It's a good idea to start with a little humor, don't you think!?Plus, DO YOU HAVE A STUFFING INGREDIENT OUT OF THE ORDINARY? WHAT MAKES YOUR STUFFING SPECIAL? I'd LOVE to know! Thanks!
z
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38 comments:
I'm ready for some perfectly cooked bird!
Hi All, here's a tip for basting your turkey if your cooking it in a covered roaster.
Cut a large enough piece of brown paper bag to cover your turkey and to tuck in a bit around the top of the bird.
Smear a cube of margarine all over the paper (use the inside side of the paper with no writing), cover the turkey, margarine side down, and put roaster cover on and you're all set. Happy roasting!
Pris
Start the bird off upside down, turn to one side after 20 mins., then the other side after 20 mins. then right side up after 20 mins. Keeps the breast meat from getting dry.
tmw
I've never outgrown Mom's simple white-bread, onion, celery and sage dressing I'm afraid. But maybe I've just missed the perfect alternative.
The single most important ingredient to stuffing is cornbread. Everything else is just window dressing.
With a warm and light feeling in my heart, I came here with every intent to share with you my wife's most-excellent stuffing recipe. Unfortunately, she has notified me that sharing any of her recipes is a violation of the household security act and, emphasis hers, a capital offense.
Ergo, my warm feelings are a tad cooler, my heart less light, and you shant receive any secrets from me.
Semper Fi
Mustang! Tell Mrs Mustang I'm shocked! But, I am turning over a non-judgmental leaf these days and doing very, very well so I will not revisit that nasty character trait again with her!! or ON her~!! but, WHAT?
I don't want a recipe, I want an ingredient that's different or especially delicious or both, hopefullY!!!
Pops..me, too...LOVE corn bread. I'd go for a corn bread cooked with chilis in it and a kind of ancho chili gravy, but not for Thanksgiving. THIS cook is very traditional and we don't mess with tradition on holidays that only come once a year! It's like mac and cheese ANY time of the year...do NOT throw in ham or anything else to 'doctor it up'...mac and cheese never needs doctoring, it IS the doctor!!
I must agree with Cube that, as exotic and wonderful as many recipes are, good old bread/sage/onion is the kicker. Probably the original from Pilgrim Colony, too. I'd guess so.
I've put in sausage....I've used corn bread, I've used store-bought box stuffings and heavily doctored them up (why not? Dry bread is dry bread, after all!)...mushrooms.raisins..
Mr. Z makes goose for Christmas Eve and puts ground beef and pork and raising and onions in his stuffing, etc.. personally, I could go for more bread (hint ,hint, Mr. Z!) He's quite a good cook about 6 times a year!
but he does dishes even more often...hurrah!
For turkey, try the beer can chicken method I tried last Christmas. For a turkey you have to use a 32 ounce Foster's can. I got the idea from the book "Beer Can Chicken" by Raichlen. Takes a little more work, but it is well worth it.
For our family pot luck Thanksgiving, I am always tasked with the bread filling which I make as follows from an old family Pennsylvania Dutch recipe:
3-4 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1 big onion chopped
1/4 pound of butter
1 loaf of bread, cubed
2 eggs, beaten
Milk (see below)
Saute the celery and onion with the butter.
Put bread in greased baking pan
Pour onion/celery over bread, followed by the eggs, then mix together.
Pour milk over the bread/eggs/celery/onion mix and toss intermittently with a spoon so that the mixture becomes moist (I am not sure how much I use here because I do it by feel. The bread should be moist but not sopping wet. Start with 1/2 to 1 cup of milk and add in 1/4 cup increments until you have it right.)
Bake covered at 325 for 60 minutes.
Makes 8-10 servings.
I also occasionally make pineapple filling:
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
20 oz. crushed pineapple (1 can)
1/2 cup butter
5 slices of bread, cubed
Beat eggs and sugar together, add pineapple (with juice) and mix.
Place egg/sugar/pineapple mix in greased 8 x 8 baking pan.
Brown bread in the butter
Put the browned bread on top of the egg/sugar/pineapple mix.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Serves 8-10.
Enjoy!
Don't even bother with putting a turkey You can rent or buy a fryer...you need about 6 gallons of peanut oil, and about 45 minutes worth of propane.
