Thanksgiving Food Tips?

What's a tasty, unusual, Thanksgiving-compatible dish you've had at Thanksgiving? If you have some you can recommend, please describe them in the comments (and add a link to a recipe if you have one). Naturally, tasty and unusual twists on standard dishes would count.

Comments

[Brett Bellmore]

Turkey leg quarter confit? I've made it several times now, though generally not at Thanksgiving, and my family loves it.

Just use this recipe and scale up the ingredients to account for the larger weight of the turkey leg quarters.

It's not really necessary to use genuine duck fat, ordinary shortening works just fine, as does olive oil. And you can reuse the fat, storing it in the refrigerator afterwards; It develops the most amazing flavor itself. My wife keeps raiding the tub to use in cooking other dishes.

[Frank Drackman]

During deployment to Italy a group of the Pilots decided to deep fry some Turkeys, was really delicious once the fire was put out.

[Brett Bellmore]

My last attempt at deep frying a turkey, the burner wouldn't get back up to full blast after I shut it off to drop in the turkey. So it was more like Sou Vide turkey... Took a very long time, was very tender, but no crispy skin. That, and the amount of oil that it took was ridiculous.

I really prefer the traditional roast turkey at Thanksgiving; I just love the stuffing cooked in the bird. But on other occasions? Confit is the way to go for the wings and legs, and the breasts get roasted boneless.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Five gallons of boiling oil over an open flame -- what could possibly go wrong???

Although meth "cookers" have boiling saucepans of ether on a gas stove -- or so I am told.

[Brett Bellmore]

Eh, it's not as bad as you make out: The oil isn't volatile enough to be a risk unless it is spilled, unlike ether, which produces explosive vapor.

But it's absolutely one of those "outdoors on a non-flammable surface" activities, that's for sure.

[Noscitur a sociis]

Although meth “cookers” have boiling saucepans of ether on a gas stove — or so I am told.

By whom?

[Devin Watkins]

I made this for Thanksgiving this year, it worked out well: https://www.loveandlemons.com/hasselback-potatoes/

[Brett Bellmore]

I might just try that this year.

[M L]

"Friendsgiving" (that's a millennial thing/term that started about 15 years ago I think) over the weekend was all catered. The whole turkey was smoked, and it was excellent. I think I will look at smoking a turkey for next year.

[Frank Drackman]

"Friendsgiving"?? That's everything that's wrong with the World, up there on a par with Kwanza and Juneteenth, ("Festivus" I like) Like DB Cooper, Neal Page, and Del Griffith, I prefer flying during Thanksgiving, nothing like drinking in a Hotel bar in Newark after your flight's been cancelled.

Frank

[cannpro]

It’s all about spatchcocking.

https://youtu.be/18gAmfhDqT4?si=y7fzgbTwmqx_3uMO

[JSR2]

Been spatchcocking our turkey for years now. Works well in the oven, a gas grill, or a pellet grill. I especially like the pellet grill as it's able to maintain an accurate temperature better than the gas grill and adds flavor. A charcoal grill could work if you are good at controlling the temperature.
We use a fairly standard dressing recipe (it's not stuffing as there's no place to stuff a spatchcocked turkey) with the addition of a 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. MMMMM!!!

[Frank Drackman]

Say what you want, since College, love Pizza, either left over, frozen, home made (I can make a mean Chef-Boy-R-Dee), I'm not a big Turkey fan, hate Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce (especially the canned variety where you see the grooves from the can) Ham's not Kosher, (I know, Sausage isn't either but Sausage tastes good) Used to volunteer to work on Thanksgiving as the really good games are the following days.
In Med School me and a few other losers went down to the Salvation Army in Mobile, was actually really good, and you got a free bowl of soup!

Frank

[CindyF]

Bacon-Wrapped Venison Roast

1 venison roast
6 bacon strips
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper, to your preference
Several tablespoons of water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Liberally season the deer roast with salt and pepper – keeping in mind that the bacon will impart some of its flavor to the roast as well. Press the roughly chopped garlic into the top of the roast. Wrap the bacon strips around the roast to cover it entirely. Layer the bottom of a roasting dish with onion slices, add in just enough water to cover and then set the bacon-covered roast on top of the onions. Place in the oven and bake until medium rare ( approx 20 minutes per lb; or an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit). Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Suggested sides: roasted potatoes; Parmesan roasted Brussel sprouts; Caesar salad; fresh cranberry sauce; southern pecan pie.

Hubby and I each got an 8 point bucks two weeks ago. It appears we are having venison dishes all winter long. I may as well start it with Thanksgiving dinner.

[Ridgeway]

If you find plain stuffing/dressing to be too healthy, adding the following to the standard mix makes a phenomenal dish:

1) Cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage
2) Cooked and chopped bacon
3) Minced hard-boiled eggs
4) Celery, onion and water chestnut for flavor and a bit of crunch.

Moisten with homemade turkey stock -- use the neck, giblets (sans liver) and wing tips/whole wings for the stock -- and cook in the oven. Use the rest of the stock for gravy.

