Thanksgiving Thread

whats in the brine, anon?

My dad's half American so while we did Thanksgiving as a family thing, it wasn't much like what Americans in the US do, even after we moved to the US.
Because of this, our TGs are fairly atypical, mostly because turkeys weren't available where I'm from until about 10-15 years ago and by that time, we already had our own TG traditions.

Back then, main course was roast goose, though we occasionally subbed three-to-four chickens in for it twice and on one occasion, ibex haunch.
To those wondering, goose tastes like a cross between chicken drumsticks, duck meat and either mild venison strap or gamy beef roast with a slight chicken gizzards flavour in there as well. Ibex tastes like mutton or very lamby lamb crossed with venison.
Whatever meat we served, it was with a condiment of thinly sliced mushrooms cooked in olive oil at low heat with garlic and chilli until the moisture is almost completely cooked out of the mushrooms and they turn crisp. If it was fowl, also gravy made from a roux-thickened bonestock built on the bones removed before roasting (backs, necks and wingtips).
Roast the meat, slice a little off it, and top the slices with mushroom oil or gravy before serving.

My favourite dish that we served with it is Easter peas, which are overcooked boiled peas drained of their water then cooked even further in bacon grease with caramelised onions and whipped with beaten egg. Kind of like mushy peas^2.

Dad also made American-style bread dressing/stuffing, but it was seldom any good. It was nearly always mushy and too salty.

Because cranberries weren't available then and still aren't common today, my dad improvised a sauce made from tart cherries, instead. I didn't like it, but my brothers and sister do.

Then we moved to another country where all that stuff was unavailable and we just ate fried chicken for TG for 2 years. Then we moved again, this time to America. Dad swapped turkey in for the goose/chicken/ibex and cranberry sauce for cherry.

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Dressing is the best part. Tbh I use the recipe on the back of the bag of bread chunk mix.

>>7050930
1 gal water
1/2 gal fresh, nonalcoholic apple cider
2 sprigs rosemary
1 c salt
1 c dark brown sugar
Peel of an orange
Peppercorns

I went to put my turkey in it last night, but found out I needed another day on thawing.

>>7051415
Where did you live that you had ibex? I'm planning on three turkeys, but I'm leaning towards replacing one with a goose after reading that.

>>7051430
sounds good!

>>7050578
Roast chicken with stuffing
Garlic mashed potatoes with a whole stick of butter
Green peas
Can of cranberry sauce (NOT jellied)

The tart, semi-sweet cranberries cut through the richness of everything else. I like a green item with my meals, and peas seem to do the job. You HAVE to make the most decadent, richest garlic mashed potatoes. It's not going to hurt you to eat this once a year. And nothing says "home-cooked meal" like a roast chicken with stuffing pouring out of it's ass. That bay leaf, the thyme...oh god, I'm so horny.

At my house, this holiday has a bit more tradition than the rest.

First, we brine the turkey in a cooler for a a few days (I usually thaw the damned thing in there and pull out the giblets/neck mid-brine)

Day of thanksgiving, we all have Mimosas and get the food peeled and chopped up, stuffing made and turkey dressed and in the oven while having booze for breakfast

After that, we all get a little tired and sleep off the rest of our mid-morning drunkenness while the turkey gets started.

Half an hour to an hour later, we whip up the sides: the mashed potatoes (with skins, fuck peeling), gravy, squash and the side-dish of extra stuffing.

Early dinner that takes up the whole table. Leftovers for days, soup from the turkey a week later.

>>7050578
Going to brine a turkey as well for thanksgiving. I'm thinking about doing:

2cups pure maple syurp grade b
1cup canning salt
1 head of garlic
Handful of peppercorn
Couple sprigs of Rosemary
6 bay leaves
8lbs bag of ice to keep turkey cold

>>7052867
i like side dish made from
>frozen choopped spinach
>cottage cheese
>cabot cheddar
>egg
>flour

mix all up and bake

delicious side deesh

>>7051447
I am from Italy, but we were visiting mum's family in Switzerland at the time. My uncle and his friend bagged one hunting the week before and each took a side.

What do ya'll do to prep bread for stuffing? Do you stale the bread, dry it, toast it, or buy it?

