so what did you make today ?

[malkovich]

mmmmm so full ... hehe ...

pretty typical stuff here , my turkey day specials are sauage and cornbread stuffing - god i love that , and sweet potatoes and apples - probably my favorite thanksgiving dish ...

and i made a pumpkin cake with dates and cherries and walnuts , all the other desserts were run of the mill stuff ...

turkey was about 12 lbs. , came out great ... :) ...

[Kegg OBeer]

I made one huge turd after I was done eating... other than that, my wife made the food. Does it still count as a contribution?

[Allison]

Malky! Cornbread stuffing! Meeee too! But, mine was sausage and apple. I've been trying to find and perfect a good cornbread stuffing recipe for the last few years ... because that's what we always had when I was a kid. The first year I made it, it was inedible. Honestly, it was like a cornbread brick. But,with lots of tweaking and adding this and taking away that, I think I've gotten it just the way I want it! It was sooooo yummy!

And Grundy's turkey and gravy was the best ever this year. Before roasting, he soaks it for 24 hours in a brine with oranges and herbs and all sorts of stuff. And then he makes a gravy from the yummy yummy pan drippings. It was superb!

And Grundy made a soup that his family makes at holidays. You make these noodles out of bread crumbs, cheese, egg, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves ... and then you cook them in your own chicken broth. It's amazing.

Other than that, we had all the usual stuff: sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, corn pudding, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, token vegetables ....

I think we used like 10 sticks of butter in preparing the meal .. lol. Gotta love Turkey Day!!!

[WAnk]

how does that brine thing work! i don't understand it, how does it not make the turkey salty?? does it shove all the salt back through the pores or something? whenever i hear about people doing that, it makes me crazy because it doesn't make sense, but i've never heard from anyone who has made anything but a perfect turkey using the brine.

[Allison]

I'm not sure exactly how it works, Wank. I'm told that the salt makes the turkey absorb and retain liquid, so you end up with a really moist turkey. And I'm told that if you use a self-basting or a Kosher turkey, it might just be too salty, because those turkeys already have salt in them. But we've never had a turkey too salty. Maybe it sweats a lot of the salt out. I don't know. But, I do know that the pan drippings are very salty. So, if you make gravy from them, you absolutely don't want to add any salt to the gravy.

Here's the brine that Grundy uses:

1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 gallons cold water

If you have a bigger turkey, adjust the recipe as needed for the number of gallons of water you're using.

Dissolve everything in a non-reactive containter, like a stockpot, or a clean bucket, or a clean, heavy-duty garbage bag. Add all the stuff, including your cleaned turkey. Cover and refrigerate for 4 - 24 hours. (We do 24) And flip the turkey halfway through your brining time. Then, rinse your turkey, pat dry, and rub with butter and season/stuff as you want. We rub ours down with unsalted butter, pepper it, and stuff it with the following:

1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
1 large orange, cut into 8ths
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme

Then we roast breast side down for an hour at 325 degress, flip the bird, baste, and continue roasting until done, basting every half hour.

A perfect bird every time!

[Gwylenna]

Ymmm... might have to try that. We have a non-traditional turkey of sorts. We use Masala & Curry (Indian Spices) and pack it on the turkey so that while it cooks the spices make a crust of sorts. Really Moist and yummy.

My sister in law did it this year, but she forgot to do it breast down. Still good, but not as moist as it usually is.

I made the mashed potoates. Used Yukon Gold potatoes with skin on some salt, butter and heavy whipping cream. Amazingly light and fluffy as well as smooth.

[malkovich]

yeah , i have never done a turkey like that but it sounds great !