It's true. Think about it. For one day out of the year, Americans sit around the dinner table with friends, family, and welcome/unwelcome guests, to actively participate in the most glorious display of socially acceptable binge-eating only rivaled by Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, a Saturday night at the Golden Corral, or a Sunday afternoon/evening on...my couch.
Seriously though. Think about it; have you ever actually taken a look around the room after a traditional Thanksgiving dinner? Everyone's rolling around, groaning and grasping their enlarged bellies in pain as a result of the unnatural food consumption having taken place over the course of 3 hours. And you know what? IT'S SO AWESOME.
As the years have gone by, us Americans have continued to improve upon our getting-fat skills by taking traditions like roasting a turkey, and shoving the whole fucking thing in a deep fryer, because let's be honest, things were getting just a little too healthy around here.
Hey wait...I'm not disagreeing with the whole deep frying trend. No no no. Im just bitter because I don't own a deep fryer and will subsequently have to resort to the super healthy method of slowly roasting a toddler-sized turkey all day, while basting it with a log of butter, and making gravy out of the fatty drippings collected in the bottom of the pan. It's probably better that I don't own a deep fryer, as suddely, all traditional side dishes and pies would get thrown in there at once, cramming a whole fucking harvest festival into one giant, extra crispy cornucopia of Thanksgiving flavor.
Ok that would be gross, but you get the point.
Anyways, I'm always interested to hear about other people's menus and traditions, so let me know. Here's what I'll be doing:
- Sage brined turkey, roasted (Won't be stuffing the bird with the actual stuffing, but definitely with fresh herbs, lemon, and was thinking bacon. The bacon fat will slowly render out, along with the bird's, drippings into the pan, which will go towards the gravy).
- Pan gravy
- Oyster dressing with wild rice and bacon
- Mashed potatoes, with parmesan, basil
- Risotto with sweet corn and chorizo
- Mac and cheese, with cheddar, gruyere, and maybe ham?
- Roasted cranberry sauce with jalepeno and orange
- Skillet corn bread, with honey/jalepeno compound butter
- Some kind of veg (need ideas)
- Some kind of pies for dessert
There will be epic leftovers. I'll include some recipies, the ones that are mine anyways, sometime after I recover from the coma. What are you all doing?
Peace fatties
- Fat Kid
There better be left overs! I am sad I will not be there the day of :(
ReplyDeleteGood lord! Can I come over?!?! Or snag some leftovers???
ReplyDeleteMy "menu" is not that extensive:
Turkey, cooked with bacon, basting with maple syrup and butter (thanks Tyler Florence!)
Mashed potatoes (heating heavy cream with Rosemary to infuse)...however I'm thinking of doing a creamy polenta this year...if not, then maybe some sort of polenta cake
Sage, apple, and onion stuffing (using two types of sausage)
And as for everything else, not sure yet!
ReplyDeleteIf you need a veg idea, I make bangin' green beans! Boi them in salted water until juuuuust about done then soak them in cold water so they'll stop cooking. Saute some shallots in evoo, add a whole bunch of chopped sun dried tomatoes (the ones that come in oil). Add the green beans back in and cook them through until warm. Mix in lemon zest, s&p, and voilà. So good!!!!
As far as desserts go, pumpkin pie and some sort of cheesecake are standard in the house. Might forego the cheesecake tho...too much work and they always crack!!!
I could get down with what you're doing with the turkey. Maple/butter sounds awesome. I'm actually doing green beans now as well, except with blue cheese, walnuts, and this smoked olive oil that's really good. I really like the whole shallot thing. I just decided I'm going to copy you. I might sub mushrooms for the sun dried tomatoes bc that might go with what I'm doing a little more. Thanks for the feedback.
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