>>7054441
I allow it to go stale. I choose an eggy, soft, less-crusty bread for mine.
Butter.
Sauté aromatics, usually French mirepoix or Cajun trinity.
Add chicken stock powder.
Add stale bread cubes and sauté about.
Add a bit of water to soften the bread only slightly and help it to absorb flavours.
Off the heat and pour into bowl.
Crack an egg or two into it and some herbage and stir about to mix.
Pour into a baking dish and let it do its thing in the oven.
That's it for me. Mine is basically a savoury, chunky bread pudding with gravy in place of the custard.

I've been doing the whole spatchcock and dry brine turkey from Serious Eats for the past couple years now, and it always works out super well. I can cook a twenty pound turkey in like, two hours that way. Plus that leaves me the gigantic backbone and wing tips to make a stock with for the inevitable turkey stew a week later.

For sides, I'm going to be making
homemade cranberry sauce,
sausage and mushroom stuffing,
garlic rosemary mashed potatoes,
maple roasted sweet potatoes,
green beans sautéed with garlic,
tossed salad with homemade vinaigrette,
freshly baked French bread,
and individual pumpkin tarts.

>>7054441
The month leading up to thanksgiving, I'll scour the reduced bakery shelf for cheap loaves of French or Italian bread, then hoard it in the freezer until the week of. Then I'll take it out, cut it into slices, and let it dry out in the open on a sheet pan for a day to make it easier to cube up. After I do the final cutting up, I'll spread the bread back out on the sheet pan and toast it in a slow oven till it's just slightly crunchy, but not dehydrated. From there, you can make it as you like.

>>7054470
Water? Why not chicken/turkey/veggie stock?

>>7054496
Because stock powder.

Turkey
Gravy
Stuffing
Goat cheese mashed potatoes
Sweet Potato Casserole
Garlic green beans
Cranberry sauce
Apple crisp
Pumpkin pie
Wine on wine on wine

>>7050578
Motherfuckin green bean casserole!

I always make a big ass 9x13 pan of my green bean casserole to bring to my friend's house for Thanksgiving. Home made, not that canned mushroom soup/fried onions monstrosity.

Not sure where I'm going to be for Thanksgiving. I'm currently living with my sister in one city, and all my stuff (including my mother) is in another city. Depending on when I find an apartment, I might be eating my mom's delicious stuffing and horrendously dry turkey, or I might be eating fried chicken with my sister and her husband.

Either way, I'll probably end up making cheesy potatoes, since everyone seems to love it. It's just frozen hash browns, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and cheddar cheese plus seasonings. It's basically a heart attack in a casserole dish. But isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?

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>>7054519
>using stock powder
>not making your own stock
>not at least using base

Might as well crumble bullion cubes in it senpai

>>7054746
Who says I don't make my own stock? Who says it's not homemade stock powder? You're being awfully presumptuous.
It ain't that serious, friend. :3

Thanksgiving was like a month ago you dingus.

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OP here, and I'm delivering

>>7054441
I save bread ends for months in the freezer for future stuffing/meatballs application. I was thinking of making a cornbread for this year's stuffing, but I'm not sure.

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9001 ways to make ramen.

>>7056588
Good job burning it.

>>7056676
Wasn't burnt, and came out really juicy.

>>7056693
It's burned, faggot. We have a picture as proof.

>>7056700
No crunch, no dry meat, and skin is still flexible and shiny. Black spots doesn't automatically mean burned. It couldn't have anything to do with the sugar content in the brine, could it?

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>>7050578

What's the best meal to cook for one?

>>7056720
Doesn't look brunt, not sure what that faggot was talking about.

Was your turkey prebasted or selfbasting? Why type of salt did you use and was it too salty or or could use more?

>>7057018

banquet turkey tv dinner

>>7057163
>tv dinner

Do these even still exist?

>>7056700
>It's burned, faggot. We have a picture as proof.

You're not too smart, are you?

