redheadbaker A few years ago (while lurking) I grabbed your cider-sage brined turkey recipe when you shared it, and it was the first good turkey I ever made -- and it was really, really good. It's a permanent part of our family's Thanksgiving tradition now. I wanted you to know what a wonderful contribution you've made to our annual celebration! I think a big thank you to you every year at this time.
Aw, thanks! I've been making that turkey for nearly 10 years. Even my mom, who hates turkey, likes it.
I made a killer spinach artichoke dip the other day (for the celebration we had on Saturday to celebrate Biden's win!). It's the America's Test Kitchen recipe, so if you have the app or subscribe, you can get it. I can post it here if anyone wants it. It was amazeballs.
Yes please. I've made the recipe on the Knorr's seasoning package. It's ok but not amaze balls
I made a killer spinach artichoke dip the other day (for the celebration we had on Saturday to celebrate Biden's win!). It's the America's Test Kitchen recipe, so if you have the app or subscribe, you can get it. I can post it here if anyone wants it. It was amazeballs.
Yes please. I've made the recipe on the Knorr's seasoning package. It's ok but not amaze balls
To amplify the spinach and artichoke flavors in this homemade version of a restaurant staple, we swapped dull, fibrous frozen spinach for sautéed fresh baby spinach and left tinny canned artichokes behind in favor of bright, tender marinated artichokes. Gouda's sweet and nutty flavor perfectly accentuated the artichokes, and it gave our dip a creamy, melty texture without causing it to congeal and turn stringy after cooling. Our streamlined method called for stirring all the ingredients together in one skillet before transferring the dip to a baking dish. After about 20 minutes in the oven, the top was golden brown and the edges were bubbling.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
11 ounces (11 cups) baby spinach, chopped coarse
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 ounces Gouda cheese, shredded (1½ cups)
3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1½ cups)
1 ⅓ cups marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
You will need one 12-ounce jar of marinated artichoke hearts to yield the 1⅓ cups called for here. You can substitute canned artichoke hearts if you can't find marinated. If you can find only 5-ounce packages of baby spinach, there's no need to buy a third package to make up the extra ounce; just make the dip with 10 ounces. Use the large holes of a box grater to shred the gouda and a rasp-style grater to grate the Parmesan. Serve with tortilla chips, crusty bread, pita chips, or vegetables.
1
INSTRUCTIONS
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spinach, 1 handful at a time, allowing each to wilt slightly before adding next; cook until wilted and liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
2
Off heat, add cream cheese and stir until melted and combined, about 1 minute. Stir in gouda, Parmesan, artichokes, mayonnaise, pepper, and cayenne until combined. Transfer to 2-quart baking dish and smooth top with rubber spatula.
3
Bake until spotty golden brown and bubbling around edges, about 22 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve.
4
TO MAKE AHEAD: At the end of step 2, let dip cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. When ready to serve, continue with step 3, increasing baking time by 10 minutes.
I have a relative coming to visit for Thanksgiving. She is vegan. My household is Celiac with soy and dairy allergies, the risk of cross contamination with gluten is something we don't mess around with. I don't want her to feel like she's just getting side dishes while everyone else eats turkey, but I don't really know what to make to round it out. Soup?
(Our usual holiday meal is my household only and we do turkey, an easy vegetable, cranberries, and a potato in some form.)
Can you do a baked mac and cheese with gluten free pasta and non-dairy cheese? It could be a side or a main course.
I was just gifted a bunch of persimmons and am going to make this next week for myself and for the Buddhist monks I cook for every week. It looks so good!
You could also do a pasta salad with roasted veggies and some beans or chickpeas
Please put beans, tofu, something with protein in whatever you make her! Target carries some yummy marinated tofu things that you could throw in a pasta dish.
H and I decided that the cranberries part of thanksgiving dinner never made sense cuz it’s served as part of the meal but it’s usually sweet/tart which is more of a dessert situation.
So we are scrapping cranberries as part of the meal and putting it where it belongs, in a dessert. I’m thinking some sort of vegan cheesecake with cranberries thing.
I have a relative coming to visit for Thanksgiving. She is vegan. My household is Celiac with soy and dairy allergies, the risk of cross contamination with gluten is something we don't mess around with. I don't want her to feel like she's just getting side dishes while everyone else eats turkey, but I don't really know what to make to round it out. Soup?
(Our usual holiday meal is my household only and we do turkey, an easy vegetable, cranberries, and a potato in some form.)
H and I decided that the cranberries part of thanksgiving dinner never made sense cuz it’s served as part of the meal but it’s usually sweet/tart which is more of a dessert situation.
So we are scrapping cranberries as part of the meal and putting it where it belongs, in a dessert. I’m thinking some sort of vegan cheesecake with cranberries thing.
This recipe arrived in my inbox a few days ago and sounds good, plus it's so pretty. Not a big deal this year, since most of us are just doing Thanksgiving with our immediate families, but in a typical year I do love a good visual showstopper of a dessert.