You won't ever eat another non-fried turkey in your life.
My brother likes to do a deep-fried turkey and they are good! You can't stuff 'em though. This year he's going to have a BBQ place smoke one for him. I dunno how I'll like that. We'll see. We're going there, as we usually do these days. I'm not sure what I'm taking yet.
Have you ever tried oyster stuffing, Z? I've heard about it for years but never had it and never had the nerve to make it -- so tradition bound -- but I'm curious.
I don't like turkey.
I prefer tamales on Thanksgiving.
Preposterous. I know.
But my mamaw's cornbread stuffing is the best.
;-)
Dr. John...I once had a recipe to a kind of "Hawaiian" Stuffing and did that but barely remember what I put in it..except some cocoanut and pineapple...I'm sure I wouldn't do it again, but your pineapple stuffing is intriguing!
Thanks for going to the trouble of giving us the whole traditional recipe...that sounds wonderful!
I don't think we have an oven high enough to do a 28-30 pounder standing UP on a beer can...but maybe some day when we're doing a smaller turkey!
CJ...OYSTER STUFFING is what I was hoping to hear about here, too! I do like oysters but have never had them in a stuffing....it intrigues me, too!!
Robert, I know I'll never do a fried turkey because it just sounds daunting..hot oil and all, but I SURE do hope to eat one some day soon. I hear they're very moist.
Pinky...I'm with you on the tamales ..I LOVE tamales.
Also, I"m not a big turkey meat fan...I could just have stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, some kind of yams, veggies, etc., and I'd be happy...as long as the stuffing was good!!
"good old bread/sage/onion is the kicker. Probably the original from Pilgrim Colony, too. I'd guess so."
This is pretty close to mine. I toast the bread in the oven, parboil the onions and grind it all with a handgrinder, add eggs, margarine, and condiments.
And Z, how could I forget your favorite (ha, ha). I grind up the giblets and mix them into the stuffing.
Pris
PRIS! Don't say GIBLETS!!!
Folks..Pris and I went through this last Thanksgiving..it's our nice tradition! She talks about giblets and I gripe about my aunt's (where we go for Thanksgiving) stuffing which has SOME kind of offul in it..maybe giblets, I don't know.
You know why they call organ meats OFFUL, right?
CUZ IT'S AWFUL! LOL!
It would be nice to hear about somebody's favorite oyster stuffing, but here are a bunch from the online recipe sites. The first one sounds good to me, but there's one using cornbread too. And I didn't even get through the whole google list for "oyster stuffing."
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Herbed-Oyster-Stuffing-107371
http://www.recipezaar.com/Oyster-Stuffing-4366
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,oyster_stuffing,FF.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/oyster-stuffing-recipe/index.html
Ooo, I love giblet gravy. That was one my Mom did too. Simmer them in chicken broth with onion and thyme and they're DElish. I'll eat them by themselves. Not the gizzard so much, but it's not bad cooked right.
CJ..trust me, if you're not a gizzard or giblet fan, dipping in them in gold and diamonds isn't going to get me to like 'em!
Thanks for the oyster recipes..I'd just love to know if people have eaten it and how they like it.
Well, those sites usually include testimonials from people who've tried the recipe, sometimes from the people who sent in recipe. But I know, it's better if it's a friend and you can ask questions.
I'm trying to hack my Mom's cookbook security database to get the family cornbread dressing recipe.
I'll share it if I'm sucessful in time to use it.
But, here's an appetizer I like to call "redneck rumaki"
What you need is a some sliced Vidalia onions, a pint of chicken livers and a pound of sliced bacon and some wooden toothpicks.
Take two slices of bacon and form a cross. Wrap a chicken liver around a slice of onion. With that chicken liver and onion slice, start at one end of the bacon strip on top and roll the bacon around the liver. Put this wrapped liver on the end of the remaining bacon strip and wrap it in a direction perpendicular to the previous strip of bacon. Skewer them with a toothpick to hold the bacon in place, and place on a metal cookie sheet. Repeat this process until you run out of bacon, livers, toothpicks, or cookie sheets.
Cook in the oven at 350 degrees until the bacon is done (y'all know what done bacon looks like).
Drain on a paper towel and serve to the thankful people not opposed to eating pork.
