probably even tastes better.
1 x Small Jar of Mince Meat Pie filling
Soup spoon and cookie sheet.
Place the rolls on cookie sheet and place a healthy load of filling on each roll.
Wrap up the roll and put in the oven at 350 (move rack to high or center position to avoid burning them) for 15 or so minutes.
Great any time of the day on Thanks-Giving.
And here I thought mincemeat had gone the way of the fruitcake … a punchline in everyone’s holiday jokes. But you and I still love the mincemeat … and like you … nobody else in my family circle will touch it with a 10ft pole. So yes … I am going to take your suggestion and make me some PERSONAL mincemeat “selfie” croissants! Take THAT! All you mincemeat cancel cultists!
I love fruitcakes! I get a lot of free ones at Thanksgiving – Christmas because it seems to be so universally disdained.
I can only imagine. You should charge everyone a disposal fee 😂
I don’t remember if I posted this before.
Raspberry Cranberry Sauce
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Bring water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan stirring to dissolve sugar. Add berries, lower heatand simmer for about 10 minutes, until cranberries pop (partially cover with lid). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla if using (I usually don’t use it). Let cool, then refrigerate.
Remember cranberry sauce should be made 48 hours in advance so it will jell.
If using as a spread for sandwiches mash berries after cooking using a potato masher. I roasted a turkey last week and made turkey sandwiches on brioche buns for a weekly box lunch order. I wanted to use croissants but there weren’t any at Sam’s. I spread whipped cream cheese on one half of the bun, raspberry cranberry sauce on the other, added sliced turkey breast and green leaf lettuce. It was good but much better on croissants.
I do the Turkey bag, the Turkey is always fall off the bone tender and juicy. I do love rotisserie Turkey it’s delicious but the rotisserie is smaller so the Turkey goes quick.
bag Turkey overnight, rotisserie in about two hours.
Several years ago, I learned how to properly carve a turkey.
This is from Sara’s Weeknight Meals show that’s on PBS ( only watch cooking shows and British mysteries on PBS).
This show is about preparing the Thanksgiving meal — the turkey carving starts at 21:30.
The whole show is good, lots of info and ideas. At the beginning is the way Sara dry brines a turkey.
We like Sweet Potatoes with homemade apple pie filling (which has all the spices in it already) plus nutmeg?, topped with pecans . .
it ain’t written down, but it is good!
Thank you, Menagerie, and everyone else for sharing all of these wonderful ideas and suggestions! I’m taking notes.
Treepers rock. And how.
All this sounds heavenly, Menagerie! A true Thanksgiving feast, with beloved family, friends and wonderful food!!
OMG that turkey looks so good!
I can just imagine the sound of the knife crunching through the baconated skin
not to mention the aroma . . . .
<sigh>
If you don’t serve the turkey legs at Thanksgiving, you can make this:
DEVILED TURKEY LEGS
Score the cooked turkey legs lengthwise and crosswise in regular, deep gashes.
Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (or paprika) and cover with any type of mustard.
Let them stand overnight in icebox.
Next day, grill the legs under the broiler until crisp and brown on all sides.
Put boiling water in serving dish until dish is heated.
Empty water and put legs in dish. Place pieces of butter on the legs and serve.
Best Cornbread
2 Boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
4 Tbsp sugar (optional – Jiffy Mix is already sweetened)
3/4 stick of butter
Steps
1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease 9″ x 9″ pan
2. Sift corn muffin mix to remove clumps into a bowl
3. Gently whisk together eggs, sugar and milk and then add to bowl
3. Melt butter and mix into bowl
4. Pour into baking pan
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes
Jiffy Corn Casserole
4.5 stars – 56 reviews
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/274670/jiffy-corn-casserole/
Cheddar Bay Biscuits
4.7 stars – 1,328 reviews
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7146/cheddar-bay-biscuits/
Winston try using half and half or heavy cream to substitute for milk…..I make Mexican cornbread with Jiffy adding J. Peppers to taste, add a little oil to mixture tablespoon . Heat oil in small iron skillet on top of stove pour in cornbread mixture top with cheddar and bake 350 in oven.
Ah, Mexican cornbread. Love that, but haven’t had it forever and forgot all about it.
We use buttermilk… and on browning just out of the oven, drizzle honey on it.
Will you Pretty Please share your Chex Mix recipe with us. I would be most grateful. 🙂
Thank you for your recipes. I never really ate sweet potatoes until I met my husband, this will be our first Thanksgiving without him, as he passed away June 1 of this year. He would make the sweet potato casserole after I peeled, cooked, and mashed the sweet potatoes 😊 He added Kentucky bourbon and pecans to ours and topped it with mini marshmallows.
We often had baked sweet potato with just butter and cinnamon as a side with steak or roast chicken.
I think I’m going to try your topping this year. I have a friend from LA that makes a crunchy topping using Frosted Flakes and pecans. It is quite yummy as well.
