Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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Home > posts > 2018 > 11 > 2018-11-22_Thanksgiving.html
Thanksgiving 2018
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Meredith and I decided to host Thanksgiving this year since we didn't want to travel with Caroline. I also wanted to do it since I never really got to host something all by myself.
I did the majority of the planning via a Google Doc, which is also attached as Excel, csv, or zip.
I will go into specific details for each item.
The full list is below, with links to the respective sites as needed.
I had to serve some of the cheese and crackers on Wednesday when everyone arrived hungry. I also put out some of the other stuff earlier on Thursday because people were hungry then, too.
I made this on Saturday so it had ample time to (a) get less spicy and (b) let the flavors meld.
Meredith made this right before serving. Since all of the ovens were being used, she couldn't toast the bread. Instead, she used some leftover gluten-free Panko, which worked out well (and meant everyone could eat it).
Ann made this on Thursday (or was it Wednesday?). She doubled the recipe, so we had to buy extra shrimp. I am not sure what she did for a flavor enhancer.
The soup was basically a combination of curry roasted cauliflower[@rev] and roasted broccoli soup[@rev]. I tossed three heads of cauliflower with tons of curry powder, salt, and oil (went heavy). I forget which day that was, but it was ahead of when I needed it. Then, on Thursday, I added it to water and added more Better Than Bouillon Garlic and Roasted Veggie, plus more curry powder. From there, my dad did the blending with a huge block of cheddar (need to come back and see how much. I think ~1 lbs). It was not very flavorful, so he added more base. That was exactly what it needed, except it was pretty salty!
We had leftovers for dinner later in the week, and it was better with croutons!
I did the salad as per usual, though I felt like the dressing came out a bit too lemony. The big change was that, after adding (pre-packaged) pomegranate, I tried one, and they were bad! Thankfully, I had only barely mixed them because I had to pick out as many as possible. I was not happy about that! But the salad was very popular.
I made way too much rice and stored the rest, which worked out well since we ran out of rice later when we brought in food.
Emily wanted to make corn bread from Kodiak Kakes (which we were finally able to find and order from Target). I need to double-check with her, but I think she added corn to both and jalapeños and cheddar to one of them. This was actually really good!
We needed gluten-free corn bread for the sausage stuffing, and since I had found the Bob's Redmill one, I made it for both (it also didn't have buttermilk!). I used almond milk so my mom could have them. I found them to be pretty flavorless, but it didn't matter for the stuffing, and, with butter, people liked the regular.
I debated how I wanted to cook the turkey. My first thought was to deep-fry it since it is fast and I do not have to give up an entire oven. However, besides being dangerous, it takes constant attention, is weather-affected, and is less precise with timing. The oven, however, takes a really long time, and I didn't want to do that.
So, I decided to spatchcock the turkey! And, to make it even easier, I dry-brined it instead of using a wet brine. I bought a ~22lbs turkey from Kellers ("Fresh" but actually lightly frozen). I picked it up on Sunday and prepped it Tuesday morning so it could finish thawing.
I used new, very sharp poultry shears to cut out the backbone, and then I flattened it. As you can see from the photo, it was a bit cockeyed but not too bad (I also cut a bit of the breastbone to make flattening it easier). The "brine" was from Serious Eats (LOCAL[@rev]): 1/2 cup kosher salt (I used Diamond Brand) and two tbsp baking powder (for crispier skin). I actually did 1.5x that but didn't need to.
I debated following the directions on how to store it. Kellers had given me a large food-grade plastic bag, so I decided to put the whole thing back in there and then cover that with a trash bag. This way, I had extra protection, but also had food-grade plastic touching the turkey.
Before cooking it, I spread herbed butter (melted) all over. No additional salt.
To cook it, I started at 450° + convection, as per many recipes, but it started to smoke. I turned it down to 400° and turned off convection. I was running around so crazily that I don't recall the exact time, but I think it was about two hours before the leave-in thermometer read 160°. After checking it in a few different places, I decided to give it even more time.
When I finally took it out, I checked the temps all over and was happy with it. Except when my mom and I went to carve it, I found half the dark meat seemed a bit undercooked. I decided to just save that half and cook it later (I ended up freezing it). There was still more than enough.
I didn't do the best job carving (my mom and I each took half), but we got the job done. It was pretty well received, though I thought it was inconsistently salty and not amazing. Certainly not bad per se, but not the best turkey I've had. Also, my mom decided to put some of the carrot and celery junk on top when serving (I would not do that again). Next time, I will watch more videos on carving.
I followed my regular recipe[@rev], roughly doubling it, with two changes:
For the regular carne, I used 4 lbs of pork. I made it and baked it all ahead, let it cool, and then reheated it on the stove for serving.
For the seitan, I did the same basic thing as before[@rev], except I cooked the seitan in a broth (mostly water, white wine, and soy sauce) to fully cook it before it absorbed the adovada sauce. I stored it in the adovada sauce but didn't cook it again until it was time to serve. I think it was okay, but certainly not as good as the pork version. It just had less flavor (I could have done better with the seitan) and was an odd texture. And it still absorbed some of the sauce!
My dad followed his recipe[@rev], except he forgot the nutritional yeast. He made a really flavorful broth, which we kept for a bit. We reheated the whole thing in the liquid at dinner to make it faster and easier. I think this worked well enough. It was moister than usual and still really good.
My dad made a vegetable lasagna plus a small red-pepper parmesan bake that was gluten-free. I will update with more details later.
I used some old Emeril seasoning and then (presumably) even older Cajun seasoning we had. They came out really good, but once reheated, they were less flavorful. I ended up doing a #10 can plus two smaller cans (I wanted to do four more, but two of my smaller cans were diced, not whole).
