What's cookin', good lookin'?

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

It's really not a bad cranberry sauce, and there is something about slicing the 'ribbed' cylinder after it's splurched out of the can that holds a certain appeal.

Besides, it's one less pan to wash up afterwards.

I do like that slicey slicey bit, yeah

 

[1sickbastard]

I do like that slicey slicey bit, yeah

Makes for lovely turkey sandwiches too!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Makes for lovely turkey sandwiches too!

Mmmmmm....
Turkey salad sandwiches with cranberry!!
That's what I'll be having tomorrow
I also make little tarts with small bits of every dinner component. More nom noms!

 

[1sickbastard]

Mmmmmm....
Turkey salad sandwiches with cranberry!!
That's what I'll be having tomorrow
I also make little tarts with small bits of every dinner component. More nom noms!

Nice!

Do you use the mashed 'taters to make your pie crusts.

Oh, and is your sweet 'tater casserole a sweet or a savory?

 

[IrisAlthea]

Lavender chicken?

That sounds...rather amazing. And I'd very much like to hear more about this lemon and vodka sauce!

Lavender chicken:
http://forum.literotica.com/showpost.php?p=64049871&postcount=1821

Lemon and vodka sauce is easy.
Zest one lemon and cut the flesh of it in filets and then smaller parts. Juice another lemon.
Simmer the cut up lemon with 2,5 dl cream and 1 dl vodka/grappa until it thickens a bit. Then take the pot from the heat and carefully stir in the lemon juice.
You may need som salt and pepper and I often need a drop of honey or pinch of suger because the lemons here are not Italian ones from the tree.
Let it simmer for another minute before mixing with drained pasta.
Sprinkle it all with lemon zest.

 

[DiskoTroop]

Oysters but they really arent cooking as I am eating them raw which is how they were intended to be eaten

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[DiskoTroop]

I love oysters. I also love that they are really diet friendly. You cannot feel deprived eating oysters.

Do you have a favorite variety? My dream job is to have my own farm

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Nice!

Do you use the mashed 'taters to make your pie crusts.

Oh, and is your sweet 'tater casserole a sweet or a savory?

No 'taters, just a regular short pie crust.

And the sweet potato casserole is sweet. Quite sweet! Brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, sweet potato mash, butter and milk, then topped with more brown sugar and butter, flour and pecans.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Endless_Night]

Thanksgiving in July!!

I love Thanksgiving dinner. Once a year just isn't enough! Therefore, every July I make a full Thanksgiving dinner, and so I have done tonight. Turkey, cornbread sage sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole (with the fried onions on top ), cranberry sauce, gravy, something else I can't remember...

Nom nom nom...

So what kicked off this July thing? I would have thought May more appropriate for a twice yearly event. Even spacing, you know.

 

[1sickbastard]

No 'taters, just a regular short pie crust.

And the sweet potato casserole is sweet. Quite sweet! Brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, sweet potato mash, butter and milk, then topped with more brown sugar and butter, flour and pecans.

My preference is to cook sweet potatoes as a savory dish, to offset the sweet.
Growing up, T-day sweet 'taters were always cooked with different sugars/sweeteners and I got to the point that I despised them at a very early age.

When I started doing T-day dinners with my friends and other wayward acquaintences in collage (people who for some reason or another weren't going 'home' for t-day, oor as we called it, Orphans Thanksgiving) I started cooking them myself, only with butter, garlic, pepper, salt and whatever fresh herbs I could lay hold. Never had much in the way of leftovers.

 

[LWulf]

Oysters but they really arent cooking as I am eating them raw which is how they were intended to be eaten

My dad used to tell me about when he was a youngun' and he and his mom would walk along the beach, she would pick up a muscle, wash it off in the ocean, then crack it open and ...slurp!

I have a certain appreciation for stuffed clams but I have to draw the line at raw oysters and muscles.

****​

As to the talk about thanksgiving in July, I'm all for it but again draw the line at cranberry sauce, canned or otherwise. Too tart for my tastes. Mind you, I don't mind some cranapple juice. I can take the tartness then just fine, but straight cranberry makes my eyes cross.
Hmm... maybe if the cranberry sauce had a slice of apple alongside it?

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[1sickbastard]

My dad used to tell me about when he was a youngun' and he and his mom would walk along the beach, she would pick up a muscle, wash it off in the ocean, then crack it open and ...slurp!

I have a certain appreciation for stuffed clams but I have to draw the line at raw oysters and muscles.

