Reply to Cooking my first Thanksgiving - Very excited, but need recipes!

Forum Index » Food, Cooking, and Restaurants

Reply to "Cooking my first Thanksgiving - Very excited, but need recipes!"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Congratulations!  It's a ton of fun.

If you have limited oven space, do you have a big gas grill?  If you set it up for indirect heat, and keep the lid down, it's an oven--suitable for the turkey while you use your indoor oven for sides.  
At least this is what I've been doing ever since we moved into a house with an oven that is smaller than my big roasting pan.

If you're first-timing it, a few suggestions:
1.  Buy the gravy.  In the last half hour before serving, you'll be juggling way too many things to worry about making gravy too.  Plus, you probably don't have pre-made stock on hand, which you would need.  WF sells great pre-made turkey gravy or mushroom gravy  in the deli section.  (If you're determined to make your own, and don't have pre-made stock on hand, look for a recipe for apple cider/chicken liver gravy.  It's easy and you can make it in advance; you don't have to wait for the pan drippings.)  
2.  Try to think of things you can do in advance, so you're not doing everything in one day.  (That day will go faster than you think!)  Make your pies the day before, for instance.  They're better after sitting a day anyway.  Think about whether any of your vegetables can be peeled & chopped the night before.
3.  Don't get too fancy with appetizers.  Just put out a nice cheese board, and some bowls of nuts.  Some fruit for the health-conscious.  It's a nice change from the usual veggie/dip plate.
4.  If the weather is suitably chilly, a nice drink is hot spiced cider.  Just keep a gallon of it in a big pot on low and let people come dip some whenever they feel like it.  We like to float an orange studded with cloves in it.  It's a hit with whoever's not drinking wine.  
5.  MOST IMPORTANT:  Make sure your turkey is thawed.  This requires planning days in advance.  If you buy it frozen, it can take 3-4 days to thaw depending on your fridge.  If you buy it "fresh," it may still be a little frozen, just not as deeply so--may still take a day.  (Truly "fresh" turkeys are pretty expensive specialty items, that you're probably buying straight from the farm.  The "fresh" ones at the grocery store have been chilled to freezing, but not too much below.)  (PP's recommended pre-brined turkey.  That might solve this last problem.)

Good luck!

P.S. Don't throw away the carcass!  Make stock!  (A lot of people make turkey soup, but it's easy to get tired of after the first bowl.  We like to make turkey pot pie instead.)  When you do your big shopping trip, buy enough veggies (carrots, celery, whatever) for your stock and pot pie or soup at the same time.  
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics