Thanksgiving plans have been slow to crystalize for us. As of now, it's going to be three of us. I ordered a couple of items from Umami From Scratch, a microbaker based in Streeterville. Cheesy Kimchi Bread Pudding and Za'atar Honey Cornbread. I have a taste for lamb shanks. What the cook wants, the cook gets. Haven't decided on how I want to do the shanks and welcome suggestions. Sides will likely include mashed potatoes and roasted Brussels Sprouts. We will have a chocolate cream pie from Honey Pie / Beard & Belly.

annak wrote:what do you serve the visiting family / houseguests on the night before thanksgiving?

I started thinking about all the peripheral flavors that aren't on a very traditional Thanksgiving table:

Cooked tomatoes
Legumes
Rice
Pasta
Greens
Smoked meat
Peppers

and that sort of sounds like chili or tacos.

Happened to be in our local Pick n Save yesterday and the ButterBall display caught my eye with a large blue oval on the turkey’s prominently displaying the words “Fresh All Natural*”!
Below was the Appellation,
“ Premium Young Turkey
Contains up to 4% of a solution of water, salt ind spies for tenderness ans juiciness,
Fresh Never Frozen
*No Artificial Ingredients • Minimally Processed”
An oxymoron pair of statements!

There have been turkeys labeled “All Natural” in the past minimally processed and fresh without additives but I guess no more!
Here is alink to the USDA definition of terms,
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/s ... ling-terms
Note that “Fresh” only contains the information that the Turkey has not been below 26F.
There appears to be no labeling that conveys the information that the turkey has not been subject to a basting/salt solution.
I remember in the past that “ Fresh All Natural” conveyed that information.
Remember that the reason for ButterBall and other basted turkeys is that in the freezing/storage process, palatability suffers.
A truly fresh turkey does not need any additives or basting solution.
It appears as a Nation we have lost sight of what minimally processed food is.
My turkey was walking around this morning and will be picked up tomorrow without any basting/salt/water/additives.
It will taste great as it has in the past.

-Richard

tjr wrote:

annak wrote:what do you serve the visiting family / houseguests on the night before thanksgiving?

I started thinking about all the peripheral flavors that aren't on a very traditional Thanksgiving table:

Cooked tomatoes
Legumes
Rice
Pasta
Greens
Smoked meat
Peppers

and that sort of sounds like chili or tacos.

indeed chili sounds right! i settled on tuesday of roasted beet-arugula-feta salad and greek-ish meatballs with labneh and pita; wednesday a gingery tomato rice chicken soup from ali slagel, with a crunchy herby green salad.

budrichard wrote:Happened to be in our local Pick n Save yesterday and the ButterBall display caught my eye with a large blue oval on the turkey’s prominently displaying the words “Fresh All Natural*”!
Below was the Appellation,
“ Premium Young Turkey
Contains up to 4% of a solution of water, salt ind spies for tenderness ans juiciness,
Fresh Never Frozen
*No Artificial Ingredients • Minimally Processed”
An oxymoron pair of statements!

I saw the same at Butera. At first when I read 4% I thought it would be followed by "retained water" as it often is for chicken. But then I noted the very much non-turkey ingredients. The spices may well be rosemary extract used as an antioxidant to prevent rancidity. IMHO, if it's not naturally found in turkey, it's artificial.

There is a slight difference in grocery store turkeys: As the price goes up, the amount of "solution" goes down: Jennie-O, 9.5%; Butterball ordinary, 8%; Butterball fresh, 4%. Not sure that justifies the fivefold increase in price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LubkxXGeiOU

Another T-Day in the books. I made 3 veg, cheese board, 3 pies with fair success.
Veg: Roasted curry carrots, consensus of many web recipes, big carrots cut in 1/2" slabs, total roasting about 1 hour.
Roasted tiny diced butternut squash with thyme and black pepper, roasted about 20 minutes
Bacon/rosemary Brussels sprouts - Thanks, LynnB!

Pies: French silk/brownie crust (from 1/2 box Pillsbury mix.) I think I've finally found the trick to making this as good with pasteurized eggs as it was in the old days: Cream the butter and sugar until it's really really fluffy, then beat in the eggs for a shorter time.
1/2 recipe back-of-the-can pumpkin with spicing from Joy of Cooking (Cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, ginger) and a little molasses.
Honey/maple syrup pecan from Baking a Moment 2/3 recipe in a 7" pan, 1 1/2 c chopped toasted pecans + full pecan topping. I like a lot of pecans.

This year I tried Serious Eats' vodka pie crust with lard instead of shortening and Polish spiritus (97% alcohol) for vodka. Extremely easy to roll and great flavor. But my blind-baked crust ala Serious Eats sagged a little, leaving only room for 1/2 pumpkin filling. Turned out to be just fine with a little more crust and less filling.

tjr wrote:Bacon/rosemary Brussels sprouts - Thanks, LynnB!

So glad you gave them a try! They were a hit with my in-laws today. For an entree, add another tablespoon of butter, a bit more broth and wine and toss with a pound of cooked gnocchi. A squeeze of lemon is a nice touch too.

“ This year I tried Serious Eats' vodka pie crust with lard instead of shortening and Polish spiritus (97% alcohol) for vodka. Extremely easy to roll and great flavor. But my blind-baked crust ala Serious Eats sagged a little, leaving only room for 1/2 pumpkin filling. Turned out to be just fine with a little more crust and less filling”

My lard pie crusts are made with Leaf Lard and about 1/3 butter for flavor.
They are made like a puff pastry without the turns of dough.
Refrigerate before rolling for best results, I use the freezer to reduce the time required to chill the dough.
The vodka helps theoretically in crispy crust formation because the vodka has a lower vapor pressure than water.
But I have never used Vodka for pie crust.
-Richard

Only slightly Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch.
Homemade dinner roll (the leftover) with melted provolone, and chicken salad made with smoked chicken that's been in the freezer, chopped scallion, giardiniera and kewpie mayo.