****​

As to the talk about thanksgiving in July, I'm all for it but again draw the line at cranberry sauce, canned or otherwise. Too tart for my tastes. Mind you, I don't mind some cranapple juice. I can take the tartness then just fine, but straight cranberry makes my eyes cross.
Hmm... maybe if the cranberry sauce had a slice of apple alongside it?

Depends on how one makes the sauce. I start by making and heating a sugar-brine solution, bringing it to a low boil, then adding the cranberries and cooking until it's reduced to the right consistency.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[1sickbastard]

Orange juice / rind and Cointreau, sweetened to taste here as a basic cranberry sauce. Sometimes I get overexcited and add lime and start turning the thing into a sea breeze. Depends on what I am stuffing with too and what my plans for left overs are but I try and pick up or compliment flavours through sauces and gravy. If I'm not organised its the basic orange thing.

Give it a try one time with a nice bit of ruby red grapefruit.

 

[1sickbastard]

I have heard a lot bout deep fried turkeys but.......seems terrifying to me. Do any of you lot do that? Consider, I am the woman who doesn't fry chicken.

Deep frying turkey is, imho, vastly over-rated.
The main draw for many folks is that the turkey meat is moist and tender, which implies they haven't a clue how to roast a bird in the oven. In addition, every year there is invariably a slew of reports of people burning either themselves or their houses (and often both) trying to deep fry a turkey. And both of those are apart from the fact that turkeys are currently bred to have plenty of fat, so deep-frying only makes the meat unnecessarily greasy.

I've never had any issues roasting a bird. In fact, I've been told by a number of people I cook a turkey better than their moms (including some of the moms).
As a bonus, I get all those tasty pan drippings for conversion into gravy, something one does not get with deep frying.

 

[desertslave]

Deep frying turkey is, imho, vastly over-rated.
The main draw for many folks is that the turkey meat is moist and tender, which implies they haven't a clue how to roast a bird in the oven. In addition, every year there is invariably a slew of reports of people burning either themselves or their houses (and often both) trying to deep fry a turkey. And both of those are apart from the fact that turkeys are currently bred to have plenty of fat, so deep-frying only makes the meat unnecessarily greasy.

I've never had any issues roasting a bird. In fact, I've been told by a number of people I cook a turkey better than their moms (including some of the moms).
As a bonus, I get all those tasty pan drippings for conversion into gravy, something one does not get with deep frying.

Master and I bicker about how to cook the turkey every year. He keeps talking about brining, and I politely roll my eyes. I never cared for my mom's usual approach, so I was determined to learn how to do it right when I was away at college. I bought my first copy of Joy of Cooking, and haven't looked back. I stuff the cavities with quartered apples, onions and herbs, season the skin with salt & pepper and give it a spray of good olive oil. It goes into a preheated 450 F oven for 15 minutes, then I drop the temp to 350 and roast it for 15 minutes per pound. It never fails to come out with crispy skin and moist, tender flesh.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[IrisAlthea]

Schnitzel,not coated but rubbed with garlic, salt, pepper and cumin and grilled seved with potatoe salad, cabbage salad, white radish salad and tomatoe salad.

Now for panna cotta with homemade rhubarb jam spiced with Pernod.

 

[1sickbastard]

Master and I bicker about how to cook the turkey every year. He keeps talking about brining, and I politely roll my eyes. I never cared for my mom's usual approach, so I was determined to learn how to do it right when I was away at college. I bought my first copy of Joy of Cooking, and haven't looked back. I stuff the cavities with quartered apples, onions and herbs, season the skin with salt & pepper and give it a spray of good olive oil. It goes into a preheated 450 F oven for 15 minutes, then I drop the temp to 350 and roast it for 15 minutes per pound. It never fails to come out with crispy skin and moist, tender flesh.

If I could only have a limited number of books in an end-of-civilization survival library, Joy of Cooking would be in the top five.
I never stuff the cavity though, except for a few fresh herbs. My "stuffing" (usually a homemade cornbread) gets spread around the rim of the roasting pan.

Yep, i can roast a moist bird. And gravy is the best bit.


Desertslave, bring a roasting bird is something else I have read a lot about but not done. I might try though, one day. I am curious enough to try that, but not the frying thing. I only recently ( four ish years ago) got a meat thermometre and its funny, i use it mainly to check the colour of the juices that come out of the hole I just made in the bird . Its done when its done.....same with jam themometre, I go buy that and I make membrillo. Cold saucer for me.

Brining a bird is integral to the deep-fry method, and also one reason some deep-fry attempts end in disaster (dropping a wet brined bird into a vat of boiling oil, and people get surprise when the concoction literally blows up in their face).
Considering how long it takes to properly brine a bird, then properly drain it before cooking, it actually takes more time and effort that just oven roasting.

