Thanksgiving 2012

Easily my favorite holiday. Food, wine, football and family. Anybody planning menus and wine yet?

Gravy and champagne time!

We gave up on the bird years back, we’re just not fans of turkey. Usually order a prime rib from Flannery, but I think we’ll do rib caps this year. This thread reminds me to call Bryan to see if he can get us a fair amount of rib caps for Thanksgiving. If Bryan can’t get enough rib caps, then I might try one of Tex’s places in the midwest for prime rib.

Our Chef, my mother, gave up on making a whole turkey. She serves turkey breasts and beef tenderloin typically. She was gifted a turducken a couple years ago which was amazing.

But, I always take it easy on the meats and borderline embarrass myself on the sides.

Spatchcock Turkey on the Big Green Egg…a whole turkey with the back bone removed and laid flat, essentially butterflied, and then brined, rubbed, injected and grilled over indirect heat on the Egg. Great crispy skin, really moist, relatively fast cook time.


https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105216955648736324878/albums/5808934642577935345/5808934644396988706
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105216955648736324878/albums/5808934642577935345/5808934645980918434
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105216955648736324878/albums/5808934642577935345/5808934645506361234

That actually looks pretty good. Welcome to WB!

i’ll br right over!

Our usual, somewhat electic menu looks like this:

• roasted pecans
• cheese/charcuterie/fruit plate
• dumplings (my bro’s in-laws are Chinese)
• oyster stew
• whole turkey cooked on the weber
• brussel sprouts
• sweet potato casserole
• carrot ring
• salad (changes every year)
• mashed potatoes
• gravy
• homemade desserts; pecan pie, pumpkin pie, mincemeat cookies, apple tarte
• vino: changes, but this year looks like zin as always, some of my sauv blanc and pinot, bubbly, and random bottles others bring
• hot buttered rum

We eat at the beach, on the sand, every year which is awesome weather-wise, but the food does get cold quickly.

Brett

might go eat at a Vegas buffet this thanksgiving… like a true chinese

Thanks

Skip the family to concentrate on food and football. Smart man.

The quality of the turkey makes a big difference. Avoid the commercial basted/injected birds.

I will be going to Trader Joe’s this week to buy some Kosher turkeys. I rub them with porcini mushroom powder and a lavender and herb rub before roasting.

I like to take the bird out of the fridge 2 hours before cooking and cover the breast with plastic wrap and top it off with ice packs so the white meat cooks slower than the dark meat and it helps it stay moister. I also roast the bird breast side down for 2/3 of the cooking cycle and then flip it over for the final 1/3.

A few teaspoons of Madeira or cream Sherry in the gravy add lots of depth along with a tiny bit of nutmeg.

Thanks for the reminder, I need to figure something out. If I head to my parents’ house I will cook on the BGE, but it may just be an addition & sides. My stepmother usually does the standard Butterball but I’m working all day the day before and will be beat on Thursday so I don’t like to make the commitment to be the main cook. I might end up with my aunt & uncle in the city this year and in that case I’ll just bring what she asks of me, probably just bread & cheeses for starting/winding down.

His family consists of a lawyer and a dog. They’ll never know he’s gone.

Going to try and do a sous vide turkey this year.

I have to say, Mr. Wood, that I would be most intrigued to meet your parents.

Geez, Merrill. It was humor, but thanks. They’re dead. Both of them.

I’m having two Thanksgivings this year. Traditional one with my parents and family on the actual day and then a second one with friends on either Friday or Saturday since I have a lot of friends with no immediate family in the area and not all of them go home. The second one might not be as traditional (since it’ll be all vegan) and is really just an excuse to get together with a bunch of friends and eat and drink for hours.

Same here. Doing breast of veal crusted with garlic and rosemary. Slow roasted for 5 hours.

Pairing with some burgs.

Merrill has about as much of a sense of humor as I have tolerance for Apple product’s missing features