Here's what we brought to my cousin's:
Top and bottom left: tartlets (supermarket puff pastry) of garden butternut squash and gorgonzola, with a crispy topping of panko, chopped walnuts, butter and garden sage.
Middle: Dinner (sized) rolls - Bake From Scratch's recipe for Parker House rolls.
Bottom right: Pecan pie with all-butter crust

As I posted above, circumstances forced us to go out to a restaurant for Thanksgiving this year. Hoping that'll be the last time that happens (for a while/ever). But because Thanksgiving is all about the food and the leftovers , I was still intent on making a few things for a day-after Thanksgiving-esque meal. One of the first steps was making some homemade pork & sage sausage that I use in my dressing . . .


Sausage Mise En Place
Rubbed sage, black pepper, salt, granulated sugar, coarse-ground pork, maple syrup, microplaned garlic, ice water and gochugaru. I really took the easy way out this time and bought pre-ground pork from Richwell Market. Normally, I grind it myself but needing such a small quantity -- and knowing that their default grind is just about perfect for sausage -- I decided to buy just what I needed instead of a big honking piece of shoulder. I'd never done it this way before but it turned out fine.

There was a bunch of other prep that I managed incrementally between Wednesday and Friday. Didn't bother getting pics of the veg prep for the dressing or the roasting of parted out turkey necks and wings that I used to make the stock (instantpot), etc.

Had some extra time on Friday, so I decided to make a (modified) batch of Claire Saffitz's Sour Cream & Chive Pull-Apart dinner rolls . . .


Roll Cutting & Damascus Pizza Cutter
Didn't have any sour cream, so I subbed in some full-fat Greek yogurt. I love chives but I omitted them, so the rolls would be more versatile after the initial meal. I don't think I've ever used this pizza cutter -- made by a friend -- on pizza but it's great on dough (okay, serious overkill).


Dinner Rolls
Glistening is a good attribute for dinner rolls. Brushed these with egg wash, then sprinkled them with coarse black pepper and flaky salt right before baking. Brushed them with unsalted butter as they came out of the oven.

Let's not forget the main course . . .


Oven-Roasted Turkey
2-day salt/sugar/herb brine. This bird was from Ferndale Market in Minnesota by way of Zier's. Decided to go with the oven instead of the smoker for the actual cook. Spatchcocking helped the white meat and the dark meat finish at roughly the same time. When the breast read 153F I was prepared to take it out of the oven and continue cooking the leg quarters but they read ~185F at that point, so it all came out at the same time.


Plated Up
With smashed potatoes, pork & sage sausage dressing, green bean casserole (of course) and some roasted brussels sprouts. Normally, I prefer dark meat but the white meat was so moist, that's what I ended up having.

At the end, there were some pies . . .


Pumpkin Pie & Pecan Pie
I am not a fan of pumpkin pie but it's my wife's favorite and this is her late mother's recipe. Was happy to bake it, make the wife happy and gain some experience with something I'd never baked before.

So, we kind of got our Thanksgiving after all.

p.s. The food at the restaurant on Thursday was not so great but the staff was incredible. I totally admire these Pros for giving up their holidays and busting ass for their customers. It was actually a very pleasant experience. I've never had so much time to actually talk to my family at Thanksgiving. It was really nice.

=R=

Your after Thanksgiving looks delightful!!!
One of the best Thanksgivings we ever had was at an upscale restaurant in Racine Wisconsin owner by a physician in an old small theater. Valentine’s is long defunct now.
Family style from Pumpkin Soup to a whole roasted turkey, it was simply delightful.
For a regular dinner you could book a side box to overlook the other diners.
But Thanksgiving much more than just the food, it’s the people we share it with.
My Thanksgiving was at one of my daughters with family.
She had been gifted a Kroger Turkey which she pronounced dry but she and her husband made almost all of the go-withs which were 1950’s from her Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. I had part of a Turkey leg which was palatable.
-Richard

budrichard wrote:Your after Thanksgiving looks delightful!!!
One of the best Thanksgivings we ever had was at an upscale restaurant in Racine Wisconsin owner by a physician in an old small theater. Valentine’s is long defunct now.
Family style from Pumpkin Soup to a whole roasted turkey, it was simply delightful.
For a regular dinner you could book a side box to overlook the other diners.
But Thanksgiving much more than just the food, it’s the people we share it with.
My Thanksgiving was at one of my daughters with family.
She had been gifted a Kroger Turkey which she pronounced dry but she and her husband made almost all of the go-withs which were 1950’s from her Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. I had part of a Turkey leg which was palatable.
-Richard

Thanks. That experience at Valentine's sounds very charming. I would have loved something even loosely approximating that this year. I was actually surprised how few options we had for dining in at local restaurants. Seems that in the post-covid era, that's not really as prevalent as it once was. When my stepfather was still alive, we'd occasionally have Thanksgiving at his club (East Bank Club). I hated the zoo-like atmosphere -- buffet in a crowded room under fluorescent lights -- but the food was really good. Since there were 4 octogenarians in our group this year, I wanted to keep the travel to a minimum. We did well enough and it really was nice to focus fully on socializing.

Sounds like you had a nice time at your daughter's. We'll host Christmas, so there's that to look forward to. And I expect/hope we'll be back to our typical Thanksgiving at my sister's house next year.

=R=