For crazy international experimentation, make it the traditional Japanese way and include a water chestnut instead of a Vidalia onion slice with the liver you wrap with the bacon, and douse with a splash of Teriyaki sauce before cooking.
Robert,
California has enough fires. Remind people that when they fry a turkey, they should THAW it first.
hehehe
Beamish, give me bacon-wrapped chicken livers without chicken livers and maybe I'd be happy! (actually, I've had what you're talking about and they're not TOO bad, but I prefer them with dates..bacon wrapped dates are really good! Maybe combining a little slivered date in with the liver, then wrapped in bacon, might make it more appealing to me!!
DO see if you can get that cornbread recipe, I'd love to have it...any time.
I'm just sittin' here grinning at the fact that beamish wrote a recipe on my site. I like that...who knows why?!!
We've been doing Thanksgiving at our house for years. Back in October, my niece who is away at college, emailed me to cement the plans for this year. I can't blame her, she is on the prowl for homemade food.
Anyway, our secret ingredientS for stuffing are mushrooms (they provide the moisture essential to a good stuffing) and sausage (which adds flavor & texture).
Now you know.
Z,
you wrote
"...I could just have stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, some kind of yams, veggies, etc., and I'd be happy...as long as the stuffing was good!!"
That's exactly what I'd have on my plate, plus some of that pink fluffy stuff. I never can remember what it's called...AMBROSIA! It just came to me. tee hee.
Oh, then some sweet potatoe pie, of course.
No pumpkin pie for me.
Am I the only one who PREFERS to sit at the kids table?
;-)
CUBE, me, too....sausage and mushrooms. My favorite, too. Thanks!
Pinkster, when you were as old as I am when you married and had to sit at the kids table for as many years (because the younger sisters were married and that promotes you to an adult table and the single ones are sitting with the 8 yr olds), then you don't still love sitting with the kids...
Thing is, now the 'kids' in our family are from 15 to 25, so they're WAY more fun to sit with now...I do prefer it. But, I'm an old married lady now so I sit in the dining room!
we're thirty for dinner...
My aunt does Ambrosia, too, but for Easter. Not my favorite.
I do like pumpkin pie and rue all those years I didn't...!! passed it up when I was younger..DARN!
My neighbor invites us every year so that we don't have to fix dinner at our house.
We have a wonderful feast, with both turkey and ham.
I don't fix a single dish to go with the roast bird. But to accompany the ham, I bring a side dish: pineapple and cheese casserole.
PS: I rarely cook an entire turkey bird. But I DO like turkey breast and sometimes fix one in my crock pot. I cook that breast upside down. Fantastic taste and moistness!
Italian-Style Cornbread Sausage Stuffing
Cornbread (unsweetened), dry and crumbled
1) i lb. butter
2) 2 Eggs, beaten well
3) 2-3 large onions, peeled and chopped coarsely
4) I C Chopped fresh parsley
5) I lb. Italian sausage, cooked well, chopped coarsely, fat well-drained
6) 1 C Grated Romano cheese
7) Fresh-ground black pepper to taste
8) Salt to taste
Melt a stick of butter in a large skillet. Sauté onions till soft and clear.
In a large mixing bowl place cornbread, beaten eggs, chopped cooked sausage, sauteed onions, parsley. Mix loosely.
Add remaining ingredients.
Melt an additional stick of butter, pour over mixture and blend thoroughly.
This tastes really good when placed in a large, buttered, casserole or soufflé dish, dotted heavily with more butter and baked till brown and crusty.
I usually divide the stuffing and place some in the turkey, because it adds great flavor to the bird, and helps make terrific gravy.
Believe it or not, a Knorr's dried turkey gravy packet help make more gravy from the natural juices of the bird, and gives it an even richer, more wonderful flavor.
No one is claiming that this recipe is "healthy" according to modern PC standards but it sure is good.
I'm sure Michael Bloomberg would try to ban it, if he had the chance, so you KNOW it must be good, right? ;-)
At any rate, HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all. This is a particularly great time for us to count our blessings, I should think.
~ FreeThinke
Our Thanksgivings are usually very eclectic and depend on what is and is not available at the time. We have been searching for a Turkey.We have a lead on one but only people with a 'password' can get one! We have the password and head out tomorrow. Hope we get one! I can do without all the other things, but Thanksgiving needs a TURKEY!
