Share your favorite Thanksgiving recipes here!

Even though the practice of gorging oneself on (American) Thanksgiving is pretty widespread, I'm always fascinated by the small differences in each traditional family meal. Some people roast the turkey, some brine it first, some deep fat fry the turkey, some people don't even serve turkey at all, but rather ham or chicken. Or tofu.

Some people like their sweet potatoes sweetened with brown sugar and marshmallows, others like them spiced with cayenne pepper and toasted. My dad likes his cranberry sauce right out of a can and sliced into jello-ish rings, and my wife much prefers home made cranberry sauce with whipped cream and raisins. I prefer the stuffing that's cooked inside the bird, and my mother prefers the dressing that is baked outside the bird but with the giblets thrown in.

I'm a huge fan of apple pie but I intentionally avoid pumpkin pie, and my brother is the exact opposite.

My favorite dish happens to be the broccoli salad that I think my wife got from an old Weight Watchers book. Some broccoli mixed with raisins, vinegar, mayo, and onions makes the perfect light, fresh taste to offset the heavy gravy, buttery potatoes, and green bean casserole all competing for space in my munchie cave.

That and, if you have not tried it yet, brining a turkey is TOTALLY worth the time and hassle.

What is your favorite dish / recipe to mark the beginning of 30 days of overeating?

I wont call it a "favorite", but Cranberry Sauce.
1 C Water
1 C Sugar
12 oz (standard bag) of cranberries

heat sugar and water in a pan until boiling, add cranberries.
Cook ~5 minutes until all berries have "popped"
Run through straining device if you don't like the chunk bits.

I loathe canned sauce, and it is so easy to make I have trouble believing people buy the canned crap.

I don't know what the recipe is but my girlfriend mother makes a scalloped corn which is fantastic.

I also don't have the recipe here, but my mom makes this super-decadent corn casserole with monterey jack, jalapenos and cheddar

1 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz Kahlua
3/4 oz cream

Quintin_Stone wrote:

1 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz Kahlua
3/4 oz cream

I like your style, dude.

1 Sister whose husband's parents are getting a divorce and not being nice
2 siblings who gang up on you every year
1 grandmother convinced that her great granddaughter is not eating enough
1 mother telling you to not to cause any trouble every 5 minutes
1 father telling you to keep it together for your mother
1 niece who's very self-centered but only 3

let sit and bake for 1 hour dinner

Perfect recipe for disaster.

wordsmythe wrote:

I like your style, dude.

Well, I dig your style too, man. Got the whole cowboy thing goin'.

Hm, I usually only do desserts. Common requests are pumpkin pie (of course) and eggnog pie.
I'll have to dig out my recipes.

St.Hillary wrote:

Hm, I usually only do desserts. Common requests are pumpkin pie (of course) and eggnog pie.
I'll have to dig out my recipes.

Eggnog pie? Oh do share! I love pie! I love Eggnong!

An old family recipe from Mom's side. Rumor has it her ancestors may have been at the first Thanksgiving. I am sure this recipe has been altered over time.

1 butternut squash halved with seeds scooped out
butter
maple syrup
nutmeg
cinnamon

Score the squash then sprinkle it with the spices. Put some pats of butter on it and then drizzle with the syrup.
Bake until tender and enjoy!

Kiri wrote:

An old family recipe from Mom's side. Rumor has it her ancestors may have been at the first Thanksgiving. I am sure this recipe has been altered over time.

1 butternut squash halved with seeds scooped out
butter
maple syrup
nutmeg
cinnamon

Score the squash then sprinkle it with the spices. Put some pats of butter on it and then drizzle with the syrup.
Bake until tender and enjoy!

Hmm, my friends family does something similiar with Acorn Squash, butter and brown sugar without the scorching part...
Do you scorch the freshly scooped out insides, the outside or both?

Oddly enough, we have such a demand for my wife's cooking (I help too!) that we wind up having TWO thanksgivings. One on thursday for the family and one on friday for the friends (and my father who HATES Large family gatherings on account of his nervousness around large crowds. This works out awesome cause then we have actual leftovers saturday (since the vultures my wife calls kin usually descend to the family gather sans food but with tons of tupperware...honestly, who does that?!)

My recipe for Thanksgiving is quite simple. 1 wife + 1 kitchen = good food. I'm a lucky guy to have married a talented cook, because I can only cook things that come in a box and go in the microwave.

Benticore, I want to come to your house for Thanksgiving!

*EDIT* My wife saw that I put Jiffy corn meal in the recipe for the dressing and cursed me up and down like I had stole the rent money and put it on the horses. Fixed and shamed appropriately.

