Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: K Frame on November 14, 2023, 09:17:33 AM
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I'm quickly running out of leave taking Seren to her appointments and I'm not wanting to put her through the stress of travel and grumping at her friend where we normally go when she'll be actively in the middle of another treatment cycle, so we're staying home for Thanksgiving this year.
Last year we stayed home because I was dealing with a knee injury that made driving more than a few minutes incredibly painful.
Last year I made a turkey meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Seren was very appreciative of that. She really likes may meatloaf.
But this year I'm thinking something different, but I'm not sure what.
I have a sugar cured ham in the freezer, so I may do that.
I also have a couple of pork loin roasts.
Any suggestions from the hive mind for something simple, but a bit different?
Some years ago I made crock pot scalloped potatoes for Tgiving with my Mom and brother, and they were a big hit. I may make those again, but for just one person... I don't know.
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Do the ham and scalloped potatoes, leftovers for the weekend and lunches the next week.
I'm actually going to be having shrimp for Thanksgiving. Going to wake up that AM, walk to the fish market at the marina, and buy a kilo or 2 of live shrimp.
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I thought about that, but I think the ham in the freezer is sugar cured, not salt/smoke cured. So I don't think it would be good for adding to scalloped potatoes. Or for ham and bean soup.
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I was thinking of them as separate baked dishes.
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Ah, I misread your post.
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Ah, I misread your post.
Nope, I probably should have laid it out better.
Midwest, ham and scalloped potatoes are typically cooked separately.
There are exceptions though, like everything.
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Here in the east it's very common to have ham in scalloped potatoes.
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Andrew Tate would be dissapoint in you guys.
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Any suggestions from the hive mind for something simple, but a bit different?
Roast a duck. or a leg of lamb, or a pork shoulder. (who is Andrew Tate? (yes I saw the other thread))
Sugar cured hams are salt cured, they just have sugar added to the cure too. The bone still works for flavoring bean soup.
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Grilled pork loin medallions in apricot-onion glaze or orange ginger sauce. Yum.
Sides of garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans,, and glazed carrots.
Brad
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"Sugar cured hams are salt cured, they just have sugar added to the cure too. The bone still works for flavoring bean soup."
Yes, I know.
And no, it certainly does not.
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I've pretty much decided on the ham. I need to use it anyway, and it will provide a lot of extra meat for sandwiches.
I'd love to roast a duck. Except that I don't want to take out a second mortgage on the house to roast one. Duck prices in Northern Virginia are just ridiculously obscene. Last one I saw, around easter, was $24.99 a gooddamned pound!
A leg of lamb would be nice, if I could find a half one. The stores around here sell them whole, only very rarely halfs like they do in central Pennsylvania, and that's just way too much.
I'd consider doing a turkey if I could find a smaller one. 10 to 12 pound turkeys sell out REALLY fast in this area. I looked for one last weekend when I was shopping and the smallest they had was 18 pounds.
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I'd consider doing a turkey if I could find a smaller one. 10 to 12 pound turkeys sell out REALLY fast in this area. I looked for one last weekend when I was shopping and the smallest they had was 18 pounds.
This will be my first Thanksgiving (outside of one I missed for work) without a traditional turkey. Even after I moved here, I went out of my way to avoid Thanksgiving dinner invites so I could make my own the same way we did them when my folks were alive, just out of, I guess, nostalgia. I could usually find a 12ish pounder to make.
This year I decided the whole stuffed turkey thing and prep are just not worth it. I'm still doing turkey, but am just getting a turkey breast and I'll just season up slices and put them in the convection oven. I'll still be doing stuffing with plum sauce and candied yams, but instead of spending hours with cooking and cleanup and stuff, I'll spend an hour prepping and cooking everything and still get the turkey experience.
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I've not made a full-bore turkey dinner with all the trimmings since before my Mom died in 2017.
