Thanksgiving Protein Anyone?

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
The turkey has traditionally been associated with the thanksgiving festivities. Yet, more and more, I discover that many many people eschew the turkey for other more unusual fare.

My thanksgiving table spotlights the turkey, solely. Sure, there are multiple courses, but the turkey is center stage. With so much other food around, I wonder where I'd put another main entree....

But, that is not to say my way is right. I'd love to hear about yours....Do you do the turkey at all? Do you serve the turkey along with another meat/fish/fowl?? Is the turkey conspicuously absent?

And finally...anyone ever make a genuine Paul Prudhomme turducken? I picked up his book on my last jaunt to NOLA and seriously am considering it. From what I've read it costs upwards of two hundred bucks to prepare according to the multiple recipes, but, it feed up to 35 people. So...do 34 of my closest NCT friends wanna try some original recipe turducken??
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Actually turkey was our center piece the first year my wife and I got married. Ham was always the main thanksgiving center piece when I was growing up with turkey at Christmas. Even as a kid I was never a turkey fan but always liked the rest of the stuff served with it.

Turducken!!!!!! you joke right all three of the foul fowls. :yuk::puke1:
 

Lefty

Yank
I like to excuse the expression, think outside the box on holidays. I have been fighting the family for years on the turkey thing, because I dont want to be like everyone else. I have done Thanksgiving finger foods and had a mess of friends come over to watch football. It actually turned out to be a smash. I am on my way over to google turducken, since I have no idea, but I would love to break bread with you and Lou. :)
 

vyapti

New member
I haven't had a turkey for 3 years. I try to do something original each year. Last year, I made wild mushroom stuffing and baked it in small pie pumpkins. My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal has always been stuffing, so that was a huge hit.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing this year. Right now, I'm thinking individual pot pies, but who knows. It's amazing how many more options you have when you don't have a giant bird taking all your oven space.
 

Lefty

Yank
A turducken is a dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The thoracic cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are stuffed, sometimes with a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird.

Wow, that sounds so intense. I like the idea of three birds.
 

chowhound

New member
Lefty... you weren't paying attention to the game enough on Thanksgiving then (although I've been there myself ;^) )

"John Madden, noted NFL analyst, popularized the turducken on air during his announcing for CBS and later Fox by awarding a turducken to players on the winning team for the Thanksgiving Bowl. On the November 9, 2008 broadcast of NBC Sunday Night Football, Madden responded to a fan's sign reading "JOHN MADDEN, BRING BACK TURDUCKEN" by calling his fixation with turducken "a thing of the past," stating that he would return to a traditional turkey for successive Thanksgivings.[3]"
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Never made one, but we've had a turducken for Thanksgiving. We bought it from Hebert's in Louisiana and cooked it at home. It wasn't a big hit. We went back to a regular turkey. Hebert's foods are great though. We love their deboned chickens stuffed with crawfish/rice dressing :a1: or shrimp/rice dressing.
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
A turducken is a dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The thoracic cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are stuffed, sometimes with a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird.

Wow, that sounds so intense. I like the idea of three birds.

Paul Prudhomme is credited with creating the turducken...and in his book, each individual bird is stuffed before being stuffed into the larger bird.
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
Never made one, but we've had a turducken for Thanksgiving. We bought it from Hebert's in Louisiana and cooked it at home. It wasn't a big hit. We went back to a regular turkey. Hebert's foods are great though. We love their deboned chickens stuffed with crawfish/rice dressing :a1: or shrimp/rice dressing.

Indeed, Herbert's is mentioned in another book about cooking NOLA style. He's one in an elite small group that creates an authentic turducken.
 

homecook

New member
Turkey and stuffing is the mainstay at Thanksgiving and Christmas, the sides are just that.........