ETA: Not vegan as written, but it looks like you could successfully use the same subs that you'd use for a vegan lemon meringue pie.
I have a relative coming to visit for Thanksgiving. She is vegan. My household is Celiac with soy and dairy allergies, the risk of cross contamination with gluten is something we don't mess around with. I don't want her to feel like she's just getting side dishes while everyone else eats turkey, but I don't really know what to make to round it out. Soup?
(Our usual holiday meal is my household only and we do turkey, an easy vegetable, cranberries, and a potato in some form.)
My sister is vegetarian and a few years ago her entree was a stuffed acorn squash.
Can anyone give just very basic turkey cooking tips? My mom always made the turkey but due to Covid, it’s just DH and me this year. However I look forward to Thanksgiving food (and leftovers) pretty much all year so we are going ahead with a big feast for the two of us. DH is nervous about doing the turkey.
We are not stuffing it. I don’t want anything super fancy. Any basic recipes or cooking tips I should look at?
The recipe I am making is for confit turkey thighs. Everything I have seen seems to assume the thighs will be around 1 pound each. Mine are closer to 2.5 pounds each. Since it will cook low and slow I think this will be fine but the cooking time will be longer. Does that sound right?
It also calls for 6 cups of either duck fat, chicken fat, or vegetable oil. I was going to do duck fat until I realized it was so damn expensive. Would it be better to do part duck fat (I bought a 12 ounce container recently) and part vegetable oil? Or just do vegetable oil and save the duck fat for something else?
Can anyone give just very basic turkey cooking tips? My mom always made the turkey but due to Covid, it’s just DH and me this year. However I look forward to Thanksgiving food (and leftovers) pretty much all year so we are going ahead with a big feast for the two of us. DH is nervous about doing the turkey.
We are not stuffing it. I don’t want anything super fancy. Any basic recipes or cooking tips I should look at?
The recipe I am making is for confit turkey thighs. Everything I have seen seems to assume the thighs will be around 1 pound each. Mine are closer to 2.5 pounds each. Since it will cook low and slow I think this will be fine but the cooking time will be longer. Does that sound right?
It also calls for 6 cups of either duck fat, chicken fat, or vegetable oil. I was going to do duck fat until I realized it was so damn expensive. Would it be better to do part duck fat (I bought a 12 ounce container recently) and part vegetable oil? Or just do vegetable oil and save the duck fat for something else?
It is the same but will just cook longer. Those thighs must be huge!
I would do all oil and save the fat. In my experience if you try to mix the two it sometimes separates in a weird way. They have different viscosities and melting points.
Rendering your own chicken fat is pretty easy. Sometimes you can get skins/fat from the butcher if you ask nicely but that is a lot of fat and would be time consuming.
Thanks tacokick! And yes, they're massive. I had them delivered by Whole Foods and was very surprised when they arrived! They're almost as big as our dinner plates. Fitting both in my dutch oven might be a challenge.
Thanks tacokick! And yes, they're massive. I had them delivered by Whole Foods and was very surprised when they arrived! They're almost as big as our dinner plates. Fitting both in my dutch oven might be a challenge.
Godspeed lol I look forward to hearing a update.
If they are a little too big for the Dutch oven, you might be able to start out of with them jutting out a bit and then jamming them in better after they cook for a while.
Can anyone give just very basic turkey cooking tips? My mom always made the turkey but due to Covid, it’s just DH and me this year. However I look forward to Thanksgiving food (and leftovers) pretty much all year so we are going ahead with a big feast for the two of us. DH is nervous about doing the turkey.
We are not stuffing it. I don’t want anything super fancy. Any basic recipes or cooking tips I should look at?
Do you have Hulu? You can look up Alton Brown turkey recipes. He brines it, which if it's your first time can seem daunting, but really makes for a better tasting bird. There are also these Food 101 (or something to that effect) that you can look up that have short how-to videos on how to do a turkey.
Thanks tacokick ! And yes, they're massive. I had them delivered by Whole Foods and was very surprised when they arrived! They're almost as big as our dinner plates. Fitting both in my dutch oven might be a challenge.
Godspeed lol I look forward to hearing a update.
If they are a little too big for the Dutch oven, you might be able to start out of with them jutting out a bit and then jamming them in better after they cook for a while.
can confirm, it'll be fine if they stick out a little and you shove the tips in later in the cooking process once it shrinks down. i do that every year when I make confit duck. Vespasia it's a shame the scheduling doesn't work out - we won't have done duck weekend before thanksgiving, or else I could offer you some spare duck fat. (we usually end up with more than I need for the confit, but we haven't done the ducks yet)
But concur that since you're not planning to store them long term or anything (which I do with my duck legs) using veggie oil will be totally fine. And then you can make yourself some duck fat fries later.