For the sausage stuffing, Ann made it from her recipe[@rev], except she used gluten-free bread and corn bread. I think it tasted the same, though.
My dad made a vegetarian stuffing using fake sausage (brand?) and real bread. I will come back and add more notes if he has them, but I know he wanted some sweetness and ended up using some dates (including really old ones).
We had Ann make her Green Bean Casserole[@rev], but with Trader Joe's mushroom base (since it was vegetarian). It turns out that most of the regular mushroom soups are also vegetarian, but we weren't sure. We also had her double it. I didn't have any, but Meredith said it wasn't as good, so maybe it was the doubling or maybe it was the base.
I made a double or triple batch (not really sure) of Stuffed Mushroom Casserole[@rev]. I basically just did my own thing, inspired by the recipe and our changes[@rev] (sans chicken). I wanted it to be gluten-free, so I used gluten-free bread crumbs (again, plain with added salt and Italian seasonings) and made my own shallots. I tossed slivered shallots with some rice flour and fried them. They didn't have the flavor (or real breading) of the store-bought ones, but they were fine for this. I really just eyeballed the cheese but went heavy. And I used my dad's shaved parmesan.
I decided to try the classic NPR Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish[@rev]. I used the white (and creamy?) horseradish. I wasn't a huge fan, but some others liked it. I think I would pass in the future, but I am glad I tried it.
I went back and forth on what I was going to do with the gravy but eventually gave up! My mom said she was fine with the little bit of gluten in the canned stuff, so I put her in charge. She used two cans and then doctored them and added more stuff. She used some of the drippings from the turkey and (I think?) the vegetables. She made some additional gravy with brown-rice flour. She wasn't too happy with the color, which I think is because she didn't let the new roux brown enough, but I really do not know.
In the future, if I again decide not to make gravy, I will buy the Costco ones that seemed nicer and richer than the cans.
I used the Taste of TX recipe[@rev] but, as per their instructions, split it into three. Actually, I ended up with three plus two little ones. For the pie crust, I used store-bought rolls from Smiths (Simple Truth—the store's organic brand). Unlike the frozen ones from Trader Joe's that Meredith has used in the past, these were super simple to lay out (no need to roll) and were pretty good. Blind-baking them was hard only because I didn't have a lot of weights.
I eyeballed the amount of pecans, as can be seen in the photos. I was very happy with the end result, though they didn't come out very pretty.
I kind of decided at the last minute to make cake balls. Since it was so easy last year[@rev], I used mayo chocolate cake[@rev]. I baked it as a square in a disposable half-tray chafing dish and then let it cool.
The next day, I made the icing and then made the balls. I (somehow) managed to find room in the chest freezer to let them harden before chocolate-coating them. I had found real white chocolate chips, so I used them with some coconut oil to thin the chocolate. In the end, I do think thinning it was the right answer, but I wish it had less of a coconut flavor. Meredith thinks it could be because the oil is old, but I am not sure.
Anyway, after dipping them, my dad and I melted dark chocolate (again, with some coconut oil) and drizzled it over them. Overall, I do like them, but I think they do not look like the amount of work they really are. I had forgotten how much work they were until I had already started.
I was really excited to try Bravetart's recipe. We followed it pretty closely, except that we were out of clove. We decided to use Chinese 5-Spice powder instead, which has some clove but also a lot of other flavors. Making the cake went pretty well. In the end, I liked the flavor, but it wasn't "the best" carrot cake ever. Could be due to the altitude or the missing clove. My dad thinks it needed coconut, but I am really not sure.
I also made the Bravetart icing. I made the custard (really, basically pudding) and then let it fully cool. When I combined it all, though, I thought it just wasn't even close to sweet enough. I ended up adding powdered sugar, but it still seemed not sweet enough. It worked fine all together, though.
My dad did the icing since he is faster and we were in a hurry. We did a crumb coat, let it freeze a bit, and then added another coat. We did not do anything else fancy since we were so time-limited.
My dad made cinnamon buns. I will have to update this with more details later, but I think he used Challah[@rev] for the bread and then this particular Mardi Gras King Cake[@rev] filling. They were topped with a simple powdered sugar glaze.
We had to seat 21 plus Caroline. We purchased two 8-foot tables and borrowed two 6 (4?)-foot tables. First, during the actual prep, I set up both small tables in the garage as a prep space. It also served as a cooler room (though certainly not a fridge). I was able to use that space for serving bowls and just have a lot out of the way.
For the actual meal, I cleared one of those tables and put it out next to the kitchen bar. That table was the "meat" table, and the bar had everything else. I used the induction burner, but I do not think I really needed it. The cast iron kept everything more than hot enough. I am glad I didn't use chafing dishes. Things stayed as hot as they needed to be.
We set up the tables with the patio table in the dining room connected to an 8-foot table jutting out. Then, with a space for egress, we had the round dining table with the 8-foot table sticking out. See sketch.
For reheating, I did most things on the grill while the turkey was in the oven. After some trial and error, I used just the center burner on low, with a sheet pan underneath the things I was heating. I think that gave me a good temperature. Once the oven was free, I moved everything into the oven.
I have a lot of notes on how to do this better next time. The biggest is that I should have less variety and just more of the same things. Keep it easier and simpler. Plus, that will be easier to pack up.
Another problem was that most of the guests were from out of town, so they all came over really early. I hadn't planned any kind of lunches, which meant that I had to put out appetizers earlier than I had wanted. I should have planned some simple snack-meal food earlier.
Of serving, etc. No great photos of everything.