I think I'd be hung if I didn't make it. DH would argue the stuffing is the main feature!
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
The recipes and menus are so deeply carved in stone over here that mere mention of changing some things could lead to a person eating in the basement, alone...
I once made a lovely cranberry cornbread stuffing. I was almost drummed out of my own home for not making sausage stuffing.
 

homecook

New member
I know the feeling Vera.......and I say, if it ain't broke don't fix it! Well that's what the family says anyway. lol I think we've been making the same meal for over 60 years without changing a thing. Although I have added brussel sprouts to the menu but they're only for me. lol
 

Deelady

New member
I ALWAYS, always have a turkey at Thanks Giving but have also in the past made either a leg of lamb or a prime rib to go along with it when I knew we were having a very large group or a group that ate alot!! lol
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
I know the feeling Vera.......and I say, if it ain't broke don't fix it! Well that's what the family says anyway. lol I think we've been making the same meal for over 60 years without changing a thing. Although I have added brussel sprouts to the menu but they're only for me. lol

It's been decided that the thanksgiving menu must remain 98% unchanged year after year. That leaves a measly 2% worth of room for new additions. That meager amount can either be the canape served with cocktails in the parlor or one of the myriad desserts served after dinner. The rest must be exactly the same or heads will roll. You have me beat with your 60 years. Taking the reigns from Marianne, I'd say we're only at 40 years.
 

homecook

New member
Vera, the 60 years is from when my grandmother made the dinners, then my mom and I've been making it now close to 17 years..........Heather is going to have to take it over some time soon. LOL
Desserts is about the only thing I can change up.

Dee, I've had as many as 25 people here and the consensus was always turkey. 2-22 pounders, and they both have to be stuffed. One in the oven and one in the roaster oven.
 

chowhound

New member
I always thought holiday meals were based on tradition, which falls dangerously close to calling them comfort meals, IMO. Why change a thing? Depending on your heritage, certain meals are served on certain holidays. And big holiday meals happen so few times of the year...
I say, if you want to break tradition and also want a changeup, plan a big feast on an off day. Then change whatever you want and it won't be breaking tradition. Maybe you'll even start a new tradition.
Long live Festivus!
 

Deelady

New member
Awww I can't wait till my daughters are able to start helping with preparing Thanksgiving Dinners! :wub:

I only did the lamb with Turkey and Prime Rib with Turkey once each, and it was only because the group was a bunch of meat eater men! lol
I have to admit, I also am not a fan of changing up the sides and staples of Thanksgiving dinner!! I had to get use to Percy's family including greens and mac and cheese with theirs with NO MASH POTATOES!!!! :ohmy::twak:
Needless to say, we are having dinner at our house this year and I will be SURE to correct that!!!
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I once made a lovely cranberry cornbread stuffing. I was almost drummed out of my own home for not making sausage stuffing.

Good Lord, I would have been the lead drummer!

Lee
 

homecook

New member
You're right Fred. It is a tradition that keeps our meal the same, year after year. We even have a Christmas Eve tradition meal and with my grandmother and mother gone now I'm still trying to keep it alive for my kids and grandkids. It may not include the whole family like it used to but the food is always the same.
 

Mr. Green Jeans

New member
The recipes and menus are so deeply carved in stone over here that mere mention of changing some things could lead to a person eating in the basement, alone...
I once made a lovely cranberry cornbread stuffing. I was almost drummed out of my own home for not making sausage stuffing.

Sounds like the MJG house Vera. I do a sausage stuffing that my great grandfather made. Along with sausage there's apple, onion, celery & currants. I make it once maybe twice a year but if I skipped it at Thanksgiving there would be a riot.
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
I made a turkey last Thanksgiving that was killer. Brined in apple cider and stuffed with fruit. Ibelieve that I had some council from a Ms. VeraBlue.

Anyway, That was my only Thanksgiving dinner in a long time. Dw usually makes other arrangements for me. This is also the case this year.

My dream dinner would be a kind of small turkey and a small ham. A little of each would be kind of nice. Complimentary fixings for each.
 

homecook

New member
What is the Christmas Eve meal Barb??[/QUOTE

We start off with appys.....that is subject to change except when my grandmother was alive. lol We had to have deviled eggs and shrimp cocktail. We would also have cheese and crackers, chips, pretzels, etc.

