Thanksgiving Recipes?

[PrincessFiona]

What are you guys making for Turkey Day? I am struggling with what to make because of my mil being here. I want to do something a little less low brow than what I usually do. For the most part, I do turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and green bean casserole. Usually I just buy a pie.

Does anyone have ideas on how I can fancy this up a bit?

Confession: I haven't even bought our turkey yet...

Kris

[diggitydot]

This is our menu his year:

-Amazing Mandy's amazing ham (friend's recipe that DS lost his mind over and this is what he calls it)

-Whipped sweet potatoes with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg (marshmallows optional because while there's zero sugar, it's still sweet and desert-like)

-Cranberry and cornbread dressing

-Homemade cranberry sauce

-Mashed potatoes with Greek yogurt (instead of cour cream) and chives

-Green salad

-Pumpkin spice cupcakes for dessert

[PrincessFiona]

Hmmm. HOw do you make the ham, swet potatoes and pumpkin spice cupcakes. I'm definitely doing a turkey, but I might do a ham too.......

Kris

[L.Jane]

We are headed to a friend of the family's for Tday. DH made a cranberry sauce that has pinapple and oranges in it to take. His family loves it and DH looks forward to it every year. If you want it, I can write down the recipe.

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

Two sides I'm doing are Roasted Butternut squash and Bacon Pasta (adapted from Cookinglight recipe) and sweet potatoes brûlée (also adapted from cookinglight but I haven't tested the latter out yet. The pasta presents beautifully.

Roasted Butternut squash and Bacon Pasta

Ingredients

3/4 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste (truffle salt s great if you have it on hand))
1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (plus more to taste)
3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
Cooking spray
8 sweet hickory-smoked bacon slices (raw)
1 cup thinly sliced shallots
8 ounces uncooked mini penne, shells, macaroni or other pasta (I prefer campanelle because it cooks up so beautifully (like little trumpet flowers))
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
3.5 oz shredded gruyere cheese
3 oz grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine salt, rosemary, and pepper. Place squash on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with salt mixture. Bake at 425° for 45 minutes or until tender and lightly browned (usually takes less time: 20 or 30 minutes max).

Increase oven temperature to 450°.

Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan; crumble/chop bacon. Increase heat to medium-high. Add shallots to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until tender. Combine squash mixture, bacon, and shallots; set aside.

Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well.

Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add gruyere and Parmesan cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Add pasta to cheese mixture, tossing well to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray; top with squash mixture. Sprinkle evenly with additional Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.

[PrincessFiona]

OOOh. That's a good one. Is that something that you think could be made up until the final cooking stage, stored in the fridge, and then cooked the next day?

Probably not.

Kris

Go buy your turkey, or you're going to end up w/a frozen one and have some sort of cooking disaster . Remember to remove the giblets, too. I can see Leni being there throwing you off your game and then everything melting down!

I make rolls we call "Jacobs Family Rolls" and while I've heard tell of others that make them, and I'm sure the recipe came from a Pillsbury bake-off or something, I claim it as a family recipe passed on from my dear departed mom (the same woman who wouldn't tell me how to make her stuffing while on her death bed -- which I now realize is because she may have thought I was joking, but I wasn't) and won't listen to anyone who says otherwise. The other cool thing about this is the kids can help. We make an assembly line, and it's an annual tradition.

You need 2 tubes of Hungry Jack biscuits (it appears they've changed the name to Grands Flaky biscuits this year -- should have the green tartan plaid on the cover).
9" pie plate w/melted butter on the bottom
1 to 2 C Parmesan cheese (the fake stuff in the green can)
every "seed" you can think of: poppy, fennel, dill, sesame, etc. (not the more indian-ones like cumin and mustard, stay w/bread related)

Tear each dough biscuit into 3 pieces and roll into balls. Put the cheese in a large ziploc baggy and toss several dough balls in at a time. Take your pie plate w/the melted butter, sprinkle your seeds over it evenly. Place the cheese-coated dough balls in concentric circles until the plate is full -- tightly full. Bake at 350 for 25 or 30 minutes until golden brown. Turn out onto plate so pretty seed side is up.

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

I would think mine could be done in advance (except for the final cooking), if that's the recipe to which you were referring. But I would put in the oven at a lower temp (350) for longer until heated and then raise the temp and remove foil to brown...it made great leftovers, so I imagine it would be okay...

[diggitydot]

I'm still waiting Amazing Mandy to email me her amazing recipe, but I think it is a regular good-quality ham with a regularly applied booze-inflused glaze.

The pumpkin cupcakes are the most ridiculously easy recipe ever. One giant can of pumpkin purée and a box of spiced cake mix. No eggs, no oil, no water -- super easy. It's actually a Weight Watcher's recipe and the kids loooove it. Baking time is longer than usual, but they come out super moist and yummy. I like to add extra cinnamon and nutmeg, too. I usually bake them at 350F for at least 30 minutes.

Sweet potatoes are super easy, too. Peel, dice, and boil those puppies. After they're cooked through, put into the mixer and whip while adding a little milk (or, if you like you can use cream) and some nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. I add spices to taste so I don't have any measurements. You can also put marshmallows on top and brown them in the oven just before serving. Very good recipe to make the day before.

[PrincessFiona]

Thanks Jenn...I do need to get my Turkey ASAP.

I usually thaw it in the fridge. Would thawing it in a sink of cool water overnight be really bad?????

ugh.

Kris

[PrincessFiona]

Wendy, I've actually never cooked a ham. I know that they come already pre-cooked ... so ... do you just ... add a glaze and then reheat them?

Kris

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

Just buy a fresh turkey, no defrosting necessary! Whole foods sells them fresh I know...I don't know about the supermarket...

[diggitydot]

Thaw it first and then you can soak it over night in a brine solution to make it super juicy. Trying to thaw it in a water bath will make the texture of the meat weirdly grainy.

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

Or be lazy like me and buy a precooked turkey...

[diggitydot]

Nope, real hams need to be cooked. Ours will take about 3 hours and we'll apply the glaze every 30 minutes or so.