Thanksgiving…looking back at the dishes
My brother brined one of the turkeys with lemon, onions, carrots and thyme. This one was stuffed with stuffing and roasted in the oven. The other turkey we put on the grill outside on the rotisserie. We learned alot.
Here is the finished product on the rotisserie. It was perfect. The turkey cooks evenly throughout. I really prefer this method. I like the whole concept of putting anything on the rotisserie.
Here is the turkey we roasted in the oven. Here is what we learned and hope to recall next year when we do it again. Stuffing the turkey is beautiful but it doesn't allow the turkey to cook evenly. At one point you have to be willing to put up with some parts dry or others just not done yet. There needs to be a compromise. Although the stuffing is incredible tasting after being pulled from the turkey, you could pour a little drippings over it and mix to get the same effect. Next year, no stuffing in the turkey. We will bake the stuffing in a separate bowl and leave the turkeys to roast by themselves.
We separated the turkey by plate. One said brined, one said rotisserie. The taste was absolutely different. You could taste the lemon thyme flavor in the brined turkey. Interesting.
We even separated the stuffings. The brined stuffing definitely had a lemonish flavor. Bottom line, all stuffing is good.
Brussel sprouts could have been a little more burnt but lots of food for many people with 2 ovens is an effort in itself. We served these brussel sprouts with sauteed leeks and pancetta. We shaved a little bit of lemon rind over the top before serving.
This is one of my all time favorite cranberry chutneys. Recipe here.
Roasted carrots with thyme and olive oil. Warmed them up in a pan before serving with pistachio nuts, fresh thyme, drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar. In the background was corn pudding that someone brought. Yum.
Sliced purple, orange and white yams that were so sweet and good. I would have liked them a little crispier but again, only so many places to cook. We topped them with drizzled maple syrup and pomegranite seeds.
There were pumpkin pies from a budding young chef.
Apple pies.
I made two bourbon pecan pies. A once a year treat.
A beautiful table. Lots of family and extended family. A really nice day, an over the top meal and the perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Comments (Archived):
Looks yum!
What is your secret to grtting the ehite table cloth without wrinkles. Ours is professionally cleaned fits our long farmhouse dr table for 14 but never looks as beautiful as yours. I like the simlocity of the china with bold orange napkins…
they got this particular table cloth from a rental place, alas.
Wow is all I can say J
Ha!
Very nice! I was worried that the turkey would be too big for the rotisserie, but I’ll definitely try that next year. This year, I tried the dry-brined turkey from the food 52 app, instead of my usual brine. It worked great. It was slightly saltier, but the texture was fantastic, with nice crispy skin.
We trussed that turkey up! 20 lbs. It’s all about the twine
Wow, 20 lbs!!! I think our rotisserie is a little smaller 🙂
i agree that all stuffing is good, but will keep doing it the old-fashioned way. i just love it. the carrots with pistachios sounds wonderful!
My mother-in-law taught me to make roast turkey using the Reynolds oven roasting bags. They are pretty fool proof and keep the Turkey from getting dry, stuffed or unstuffed both work well. Also less cleanup. Only downside is the skin doesn’t get quite as crispy. I do love turkey though – whenever I make it I ask myself why don’t I make it as often.
Ah so that’s where the pistachios went. Great color match. Re: “At one point you have to be willing to put up with some parts dry or others just not done yet”. You are so right. We always battled between cooking it thoroughly or not, but also noticed that it was perfect even when the very inside was still not well cooked. So your experience was a good validation!
i will try and do that more. pre and post cooking.
Looks delicious! Apparently, there’s also a higher risk of food poisoning if you cook the stuffing inside the turkey. That’s reason enough for me to do it separately (although not eating turkey and loving stuffing is another good reason!)
you get food poisoning when you let the turkey come to room temperature and sit out for hours. if you take it out of the refrigerator, stuff it and stick in the oven, you are fine. truly.