Thanksgiving recipe time!
Nov. 21st, 2007 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchI figured I'd hop on the bandwagon of recipe sharing again this year...
First up, is the biggie. For the last two years, we've brined our turkey... and it has definitely been the best turkey we've ever eaten. This year, we're hauling a turkey with us over to my dad's place (we'll cook it there, but I wanted to get a free range turkey and it's not the sort of thing he'd buy... and he wouldn't bother with brining, either :-p) and hopefully he'll like it as much as we do.
Brined Roast Turkey by Alton Brown from Good Eats (the link takes you to the recipe on Food Network's website).
Another yearly favorite of ours is Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, which I posted about on my LJ four years ago (it's down at the bottom of the entry). It's a relatively fluffly pumpkin pie, with a scrumptious gingersnap crust. I've made it in the past with Ener-G Egg Replacer (for anyone who might have an egg allergy) and it still turned out pretty well, it just takes longer to set up.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rackham's favorite is Eggnog Pie, which contains no actual eggnog (I think it got the name because it sort of, kind of tastes somewhat like eggnog -- I'm not terribly fond of it, but he loves it).
Egg Nog Pie
Prep: Blind bake a pie crust and set aside (we use Trader Joe's pie crusts for this, although the original recipe called for a buttermilk pie crust)
Blend in saucepan (we use a double boiler):
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
3/4 c sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
Stir in gradually:
1 c milk (we use 2%)
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils (be careful not to scorch). Remove from heat.
Temper in:
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
Return mixture to saucepan and cook until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
Add:
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Fill a heat resistant bowl with ice water and set the pan into it to cool until the mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon.
Fold in:
1 c whipping cream, whipped (don't sweeten it)
Pour into cooled, baked pie shell and sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg. It's rich, so one pie will serve 7 or 8.
A few years ago, we also added Fresh Cranberry Compote (links to the Food Network website) to the menu, after seeing Emeril preparing it on a Food Network Thanksgiving special. It's super easy and VERY good. Way, way better than that gelatinous cranberry mass carved into the shape of a can (but then, it would be hard to not be better).
When I have my way (which, sadly, I won't this year... my dad is making what he calls "Yams" -- meaning canned sweet potatoes smothered in marshmallows. Blech), we will buy whole sweet potatoes and simply bake them like a regular potato... then serve them with maple spice butter on the side. For maple spice butter, you just whip some softened butter (NOT margarine) with a mixer, toss in some cinnamon to taste and drizzle in some real maple syrup (NOT maple-like syrup... go for the genuine article), to taste, while mixing. It should be sweet and buttery and is oh, so good on baked sweet potatoes.
And for suggestions on what to do with those leftovers,rackham always makes Turkey Quiche (links to a previous entry on my LJ). It's fantastic! A pie shell made from leftover dressing, blind baked to be a bit crispy, then a quiche with leftover turkey... served with leftover gravy and cranberry compote. Mmmmmmmm.... almost better than the original meal!
And with that, we're about ready to hit the road (after my PT appointment)! Hopefully things will be clear and there won't be a lot of traffic, since it's about a five hour drive to my dad's in the best of times.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And safe travels to everyone who is heading somewhere for the holiday!
First up, is the biggie. For the last two years, we've brined our turkey... and it has definitely been the best turkey we've ever eaten. This year, we're hauling a turkey with us over to my dad's place (we'll cook it there, but I wanted to get a free range turkey and it's not the sort of thing he'd buy... and he wouldn't bother with brining, either :-p) and hopefully he'll like it as much as we do.
Brined Roast Turkey by Alton Brown from Good Eats (the link takes you to the recipe on Food Network's website).
Another yearly favorite of ours is Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, which I posted about on my LJ four years ago (it's down at the bottom of the entry). It's a relatively fluffly pumpkin pie, with a scrumptious gingersnap crust. I've made it in the past with Ener-G Egg Replacer (for anyone who might have an egg allergy) and it still turned out pretty well, it just takes longer to set up.
rackham's favorite is Eggnog Pie, which contains no actual eggnog (I think it got the name because it sort of, kind of tastes somewhat like eggnog -- I'm not terribly fond of it, but he loves it).Egg Nog Pie
Prep: Blind bake a pie crust and set aside (we use Trader Joe's pie crusts for this, although the original recipe called for a buttermilk pie crust)
Blend in saucepan (we use a double boiler):
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
3/4 c sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
Stir in gradually:
1 c milk (we use 2%)
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils (be careful not to scorch). Remove from heat.
Temper in:
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
Return mixture to saucepan and cook until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
Add:
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Fill a heat resistant bowl with ice water and set the pan into it to cool until the mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon.
Fold in:
1 c whipping cream, whipped (don't sweeten it)
Pour into cooled, baked pie shell and sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg. It's rich, so one pie will serve 7 or 8.
A few years ago, we also added Fresh Cranberry Compote (links to the Food Network website) to the menu, after seeing Emeril preparing it on a Food Network Thanksgiving special. It's super easy and VERY good. Way, way better than that gelatinous cranberry mass carved into the shape of a can (but then, it would be hard to not be better).
When I have my way (which, sadly, I won't this year... my dad is making what he calls "Yams" -- meaning canned sweet potatoes smothered in marshmallows. Blech), we will buy whole sweet potatoes and simply bake them like a regular potato... then serve them with maple spice butter on the side. For maple spice butter, you just whip some softened butter (NOT margarine) with a mixer, toss in some cinnamon to taste and drizzle in some real maple syrup (NOT maple-like syrup... go for the genuine article), to taste, while mixing. It should be sweet and buttery and is oh, so good on baked sweet potatoes.
And for suggestions on what to do with those leftovers,
rackham always makes Turkey Quiche (links to a previous entry on my LJ). It's fantastic! A pie shell made from leftover dressing, blind baked to be a bit crispy, then a quiche with leftover turkey... served with leftover gravy and cranberry compote. Mmmmmmmm.... almost better than the original meal!And with that, we're about ready to hit the road (after my PT appointment)! Hopefully things will be clear and there won't be a lot of traffic, since it's about a five hour drive to my dad's in the best of times.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And safe travels to everyone who is heading somewhere for the holiday!
