Thanksgiving Sides

Fritz said:
I hafta have Turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes and green beans. Some form of dinner rolls and pumpkin or sweet potato pie. I never really ate cranberry sauce til just a few years ago. I also like to have pickles to nibble on and we always sucked down all the deviled eggs before dinner even hit the table.
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That covers the essential classics, Fritz! One year my mother randomly decided we had enough carbs with the stuffing and hot rolls and didn't make mashed potatoes! :eek:
Premium_Farmhouse_Feast_MED_1024.jpg

This is Bob Evans Thanksgiving Feast you can order. It comes to you cold and you have to heat it all up. I would think that would make almost as big a mess as cooking it all from scratch, plus you have to figure out how to reheat it all without drying it out.

Has anyone tried this?
 

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Della said:
That covers the essential classics, Fritz! One year my mother randomly decided we had enough carbs with the stuffing and hot rolls and didn't make mashed potatoes! :eek:
Premium_Farmhouse_Feast_MED_1024.jpg

This is Bob Evans Thanksgiving Feast you can order. It comes to you cold and you have to heat it all up. I would think that would make almost as big a mess as cooking it all from scratch, plus you have to figure out how to reheat it all without drying it out.

Has anyone tried this?
Click to expand...
I wish I could get that. I'd have food for a week.
 

Della said:
That covers the essential classics, Fritz! One year my mother randomly decided we had enough carbs with the stuffing and hot rolls and didn't make mashed potatoes! :eek:
Premium_Farmhouse_Feast_MED_1024.jpg

This is Bob Evans Thanksgiving Feast you can order. It comes to you cold and you have to heat it all up. I would think that would make almost as big a mess as cooking it all from scratch, plus you have to figure out how to reheat it all without drying it out.

Has anyone tried this?
Click to expand...

Wow! That's a feast!
 
Maybe I'm the only one that likes green bean casserole. I didn't have it until one of the ladies at work brought it in for a carry-in. I've found a recipe that uses fresh green beans & make the sauce from scratch with fresh mushrooms. Completely different from the canned beans & soup.

You have to have cranberry sauce, dressing & lots of gravy. For dessert pumpkin pie with bourbon in it.
 
Lilac said:
Maybe I'm the only one that likes green bean casserole. I didn't have it until one of the ladies at work brought it in for a carry-in. I've found a recipe that uses fresh green beans & make the sauce from scratch with fresh mushrooms. Completely different from the canned beans & soup.

You have to have cranberry sauce, dressing & lots of gravy. For dessert pumpkin pie with bourbon in it.
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Not just you; I like green bean casserole, especially with the crunchy onions on top.
 
The most important side has to be the gravy. It covers all the sins, of dry, flavorless turkey breast, lumpy mashed pots, and bland stuffing/dressing!

Last night I roasted 2 turkey legs, 2 wings, and a back to start the turkey stock. The roasted parts went into the stock pot, I deglazed the roasting pan w water, added that to the parts and covered w water. The total expense for the parts was about $7 after senior discount

This morning I'll add onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, salt, and black peppercorns and simmer for a couple hours. The meat is flavorless when it's done, but I use it for turkey and veg enchiladas, anyway.

Before the gravy is completed I'll use stock made from the liver and gizzard as well as the fond from the pan used to roast the turkey. Turkey flavors are so weak that any opportunity to add to the depth of flavor is essential.
 
We aren't big turkey fans, but in the spring I wanted some Hot Brown so I bought a bone-in, skin-on turkey breast. We brined it for about 10-12 hours & then roasted it & it came out juicy. This year I'm going to do another breast the same way. My main complaint with the birds today is they don't have a lot of fat under the skin to baste the meat.

I have chicken stock on the freezer for the gravy & any drippings from the turkey will go in that.
 
And prep day is here. The next step in the gravy is making the roux and adding the stock I made last week. It won't be complete until I make another batch of stock w the neck, liver, and gizzards and add the fond from the pan after roasting the turkey. The bread is out dehydrating so it can absorb the liquids whether that be turkey stock or milk (tbd.) It's a typical New England dressing w Bell's Seasonings, celery, and onion exactly the way my parents and grandparents made it.

I'll probably mess around w a dry brine for the turkey (16lbs), put in on rack in a roasting pan, and then back in the fridge. I also need to make a schedule based on the menu so I'm not just free styling tomorrow.

I'll make some kind of light dip to have w veggies and a few assorted nuts to pick on before dinner. I'm not a big believer in filling up before eating a big dinner and let's face it, it's not easy to work off the calories or starve ourselves to make up for over indulging.

My wife made crust yesterday for a pumpkin pie and an apple galette so at least dessert is taken care off, although I'll whip cream just before we serve dessert.

Menu:
Turkey
Gravy
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Creamed pearl onions (using recipe posted above)
Green beans (steamed)
Sweet potato casserole (guest's contribution)
Cranberry gel
Apple galette and pumpkin pie (vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, non-dairy whipped cream)

This is a fun day for me, hope yours is too!
 
Husband made a couple loaves of bread for the dressing yesterday. Today I cubed & dried it a little in the oven. Pies are next & while they are baking, I'll prep the veggies. Yesterday was house cleaning & I've left the kitchen for the last. Tonight I'll set the table.

@againstthegrain, our menus are almost identical: brined turkey breast, gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes, steamed green bean, rolls w/sage butter, cranberry/pineapple sauce, pumpkin pie & 3-fruit pie. SIL & brother will bring the sweet potato casserole.
 
While my son and I do not eat turkey, our favorite sides are stuffing, cranberry sauce, brussels sprouts, turnips, corn pudding, mashed potatoes.

Our main entrée will be either a steak or a loin roast of beef. I like sherried mushrooms as well as a tomato, onion, cheese salad with sliced ripe olives garnishing same.
 
This morning I looked up a recipe for my son's vegan mac and cheese -- I already had the vegan cheese, elbow macaroni and soy milk -- but I didn't have any flour and I need 3 tablespoons to thicken the sauce. So I went to Walmart and bought a five pound bag of flour and a few other things. $115.:LOL: The Christmas isles sucked me in.
 
Lilac said:
@Lewkat, we aren't big turkey fans & we usually do chicken. I found a brine recipe in the spring & tried it. I have to say now the turkey breast is actually moist & has some flavor now.

I like your menu too.
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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.
 

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