[XEleison]

When I was a kid, I couldn't stand the texture of water chestnuts. Now I'm a big fan! These additions sound good.

[Brett Bellmore]

I make a "red cooked" pork with lychee and water chestnuts, that's really great; The savory sweet sauce soaks into them, but they remain crunchy.

It's something like this, only in place of the hard boiled eggs I dump in a can of lychees and several cans of whole, not sliced, water chestnuts.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Boiled Lobster.

[Frank Drackman]

That’s just wrong in so many ways

[Bill Poser]

But delicious. And, although I don't recall reading about the consumption of lobster at the first Thanksgiving, lobster is a traditional New England food.

[Flight-ER-Doc]

Wagyu BBQ Brisket, smoked for 2 hours over cherry wood, then into a sous-vide for about 72 hours at 122-degrees.

Nice char, smoke ring, and fall-apart tender.

[Frank Drackman]

Wagyu’s nice…..Cherry wood… throw in an Old Fashioned and a Cigar…
“Flight” Doc? So a Flight Surgeon? A real Navy one or an Army/AirFarce poser? “ER Doc”? OK self explanatory, considered ER but 1: didn’t have the grades, 2: don’t like conscious Patients

Frank

[Flight-ER-Doc]

Board certified emergency physician, who started out as a fighter pilot (F4G Wild Weasels) in the only service worth a damn, the US Air Force. So it's Flighter doc. When I picked the handle there was some cut guy working fistfights called FighterDoc....

And I don't have much respect for most flight surgeons in any branch - after we had a guy in Germany who was Italian, trying to get his citizenship the easy way and had ..... poor English skills. His wife, who was very good looking was also a physician, and spoke English better so she'd get pulled away from her patients to translate despite not having attended the Aerospace Medical course.

A hell of a way to run a military.

26 years active and reserves, and only worked as a physician for three of them at the end - deployed to both of the septic tanks in the early 2000s

[Squire Al]

Not that unusual but Butternut Squash with Craisans, Onions, and Spinach

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/235814/roasted-butternut-squash-with-onions-spinach-and-craisins/

[Amulek]

Alton Brown's chipotle smashed sweet potatoes. Quick, easy, and certainly a twist on what most people are expecting.

Recipe: https://altonbrown.com/recipes/chipotle-smashed-sweet-potatoes/

[Dan Schiavetta]

My grandmother's apple pie could have been said to be "an unusual twist on a standard dish". It was awful -- she didn't cook it enough, the apples inside were dry, and a weird air space always developed under the paste-like crust. She was an Italian immigrant and this was probably her one attempt at American cuisine.

Of course we couldn't very well complain. As we tried to swallow it down, the crust sticking to the roofs of our mouths like Communion wafers, we told her how good it was, and she smiled approvingly.

[Sarcastr0]

Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish Recipe

2 cups whole raw cranberries, washed
1 small onion
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar (“red is a bit milder than white”)

Grind it all together; freeze till Thanksgiving.

Looks like pepto, but is a true savory treat with a lot of depth of flavor.

https://www.npr.org/2006/11/23/4176014/mama-stambergs-cranberry-relish-recipe

[JoeGoins]

Most people use herbs, fruits, or some type of brine to season their turkey. I am personally using bourbon (for the vanilla and caramel flavors), cranberry bitters, and a browning seasoning (for the color and Maillard flavors). Every 30min, I use a pastry brush and “paint” it onto the bird. Never done it with turkey, but it comes out pretty damn good on chicken.

The alcohol burns off, FYI.

[Swede425]

In every recipe that calls for cranberries (the devil's own berries), replace them with lingonberries.

You're welcome.

[Commenter_XY]

Professor Volokh, having a regular 'recipe swap' post every few weeks would be a good addition. There are lots of holidays, and lots of recipes. People love to eat good food.

[Commenter_XY]

Any VC Conspirators own dogs? You know, holiday cooking can be tough on your pooch. For example, no garlic, onions, raisins, macadamia nuts, nutmeg, etc. But the wonderful smells of the turkey cooking in the oven...poor pooch. They go crazy. No need to torment the dog with tasty food they cannot eat.

Commenter_XY to the rescue. Do you brine your turkey? Here is a 'pooch friendly' brine for your turkey, that will leave your turkey seriously flavorful. And it is stupendously easy. You already have everything in your pantry, probably. All of these spices are Ok for Fido.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/54614/turkey-brine/

Notes.
1 hour brine time per pound (20lb turkey, 20 hours sitting in brine). For pasture raised organic, it will cook a little quicker; be careful. You can baste with an additional spice(s), like rosemary, parsley, turmeric, ginger. I generally put the spices into melted butter, and baste the turkey. No more than 0.25 tsp of spice into one stick of melted butter.

[alexarafat]

One year, we had miso maple-glazed sweet potatoes instead of the usual marshmallow-topped version, and it was a game-changer! The umami from the miso balanced the sweetness perfectly. If you're looking for unique Thanksgiving dishes, you might find some inspiration at https://yiouyi.co/ — they have some great food-related finds!