Thanksgiving Meal Prep

Today's the heavy lifting day. Wash the tablecloths, set out the dishes, make mashed potatoes, make the pumpkin pie, make the brine and get the bird soaking, mop the floors... Eggs are boiling for deviled eggs and I'll be prepping potatoes to boil and mash next.
 
trailhugger said:
Eggs are boiling for deviled eggs and I'll be prepping potatoes to boil and mash next.
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Have you ever tried steaming your eggs? I steam them and put them immediately in an ice bath. The most perfect peeling eggs I've ever worked with. Good on you with the homemade mashed potatoes. My wife told me to pick up the store bought pre made ones, but I came home with some Yukon golds that will be shown some butter and sour cream love…
 
92_SquareEye said:
Have you ever tried steaming your eggs? I steam them and put them immediately in an ice bath. The most perfect peeling eggs I've ever worked with. Good on you with the homemade mashed potatoes. My wife told me to pick up the store bought pre made ones, but I came home with some Yukon golds that will be shown some butter and sour cream love…
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Interesting... How long do you steam them and is it steam only or do you submerge them? I usually just turn the heat off, once they are boiling, and cover them for 15 minutes or so but I do put them in an ice bath and then back in the fridge until I'm ready to peel them and make the filling.

I just got my workout, :lol: mashing 5# of reds! I use The Pioneer Woman method but mix them with butter, sour cream, and plain whole milk yogurt instead of cream cheese.

From this:

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To this:
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They'll hang out in the fridge until tomorrow and then I'll bake them with a little more butter on top!
 
trailhugger said:
Interesting... How long do you steam them and is it steam only or do you submerge them? I usually just turn the heat off, once they are boiling, and cover them for 15 minutes or so but I do put them in an ice bath and then back in the fridge until I'm ready to peel them and make the filling.
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It is just like boiling them, but is a more gentle approach. Softer whites and creamier yolks. I steam in a strainer basket over medium heat boiling water for 12 to 14 minutes, then ice bath...
 
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Y'all would have to consult the wife....this is her expertise...I am just going to try not burn down anything with the bird.
 
trailhugger said:
Interesting... How long do you steam them and is it steam only or do you submerge them? I usually just turn the heat off, once they are boiling, and cover them for 15 minutes or so but I do put them in an ice bath and then back in the fridge until I'm ready to peel them and make the filling.

I just got my workout, :lol: mashing 5# of reds! I use The Pioneer Woman method but mix them with butter, sour cream, and plain whole milk yogurt instead of cream cheese.

From this:

View attachment 280376

To this:
View attachment 280377

They'll hang out in the fridge until tomorrow and then I'll bake them with a little more butter on top!
Click to expand...
You and my wife speak the same language. "Pioneer Woman".
 
92_SquareEye said:
It is just like boiling them, but is a more gentle approach. Softer whites and creamier yolks. I steam in a strainer basket over medium heat boiling water for 12 to 14 minutes, then ice bath...
Click to expand...


I agree. I eat like 3 a day steamed and I like them much better. I use an egg cooker, which steams them and it works awesome and is consistent.
 
I love the smell of smoke wood in the morning. Apple wood to be specific...

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Bird was brined for 18 hours, rinsed, softened butter rubbed under the skin, and then rubbed with a poultry rub.
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Apple cider glaze made for the bird...

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Smoked turkey, roasted root vegetables, sausage cornbread stuffing, cheeses sliced potatoes with an onion butter/Tabasco sauce, homemade cranberry sauce, deviled eggs and Hawaiian sweet rolls,

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WARRIORWELDING said:
You and my wife speak the same language. "Pioneer Woman".
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Her version isn't always my favorite but I don't think I've tried a recipe of hers I didn't like. Like Alton Brown, I look to her stuff for method more than ingredients. Specifically, her instructions to mash potatoes over low heat to let the steam out and get them smooth and fluffy is :cool:. I prefer AB's method for roasting a turkey over hers (results are close enough not to matter but his way is faster and easier). Her bourbon-glazed carrots, however, I follow to the letter because they are tits.

