Thanksgiving Sides

I don't like cornbread stuffing. I love dressing made with bread and sage. I like candied sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, green beans (not casserole), and cranberry gel. That pretty sums up my meal tomorrow minus my ham. I like turkey, but don't feel like stripping the greasy thing down to the bone.
 

Got a lot done at a nice easy pace, reusing bowls, pans, and cleaning up as I went along. Our 27yo daughter is here so I showed her how to make the dressing and she made the apple galette together w my wife.

One note on Bourdain's creamed onion recipe(above) is I think the sage and thyme quantities are for fresh herbs. I added a 1/2 tsp of dried thyme and it dawned on me that it was probably way too much in only 3 cups of liquid since dried is about 3x as strong as fresh.

Fortunately I hadn't stirred it in so it was all floating on top so I was easily able to remove much of it w/out losing any liquid. Then I added just a pinch of dried sage instead of 6 leaves as specified in the recipe. It tasted pretty good, a bit different than my usual cognac and nutmeg flavors. I had thought about using Bell's Seasoning instead of thyme and sage, but in the end I thought better of having the exact some flavor profile as the dressing.

The 2nd round of turkey giblet and veg stock is done, standing by as is some roux; I'll need to wait for turkey to be done so I can add the fond from the turkey pan and adjust the thickness. The turkey wasn't exactly dry brined, but covered in 4oz butter compounded w thyme, s&p and set back to rest in frig overnight.
 
Got a lot done at a nice easy pace, reusing bowls, pans, and cleaning up as I went along. Our 27yo daughter is here so I showed her how to make the dressing and she made the apple galette together w my wife.

One note on Bourdain's creamed onion recipe(above) is I think the sage and thyme quantities are for fresh herbs. I added a 1/2 tsp of dried thyme and it dawned on me that it was probably way too much in only 3 cups of liquid since dried is about 3x as strong as fresh.

Fortunately I hadn't stirred it in so it was all floating on top so I was easily able to remove much of it w/out losing any liquid. Then I added just a pinch of dried sage instead of 6 leaves as specified in the recipe. It tasted pretty good, a bit different than my usual cognac and nutmeg flavors. I had thought about using Bell's Seasoning instead of thyme and sage, but in the end I thought better of having the exact some flavor profile as the dressing.

The 2nd round of turkey giblet and veg stock is done, standing by as is some roux; I'll need to wait for turkey to be done so I can add the fond from the turkey pan and adjust the thickness. The turkey wasn't exactly dry brined, but covered in 4oz butter compounded w thyme, s&p and set back to rest in frig overnight.
Your on top of things! I would have loved to taste your own creamed onions with the nutmeg. Sounds like you're a chef.😀
 
Your on top of things! I would have loved to taste your own creamed onions with the nutmeg. Sounds like you're a chef.😀
Thank you. People have tried to label me as a "chef", but I always reply, "I am cook, I simply apply heat to food."

You can sub in the creamed onions w cognac and nutmeg, just use Bourdain's recipe but leave out the whole peppercorns, thyme and sage.
 
We've done chicken in the past, as well as pheasant, Lilac. But, we are both beef eaters. I'll eat ham as well, but my son will not. When I used to do Thanksgiving years ago, I'd do a loin beef roast, turkey, and Virginia baked ham. Each also had its own complimentary sides, so a lot of work went into preparing all this. Our family was much larger, but death and moving to far off places has changed it drastically.
@Lewkat, we are beef eaters too ... followed by pork. The last time we've had pheasant was years ago when my BIL would hunt them. Pheasant would be excellent for Thanksgiving.
 

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