It's a tremendous amount of work, and I'm just not feeling up to it for much the same reasons as you are. The nostalgia draw is strong, no doubt about it.
I've spent quite a few of the holidays since Mom died with Castle Key and his family. I'm really bummed that I won't be going down again this year, but I just don't want to put any more stress on Seren right now while she's in treatment.
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If you cook the pork loin, what about a "pork-flavored" dressing mix?
Although limited in quantity, some of those box mixes are fairly good. And they don't take much time to prep.
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I use box mix stuffing all the time. The local grocery chain has a store brand that's pretty darned good and comes in multiple flavors, including turkey, pork, chicken, and cornbread.
My go to meatloaf recipe is 2 to 2.5 pounds of ground turkey, a box of the turkey stuffing mix, an egg, a splash of half and half, a dash of worcestershire, and a finely chopped onion. Once in awhile I'll also sweat down 8 ounces of chopped mushrooms and throw them in, as well.
Mix everything together and bake.
I'll either top it with BBQ sauce or a half can of cranberry sauce.
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Just gonna be the 2 of us here this year. Things have been crazy hectic and we’re looking forward to just having a quiet long weekend. I’m doing a turkey breast over charcoal in the pit barrel. Butter garlic and seasoning.
Wife is in charge of any trimmings. We have a sparkling Shiraz I’m looking forward to trying.
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Wife is in charge of any trimmings. We have a sparkling Shiraz I’m looking forward to trying.
I'm having the Kirkland Tawny Porto with mine. I discovered it last year, and while classified as a dessert wine* and on the sweet side, it just hits the spot with a meal. I like to have it on my bread baking days as well. I usually bake a loaf of bread to go with meals like stews or beef boogaloo, and like to have buttered warm bread as soon as I can cut it, while I'm waiting for the main meal to finish, and that wine is great to wash the bread down with. Also good with cigars. It's like $17 a bottle, but well worth it, IMO.
* Fun fact - not being a wine connoisseur, I did not know this wine was supposed to be refrigerated until I read it in the article below that describes the wine. I'm going to refrigerate the next bottle and will be curious to see any taste differences.
https://www.reversewinesnob.com/kirkland-signature-10-year-old-tawny-porto/
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Port is typically a dessert or after dinner wine.
Many red wines serve better slightly cool and allowed to warm in the hand. Similarly many whites are served chilled but should be allowed to warm.
But I knew a very knowledgeable wine drinker that said the only rule is that you enjoy it.
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A couple years ago we did a Polish Thanksgiving. We have several Polish meat markets here. So I got a bunch of fresh and smoked kielbasa, fresh sourkraut, red cabbage, and German potatoes salad, and black bread.
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I'm thinking that, instead of the crockpot scalloped potatoes (which are good, but a lot of work) I may make Charby's Jiffy Scalloped Corn. I've always wanted to try it and it looks like it would go really well with ham.
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I'm thinking that, instead of the crockpot scalloped potatoes (which are good, but a lot of work) I may make Charby's Jiffy Scalloped Corn. I've always wanted to try it and it looks like it would go really well with ham.
Enjoy the scalloped corn bake.
My partner just called me, Thanksgiving just went from 5 people to 20+. Now going to a poolside potluck, including the family that was in the news earlier that had the sail boat broken mast in the Pacific Ocean. Mom and kids were rescued while the dad had fuel delivered to him via cargo ships and motored to marina they started from. The marina is 2 blocks from my partner's place in Mexico. She said they are weird af.
https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/dismasted-pacific-niniwahuni/
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Considering the sugar and alcohol content of Port I doubt the lack of refrigeration would effect it, as in degrading the wine.
Being chilled before drinking obviously will though, just like a white wine.
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. . . I'd love to roast a duck. Except that I don't want to take out a second mortgage on the house to roast one. Duck prices in Northern Virginia are just ridiculously obscene. Last one I saw, around easter, was $24.99 a gooddamned pound! . . .
There are ways around that.