I found her blog way back in it's infancy and, although I've never actually seen her show, I have several of her cookbooks.
 
Bump- t'is almot the season.

Actually just went searching for @trailhugger cranberry sauce recipe. We've always done cranberry jello deal from a can and its good enough, but I like to add one new experiemental dish each year and this year its the homemade cranberry sawce.

If it sucks, IM blaming you Cyd
 
Black Bear said:
What do yall brine your bird in? A cooler or something else.


I'm going to take my smoker to the folks place and smoke the bird.
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It's just me and the Mrs. so we get a bone in turkey breast instead of a whole bird. I brine it in a 3 gallon ziplock bag. The bagged, brined turkey goes in the beer fridge in the garage in the vegetable crisper
 
Black Bear said:
What do yall brine your bird in? A cooler or something else.


I'm going to take my smoker to the folks place and smoke the bird.
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We have a Bayou Classic turkey fryer pot we use to brine. We rearrange the refrigerator shelves so it fits, but then it's an excuse to clean it out. :lol:
 
Ron said:
Bump- t'is almot the season.

Actually just went searching for @trailhugger cranberry sauce recipe. We've always done cranberry jello deal from a can and its good enough, but I like to add one new experiemental dish each year and this year its the homemade cranberry sawce.

If it sucks, IM blaming you Cyd
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nc4x4.com

Thanksgiving Meal Prep

We're hosting my family for the third year in a row and I'm getting my game plan together. Turkey is thawing and I've got the short list written up for the next four days. Today's agenda includes making the cranberry sauce and a sour cream crust for the pumpkin pie. Pics and recipes to follow...
nc4x4.com nc4x4.com

For anyone else who doesn't want to search. It's a winner... I make a bunch and we eat it with poultry or meatloaf all the time.
 
Black Bear said:
What do yall brine your bird in? A cooler or something else.


I'm going to take my smoker to the folks place and smoke the bird.
Click to expand...

I have done it a few ways.... Now, I typically put it in a 5gal bucket in the garage fridge. In the past I have use the oven/big ziplock bags full, in an alum pan. I have friends with those fancy coolers that do the bag in a cooler with ice. Put it in the shade, and the ice easily lasts a week.


On a similar topic..... I have to thaw my birds out. Going to put them in the beer fridge in the next few days, to give plenty of time, to brine also.... It got me thinking. Has anyone put a frozen bird, in their brine solution, to try and knock a little time off? I know that it wont absorb brine while frozen, but the water will thaw it faster, and you likely save a day or 2 in the process. Just thinking out loud.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
On a similar topic..... I have to thaw my birds out. Going to put them in the beer fridge in the next few days, to give plenty of time, to brine also.... It got me thinking. Has anyone put a frozen bird, in their brine solution, to try and knock a little time off? I know that it wont absorb brine while frozen, but the water will thaw it faster, and you likely save a day or 2 in the process. Just thinking out loud.
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I brine for 18 hours and almost always have to struggle to get the giblets out bc the cavity isn't completely thawed when it goes in the pot and I leave them until it's done in the brine. Let us know how it works, though. ;)
 
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trailhugger said:
I brine for 18 hours and almost always have to struggle to get the giblets out bc the cavity isn't completely thawed when it goes in the pot and I leave them until it's done in the brine. Let us know how it works, though. ;)
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Ain't it the truth! A couple WEEKS in the fridge and still have the thaw the gullet to get the giblets out!
This years birds (1 "Jenny-O" that's been in the big freezer since last years sales and another locally grown free ranger) have been in the fridge for a week now and showing zero signs of thawing...

rockcity said:
Am I the only one that doesn’t/never has done a brine?

Good seasoning and a good roast or fry works really well.
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Typically, I just inject (whatever concoction trips my fancy) and marinade (cheapo Zesty Italian) for a week... followed by a 3minute/# dunk in the "hottub", but may brine one this year?
 
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