TMW, I cook my chickens and turkeys like you said. It keeps the breast meat from drying out so much.
My Mother's Giblet Gravy
[NOTE: Giblets are the heart, liver and gizzard of the bird]
Place the giblets in a one quart saucepan along with the turkey neck, two peeled carrots, cut up coarsely, three ribs of celery also cut up coarsely and one good-sized onion, peeled and coarsely chopped.
Add S&P and two or three chicken bouillon cubes (optional).
Cover with water, bring to a boil, turn heat to low and let simmer partially covered for a couple of hours or until gizzards are fork tender.
Check every twenty minutes or so and add more water as it boils away.
When the meat has fallen off the neck bones, and the gizzards are tender as butter, strain the broth into a bowl.
When cooled enough to handle, remove the giblets and as much of the neck meat as you can get away from the bones. Place on a chopping board and reduce to a fine paste-like consistency.
Return giblet paste to the broth, and swirl in with a whisk.
When making the turkey gravy after the bird is done and placed on a platter, remove at least half the fat from the pan. Then, add two or three TBS of white flour to the remaining pan juices. Gradually whisk in the flour till it forms a smooth paste or roux. Be patient and work out all the lumps before proceeding.
Then, GRADUALLY whisk in a small part of the giblet broth till a smooth liquid forms. Turn heat back on to medium. Keep whisking as you add more and more of the broth. Heat till gravy thickens, then remove from heat and transfer gravy from the roaster to to a saucepan.
If gravy is too thick, add more water (or chicken broth). If too thin, take another TBS of flour in a mug or small bowl, and add a small amount of the gravy to it, adding liquid and whisking constantly till a thick paste-like liquid is formed.
Gradually whisk the new flour mixture into the old till all is blended to a perfect gravy consistency. Taste and correct seasonings. Keep piping hot, but not boiling. Pour into the gravy boat just before your serve the bird and stuffing.
With this recipe, you don't notice the giblets, they melt into the whole, but add greatly to the richness of the flavor.
If that "giblet flavor" is too obvious or too "gamey," you've not made it correctly.
If you're gravy look too pale, add to or three drops of yellow food coloring and one or two drops of orange food coloring. Whisk in thoroughly and the gravy should turn a rich appetizing brown.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
~ FreeThinke
Z,
They're good! I bet Mr. Z would like them.
I can't believe you don't like chicken livers.
Oh well. I've been known to post recipes here and there occassionally. I like to shock people with my depth. Heh.
but i love dinner rolls and soda. they are two proud needed tasks!!!... happy thanksgiving z to you and your family!!!
Hey FreeThinke: Your Mom made giblet gravy the same way my Mom did. I got into the habit of throwing in some red wine myself. And thyme. I like what thyme does to broth.
I can't believe Z doesn't like chicken livers either. Or turkey liver. I'm likely to eat it before it ends up in the gravy.
So you don't like Pate de foie gras either Z? I don't particularly either, or maybe I've never had a good version, but I do love Julia Child's Chicken Liver Mousse. Man is that good stuff.
I've been eating and disliking those liver/bacon things for years at parties and was thrilled when some cooking talent switched out the liver for dates. Ahhh.
I do like pate if it's got more cognac or other flavor, lots of onions, than liver flavor.
I adore foie gras...no liver flavor...it's sweet and marvelous when served in France...the BEST.
I just don't like that deep offul flavor of liver, gizzard or giblets..so sue me!
I made up 5 lbs. of potatoes today, tomorrow; pumpkin chiffon and stuffing, Weds., rolls...Thursday, turkey breast, gravy and finish the mashed potatoes.
I'll have enough left to do twice-baked mashed potatoes to go with the standing rib roast for Christmas...
Then I will revel in my sweet potato slices baked with; ginger, chopped cashews, dark brown sugar and pats of butter bake...heheheheheh!
As for giblets, I cook them with rice for my dog.
tmw
dad used to make a raison, pine nut and hamburger meat one that was delish... when i still ate meat.
TMW..that's what I'D do with giblets!
Incognito...that's what Mr. Z makes for our Christmas Eve goose stuffing. But, no pine nuts....
Ground beef, raisins, a little bread, all kinds of herbs/spices..etc....it's pretty good!
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