How do you cook your turkey and dressing?

[redhen]

We do a big turkey rubbed with butter and seasoned with gravy master and salt/pepper and spices... and stuffed with french meat pie stuffing.
All The typical New England sides, mashed taters, mashed butternut squash with butter and brown sugar, baby peas, corn, bread stuffing(with celery, sausage and onions) cooked in the oven till crispy, usually another veggie casserole dish(broccoli and cheese, mixed veg or green beans), and mom's homemade gravy.....
Hot buttery rolls
And of course chocolate cream pie, and what ever other pies we decide that year. (this year its lemon merigune and a mixed berry pie, maybe pecan)
BUT we never have enough turkey leftover for both my brother and myself to take home a lot of leftovers..(even though we always buy the biggest bird that we can find)
So... this year we are cooking one in the oven and deep frying another one outside....
Ooh, we also have started to brine our turkey... it makes SUCH a big difference in the flavor and it stays sooo moist. (we use Alton Browns recipe)

For day snacks: Crackers and cheese, deviled eggs and usually a shrimp platter.

Leftovers: We always have another full thanksgiving meal... then i'll take the carcass and extra meat and make turkey noodle soup... or turky pot pie.

 

[redhen]

Also, we usually only have turkey this one time a year?? Why?? Thats weird...
This year i'm buying another one to put in the freezer to eat during the year sometime...

 

[Dawn419]

This thread is making me hungry!

redhen,

I get aggravated with my family at times but one of my favorite "weirdnesses" about them is that we usually have a Thanksgiving dinner "trial run", for lack of a better way to explain it, sometime during late spring/early summer. It's not nearly as extravagant as our big get together but we still enjoy it no less!

I can't wait to get our cabin built so doc and I can do Thanksgiving dinner for the family here at our place! I make a mean homemade stuffing as opposed to the boxed stuff that my sis uses and makes in the microwave. It's just not the same!

 

[deb4o]

Thanksgiving Dinner mmmmmmmmmmmm Can't wait,this year we are having our first home grown turkey. Just done in the oven the way mom did it.

the sides for us are most always the same-mashed taters(for DH,DS,and in-laws)yams for me, white breaed stuffin in the bird and corn bread stuffin on the side,gravy, greeen bean cassarole and corn cassarole,rolls and a few side salads which change yearly and pie with whipped cream, the pies are pumpkin,lemon,pecan and at least one other.

I work the next day so it is always left overs that day. Carcass is made into broth for soup,usually the following sunday.

 

[ORChick]

So once a year, I take a big chance with my cholesterol level and fry a turkey.

Icu4dzs - If you are frying the bird in peanut oil then you aren't adding any cholesterol to your turkey. Veg. oil contains no cholesterol. And, if the oil is hot when the bird goes in then the outside will crisp up, and there shouldn't be too much oil taken up by the bird. I've never deep fried a turkey, but that's what one reads re: frying chicken. If the oil isn't hot enough when the chicken goes in you end up with soggy, oily chicken.
So, if you invite me over for Thanksgiving dinner I might well worry about overeating , but not too much about cholesterol

 

[nikki4612]

I cook for all the family on all the holidays = I love it. Thaksgiving is my favorite I love the fact that it's not a holiday about gifts but focuses on famiily and food. As for my turkey, I always cook a fresh one. Never frozen. I wrap the turkey in cheese cloh that's been soaked in a mixture of butter, poultry seasoning, and white wine. Inside the turkey I put an onion, handful of fresh sage, and a lemon cut in half. The cheese cloth keep the butter aganst the skin. Baste a few times while cooking. It comes out perfectly browned and crispy skin with moist interior.

In our part of the country, we have oyster dressing instead of stuffing. It's made with french bread, onion, celery, garlic, parsley, butter, and seasonings. Added to this are lots of fresh shucke oysters and their liquid. Fabulous. Once you have it, you'll never go back to corn bread.

 

[me&thegals]

We have a crazy Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's every year. I hear there will be 50 of us this year! When mom and dad built, they deliberately put in an enormous kitchen and dining room for this reason

Everyone has their specialties, and it goes on for literally 2 days. The 2nd day, the food is even better Mom does the turkey and stuffing, one uncle brings his famous stuffing as a side dish--it has apples and bacon in it and is yummy!

 

[redhen]

We have a crazy Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's every year. I hear there will be 50 of us this year! When mom and dad built, they deliberately put in an enormous kitchen and dining room for this reason

Everyone has their specialties, and it goes on for literally 2 days. The 2nd day, the food is even better Mom does the turkey and stuffing, one uncle brings his famous stuffing as a side dish--it has apples and bacon in it and is yummy!

Yuuum. Apples and bacon in it?? recipe??

 

[me&thegals]

It's my uncle's recipe, so I don't have a clue. Tell you what--I'll e-mail my aunt to try to find out

 

[redhen]

It's my uncle's recipe, so I don't have a clue. Tell you what--I'll e-mail my aunt to try to find out

Oh thats okay, dont go out of your way! Thanks very much though!!