Current Plan - prooooobably just the 4 of us. Though if it's a surprise super warm day, the IL's are invited to come eat outside with us. It's a good thing I love leftovers.
Brined, smoked turkey - this is MH's domain. Not sure if he has anything fancy in mind, probably just throw a bunch of herbs in the brine. finger foods to snack on - learning toward steamed shrimp and a cheese plate. Stuffing Mashed potatoes sweet potatoes - i can't decide if I want to mash these or roast them cubed. broiled brussels sprouts with pearl onions and bacon collard greens - not sure yet if they'll be southern style or creamed husband wants green bean casserole - I'm meh on it, but it's easy enough to make. Bread - I need to see if my sourdough starter has died. I haven't touched it in 2 months. whoops. Or maybe some buttery little soft rolls? Or....I dunno...lots of good options. Gravy - will have to pick up some turkey necks or wings or other odd bits (see what they have at the asian store) to make this since the bird will be in the smoker and not have usable drippings Cranberry sauce - I usually wing this from whole berries with either orange zest or some mulling spices thrown in.
Blueberry Pie - anybody have a tried and true recipe? I've screwed up blueberry pie over and over and over again, and it's MH favorite, so it's this absurd quest at this point. the filling never comes out the right texture. I want the consistency of the stuff in a can for the gel, but with lots and lots of berries. It's almost always too thin, except for the one time I wildly overshot and ended up at basically jello in a pie crust.
Second dessert - I'm leaning toward some sort of elaborate cheesecake/pie mashup. Like a caramel apple pie cheesecake.
Can anyone give just very basic turkey cooking tips? My mom always made the turkey but due to Covid, it’s just DH and me this year. However I look forward to Thanksgiving food (and leftovers) pretty much all year so we are going ahead with a big feast for the two of us. DH is nervous about doing the turkey.
We are not stuffing it. I don’t want anything super fancy. Any basic recipes or cooking tips I should look at?
If you don't want to go to the trouble of brinibg, the Reynolds Oven Bags actually do a good job of keeping moisture in. That's how my mom made her turkey the last 10 years she was alive and people raved about it. I made my first turkey using a bag 25 years ago. It's almost foolproof.
Can anyone give just very basic turkey cooking tips? My mom always made the turkey but due to Covid, it’s just DH and me this year. However I look forward to Thanksgiving food (and leftovers) pretty much all year so we are going ahead with a big feast for the two of us. DH is nervous about doing the turkey.
We are not stuffing it. I don’t want anything super fancy. Any basic recipes or cooking tips I should look at?
most important thing is a good thermometer. if you don't have one, get one.
You can embellish that as you see fit with various flavoring - shove some onions and garlic up in there, stuff herbs under the skin, brine it - go wild. don't stuff it though. asking for overcooked breast like that.
Vespasia it's a shame the scheduling doesn't work out - we won't have done duck weekend before thanksgiving, or else I could offer you some spare duck fat. (we usually end up with more than I need for the confit, but we haven't done the ducks yet)
But concur that since you're not planning to store them long term or anything (which I do with my duck legs) using veggie oil will be totally fine. And then you can make yourself some duck fat fries later.
I must admit that when I saw your sausage making activities I did wonder whether you would have some spare duck fat! It seemed like a strange thing to ask though.
Can anyone give just very basic turkey cooking tips? My mom always made the turkey but due to Covid, it’s just DH and me this year. However I look forward to Thanksgiving food (and leftovers) pretty much all year so we are going ahead with a big feast for the two of us. DH is nervous about doing the turkey.
We are not stuffing it. I don’t want anything super fancy. Any basic recipes or cooking tips I should look at?
If you don't want to go to the trouble of brinibg, the Reynolds Oven Bags actually do a good job of keeping moisture in. That's how my mom made her turkey the last 10 years she was alive and people raved about it. I made my first turkey using a bag 25 years ago. It's almost foolproof.
RoxMonster, sorry forgot to add - the turkey doesn't brown very well in the bag so you can cut it open for the last 20 minutes or so to get the top browned (that might be on the directions but I don't think it is).
Vespasia it's a shame the scheduling doesn't work out - we won't have done duck weekend before thanksgiving, or else I could offer you some spare duck fat. (we usually end up with more than I need for the confit, but we haven't done the ducks yet)
But concur that since you're not planning to store them long term or anything (which I do with my duck legs) using veggie oil will be totally fine. And then you can make yourself some duck fat fries later.
I must admit that when I saw your sausage making activities I did wonder whether you would have some spare duck fat! It seemed like a strange thing to ask though.
A bit like this actually.
I do have roughly a quart of rendered lard if that's of interest.
wawa , I don't have a recipe, but my husband swears by using tapioca in fruit pies to thicken the filling, rather than corn starch.
based on the procrastination googling I've done since posting that, serious eats, which I have come to enjoy for food nerdery agrees. I think that's the direction I'm going this year.