Sunday: dry brine turkey, wrap it up in plastic and refrigerated.
Monday: get bread from local baker, cut and toast to make base for stuffing, then make my cranberry compote.
Tuesday: make turkey gravy. Already have basic turkey stock, so cook additional onion and celery in stock and strain, then build gravy from a roux. Make my pea and corn succotash.
Wednesday: unwrap the turkey and return it to the fridge to let the skin dry out. Make the mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and a ridiculously large amount of butter.
T-day: roast the turkey, cook the stuff and bring other items up to temperature.
Others are bringing a couple veggie sides, desserts, salads and appetizers, so I’m pretty free for the main meal.
Like others, I do the turkey because it’s moist, tender and juicy in my hands and I don’t trust others to do it well.
If you are largely responsible for the meal but are forced into traveling to make the meal, I’d probably do most of the prep at home and if it’s practical, do most of the cooking there as well. You would have your tools there and won’t run the risk of forgetting something or having some clueless but well meaning relative ruining something that you care about. You can also get that lovely turkey gravy flavor by roasting turkey legs and wings in the oven a few days before, then using that with a mirepoix to build a turkey stock to make the gravy.
One thing I’m finally doing this year is having a second turkey. I always get a good turkey from a local farm, but grocery stores sell the frozen, pre-brined ones for so cheap, I just picked another up for about $5. I’m going to part that one out, and sous vide the breasts, and figure something else out for the rest of the meat. Then I can use that carcass to make good stock ahead of time.
Lol I was just listening to a podcast and one guy said he doesn’t like “wet” foods. And everyone quickly pointed out that he puts hot sauce on everything. But he didnt’ consider that “wet”.
Oh no, I loooove soup. I’ve been fighting off a cough for the past month and have been eating so much soup and just drinking broth. Chicken broth with a splash of soy sauce is delicious, lol.
Ooooh yes soup when you’re sick is wonderful! I dunno if it helps any, but I always have copious amounts of soup and broth when I have a respiratory illness. I hope you feel better and enjoy the soup!
I worked at a high school program for a few years (after school, spring break, etc) and there was a student who REALLY ate plain - white rice with nothing else, pasta with nothing on it. We called it the white diet. I remember we got pizza once but don't remember what he did with it.
I travelled with a study buddy to south-east asia where food is just amazing. He ate McD every day and even refused to try the food. So we went to eat and after we finished had to find a garbage fast food location so he could have his crappy burger. I separated from him after one week. He checked in at a 3star hotel all inclusive while I travelled the country alone. Best decision ever.
I can’t imagine going to another country and just not eating the local food. I am from the US but I used to live in Japan and that’s probably what I miss most, the huge variety of Japanese food.
Well I am only in charge of stuffing, (which we agreed to and will share) and cranberry sauce (which I make because I want to eat it even though no one else will). Since we are going to be going to two locations back to back I will be making the cranberry sauce ahead of time, likely on Tuesday while working from home. That way I can taste and tests until it is spiced to my taste since no one else will really eat it.
As far as stuffing / dressing goes I will likely make it ahead of time as well. This will be done likely on Wednesday and will heat it up Thursday morning to crisp up the top. For the first location I will do it at home and the second I will do it on the shared oven. Its not ideal to crisp up the tops in the shared oven but we are going to go there early to escape the first Thanksgiving early.
We did the whole deal at our place a few years ago and it was chaos. We made the bread, the stuffing and all sides ahead of time. We planned to have the turkey ready to rest when people were suppose to arrive. That way the oven was open and I could focus on the gravy. The gravy ended up great even though I didn't have a gravy shaker which was apparently the greatest sin. Don't worry we got multiple of them for Christmas that year
I make those same two recipes, lol. I’ve never heard of a gravy shaker; it looks like a protein shaker bottle. I assume it’s basically just meant to keep the gravy loose?
They are the best and are both in The Food Lab. I think most people make those recipes, especially the stuffing. An alternative meat and a break from pure starch is needed.
The gravy shaker is to dissolve the flour easier. You take some liquid out and mix it with the flour in the shaker and pour it back in. Its apparently a sin to not have one in the Midwest. Even though I can do the same thing with a whisk and I only make gravy at most once a year for Thanksgiving. I think I have used it once
Ah, I’ve never made a flour slurry for gravy, I’ve always started with a roux. I’ve used a cornstarch slurry, too, but never flour. Guess that’s also why people buy that flour brand that says it’s specifically for gravy.
I use Copy Me That because it’s easy to quickly save recipes from the phone without having to do any formatting, but I’ve now run into an issue of having too many recipes that I’ve never actually made lol.
I think I might try to use one of the other methods mentioned here to collate my tried and true recipes into a digital cookbook and continue to use the app for archiving things to try.
Tuesday: make cornbread for dressing, crumble enough to make the dressing, share the rest with family and/or birds and squirrels, cover the crumbled cornbread with a towel and let dry overnight
Wednesday: put on music and make as many sides and desserts as can be made ahead including the dressing, maybe a glass of cheer to set the mood
Thursday: cook the beast (not always turkey here), warm up sides, enjoy family/company or hide out in the kitchen being busy if things get awkward
Fast food veggies are gross. The lettuce is slimy, the tomatoes are flavorless mush.
And they put too much of their excessively sweet ketchup on those burgers. It’s messy and gross. Even as a kid, it was disgusting, and the pickle, too. Fast food burgers are way too soggy. Especially if you’re not eating it in the next 30 seconds.
(There’s a reason I don’t do fast food anymore.)
Asking for it plain isn’t being picky at all. I once new a guy who would insist on medium, half salt, double cheese half lettuce. And no. The salt thing wasn’t a medical thing. He’d scarf full salt fries.
Road tripping with that guy was “fun”
The reality is, ordering something the way you like it isn’t bejng “picky”. You’re buying food. It’s when you send a burger back five times because it keeps getting messed up because you’re order is freaking insane that it turns into “picky”.
If you make green bean casserole well, it’s my fave thanksgiving dish. It is a mushy mess but either it’s pretty solid sometimes, or everything else at my childhood Thanksgiving was terrible garbage
After seeing your comment I looked at some recipes for it. I had no idea it was a Thanksgiving dish, this was in weekly rotation at our house, but we literally never had it at Thanksgiving.
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