My aunt's home backed up to a small pond, frequented by ducks. Her neighbor 2 doors down - a Korean couple - used to feed the ducks. (Popcorn maybe?) They'd lay down a trail from the water's edge to their covered patio . . . the ducks followed the trail up to their house, but they frequently never came back down to the pond. >:D
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I'm the only roast turkey fan in the house. And, because of his schedule, we are going to younger son's apartment. So, we're doing a roasted beef tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, green beans (pan sautéed with bacon), and pies. Dog lives when I roast a tenderloin (one or two times a year) because when I trim it up, the trimmings go in her bowl).
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Enjoy the scalloped corn bake.
I found instructions for making it in the crockpot, so that's what going to happen!
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I would love to be staying home for Thanksgiving. I just dropped the dogs off at a kennel for 8 days. ($$$) Tomorrow after church we leave for NE Alabama (near Chattanooga, TN). Will spend a day or two there visiting MIL, then drive to New Orleans to meet Daughter and SIL for a couple of days, then drive back to Minnesota. That's about 2500 miles round trip. I can drive 800 to 900 miles in a day (not every day), but Wife's limit (driving or riding) is about 600, so I don't see how this is gonna work. I'm major dreading it.
I bought a 22 pound turkey this week and shoved it in the freezer (had to bungee-cord the door shut to get it to seal good) to cook when we get back to celebrate surviving it. Or I might cook the huge pork shoulder roast that's in there and save the turkey for Christmas or New Years.
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I can drive 800 to 900 miles in a day (not every day), but Wife's limit (driving or riding) is about 600, so I don't see how this is gonna work. I'm major dreading it.
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. My limit these days is about your wife's limit. A couple of years ago, I had to break that to get to my dad's deathbed 800 miles away, arriving around midnight, and I was wiped out the whole next day. The mileage isn't necessarily what kills me, but moreso I can't deal with big city traffic anymore, and that is all of CA from Sacramento South.
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You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. My limit these days is about your wife's limit. A couple of years ago, I had to break that to get to my dad's deathbed 800 miles away, arriving around midnight, and I was wiped out the whole next day. The mileage isn't necessarily what kills me, but moreso I can't deal with big city traffic anymore, and that is all of CA from Sacramento South.
A few years ago I was at my parents' house near Houston when Covid was just breaking-out. I was stuck there for about 2 months and finally had to make a run for it. Didn't know if it was safe to stay at a motel, and if you try to sleep in your car at a rest area the cops will hassle you and you won't get any sleep. So I drove it straight through; just under 1200 miles. I impressed myself that I can still do that. :laugh: The only big city driving was Kansas City. (there was also Des Moines, but that one is easy so it doesn't count)
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We are doing dinner for 14 this year. We just got home from Costco where we scored an 18 pound turkey and 4 pound MasterCarve ham. I did one of those hams a few years back and now it is requested every year.
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Someone heard I have a pellet grill and asked me to smoke a turkey. Never done that before, but a friend’s wife gave me some tips.
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"I would love to be staying home for Thanksgiving. I just dropped the dogs off at a kennel for 8 days. ($$$)"
I'd love to be traveling this year to spend it with Castle Key and his wife and some friends down there, but I'm running out of leave due to having to get Seren to her treatments. And, I really don't want to put that kind of stress on her. She's a good traveler, but the holidays are always a lot of confusion and people she doesn't know, and she's not getting along with Paradox, the dominant female at Castle Key's. They used to be wonderful friends when they were puppies, but after Seren's Mom died the dynamic completely changed.
Now Seren keeps getting delusions that she should be the queen. I've had to come home early from the last two trips down there because the situation between Seren and Paradox was getting really tense and we didn't want a dog fight that I'm certain Seren would lose... badly.
And, I just don't know how much time I have left with Seren, and I want to spend as much time focusing on her as possible.
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I found instructions for making it in the crockpot, so that's what going to happen!
