Non-turkey thanksgiving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We grill or broil Cornish game hens. So good!

+ 1 for cornish hens.

We baked cornish hens last year (brined in spiced buttermilk and then brushed with rosemary and lemon). It was beautiful looking and tasted mind-blowing. Super easy and quick to make. We served with corn pudding, smashed tri-colored potatoes and pumpkin soup.

It was so good that I made it again to teach the recipe to my teenage DD and DS. I told them it would be an impressive meal to make to impress a date and they could serve it with a mushroom risotto. Really instagram worthy and fingerlicking good.

[Anonymous]

Roast, ribs, seafood. Balducci's does sushi catering.

[Anonymous]

I made this a few weeks ago and it is delicious https://food52.com/recipes/40465-caramelized-onion-and-butternut-squash-tart

[Anonymous]

We've done:

Pheasant, Cornish hens, but our favorite is duck. All of these are much more manageable in size for our small family. To achieve that deliciously crisp skin on your duck, score the skin into the fat layer, tent it so that the fat melts away without splattering all over your oven, and then blast it at high temp to crisp.

If you're tired of poultry, you can make beef Wellington, or a pot pie or British steak and kidney pudding, or shepherd's pie. Or British roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - did that for one Holiday and it was so good! Can you tell I used to live in the UK?

[Anonymous]

You can order a roast duck (with or without the head) at a restaurant or Chinese market.

[Anonymous]

I'm doing a honey baked ham with all the traditional sides and I am very excited about it.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Cornish hens.

[Anonymous]

We love to cook and eat but we just don't love Turkey. The only person who really enjoys it, is my dad. After years of cooking a turkey, we've decided we don't really enjoy it and who says you have to have a turkey anyway? We make him a turkey breast and usually we end up with a delicious beef tenderloin. Last year, due to Covid, I didn't cook and we ordered from a Vietnamese Restaurant who did their spin on Thanksgiving. Was an amazing meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've done:

Pheasant, Cornish hens, but our favorite is duck. All of these are much more manageable in size for our small family. To achieve that deliciously crisp skin on your duck, score the skin into the fat layer, tent it so that the fat melts away without splattering all over your oven, and then blast it at high temp to crisp.

If you're tired of poultry, you can make beef Wellington, or a pot pie or British steak and kidney pudding, or shepherd's pie. Or British roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - did that for one Holiday and it was so good! Can you tell I used to live in the UK?

Update: we did duck and it was amazing.

[Anonymous]

We're vegetarian, so we've done whole roasted cauliflower, stuffed acorn squash, or vegetable biryani as the centerpiece.

[Anonymous]

Personally I think ham is a pretty solid holiday food. Even if everything goes wrong you can eat it cold out of the package if you had to.