1) The Turkey via Brine Method This produces the BEST turkeys I've ever had, bar none and is VERY had to screw up. The 2nd year we made this at my wife's sisters house, we roasted the bird for over 6 hours (we had the thermometer on Celsius instead of Fahrenheit so it would've never hit 160F) and that bird STILL came out juicy and crazy good.

IMAGE(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs110.snc3/15756_187781537828_824847828_2815564_4684980_n.jpg)

2) My Wife's 6 cheese baked macaroni. There are elements in her family who think that anything more than macaroni and velveeta is bourgeois but I say EFF EM.

3) Orange Cranberry Sauce - Like the one above except you use some high quality orange juice round out the flavor just a bit. I'll have to have my wife tell me the recipe for posting later.

4) Jalapeno Cranberry Relish - For the turkey, this is absolute heaven. The fresh, tart, sweet spicy kick goes so damn good with the succulent roast turkey.

5) Apple Sausage Cornbread Dressing - Super Family favorite and perfect match to the turkey. Stuffing goes inside the bird, dries out the meat and is a crime against humanity. Dressing is baked separately and is the choice of kings and queens everywhere. The key to this is to bake your own cornbread first (One pan of white (NOT INSTANT) and one Yellow pan of Corn Meal) and dont try and cheap out by using cornbread croutons, which in some areas of the south will get you burned at the stake.

6) Apple Brand spinach with bacon wrapped scallops - We've done this every year and every year there is a fight over the last scallop. I am okay with this.

7) Amaretto Sweet Potato Pie - This is ALMOST as good as the mother in laws sweet potato pie but we've never been able to duplicate hers so we just do our own thing!

8) Three Layer German Chocolate Cake - Mother in law makes this every year and she wont be in town so none for me but it might be the most incredible dessert I've ever had.

9) Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes - Pretty much what it says. Roast a sh*t ton of garlic, salt the water before boiling the potatoes, drain, butter, salt, pepper, sour cream, garlic, SMASH!, eat, pass out.

The Caramel Cake, Collard Greens, Oyster Cornbread Stuffing, and fresh dinner rolls all get honorable mention.

...HOT DAMN, is it Thanksgiving yet?!?

Nosferatu wrote:

Hmm, my friends family does something similiar with Acorn Squash, butter and brown sugar without the scorching part...
Do you scorch the freshly scooped out insides, the outside or both?

We score not scorch

Benticore wrote:

1) The Turkey via Brine Method This produces the BEST turkeys I've ever had, bar none and is VERY had to screw up. The 2nd year we made this at my wife's sisters house, we roasted the bird for over 6 hours (we had the thermometer on Celsius instead of Fahrenheit so it would've never hit 160F) and that bird STILL came out juicy and crazy good.

IMAGE(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs110.snc3/15756_187781537828_824847828_2815564_4684980_n.jpg)

Brined turkey is definitely the way to go. Another trick I learned last year is to use your hands to gently separate the skin from the meat (not taking it off, and not breaking the skin, just creating some separation), and salt/pepper/oil the meat directly. This makes the skin crisper, and better flavors the meat itself.

Alright, pulled out the recipe book.

Eggnog pie

You will need:
1 baked 9" pie shell
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3 T. cold water
2 c. eggnog
1 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. rum flavoring

Soften the gelatin in cold water while you warm the eggnog over direct, low heat. Stir in gelatin until completely dissolved. Let mixture chill until partially set, and then beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream until it's stiff, then add your sugar, salt and flavorings. Fold the cream into the eggnog mixture, then pour it into the prepared pie shell. Chill for a few hours until it's set, garnish with nutmeg if you so desire. Then eat!

Easy recipe. My family can never get enough of it.

Nosferatu wrote:

I wont call it a "favorite", but Cranberry Sauce.
1 C Water
1 C Sugar
12 oz (standard bag) of cranberries

heat sugar and water in a pan until boiling, add cranberries.
Cook ~5 minutes until all berries have "popped"
Run through straining device if you don't like the chunk bits.

I loathe canned sauce, and it is so easy to make I have trouble believing people buy the canned crap.

This is also how I make cranberry sauce except I add in about 2-3 tablespoons of cinnamon. I like cinnamon.

Kiri wrote:
Nosferatu wrote:

Hmm, my friends family does something similiar with Acorn Squash, butter and brown sugar without the scorching part...
Do you scorch the freshly scooped out insides, the outside or both?

We score not scorch

LOL sorry inner pyro coming out I think.... I even read that a couple of times because I thought it sounded weird.

I'll either make a pumpkin cheesecake or (if I can find some key limes) a key lime cheesecake. I can post the recipes later.