Hopefully it gets the nice crust on the bottom and sides.
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OK, Jiffy Corn Casserole in the crock pot.
Needs to cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. This is the first time I'm making it, it's also the first time I'm trying crock pot liners. Hopefully they work. As for your comment on crust, Charby, I'm actually hoping that it doesn't form too much of a crust. I prefer my corn puddings to have a more pudding consistency. I guess I'm just getting ready for my "old man all food has to be soft" stage of life.
I'll be tossing the ham in the oven to start warming around 1 p.m. It's tempering on the counter right now.
I'm doing a box of stuffing to go along, and will steam my all-time favorite vegetable -- broccoli. It is a rare meal indeed that I don't have broccoli in one form or another.
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1.5 kilos (~3.25#) of 21 count shrimp was $280 pesos ($16 USD). Unfortunately no live shrimp available just heads off.
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Holy sweet mother of Dog this corn pudding smells awesome!
I'm sitting at my laptop, with the crockpot sitting right next to me on the side table, and I'm just drooling.
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I brined a small young turkey less than 10 pounds. It is reclining comfortably in a pit barrel over low charcoal. Another 3 hours…
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I brined a small young turkey less than 10 pounds. It is reclining comfortably in a pit barrel over low charcoal. Another 3 hours…
I brined a 12 pounder last night and smoked it this morning. Definitely do that again.
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OK, Charby, in answer to your question... yes. cooking the corn pudding in the crockpot does create a crust. I used a crockpot liner and it worked really well.
All in all, not a terrible Thanksgiving dinner for one human and one dog. Although the poor dog things that she didn't get nearly as much ham as she should have.
The ham dried out a bit more than I would have liked. It said to heat it at 325 for 15 minutes a pound... I misread the tag and overheated it and dried it out. It was a 13 pound ham, not an 18 pound ham. Oh well, it was still really good.
It was also a honey ham, and it wasn't sweet at all, so yeah, I'll be able to use the bone to make stock for ham and bean soup. YUM!
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My turkey in the pit barrel was awesome. Very juicy. I used a brine kit that my wife picked up at Costco. Bag, brine, and dry rub seasoning.
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Nice. I love a smoked turkey. I did one years ago for a party. It was a huge hit.
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My brine was just water, salt, peppercorns, and a sliced lemon. My rub was about three tablespoons of salt, three tablespoons garlic powder, two tablespoons paprika, two tablespoons onion powder, and some black and cayenne pepper. I mixed it with softened butter and smeared the mess under the skin.
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I just followed the directions and rinsed after brine, patted dry, rubbed it with olive oil the applied the dry rub. It was in the pit barrel over low charcoal for almost 5 hours
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Good to hear it made a crust, that's my favorite part.
Thanksgiving potluck in Mexico was a success, mix of American and Mexican foods. Woo boy the natives can drink down there. I probably had six shots of tequila before I started the pot.
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I have been brining and then smoking our turkey for years. Last year SWMBO wanted oven roasted so oven roasted it was. This year I decided to do a dry brine. Rub with oil and then kosher salt, whatever herbs you want and then uncovered in fridge for 36 hours before oven roasting. The only thing I added before cooking was some herbs and the carcasses from oranges I squeezed to get the juice for my cranberry sauce.This was one of the best turkeys I have ever had. I was quite surprised. I guess my smoker and Traeger will be doing stuff other than turkey from now on.
bob
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I went through a turkey frying stage (hold my beer!), but never smoked one. I have been thinking about it, but some of the foodie websites I have read claim while smoked turkey is very good, that it doesn't pair well with traditional stuffing/gravy/cranberry sauce.
What do you turkey smokers think?
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I went through a turkey frying stage (hold my beer!), but never smoked one. I have been thinking about it, but some of the foodie websites I have read claim while smoked turkey is very good, that it doesn't pair well with traditional stuffing/gravy/cranberry sauce.
What do you turkey smokers think?
