cooking and baking primitives discuss Thanksgiving tricks

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x90242

Oh my.

The empressof all   (1000+ posts)         Mon Nov-14-11 01:33 PM
Original message
 
Thanksgiving Tweeks and Tricks

Well it's that time of year again and next week most of us will be doing extra duty in the kitchen. I'm sure we all have our little tricks to make things run smoothly or little tweeks to the traditional and maybe not so traditional recipies.

Here are some of my tweeks

I layer sweet potatoes with apples and top with spicy/sweet pecans

I put sausage, apples and a full stick of butter in the stuffing

I brine the turkey with orange peel, maple syrup, onions and salt..

I make the standard green bean casserole with broccoli

I make mashed potatoes with a few parsnips added and I always serve them with sauteed leeks next to them. People can combine leeks as they prefer.

Hmmmm.

franksolich checked the list, and checked it again, and finds he doesn't do a damned thing the way the imperious primitive does.

The empressof all   (1000+ posts)         Sat Nov-19-11 10:03 AM
Response to Original message
 
1. Shameless Kick for talking Turkey here!

Doesn't anybody else scoop their dressing into muffin tins for individual stuffin..muffins?

Nope.

Graybeard  (1000+ posts)       Sat Nov-19-11 10:26 AM
Response to Reply #1
 
2. I do that with left-over stuffing.

I use a mini-muffin tin and they make great snacks.

For the meal try perking up your carrots with a simple

glaze of butter, brown sugar and ginger.

No, franksolich has never done any of that either.

beac  (1000+ posts)       Sat Nov-19-11 01:39 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. My "tweeks":

I leave the the peels on the potatoes (while mashing, I use the two forks to tear apart the peels into manageable bits.)

I learned while trying to recreate a Thanksgiving feast in Italy that soy sauce can be substituted for Worcestershire Sauce in creamed onions (and that Chinese restaurant owners in Italy are generous even if they think you are a crazy woman with an overly-panicky need for salty brown sauce.)

I've been a vegetarian for over seven years, so I no longer cook a turkey, but my tricks used to be:

* a cup of water in the roasting pan at the start of cooking

* white wine (LOTS of it) in the gravy,cooking off (most of) the alcohol before serving, of course. My gravy was about a 25 minute process made right in the roasting pan on the stove top while the turkey rested... scrape drippings, use white wine to de-glaze, add broth made from turkey neck/innards that had simmered while bird cooked, more wine, add ground sage, thyme and rosemary, add a small mount of fine gravy flour at a time-- blending thoroughly before adding more, add splashes of white wine as you go, add salt and pepper-- add a splash of milk here and there, cook slowly to thicken. Make gravy that tastes a TINY bit too salty from the spoon and it will be perfect on the meat (and potatoes and stuffing.) Now that I made a mushroom gravy, sherry has taken the place of white wine as the boozy star of the show!

Ugh.  Mushroom gravy.  Some people have no taste.

[Bodadh]

Well this is gonna be a long thread. I used to make Thanksgiving dinner for my parents but we kept things simple. If we could get it from a jar or a box that is what we went with. It is just me these days so I might just make a can of soup.


Never had green bean casserole. Is it as good as every one seems to say it is or is it just ok?

[Chris_]

Never had green bean casserole. Is it as good as every one seems to say it is or is it just ok?

You have to get the right ratio of green bean to French's fried onions.

[franksolich]

Well this is gonna be a long thread. I used to make Thanksgiving dinner for my parents but we kept things simple. If we could get it from a jar or a box that is what we went with. It is just me these days so I might just make a can of soup.


Never had green bean casserole. Is it as good as every one seems to say it is or is it just ok?

Oh man, you are in the wrong place, the most wrong place.

Everybody here but franksolich chows down on green bean casseroles.

I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot primitive, but I'm the lone wolf here.

[Chris_]

My mom doesn't make it and I never grew up eating it.  The few times I've had green bean casserole was when I ate at someone else's house.

[franksolich]

My mom doesn't make it and I never grew up eating it.  The few times I've had green bean casserole was when I ate at someone else's house.

You know, I've always suspected green bean casserole is one of those things people have because they're supposed to have it; they've had it for generations, and that's the way it's supposed to be, damn it.

Even if one doesn't really care for it, one has to have it.

It reminds me of my own family, where pineapple chunks swimming in creme de menthe were de rigeuer for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, and Easter.  Nobody liked it, but that was the way it's always been, so one'd better have it.

Now, I'm sure that by next Wednesday, there's going to be 7,307 different recipes for green bean casserole in the recipes forum here.

[longview]

You know, I've always suspected green bean casserole is one of those things people have because they're supposed to have it; they've had it for generations, and that's the way it's supposed to be, damn it.

That's the way it was here when the kids were little.  I made it, they ate it, I made it again and again every year.

Finally, one year I was out of the mushroom soup, and didn't want to run to town for it, so I asked them if they'd mind terribly if we didn't have it.  They all agreed they'd never liked it and only ate it because they thought I liked it. 

I cook a very simple turkey dinner for Thanksgiving.  Mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, a cooked vegetable or salad and a couple pies.  I'd rather get the chores and food out of the way and go sledding or riding with friends and family.

[franksolich]

I cook a very simple turkey dinner for Thanksgiving.  Mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, a cooked vegetable or salad and a couple pies.  I'd rather get the chores and food out of the way and go sledding or riding with friends and family.