We had ham, potato salad (only my gm, mom or I were allowed to make it), Polish sausage and sauerkraut, washing machine potatoes and rye bread. Desserts were varied. We would then break bread (oplatki). Then a family member would dress up as Santa Claus and give out gifts.

Peeps, we're Catholic and never had fish........we followed Polish tradition!
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
What is the Christmas Eve meal Barb??[/QUOTE

We start off with appys.....that is subject to change except when my grandmother was alive. lol We had to have deviled eggs and shrimp cocktail. We would also have cheese and crackers, chips, pretzels, etc.

We had ham, potato salad (only my gm, mom or I were allowed to make it), Polish sausage and sauerkraut, washing machine potatoes and rye bread. Desserts were varied. We would then break bread (oplatki). Then a family member would dress up as Santa Claus and give out gifts.

Peeps, we're Catholic and never had fish........we followed Polish tradition!

my family is italian catholics and have fish on xmas eve. i was the black sheep and hated good friday and xmas eve because i hated crab, smelts, shrimp ect so mom would make me olive sauce and broccoli with olive oil and garlic or white clam sauce.
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
In my family, I inherited Thanksgiving dinner in 1968. My grandmother had done it since the 1930's, and she got too old, so it was handed off to me. Somehow it skipped a generation; her only daughter never learned to cook & sew. Grandma taught me those skills. It had been the same for decades, and I was expected to keep up the same menu.

I kept it up until 1988. That was the year I decided to make duck instead of turkey.:oops: I don't think the family ever recovered!. I went back to turkey until I turned over the dinner to someone else.

Now, living in Florida, away from the family but close to my friends, I've again become 'home' for all my aging friends. We'll have friends here, from 55-85 years old, and they all expect my traditional turkey dinner.

I mentioned to one friend, Hank, the other day (age 77) that I was thinking about goose for Christmas instead of prime rib, and I thought a hurricane hit!

So I'll again make a turkey with my Irish family's traditional accompaniments (stuffing, potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips, brussel sprouts, homemade rolls, homemade cranberry relish, pumpkin & pecan pies with hand-whipped cream.)

As much as I'd like to try something different, it seems I'm not allowed.

But you know what??? I so revel in my role as the keeper of the traditions, that I'm not sure I'd change it if I could!
 
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JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
I have never know Thanksgiving without turkey and giblet stuffing, and teh sides have always remained the same as well as the desserts. Christmas used to be the same meal because I worked for a company that gave us 22# turkeys, and a family gathering was the best way to use the bird. I left that employer in 1999 and now we change up the meal between ham and standing rib roast. One DD doesn't like not having another bird on Christmas, but she is overridden by the rest of the family who appreciates variety.
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
i always do turkey, mashed taters, gravy, mushroom stuffing, homemade uncooked cranbery, tangerine and pecan relish, sweet taters and acorn squash mashed with maple and brown sugar and hub has to have the canned jellied cranberry sauce on thanksgiving. the rest of the appy's/soups, veggies, sides and desserts change up.

xmas is usually roast eye round but not always.
 

AllenOK

New member
PeppA and I, when we are on our own, usually just do a bird, mashed, gravy, two stuffings (big debate/no compromise), one, maybe two veggies, and some rolls.

Whenever PeppA's Mom was living with us, or we were close enough to her that she insisted on joining us, there had to be a ham as well, and it was baked/simmered in some Mogen David wine (cheap junk that tastes just like grape juice).

Personally, I like having ham along with the turkey. That's what I grew up eating, as my g'mother always fixed a huge spread, and fed about 15 - 20 people for T'day. However, we don't feed that many, so I never really liked fixing that quantity of food.

It also doesn't help that I work in a country club, and we are OPEN for T-day for the members. So, I'm not available to cook for my family that day. PeppA is not to crazy about that.

I'm not really looking forward to the holidays this year. We lost PeppA's Mom in January this year, and PeppA carries an emotional load the size of a supertanker when it comes to family. She'll probably be breaking out into tears all during the Holiday Season.
 
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