Thread: The heretical Thanksgiving dinner! And you?

I think that I had the best Thanksgiving meal ever!!! We had some of the usual fare, like cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, but this is where the similarities stop! The gravy for the potatoes was made from the drippings of the filet mignon, that we had as the main course, along with sauteed onions and garlic, a nice green salad and some crusty olive bread made with those wonderful greek olives ! DELICIOUS!!
We may now have a new tradition in our household!!

Anyone else??

Oh! I forgot to mention the the beer was a Samuel Smiths Oatmeal stout which we also used to get all the wonderful drippings and residue from the steak off the bottom of the frying pan to add to the gravy!!!

Heaven, I'm in heaven...

DiGiorno Stuffed Crust pizza

Did have turkey etc. but ate at Cracker Barrel, just me and the wife.

I've got you beat Mark! I not only ate filet mignon, but also flank steak, bacon wrapped filet mignon, bacon wrapped chicken, garlic filet mignon, italian sausage, chouriço, kielbasa, lamb, grilled pineapple coated in butter and cinnamon, snail salad, lobster bisque, and calamari among other things- all you can eat too. I'm dead serious here. My fiancé and I went to a Brazilian Steakhouse that does Churrascaria ( Churrascaria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ). Not the first one I've been to, but I have never been to this one in particular. If you are ever in NYC and want to go to a great restaurant, check out Churrascaria Plataforma on 49th between 8th and 9th. It's the best Churrascaria I can imagine outside of Brazil. I took her there in particular for Christmas two years ago. This was really our first Thanksgiving by ourselves as our own "family" and we started thinking about what main course to have for our own Thanksgiving dinners starting next year when we hopefully have our own kitchen (lol). It's looking like I'll be doing a Crown rack of Lamb every year instead of Turkey... Let's be honest here- Turkey sucks.

I don't know about turkey sucking- I think it depends on who makes it. Around these parts, we like to inject the turkeys then stick 'em in a fryer. Mmmmmm.

That being said, I think if I had to choose lamb or turkey for the rest of my days, lamb would be hands down the pick

I guess I am a traditional kind of guy. I look forward to the turkey and the trimmings and that is what I had. Pumpkin pie too of course.

I slowly cooked wild caught Alaskan salmon over a hardwood fire with smoke from chunks of apple and cherry.

Just me this year...so I went to Village Inn (like a Denny's only a better menu)....a very low-drama Thanksgiving.

So, when asked what I did for Thanksgiving...I can say what I did not do: dishes!



If I am going to cook for a crew (10+), I'll do a mix of traditional and new food, buffet-style (* = done ahead, then just assembled/cooked):

*Turkey soaked in brine and wheat beer, then slow roasted (most people cook the turkey too long and cook it breast up, so you end up with a dry bird.);
Gravy made from de-glazing the turkey pan with stock from the turkey gibblets and some wheat beer, adding this to a medium brown roux seasoned with herbs to make a thin-to-medium sauce, then some cream added for binding...making a light-to-medium sauce/gravy...not the "spreadable" gravy you can sometimes get;
*Mashed potatoes made with cream, butter, sea salt (potatoes can be boiled ahead, then quckly reheated in salted water and then mashed);
*Dressing/stuffing (do not stuff your bird before baking...makes it dry as well...make a stuffing, cook it/bake it, then stuff the hot, wet stuffing into the bird 15-20 minutes before it is done...this lets the exposed stuffing get a nice crust) made from corn bread and French Bread chunks, herbs, leeks, onions, almonds, chorizo, bell peppers, turkey stock, a litle dark beer;
"High-end" green bean casserole using muli-colored green beans, butter sauteed forest mushrooms, a bechamel sauce thickened with some Gouda or Jarlsberg cheese, then baked and topped with freshly fried breaded onions and leeks rings;
*Cream of Carrot soup (roasted carrots, fresh carrots, super-finely pureed with butter, herbs, salt, then blended with chicken stock until it thickly coats the back of a spoon, simmers 15 minutes, cream is added, then served with sour cream and dill;
*Roasted pork tenderloin, stuffed with herbs, spinach, farmer cheese, garlic, then topped with a glaze made from the pan drippings, some merlot, and a bit of port wine;
*Sweet potato "tater tots" (croquettes);
*Cranberry sauce made from whole cranberries, reduced in fresh orange juice and orange zest;
*Crusty dinner rolls made from white and rye flour;
Sliced baguette, toasted and lightly buttered with herb butter;
Blanched fresh peas, served with sauteed green oinons;
Braised London Broil (served with a sauce made from a reduction of the braising liquid, peppercorns, and brandy);
*Roasted veggies (baby carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, red/orange/yellow bell pepper chunks, chuns of Hungarian sweet peppers, tossed in olive oil, a little garlic, and sesame seeds...roasted seperately, then mixed like a hot salad;
Soft and hard cheeses, both sweet and pungent, with grapes and nuts;
Pumpkin meringue pie (like regular pumpkin pie, but the pumpkin had stiff egg whites stirred in, so it is around 3" thick and very light);
*Apple pie, sweetened with reduced cider syrup, with a top lattice crust;
*Forest berry pie (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, boysenberries);
*Bite-sized puff pastry pockets, filled with chopped dried fruit and nuts.

Booze:

Weizenbier
Pilsner
Gewurztraminer
Mersault
Cabernet Franc
Braquetto D'Acqui
Chamapagne
Armagnac

Coffee: Ethiopian Sidamo or Indonesian Sulawesi French Press

I'll cook and usually have someone clearing/washing as I go.

Plent of seating to allow for food coma victims.....

I ate my Thanksgiving dinner at a local family owned Greek/Lebanese restaurant with the extended family and friends (about 40 people all in all) of the owners. Talk about a fun time; ethnic foods and drinks, playing music, dancing, conversing, (more eating, drinking and dancing), and merriment in general, those folks know how to celebrate a holiday!


On a side note, I found out that I don't really like authentic Ouzo, though it was an experience worth having.

That Oatmeal Stout is a good one, good choice Mark. I have two friends that are aspiring "brewmasters" and have patterned at least one of their brews off of the Oatmeal Stout, but they "overdose" the recipe on the malt so that it comes out even richer. Gotta love those rich, full bodied stouts!

Greek/Lebanese food...yummmmmmmm!