Uh huh.

Keep it simple, and keep lots of it. 

[Chris_]

Finally, one year I was out of the mushroom soup, and didn't want to run to town for it, so I asked them if they'd mind terribly if we didn't have it.  They all agreed they'd never liked it and only ate it because they thought I liked it. 

  I like green bean casserole.  If I was the one cooking, I'd make it for myself.

My mother has made the same menu every year.  Turkey, sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed turnips, parsnips, brussel sprouts, and Yorkshire pudding.

[franksolich]

I like green bean casserole.  If I was the one cooking, I'd make it for myself.

Oh, but you forget, sir.

You were once a chef.

[longview]

Oh, but you forget, sir.

You were once a chef.

One who helped me out immensely with my corn on the cob for 150 dilemma.  I'm now the official cooker of that at the polo club.  I have a niche!

[franksolich]

One who helped me out immensely with my corn on the cob for 150 dilemma.  I'm now the official cooker of that at the polo club.  I have a niche!

chris_ is good--although in far more, much more, than the cooking department.

But if one's serious about cooking, chris_ is the person to ask.

<<not serious about cooking.

[BattleHymn]

Oh man, you are in the wrong place, the most wrong place.

Everybody here but franksolich chows down on green bean casseroles.

I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot primitive, but I'm the lone wolf here.

My wife cooks green bean casserole, and so does my mother.  Everyone in my family genuinely loves it.  I like casserole, and I like green beans, but something happens when they are put together that makes me dislike the combination.  I always put some on my plate to not offend my wife and mother, and to not arouse suspicion about my true feelings on the stuff.

Ugh.  Mushroom gravy.  Some people have no taste.

Mushroom gravy is just... not very tasty.  On top of that, I pick the mushrooms out of anything I'm eating.  Can't stand them. 

[Chris_]

I don't get mushrooms.  Don't like them, never have.

[dandi]

I don't like green bean casserole. I'd rather just cook some pole beans with lots of smoked ham hocks for seasoning. The casserole I make is this:

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/view2/broccoli_casserole

only I use three packages of broccoli instead of two. Otherwise the "filling" or whatever you call it overpowers the vegetable. I've been making it for family and co-workers on holidays for several years and it's always a hit.

[Chris_]

I had a recipe for hash brown casserole that is really good.  I wish I remembered it, but I can't find it... I may have a copy saved in one of my email accounts. 

It was mostly sour cream and butter anyway.

[BattleHymn]

I don't like green bean casserole. I'd rather just cook some pole beans with lots of smoked ham hocks for seasoning. The casserole I make is this:

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/view2/broccoli_casserole

only I use three packages of broccoli instead of two. Otherwise the "filling" or whatever you call it overpowers the vegetable. I've been making it for family and co-workers on holidays for several years and it's always a hit.

What is the consistency of the broccoli when it is done?  I don't think I've ever had broccoli in a casserole.  

[Ballygrl]

Ewwwwwww! what's up with putting all sweet things in the stuffing? apples? brown sugar? ginger?

[dandi]

What is the consistency of the broccoli when it is done?  I don't think I've ever had broccoli in a casserole.  

About the same as the green beans in a casserole, kind of soft and tender. If you like your vegetables more on the al dente side I guess you could just cook the broccoli a little less before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients.

[Chris_]

I avoid canned green beans and use raw ones from the produce section.  That way I get the consistency I like and it's not like drinking your food through a straw.  That is one thing I've noticed about "southern" cooking... it's all soft and doesn't require a whole lot of chewing.

[Ballygrl]

Well this is gonna be a long thread. I used to make Thanksgiving dinner for my parents but we kept things simple. If we could get it from a jar or a box that is what we went with. It is just me these days so I might just make a can of soup.

Never had green bean casserole. Is it as good as every one seems to say it is or is it just ok?

I'm making the green bean casserole again, it's OK, it's easy to make though.

We're going to my MIL's this year for Thanksgiving, and we always take so many leftovers that she never has much left, and I got a free turkey from Shop Rite, so I'm kind of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner  for us to have as leftovers so we won't have to take any of her leftovers, she gave me the family recipe for the stuffing and this is the 1st year I'm going to make it. The darn free turkey I got is 20 pounds, so I googled to see if you can freeze turkey and you can freeze it up to 4 months, so we'll probably freeze some of it.

Oh, and I love whole berry cranberry sauce, but we buy both because my husband loves the jelly cranberry sauce.

[Chris_]

I'm making the green bean casserole again, it's OK, it's easy to make though.

I prefer the jelly.  I don't think cranberry sauce should be crunchy.

[longview]

The darn free turkey I got is 20 pounds, so I googled to see if you can freeze turkey and you can freeze it up to 4 months, so we'll probably freeze some of it.

I used to have a neighbor who gave out turkeys about that big as gifts.  I laughed about it being so huge at the grocery store, and the butcher said he could saw it in two while frozen.  It was weird seeing the giblets, etc. sawed in two, but I was able to freeze the halves and use when needed.  Did that for several years.

[Ballygrl]

I prefer the jelly.  I don't think cranberry sauce should be crunchy.

You too?

[Chris_]

You too?

My mom's English, my dad's from da Bronx.  I grew up eating a lot of things I shouldn't have.