I will admit to being very diligent using a meat thermometer to make sure it's cooked to proper temperature, and for the same reason I won't stuff the cavity; salmonella is no joke.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

So what kicked off this July thing? I would have thought May more appropriate for a twice yearly event. Even spacing, you know.

It all started one year when I told a friend I would cook him his favourite dinner for his birthday. I liked it so much I decided to keep the tradition! And Thanksgiving in July just sounds better than Thanksgiving in May

As for sweet potatoes, sweet, savoury, I love both. I'd eat both at one meal. Hold the turkey if my plate is getting too full of vegetables. I have not yet had a deep fried turkey. I have heard a lot bout deep fried turkeys but.......seems terrifying to me. Do any of you lot do that? Consider, I am the woman who doesn't fry chicken.

C'n'C, do you make pies too, in July?

I also like sweet potatoes a variety of ways, both sweet and savoury. I find them very versatile.
MWY - do not read this next part
No pies, though I did make an apple tart. I do not care for the traditional Thanksgiving pie of pumpkin, and given that I made the sweet potatoes sweet it seemed like overkill anyway.

Deep frying turkey is, imho, vastly over-rated.
The main draw for many folks is that the turkey meat is moist and tender, which implies they haven't a clue how to roast a bird in the oven. In addition, every year there is invariably a slew of reports of people burning either themselves or their houses (and often both) trying to deep fry a turkey. And both of those are apart from the fact that turkeys are currently bred to have plenty of fat, so deep-frying only makes the meat unnecessarily greasy.

I've never had any issues roasting a bird. In fact, I've been told by a number of people I cook a turkey better than their moms (including some of the moms).
As a bonus, I get all those tasty pan drippings for conversion into gravy, something one does not get with deep frying.

My brother deep fries them, and I like them that way for a few reasons. The turkey isn't breaded or battered, so it's really nothing like fried chicken to me, and therefore totally different. I like totally different He injects instead of brining, so the flavour is pretty darn good. Also, if he's doing it, I don't have to cook one

Yep, i can roast a moist bird. And gravy is the best bit.


Desertslave, bring a roasting bird is something else I have read a lot about but not done. I might try though, one day. I am curious enough to try that, but not the frying thing. I only recently ( four ish years ago) got a meat thermometre and its funny, i use it mainly to check the colour of the juices that come out of the hole I just made in the bird . Its done when its done.....same with jam themometre, I go buy that and I make membrillo. Cold saucer for me.

I think you should brine a bird once just to check it out. You can brine a chicken pretty easily. I like brining and then roasting a chicken, it's a great way to introduce some subtle flavour. And it results in a really juicy bird.

The big hoohah in the press here this week was not to eat rare duck because it is as dangerous as pink chicken.

( fwiw I HAVE had food poisoning from shellfish and do admit it put me off for a while. Once was oysters ( not prepped at home) , once was prawns . I didn't eat prawns for a year...)

The one that freaks me out is squab I am a pretty adventurous eater, but I really, really don't want to eat bird that rare. I just don't see the draw? It just turns me off. Possibly I haven't done it correctly, somebody convince me to try again?

And another vote for Joy of Cooking Not just any Joy, but my particular copy (full of hand written notes!) and my particular edition. Someone actually bought me a newer edition, but I gave it away when I found myself always passing it over for my original.

 

[LWulf]

Frankly I can't stomach anything "wet" (which should be taken as FOOD Gianbattista. heh) I have to have turkey, dry. I've never deep fried a turkey before but my understanding of it as I have watched people doing it numerous times, is that you should never put it in the deep frier when it is frozen or anything near that. Otherwise, it shouldn't be an issue.

Spaghetti is another thing, if I find a water puddle at the bottom of my plate, it just turns my stomach for some reason.

It might be prudent to point out that any time I've seen deep frying turkey being done, it was done outside and the person never stood over it while putting it in the heated oil. Naturally don't ever "drop it in."

As to what you described about your days of youthful encounters Gianbattista, I have to say I've heard the same tired jokes from my dad since I was old enough to hear such jokes. Let me assure you what I swallow as in eat, is much different than where my lips and tongue have gone. While a woman might make snap decisions based on what I eat, I can't help that and she would be missing on a possible good time based on myth-conception.


1Sickbastard, I'm not sure if I've had a home made cranberry sauce before. Likely my mother would have made it at least once or twice, though I know I've seen a canned version more often than not. I wouldn't turn my nose up at trying your recipe, but my gut feeling (no pun intended) is I would be better to try a creative alternative.