American Thanksgiving

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Menolly
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American Thanksgiving

Post by Menolly »

Alright. Thanksgiving feast 2023 is complete.

The spread showing the crockpot with stuffing
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A more traditional angle
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Individual items

Deviled eggs
Half topped with paprika, half topped with dried dill weed
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Bird is the word
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Mostly carved for service for four, with what’s left kept aside for planned overs
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Crockpot stuffing
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No starch thickener gravy
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Homemade cranberry sauce
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Green bean casserole made by @Savor Dam
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Corn pudding fresh out of the oven. Recipe available towards the start of this thread
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An interior shot of the corn pudding. I finally made my taller pudding, @Fist and Faith !
I used a 2-quart 8”x8” Corningware casserole. The cooktime took about 90 minutes, due to the deeper casserole, rather than the 35 to 40 minutes for a 9”x13” pan stated in the recipe
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My dinner plate, minus a slice of Dam-sel’s pumpkin bread. She didn’t want individual photos of her contributions (pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie), but you can see the Bundt shaped pumpkin bread in the table long photo of the full spread
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The turkey broken down and packaged for planned overs
Far left: the breast meat which was still on the bird sliced for sandwiches
Middle: legs, wings, what was left from service, and what I was able to pick off of the carcass
Far right: the carcass broken down and bagged to be frozen until I make my next batch of Instant Pot bone broth

If anyone wants recipes for anything, I’m happy to share.
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SoulBiter
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American Thanksgiving

Post by SoulBiter »

A great looking meal!!! Well except for the Green Bean Casserole... not my fav LOL
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Menolly
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American Thanksgiving

Post by Menolly »

My favorite use of Thanksgiving planned overs. Be forewarned, this is a long one.
Here is the recipe I base my version on.

https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main ... dwich.html

Doctored up Copycat Bennigan’s Monte Cristo Sandwich 

I started with the planned over crockpot stuffing.

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I then heated up a thin level of extra light olive oil in a pan

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Whipped an egg and mixed into the stuffing as a binder

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Shaped the stuffing to be about the same size as the keto sandwich slices and fried it up to help it hold together 

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Almost ready

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The recipe doesn’t call for it, but I like putting Gulden’s mustard on the ham side and Best Foods mayonnaise on the turkey side 

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American cheese on the ham side and provolone cheese on the turkey side to start. We had some bacon left from Sunday morning, so I decided to add that to the ham side as well 

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Two slices of ham rolled up and split in half on one side, planned over turkey meat on the other. We’re only 3 or 4 typically for Thanksgiving, so I used Boar’s Head sliced ham from the deli. But if one has both planned over turkey and ham, this is a good use for it

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I reversed the cheese I covered each side with, so both sides have a slice of American and a slice of provolone on them

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I put the stuffing patty over the turkey side, as I felt the ham side would be the easier side to flip over without things falling apart and out

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Triple decker assembled

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I had forgotten that the sandwich holds together better if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and allowed to sit overnight with a weight on top. So, I did it for an hour

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In the refrigerator being pressed for an hour. Overnight would be better

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Egg and water whipped together, salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder 

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to make a thick batter for dipping 

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After the hour under weight in the refrigerator 

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The recipe doesn’t say to cut the sandwich in half before dipping into the batter, but that is my memory of how Bennigan’s did it. So, the toothpicks are placed for two triangular halves
As Kenji says: “Triangles taste better!”

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Pressed, picked, and sliced in half. Ready for batter

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The recipe calls for deep frying, but I don’t have a dedicated deep fryer other than my turkey deep fryer, and I dislike using so much oil in a pan. I have found with gentle handling, shallow frying works fine.
Start by frying the long cut edge of each half

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Continue to flip and cook the edges first. I find this helps prevent items from falling out

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Last of the three edges

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First full side

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Flipped and doing the other side

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Finished in the pan and resting on paper towels 

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The two halves now cut in half and showing the exposed innards

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Plated for service with a dusting of powdered sugar and planned over cranberry sauce for dipping instead of the usual raspberry preserves

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Truthfully, I wound up giving one quarter to @Savor Dam. I should have given him half of the sandwich and I would have still been satiated.

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American Thanksgiving

Post by Menolly »

And we’re underway for Thanksgiving 2024.

14 lb (or so, it’s not labeled) frozen bird is now defrosting on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. On Saturday night I’ll rub it with sage and bay salt dry brine rub and place it in a food safe bag for another three days. The bird gets massaged all over once a day over those three days.

Wednesday morning week I’ll put the bird on a roasting rack uncovered, pat any moisture not reabsorbed off via osmosis off with paper towel, and return it to the bottom shelf until Thanksgiving itself.
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American Thanksgiving

Post by Zarathustra »

Looks great as always, Menolly!

I've been smoking a turkey for the last 15 years or so, but for the past 2 years I've added a twist: sous vide whole turkey, 145F for 18 hours, chilled in an ice bath for 4 hours, then put on the smoker for 2 hours. It's the most tender, juiciest turkey I've ever had with just the right amount of smoke.
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American Thanksgiving

Post by Menolly »

What size bird and what size container do you use to sous vide? Do you chill in the ice bath in the sous vide bag, so the bird goes on the smoker relatively dry?

BTW, since I don’t frequent the Council, this is the first I’ve seen you in a long time. Welcome back!
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American Thanksgiving

Post by Zarathustra »

Menolly wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2024 12:09 am What size bird and what size container do you use to sous vide? Do you chill in the ice bath in the sous vide bag, so the bird goes on the smoker relatively dry?

BTW, since I don’t frequent the Council, this is the first I’ve seen you in a long time. Welcome back!
Thank you!

It was a 12 lb bird. Not too big. Just for me and my wife. I used a large pot. Yes, I chilled with the bird still in the bag, but it wasn't the best idea, since the juices congealed. I should have drained and then put it in a new bag, but I didn't have another. I rinsed it, patted dry with paper towels, and then put it on the smoker. Angela said it was the best turkey she's ever had.
Success will be my revenge -- DJT
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