Share your thanksgiving menus, so i can steal ideas. Hopefully there will be enough responses to help me finalize a menu before I go shopping this weekend.
This year I’m trying to spread my culinary wings and looking to upgrade the menu, especially in the sides department. Right now i’m thinking of
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Black Eyed Peas Salad
Sausage Dressing
Suet Pie
Pumpkin Pie
pretty standard except for Suet Pie. I saw it on the cooking channel a few days ago and can’t shake it from my mind.
oh yeah, and making my own cranberry sauce. anyone/everyone can make cranberry sauce - even the most klutzy of chefs.
Turkey
Mashed potatoes (a low-cal version; the brother-in-law is trying to lose weight)
Scotch eggs
Green bean casserole
Ham (for the sole non-turkey lover)
Rolls
Stuffing
and maybe an oyster-and-scallop pie I just saw over on Salon–although Mrs. R does most of the cooking, I always prepare some kind of oyster dish.
Thanks to Alton for the brine, corn-bread stuffing and cranberry-orange dip.
Brined turkey, no rack when baking, elevated on a bed of chunky carrots, onion and celery Ham - watermelon pickles are a great accompaniment Hash-brown casserole - similar to this Sweet potato casserole (combined from 2 recipes from Americas Test Kitchen, but close to this) Festive Salad (family recipe - lime jello, fruit cocktail, unsweetened whipped cream, cream cheese) Brussel sprouts
**Carrots **(from under the turkey…they’re too soft, but sooooo delicious) Fresh bread/roll of some sort
**cornbread stuffing **(had it a few times) hot cranberry dip (I had to laugh when we ate at my fathers girlfriends house…I hadn’t seen a cylinder of cranberry sauce served before).
Thanks to the brine and mire-pois the drippings in the pan are beautiful and I’ve strained it and served it as a jus instead of concentrating/thickening it for gravy.
Pumpkin pie (for me)
**pecan pie **(for my wife) pumpkin angel food cake
all of the desserts have whipped cream with sugar and vanilla.
My mother does not cook. Unless you count the 5 dishes she makes once a year each.
Our amazing, sweet housekeeper is in the hospital (totally fine, should be discharged soon), so she’s out for the usual holiday meal making.
So we could go out or…I could cook.
I’m gonna do it. At 23, I’m gonna make Thanksgiving dinner for 6-8 people. I have 2 years of experience cooking dinner 4-5 nights/week. I’m pretty good, but I only every cook for 2, sometimes 4.
Thank Og for EatingWell. I’m doing:
-Roasted Garlic & Meyer Lemon Turkey
-Citrus Gravey (with wondra flour, courtesy of Sam Sifton)
-Creamed onions
-Lemon-Dill Green Beans
-Mashed Potatoes
-Pumpkin Pie
-Cranberry jelly (from a can! We love it)
-Rolls (these are TBD from a bakery)
-Peanut butter pie, with splenda/sugar mixture and lowfat cream cheese and low fat Cool Whip.
They even have a side chart of when to make stuff. So I’m gonna make the creamed onions, the turkey garlic/lemon paste, the stuffing, the gravy stock, and the green beans the day before. Which leaves the turkey, taters, and pies for the day of. I have two ovens and a large kitchen to work with.
Mashed potatoes and stuffing, I’d appreciate a recipe for! I am open to anyone’s tried and true recipe, bonus points for low or reduced fat when possible. Stuffing that can be made in a crock pot (didn’t someone in another thread have a stuffing in crockpot recipe?) would be doubly awesome.
I’ve got 10 people that I’m feeding so it’s a bit more food then normal for me.
Two brined (thawed in a soy sauce, bourbon, and brown sugar marinade) 15 lb turkeys; one will be deep fried and the other roasted.
Spicy cheesy corn (corn, bell peppers and habaneros, with cream cheese and a three cheese blend)
Green Bean casserole
Wasabi mashed potatoes
Apple and hot link dressing
No-knead bread rolls
Giblet gravy
Pumpkin pie with a hot brandy sauce
Apple pie
2 Chocolate rum pecan pies
Carrot Souffle
Plus my sister is bringing some gluten free stuff.
Brined turkey
Stuffing with apples and sausage
Sweet potato casserole (confession: we use store-bought, frozen. It’s fantastic stuff!)
Cranberry sauce (canned, berries, not gel-log)
Gravy
Lots of good red wine
Home-made pumpkin pie
My mashed potatoes are truly glorious, and not a bit complicated. Here’s what you do: wash, scrub, and boil one medium potato per person plus several extra along with one clove of garlic per potato until everything’s tender. Drain the water and add a stick of butter, ground nutmeg (freshly grated nutmeg is tastier), salt, pepper, and whole milk. (I couldn’t begin to tell you how much of everything to add – I just start with, you know, a certain amount, and taste as I go, adding whatever seems to be too subtle.) The key is not to try to go low-fat; how often do you celebrate Thanksgiving?
I have added sour cream to the mix when I had some on hand and it added to the glory.
Sounds good, I’ll do it. But I’ll use low-fat milk and Smart Balance/butter sticks ;). You only have Thanksgiving once a year, but it’s the season that gets me into trouble!
lindsaybluth, you could try buttermilk; it’s tangy like sour cream, but not high in fat. Also use Yukon Gold potatoes as they taste buttery.
My in-laws are hosting and we are supposed to bring beverages, mostly soft drinks but we’ll probably bring some hard cider too. I’m also responsible for rolls and dessert, which likely will be ginger cake, which I’ll make Wednesday night as it’s better the next day, and I’ll make the rolls Thursday morning and either bake them right before we leave so they’ll be still warm when we get there or (preferably) bake them on location if there’s room in their oven.
Yukon Gold, excellent reminder! I love 'em, but this is my first time making mashed potatoes so I likely would have forgotten and just gotten regular spuds. Thanks! Hmm, buttermilk is a possibility…
Buttermilk, yes! It makes for splendidly rich, creamy-tasting mashed potatoes, and is very low in fat. I’ll second the Yukon Gold potatoes, too. Rich, buttery taste, don’t need so much butter!
norinew, I demand your menu! You and Athena (where is she?) are fantastic home cooks. Your food is always simple, elegant, healthy - and darn tasty to boot.