What special dish do you make for Turkey Day?

Cajun Eggplant ratatouille.  A variation of the traditional French ratatouille because I add okra,  Cajun andiouille sausage, Tony Chachere's seasoning, and leave out tomatoes and zucchini.  Plus lots of garlic, butter and olive oil.       

We are doing the same thing we did last year. Just picking up a mostly-prepared meal. A good friend of mine is coming down, so it will just be the three of us. No reason for Alli to spend all day in the kitchen making so much food we end up wasting it because we can't get through all the leftovers before they go bad. 

We went with Whole Foods this time, pick it up on Wednesday. 

Beef Wellington, Brussel Sprouts, Creamed Spinach and truffled mash potatoes. And I think we are picking up a pie from this great place down in the Plaza District. 

My Thanksgiving items are pretty classic but I've got my recipes that make them special.

I always make a mac and cheese. Start with a simple roux, add half and half (it's not a health food), season to taste with salt, lots of pepper, garlic powder, an paprika. For the cheese mix you want mostly cheddar, a little crap cheese (velveeta or singles, something processed and orange), and smoked gouda. The smoked gouda is what really knocks it up a notch.

Pecan pie I do the recipe on the corn syrup bottle, but I always add 1/2 tsp of almond extract, it kicks up the nuttiness and makes it taste like the holidays. 

My mom's noodle pudding is the best and makes Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving. It's sweet and savory, both crunchy and moist. 

We were assigned desserts this year. I helped with the apple pie. I have the bandage on my finger to prove it.

My family is pretty "meat-and-potatoes" but every year I'm asked to bring my Kale chips.  You take a big bag of kale leaves, dump it in a big ziplock with about 1/2 cup of coconut oil and 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast.  Salt and pepper.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 until the kale starts to get charred tips.

Seriously good stuff.  Tastes nothing like kale, which is good, because kale has few redeeming qualities.  It's the only way I've found to get the health benefits of kale that actually tastes good.

In reply to J.A. Ackley :

German pickled red cabbage sounds like an amazing Thanksgiving side! The conventional holiday flavor spread is usually wanting for a touch of acidity.

Couple of years ago when making a turkey breast (we have a small family) was to line the bottom of the roasting pan with new potato slices.  Drizzled them with olive oil, garlic and whatever salty spice mix I had handy.  The juices from the turkey breast (brined beforehand) were soaked up by the potatoes as they cooked.

What started as a "wonder what this will taste like" experiment has now become a staple in our house.  Especially proud of it as my wife prefers mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and the roasted ones have now become her favorite.

I'm thinking about adding the carrots to the bottom of the pan this year, but haven't decided yet.

-Rob

Cornbread just out of the oven and cooling. From experience you want to cook it the night before because breaking up hot cornbread by hand sucks and it stays hot for a long time. 

Done. I put bacon in the dressing and used it's grease to make a bacon milk gravy. 

In reply to Stampie :

Awww yeah I'm coming over! 

CAinCA said:

I make an adult version of Mac and Cheese. Bacon, onion, garlic, cheese and penne pasta. It started out as a request for something different from my MIL. I took it as a personal mission and it never goes to waste. 

I have never had anything pasta based at Thanksgiving but that sounds goooood. Especially if it has whole cloves in it.

We used to make Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing  every year. Our kids don't like stuffing

*record scratch*

Best stuffing I ever had was, crazily enough, White Castle stuffing.  Not the stuffing mix, actually going to White Castle, getting a bunch of burgers, and chopping it all up into stuffing.

Amazingly good.

Not that special 'cause it's made more than once a year, Cranberry Sauce.

In reply to Katie Wilson :

We also did a Mac& cheese this year. Im still looking for the perfect recipe.

Today's had butter, half&half, Gruyère and sharp cheddar. Half the cheese gets melted and mixed in, and the other half gets layered in the middle and on top. 

I tried a smoked mac&cheese with mozzarella and cheddar for a cookout last summer  and that was good, but lacking...something. I'm thinking if I had time it would be good to cook the latest recipe on the smoker instead of the oven. 

Cottage cheese is incredible when used as a partial substitute for milk/cream.  Just sayin'.

Ball meat loafs turned out well

Thanksgiving dinner today at a great place in Palm Desert. Drinks afterwards at The Nest in Indian Wells. (Great cougar bar for you single guys). Now back at the Coyote Inn drinking wine by the firepit.

Since 2015 we've been going to a place called Ford Field for a midday meal called The Lions Suck.

Not made, but the turkey I ordered from Greenberg smoked turkeys was incredible.  Leftovers are just as good.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

One of the few redeeming characteristics of kale is deer seem to like it.

Tonight was Thanksgiving part 2 and, yeah, it's the noodle kugel that makes it all so special. (Well, that and family.)

Javelin said:

In reply to Stampie :

Awww yeah I'm coming over! 

Not so fast as I wasn't totally happy. 

One of the perks of cooking for yourself is that you get to experiment without others telling you that you suck. I tried some experimenting this year. The main experiment was going for more of a Maillard reaction with more crust around the edges. To do that I heated up the pan in the oven just like you do with cornbread. Mistake number 1. The second mistake I made was after cooking the cornbread in my 12 inch cast iron I decided there was too much stuff added to fit in there. So I cooked the dressing in the 15 inch cast iron. 

These two mistakes combined into a crust with no moisture and a too thin dressing not able to make up for it.  So what do you do?  Throw it all out and drown your tears in whiskey?  Hell No!  We can fix this!

Unlike an over cooked steak we can remake dressing. I grabbed all the leftovers and threw them in the mixing bowl. 

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Added the leftover chicken stock to get it moist again.

Then I grabbed a deeper not as wide cast iron pan from my Mama (German grandmother) and filled it back up. It's in the oven now cooking. 

Ranger50 said:

The only redeeming quality of my ex is that she could make some damn good deviled eggs.  Oh and she gave me a son.

Waiting for it to cool down.

Ok twice? Trice? Baked dressing is damn good. I got the Maillard reaction I wanted but by rebaking again I also get the moist texture. Let's just say I'm in my happy zone.