I pray over my washing machine while I wait for it to fill up w/enough water to add the detergent. In tonight’s prayer I asked for comfort and solace for all the folks that will be having their “first” Thanksgiving and Christmas w/out their loved ones this year. We will be missing two in my family. I will be thinking of you T.Turtle.
And dittos on the Chex Mix, mine is pretty darn good, my secret is to add some lemon juice, and heavy on the Worcestershire but I am always curious to hear how others make it. I am long past using a sheet pan, I use the giant jumbo aluminum foil pans from the Dollar Tree so I can make multiple batches at once.
Menagerie — I’m going to try your cornbread dressing. It sounds marvelous!
Also, thank you for the overnight turkey roasting recipe. I think it will make the entire house smell delicious!
Anybody have a favorite dry rub for turkey? I feel like I want to try something different this year.
If you like a little spice try Tony C. creole seasoning.
ok, this is the last recipe I’m sharing because I need to get into the kitchen and start cooking
MARYLAND CORN PUDDING
from a 1952 recipe book\\2 cups frozen corn (best is kernels scraped off summer corn and frozen)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Mix ingredients and put in a buttered baking dish with cut pieces of butter over top.
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, then 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
DEVONSHIRE APPLE PIE
https://www.food.com/recipe/devonshire-apple-pie-291405#reviews
I add orange zest to the sour cream sauce and put busted up walnuts in the crumble.
Becoming more and more aware
of MSM, social networks & Govt hidden agenda
have turned to CTH, SGAnon, and DX2 and PM daily diet.
IMO the most awake communities to participate in the coming reform.
I love the CTH posts of Sundance, Menagerie, and you-all unseen holding this site up !
Very big changes coming to America as we roll up our sleeves, communicate better. and …… VOTE !!!
My sweet potato recipe very similar to Menageria’s only I use evaporated (rich) milk. 1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 cup flour with topping . Produces streusel like topping . Cornbread dressing ….also similar only Instead of bisquits and bread I cheat and add 2 Stove top dressing mix either Chicken/turkey to Large iron skillet of cornbread, vegetables, eggs, and stock. There is enough seasoning in stove top so I don’t add sage or any other seasoning.
Don’t forget the pilgrim sandwiches the next day. The perfect Pilgrim starts with a hefty smear of cranberry aoli (equal parts cranberry sauce mixed with mayo or ranch dressing) on a crusty roll topped with turkey, stuffing, leftover potatoes or squash topped with slice of provolone and toasted under broiler or in air fryer. Add a few glugs of Frank’s hot sauce for a nice bite. Enjoy!
For the vegans in your midst: One of the very few good things I got from being a lefty and subscribing to Mother Earth News – many years ago! Roast Stuffed Pumpkin basically substitutes a turkey with a pumpkin – cut it open like a jack-o-lantern, but instead of a face you cut slits and put margarine in the slits. You stuff it with a nice, earthy dressing and roast it all together. When you scoop out the dressing, you take some of the pumpkin wall with it and it really is delicious. We never were vegans, but we’ve used this recipe on occasion as a very splashy side dish!
Roast Stuffed Pumpkin
1 stick margarine
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup diced celery
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
8 to 10 slices whole wheat bread, toasted and cubed
1 cup apples, chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup coarsely chopped Brazil nuts
2/3 cup raisins
2 eggs
1/2 stick of butter
2 or 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cumin (powdered)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1 pumpkin, 8 to 10 inches in diameter (for 6 to 8 people)
The Stuffing: Melt 2 tbsp of margarine in a large skillet and sauté the chopped onion over medium heat until the pieces are limp and translucent. Then add the diced celery and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Toss in the sliced mushrooms, cook for 1 minute, and remove the pan from the heat.
Next, toast the whole wheat bread and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. Put these in a large mixing bowl and add the sautéed vegetables, apple pieces, chopped nuts and raisins.
Beat the 2 eggs in a separate container and pour them into the bowl. Then mix everything thoroughly.
Let the mixture sit for a moment. Place the butter in a small frying pan and heat it until it melts and starts to bubble. Add the finely chopped garlic pieces and sauté them for 1 minute. Now pour this sauce over the ingredients in the bowl and mix the stuffing with a large spoon. Sprinkle in the oregano, sage, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, salt and pepper. To finish up, pour in the cup of white wine and blend thoroughly.
The Pumpkin: Prepare the pumpkin by cutting a large circle around the stem (as if you were making a jack-o’-lantern). Lift that portion off and discard it. Then remove all the inside seeds and stringy matter with a large, sturdy, metal spoon. Fill the pumpkin with dressing. Press the breaded mixture into the shell with your hands to make sure your pumpkin is completely stuffed.
Next, using a sharp kitchen knife, cut several small, slit-like pockets at different levels in the exterior wall of the pumpkin. Dab a pat of butter or margarine into each of these crevices.