I like my stuffing outside and baked in the oven (using Stove Top of course.....I do cheat!!) and I'll make what we call "sweet potato casserole--that's with the coconut/brown sugar/marshmallows" for MrTomaytoHead since he really likes that dish.

He does the turkey since I'm doing all of the side dishes.............except the collard greens that my mom will do because I can't have Thanksgiving without those; but since my husband doesn't like to claim his true southern roots, he won't touch them!

St.Hillary wrote:

Alright, pulled out the recipe book.

Eggnog pie

You will need:
1 baked 9" pie shell
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3 T. cold water
2 c. eggnog
1 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. rum flavoring

Soften the gelatin in cold water while you warm the eggnog over direct, low heat. Stir in gelatin until completely dissolved. Let mixture chill until partially set, and then beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream until it's stiff, then add your sugar, salt and flavorings. Fold the cream into the eggnog mixture, then pour it into the prepared pie shell. Chill for a few hours until it's set, garnish with nutmeg if you so desire. Then eat!

Easy recipe. My family can never get enough of it.

I wrote this one down and can't wait to give it a try!

I make pretty decent stuffing, though it looks disgusting when you make it. I'd put in proper measurements, but I've been making this since I was 12 and usually just eyeball it.

8 slices of whole wheat toast (cut up into squares)
yellow mustard (enough that the mixture looks yellowy and gross)
ground sage (lots)
onions (a small to medium red onion)
pumpkin seeds (shelled, about a handful - maybe more)
celery (2 stalks worth at least)
cilantro (chopped)
pepper (a pinch, maybe two if you really like pepper)
various herbs (season to taste)
milk (start with a shot glass worth, add more if you need it)
2 eggs (beaten)

Beat the eggs, toss in all the other ingredients except the toast and mix that up. If it looks disgusting, you did it right - then add toast and mix until coated. Add more of anything but egg or toast until the toast squares are uniformly coated and the toast is just getting a bit soggy on the outside. Stuff it in the bird (which has been rinsed out!) tie the legs together and pop it in the oven.

Even the picky eaters I know will eat this and go back for seconds. And gravy will make it look nicer. All food ever looks better with lots of gravy!

Pecan Pie.

boogle wrote:

Pecan Pie.

Boogle we all know this is a lie, you never get any pie.

Brining the Turkey the night before is definitely the way to go. We've used two different Alton Brown recipes before smoking, each of them turned out great. I could only find the honey recipe but theres another with cloves, oranges and cider.

Honey Brine:
- 1 gallon hot water
- 1 pound kosher salt
- 2 quarts veggie broth (make it yourself if you have time)
- 1 pound honey
- turkey and vegetable oil for rubbing the skin

I'm gonna try making a variation on Eggnog pie using Alton Brown's cooked eggnog recipe and adding cornstarch to thicken it up.

I am kinda curious, where do they put rum in eggnog? That seems very strange. Bourbon 4 lyfe, yo.

PyromanFO wrote:

I am kinda curious, where do they put rum in eggnog? That seems very strange. Bourbon 4 lyfe, yo.

My family puts rum in egg nog, I definitely prefer bourbon though.

I swear by the brined turkey as well. My variation is to drape a wine and butter soaked piece of cheesecloth over the turkey's breast until the last hour or so.

This year I'm making apple pandowdy for dessert. (The recipe is in the video.) It's a snap to make, especially if you get store bought dough, and it's really good.

So, funny story. A number of years back, I made strawberry chiffon pie for Thanksgiving. It was sooooo good, light and fluffy, literally melted on the tongue. Made it again the next year, wasn't quite as perfect that time but still good. Haven't made it since.

Fast forward to this year, I decided I want to make it again. Couldn't for the life of me remember where I got the recipe the first time. Crud. So I go looking online, tons of recipes, but none that sound quite right. So I head into my room and I notice a cookbook on my shelf. Didn't really think much of it, but I figured, never know. Pull it down, check the index, and yep, there's a strawberry chiffon pie recipe in there. Go to flip to the indicated page... book opens right to the exact page. And it's the exact recipe I'd used years before. Shazzam!

Also gonna try my hand at pecan pie too. This despite the fact that I'll probably not be attending our family Thanksgiving event. My mom is not likely to attend either, in any case. Dad'[s on call (locksmith) on Thanksgiving, so we won't be going to my sister's that night. So she decided to have her in laws over instead and is going to have the family thing on Saturday. One problem with that - dad's on call Saturday too.

There's more to it than all that, but suffice it to say, mom is none too pleased with sister right now, so yeah. Then on top of that, my other sister is mad at my mom because she won't attend a Christmas thing with my brother, who my mother is exceptionally displeased with at the moment. Always a fun time around the family during the holidays. Is it any wonder why I skip the damn things?