I think that those foodie websites are full of shi, themselves. I smoked a couple of turkeys a year for many years and never thought there was an issue with standard sides. In fact, quite a few Traeger users have taken to doing their yams and stuffing in the smoker with the turkey. Depending on how you do your yams/potatoes you could do an initial cook in the smoker before finishing them up. I don't think I would go that far but I have no issues with standard sides pairing with a smoked turkey. For a really good (whole) cranberry sauce look up the recipe for Killer Cranberry Sauce. It works very well with smoked turkey or anything else where you want a sweet(ish) cranberry sauce.
bob
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I tend to buy 3 or 4 turkeys when they go on sale after Thanksgiving or Christmas, then smoke them in the summer. I serve them with traditional midwest bbq or picnic foods. Like coleslaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, jello fluff, etc.
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I agree, those foodie websites are FOS.
The only problem with smoking a turkey, from my viewpoint, is that you don't get to cook the stuffing in the turkey, which I love, and you don't get nice brown pan drippings to make gravy with.
There are ways around that, obviously, which is to oven roast a stuffed turkey (can NEVER have too much turkey!) for the stuffing and the fond. I've done that before.
You can also pan roast turkey necks and legs to start the gravy base, which is also something I've done before and which works well.
The biggest problem with cooking stuffing in or using pan drippings from a brined turkey is that it can get really salty really fast. You can get around that, at least partially, but holding back on the salt in the other dishes.
I've also found, if there's time, that slicing a potato thin and simmering it in the pan drippings helps remove some of the salt from the gravy. Or, you just dilute the gravy out with stock. You run the risk of thinning out the flavor of the gravy, but you can boost the flavor with spices, roasted vegetables, gravy brown, etc.
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I sometimes get leftover freezer turkeys on sale right after thanksgiving.
Gotta check Aldi when I’m in town this morning. If they have any they will be marked way down.
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I have a cabinet smoker, I can put a pan on the rack underneath my bird to catch any drippings.
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Yep, you can certainly catch the drippings, but they're never going to be the same as when they come from the same pan that the turkey is roasted in. In a wide, shallow pan the drippings themselves roast and brown. I've never been able to replicate that in a smaller, deeper pan when I've caught the drippings.
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Another 18.5 lb. turkey successfully roasted in the Oster 22 quart roaster oven. There was very little turkey left after feeding 14 people. I have to remember next year that the Oster is much faster than the oven. About two hours from ambient to 167 degrees and the entire bird was juicy and moist.
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Day before Thanksgiving around 2009 or so my Mom was baking pies when the bottom unit in the oven burned out. About 3 minutes after Lowe's closed.
Brother and I managed to jury rig the upper element to the bottom (NOT a great solution, but it worked) and we at least had some oven capacity, enough for Mom to finish the pies, but we were really worried about our ability to cook dinner.
Mom, Brother and I were sitting in the living room sort of talking about what we could do when my Sister-in-Law walks in from the kitchen holding the Walmart circular.
They had just moved into a new place and it didn't have a stove yet, and she said to my Brother "We should get one of these GE roasters that Walmart has on sale" to use until the new stove is delivered.
My Brother and I looked at each other. Never even said a word, just complete realization. Stood up at the same time and headed out the door.
Something like $35 for an 18-quart model. Easily fit the roughly 20 pound bird we had. Cooked it brilliantly, except that it didn't really brown the drippings (so gravy was kind of bland) and the skin didn't get nice and crispy.
We cooked the birds that way every holiday until Mom died in 2017.
I'd have one of those, but I really don't have the need for one and I really don't have the place to keep one.
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Oh, and the day after Thanksgiving I took my Mom to Lowes and bought her a new stove for Christmas. The stove that burned out was the one that had been in the house when Mom and Dad moved in, the one Grandma and Grandpa had gotten new around 1990. It was never a very good stove and Mom didn't like it much.
The LOVED the glass top Whirlpool that she picked out.