With that done, place the stuffed pumpkin in an oiled baking dish and cook, in a preheated 350-degree oven, for about 2 1/2 hours. (Cooking time may vary, depending on the thickness of the pumpkin’s wall.) As the pumpkin bakes, the butter will trickle down from one side-slit to another, finally winding up in the pan. Periodically baste your bird substitute by bringing the juices up to the top with a pastry brush.
When the aroma is too good to be believed, the pumpkin is a rich orange-brown, and the exposed stuffing is dark and crisp, your entree is probably done. But it’s best to test it with a fork to make sure! If the utensil goes in and out of the flesh of the pumpkin easily, you’ll know it’s ready. So remove the dish from the oven and let it cool for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
The Gravy: You’ll need the following ingredients:
4 tbsp cooked dressing from the pumpkin
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan
4 tbsp flour
2 cups water
1/8 tsp salt or 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
Heat the oil over medium heat in a small frying pan. Add the pumpkin drippings and stuffing, being careful to break up the dressing as it simmers. Then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly. When the flour starts to brown, gradually pour in the water a little at a time, still stirring continuously. Add the salt or soy sauce. As soon as the gravy thickens, remove it from the burner. (NOTE: Should your gravy cool and become too thick, just add a few drops of water to thin it and reheat it slowly.) This should make 2 cups of sumptuous sauce for spooning over roast pumpkin slices.
How To Choose a Good Baking Pumpkin
1. Look for a pumpkin with its stem still attached. It will stay fresh longer.
2. Pick one that’s firm to the touch and not scarred from shipment.
3. Although any pumpkin will suffice, sugar pumpkins are really the best for baking, since they have a nice firm texture and a hint of sweetness.
4. Try to find a pumpkin that’s not too misshapen, so it’ll sit upright and cook evenly.
5. Be sure the one you choose is solid orange with no green areas.
6. Be careful not to select a pumpkin that’s too large. Remember, a small one that’s no more than 10 inches in diameter will feed 6 to 8 people.
Thanks, I had a similar recipe years ago. It was from Bon Appetit or Gourmet and there was sausage in the stuffing and it didn’t have a gravy. I lost the recipe, really glad you shared this. It does look spectacular on the table.
I saw a woman on tiktok (I don’t have the app but I do click on the occasional link if it sounds really interesting) who used her electric hand mixer to clean the inside of a pumpkin. Took her about a minute to scrape all the stuff from the cavity wit the mixer, then she used a big spoon to scoop seeds, etc. out.
Brilliant! I’m going to try the hand mixer idea! Thanks.
I think her mixer must have been one of those with the flat blades on the beaters. My sister pressured me into buying a Cuisinart and then spent over 5 years pressuring me to get rid of my mom’s Sunbeam Burst of Power in Harvest Gold, opening up the box and getting out the new one. She said she was worried I’d be electrocuted using the old one, which we estimated to be about 45 years old at that point. Ridiculous, really, because she knows darn good and well that I can take a jolt or two.
I deeply regret getting rid of it. The Cuisinart has wire blades, not flat on the beaters. I don’t think it works as well and I think the beater wires would just slip over the pumpkin stringy stuff. So depending on what type of mixer you have, the trick may or may not work.
I got the pumpkin last week, and am trying this one tomorrow: https://hungerthirstplay.com/stuffed-pumpkin/
That sounds good, thank you. The recipe I had didn’t include potatoes, had bread cubes in it and used sausage instead of ground beef but I bet this one would taste great and would sure work for the gluten free family members.
Ha! So it’s stuffed bell peppers … on a GRAND scale!!
I dont have a special recipe to share however, I do use a Bundt Pan to cook my stuffing…it makes an interesting display of my dressing and always gets compliments🥰😉
Just make sure you use plenty of butter in your recipe.
Thanksgiving day blessings
Great idea, bet it’s really pretty.
butter makes everything right.
Butter, bacon, or mayo, what makes all things good.
And everyone gets a little crunchy crust! Excellent idea!
Great idea!
Turkey?? Pumpkin pie? Mashed potatoes?? Cranberry sauce?? Oh no comrades there will none of this kind of food (unless you are an Upper Party member) for this decadent, wasteful, relio-fascist, capitalist holiday. You may have an extra helping of highly nutritional and somewhat digestible Bug Protein. It is recommended that you do thankful silent contemplation of Dear Leader Obama while you consume your portion of state-issued Bug Rations. You should probably stick to just one serving as toilet paper has now been declared a threat to the environemnt, like our gas stoves, air-conditioning and cars.
Menagerie,
Bless you! Your threads are always a balm for my troubled soul. I don’t really cook beyond basics, but love the stories and camaraderie of these threads.
Thank you for keeping what is important in the forefront– family, friends and living our best lives.
Mmmmmm mmm … basketweave bacon.