Your Typical Thanksgiving feast menu

[Ernest]

Let's hear them.
I'm always stuck with cooking feasts. I keep promising myself to quit cooking and get invited to somebody's house but they all invite themselves to my house.
Conversations goes like "hey what time should we come over" hahahaha.
Anyway, I don't do traditional Thanksgiving as I despise turkey.
So I go for lamb shanks or oxtail as the star then do chicken, sausages. I throw in sausage and apple cornbread stuffing (for a slight traditional twist) mascarpone mashed potatoes.
We snack on rice balls made with chicken hearts and gizzards while we drink and watch football.

This year I'm doing

• lamb shanks AND oxtail (both special requests)
• ribs
• chicken (I wish I could find a 12 lbs chicken)
• Peanut buttered spinach (special request)
• Mediterranean rice
• duck fat mashed potatoes
• My chocolate cake (special request)
• A barrel of bourbon

[Henrik]

Well, I don't have too much to add in terms of a menu as we don't celebrate it where I live, but I'm really curious as to how you cook/grill the oxtail. I have made soup on it, but would love to hear your take on it.

[tbob4]

What? No Thanksgiving where you live? Ha!

[Ernest]

I have been pondering about smoking oxtail one of these days.
I braise it in beer, coconut milk (Jamaican style curry) or beef stock.
season with salt, brown in cast iron skillet.



Saute diced onions, big chunks of carrots, an obscene amount of garlic (whole). About half a cup of tomato paste, get that nice and browned.
If I'm making a curry then I add curry powder to the aromatics, add the meat back, add a 16 ounce can of coconut milk plus additional beef stock to bring the liquid just halfway up the meat.
Add bay leaf and some fresh thyme if braising with beer, I love xingu.
Goes in a 325 oven until fork tender, about 3 hours.
Then I strain the liquid and use as a sauce

It's a very flavorful cut of meat, doesn't need any spices.

[Beefchop]

Sweet mother of meat!

[smarkley]

Last year for Thanksgiving I was recovering from a Mitral valve replacement, and do not even remember Thanksgiving. I don't think I smoked anything, but I was home... LOL

This year we got asked to join other family members for a Thanksgiving Feast Potluck and they all requested that I smoke a Turkey... no problem (just as long as it is warmer than 10 deg F - I am sick of this cold weather), I will probably make a gravy too. And one turkey has turned into two small ones, spatchcocked.

Also, I am thinking of bringing some ABTs that are hotter than hades... just 'cause it would be fun LOL

I should revise that >> just 'cause it would be fun to watch certain family members squirm and break into a sweat! LOL

[Marauderer]

Smarkley, you have a mean streak in you!!

[Ernest]

LOL!! Smarkley belongs in a James Bond movie as a villain.

[smarkley]

Hahahahaha... thanks guys!

[_Keith]

We're putting together our menu now. I'm handling the turkey (which I never really liked until Amazing Ribs came along and showed me the error of my ways). Going to do something a little different this year. I bought two 14 pounders, and I'll be separating the dark half (legs and thighs) from the light half.
Dark half will get cured, then smoked, Renaissance Faire/Disney style.
One breast will get injected with butter and go in the smoker with the dark half.
The other breast will be deep fried. My sister loves what it does to the skin.

Meanwhile, everyone else is responsible for everything else. Looks like we'll have stuffing, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, unspecified Chinese dishes (my brother is a bit non-traditional), sweet potato something irrelevant to me because sweet potatoes are a cruel mockery of the glorious potato so I ignore them, homemade bread, probably a token vegetable or two.

[Ernest]

I was with you until you disrespected the sweet potato!!!

[Mayhem Mike]

Baked sweet potato with brown sugar and butter! Yesss!!

[Miscad]

Can you offer a recipe and/ or advice on deep frying a bone-in turkey breast? I’ve never done it before and am wondering about brining, injecting, etc.
TIA

[FLBuckeye]

Ultimate Turkey, drunken cranberries (mother in law LOVES them), garlic mashed potatoes, and some crunchy french style green beans. All AR recipes.

[DWCowles]

We don't do nothing fancy just the traditional Thanksgiving feast like turkey, dressing, gravy, green beans, mash potatoes, mac and cheese, butter rolls, and whatever the guess brings plus pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, cherry pie and lots of whip cream.

[Marauderer]

My wife said since it is just her and I that we are having Steak and Lobster, corn on the cob, french fried onion rings, relish tray, fresh sauteed green beans, hand grenade rolls, and wine, For dessert it will be strawberry shortcake with ice cream and whipped cream.

[_Keith]

Your wife sounds like my kind of people

[Marauderer]

She has been around with me for 50 yrs now. My best friend!!

[Marauderer]

My wife said since it is just her and I that we are having Steak and Lobster, corn on the cob, french fried onion rings, relish tray, fresh sauteed green beans, hand grenade rolls, and wine, For dessert it will be strawberry shortcake with ice cream and whipped cream.

And yes we will be "Food Pigs" about it!!

[Ernest]

That's the way to do it, Marauderer!!

[Ernest]

I have 10 adults and 7 kids to cater to!!! This is where those hotel pans come in handy. LOL

[Ernest]

My prep has started, found a baby bird, weigh about 8.45 Lbs. Rubbed it down with a combo of duck fat and Herbs De Provence.
This bird says "lightly seasoned with sea salt" so I skipped my dry brining process. Not sure what "slightly seasoned" is.

[Ernest]

Got two of my dishes done....