>>7057018
For a legitimate answer: try smothered turkey cutlet, mashed potato and a pair of veg sides of your choice.*
Basically, get a turkey cutlet, preferably a thigh cutlet, but breast is fine, and pan sear it then remove.
Add some grease and flour to the pan and make a medium roux, then add lots of chopped onion and some salt, then off the heat and keep stirring until the hissing stops.
Up the heat back to high and whisk in some turkey-or-chicken stock (or water and chicken stock powder; in fact, instead of salting the chopped onion, I like to sprinkle chicken stock powder on it).
Once the roux is dissolved, lower the heat to maintain a simmer and re-add the cutlet, cooking it in the gravy.
Place the cutlet over some mash and up the heat under the gravy back to high to quickly reduce it to desired thickness, then pour over.
Eat with veg.

* I like buttered carrots, because they can be made in the microwave: boil water in a microwave safe container, add some baby-cut carrots and (if desired) dried onion, cover the container loosely and nuke 2-3 minutes (depending how soft you like your carrots) then drain. Finally, add some butter and salt, lid the container somewhat tightly and shake to mix.
I also like a simple side of shredded green cabbage stir-fried with bacon and onion. Just be sure to blanch-and-shock the cabbage first, to reduce cooking time drastically and retain colour. Those would be my two choices.

I usually make roasted vegetables.

Potatoes
Carrots
Celery
Peas
Parsnips
Celery Root
Parsley Root
Pearl Onions
Garlic Cloves
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Thyme
Cinnamon
Bay Leaf
Black Pepper
Salt

>>7050578
I'm all about the oyster dressing. My dad makes it every year

>>7056660
>>7056660
If you aren't used to the texture of cornbread stuffing, you might wanna pick up a box of the Stove Top kind and try it. It has a grainy texture, unlike regular wheat based stuffing, that some people don't enjoy.

>>7054441
>>7056660
we always do a dressing instead of a stuffing 70/30 stale bread/corn bread
lots of stock (not as moist a bread pudding, but similar), chopped sage, minced garlic, diced celery, diced onion, salt and cayenne
toss all together, put into baking dish, put into oven @ 350 until sides are crispy and middle isn't a soggy mess

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>>7051430
roommates and I are having our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night. Turkey is brining in your recipe. Smells great!!!
Will post results tomorrow
Placed it in a cooler and topped it off with ice.
Floaters are rosemary twigs and peppercorns.
Added sliced lemons and navel orangs

Anyone got good Green Bean Casserole recipes?

>>7056588
looks good m8, how'd the brine work out?

>>7060038
pics please

This year, all I want is turkey and stuffing. Just enough to leave room for dessert.

>>7050578
My family has always made our stuffing with pepperoni, sausage, onion, celery, and sourdough bread. Makes for an incredibly aromatic turkey.

Rotisserie turkey
cider gravy
cranberry-orange relish
two kinds of stuffing - one traditional, one mushroom, bacon and herb
baked mashed potatoes
roasted asparagus with lemon aioli
baby greens with berries, feta, and candied walnuts in an orange-champagne vinaigrette
baked sweet potatoes topped with butter, s&p, caramelized onions, and parmesan
pumpkin pie with orange-pecan crust
bourbon pecan pie
apple dumplings
sourdough rolls
wine, coffee, tea, water, pommederosas (fresh apple cider and champagne with a twist of lemon) and other drinks as well.
Appetizer of butternut squash soup with watercress cream, in small cups, with olive-cheese balls.

This is the first time I'm hosting the entire family, so I had to expand my menu this year. Usually, it's just my immediate family.

My friends and I are doing a Friendsgivng feast. I thought of making Scarborough Fair (seasoned according to the song with parsley, sage, rosemary and time. But a chicken dish when we already have a turkery or rotisseries chicken?

My favorite dish is Broccoli casserole. My mom and my aunt make it at two different places because I like it so much. Tastes amazing (I mean broccoli come on) and gives me wonderful shits the next day. I like turkey and ham but I would like to try something different as a main dish. I have never eaten even a smoked turkey, that sounds like it would be pretty good. I tried to push duck and goose but they have webbed feet.

>>7062103
This sounds great to me. I will try this

>>7062129
Can I come? Pls boss...

Due to massive immigration in Europe i have started to see some kebabshops everywhere.
I was first a little unsure about this, but it tastes good.

Definitely making: turkey, gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, sausage and mushroom cornbread stuffing, bourbon pecan pie
Probably making: baked mac
Need to figure out a couple of vegetable dishes now. Any suggestions? Green bean casserole is an instant no by the way. No one in the family likes it.

>>7066755
roasted carrots