Holiday Cooking! (Thanksgiving, Christmas etc.)

RedWolf

RedWolf

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I used to throw down for 16 or 18 people every year but now I'm alone so I really don't do any cooking just for myself. But I do love cooking for the holidays and have a ton of experience.

I just saw a recipe for turkey gravy which made me think of this. I always made my own dark turkey stock reduced it down added fresh thyme, sage, a kiss of heavy cream, butter and roux. S&P. It's more of a French turkey sauce than it is a gravy. I would use some turkey fat/drippings and butter for the roux. The stock would cook for 12 hours

I used to make my own homemade cranberry lemon aspic. Sweet potatoes from heaven. My ex-wife was vegetarian so all of the sides were fantastic.

Let me know if anybody needs some ideas, pointers or recipes because I used to put up a first class meal! I would start Tuesday morning and have all the shopping done by noon. I would cook Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. It was a lot of hours!
 
16-18 people is a big group and a lot of work.

One cool meal I learned around Thanksgiving was the Indian dish 'butter chicken'. My last job was in IT at GEICO and since we had a lot of IT folks that were from India, we decided to combine Thanksgiving and Diwali together for our holiday luncheon in November. Diwali is the celebration of lights that the folks from India celebrated instead of Thanksgiving.

I'm still looking for a good lemon rice recipe to pair with my butter chicken if anyone has a good lemon rice recipe that they want to share. I'll be glad to share my butter chicken recipe if anyone wants it.
 
What's everyone doing for the big day this week?
 
Boone

I am solo.

Smoked Turkey and Wild Rice soup (with mirepoix, woodland mushrooms, sauternes, fresh sage and thyme).

Toasted French bread with Pate de Foie Gras and Bon Maman raspberry preserves.

Pumpkin pie.

Watching football, playing guitar, and drinking Titos with homemade ginger lemongrass carbonated lemonade.

Tea for One
 
Roasted turkey with Stove Top herb stuffing, store bought mashed potatoes, jarred gravy, microwaved green beans, jellied cranberry sauce, and crescent rolls. Desert is a Publix apple pie and Breyer’s vanilla ice cream. 🤣
 
Chris said:
Roasted turkey with Stove Top herb stuffing, store bought mashed potatoes, jarred gravy, microwaved green beans, jellied cranberry sauce, and crescent rolls. Desert is a Publix apple pie and Breyer’s vanilla ice cream. 🤣
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Short simple and easy! I love it
 
Chris said:
It’s just my wife and I and Thanksgiving is not a ‘thing’ for her. I have no desire to spend the day in the kitchen so…
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I completely understand look at my very basic menu. It's just me and I decided to splurge on the goose liver
 
I expended most of my energy doing two 20 lb turkeys for my work crew. I brined them, stuffed them, rubbed them in butter and a rub, and smoked them. Just my wife and I this year so I will do a small turkey, wife will do the sides. I like turkey. I'd eat it all year round if groceries sold thawed birds year round.
 
Boone said:
I expended most of my energy doing two 20 lb turkeys for my work crew. I brined them, stuffed them, rubbed them in butter and a rub, and smoked them. Just my wife and I this year so I will do a small turkey, wife will do the sides. I like turkey. I'd eat it all year round if groceries sold thawed birds year round.
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Good job taking care of the crew boss
 
I used to do smoked turkey breasts wrapped in bacon and then finished on the grill with barbecue sauce. Heaven!
 
I will say this, we are all hardcore Redskins fans and during seasons like this? It's great to have other threads to discuss something other than terrible football. Sometimes I just have to step away from some of those threads because it gets a little crazy

Hopefully next year Thanksgiving will be more cheerful from a football perspective. I try and stay positive and remember to be grateful
 
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I am going to do a smaller turkey for the wife and I, injecting with some Cajun butter and some Cajun rub on the outside, will cook in the Big Green Egg. Doing some asian-style soy/garlic/ginger wings on the pellet grill to snack on while the games are on. Wife handling sides. Low key and chilled the way I like it. Hope everyone gets some family time and has some great food. RedWolf is currently leading in the most impressive solo Thanksgiving spread category!
 
We had sausage balls for brunch today. Here is the recipe I used.

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Ingredients:

1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage hot
3 cups bisquick
10 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl. Pull sausage apart into small pieces and same with cream cheese. This will take 10 minutes and I use my hands. Once you can make softball size balls you’re done. You can store them in fridge for 2-3 days.

Instructions:

Heat oven to 325 F (or smoker)
Hand roll sausage into 1-2” size balls (about 2/3 size of golf ball)
Use smoke rack over cookie sheet, spray smoke rack generously with Pam, and bake at 325 for 25 minutes. No need to turn.

Here is a smoke rack and cookie sheet that I use:

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Nibbling on the foie gras and the soup is on the stove
 
RedWolf said:
Boone

I am solo.

Smoked Turkey and Wild Rice soup (with mirepoix, woodland mushrooms, sauternes, fresh sage and thyme).

Toasted French bread with Pate de Foie Gras and Bon Maman raspberry preserves.

Pumpkin pie.

Watching football, playing guitar, and drinking Titos with homemade ginger lemongrass carbonated lemonade.

Tea for One
Click to expand...

Soup is killer. I wish somebody lived nearby because I've got too much.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all
 
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