3250 degrees F? Wow! That must be some oven you got, Carlo. :)
Seriously though, thanks for the tips!
Gotta set it closer to the nuclear warhead next time!
Jane's Succotash (to serve 6-8 people - doubles or triples nicely - I usually double everything).
3 boxes frozen lima beans - top quality, not in pouch or with butter sauce
3 boxes frozen yellow corn - ditto above, and the big kernels, not white, shoepeg, niblets, etc.
1 bunch celery hearts, trimmed and diced medium
3 bunches green onions, trimmed and diced (including green parts) - do not use leeks, too strong
1 small jar pimientos for color
2-4 T. Italian seasoning mix - I use Spice Islands
Garlic cloves to taste
Butter, salt, pepper
Steam - don't boil - the lima beans - make sure not to overcook - they need to still be firm so they don't look like mush
Steam corn separately.
While veggies are steaming, in a large skillet in about 1/2 c. melted butter, saute the celery, green onions and garlic. Sprinkle in Italian seasoning and stir well. Saute till tender but still firm.
Drain veggies and pat dry with paper towels. Pour into very large glass bowl. Add contents of skillet and GENTLY stir. Adjust seasonings. Sprinkle with diced pimiento for color.
I'm having Thanksgiving this year, and I'm going to try a fresh turkey from the butcher. My SIL had one last year and it was superb. She also made carmelized onion mashed potatoes which my 8 year old son called "galvanized mashed potatoes" . . . . .
Here's my method....
Frozen bird - goes into the fridge Sunday
Thursday - clear out the bird, rinse well, salt well inside
Inside the bag - add 1/2 cup flour, a couple carrots, a couple stalks celery, a couple small onions
Put the bird inside the bag on top of the other ingredients, pour a cup of wine (whatever kind you're drinking) onto the opening of the bird
Preheat your oven
Cook the bird per the usual time schedual
Using this method, the meat will literally fall off the bones - YUM
That's no oven, that's a kiln. Are we cooking a turkey or the Thanksgiving dinner service?
The only drawback is that you can't stuff the bird, but you could make that up separately I suppose. They come out so crispy on the outside and so juicy on the inside.
Stuff the bird loosely?
Uh uh.
Make the stuffing wetter then normal. Don't use water. Use turkey stock that you froze last Thanksgiving. Stuff it in there 'til the bird almost bursts. Then stuff in some more. The moisture in the stuffing will tend to "steam" the inside of the turkey.
Use a meat thermometer. When the thickest part of the turkey registers about 160 degrees, its done.
Make a rouh (rooh) out of butter and flour. Stir it into the drippings (they should be just about boiling in a pan on the stove) and, voila', gravy!
I've been doing this for years, folks. As Rush would say, "El Yummo."
Why so much stuffing?
When liberal family members start sounding off about the injustices and atrocities committed by the United States, just fling a spoonful in their general direction.
They'll either shut up or go home.
In my family, we generally did NOT serve turkey for holiday meals. We served cornish game hens-1 bird for each person attending. Takes 1-1 1/2 hours to cook them, they're incredibly tender, each one plus dressing and extras is enough to fill up each guest, and they're delicious-especially when each is cooked in its own baking bag with a lot of real butter as basting. And no leftovers, and no giant mounds of cooking utensils to wash!
I've made myself hungry.
The night before, take softened butter and mix with freshly chopped herbs.(I have used dry just not the same.) In the supermarket, you can get a package of variety of fresh herbs that are made for stuffing and turkey. Rosemary, Thyme, sage, garlic and basil are the ones that I use. (easy on Rosemary). Mince the herbs finely. As you lift them off of your cutting board, scrape the cutting board to get the herb juice as well. Mix the butter and herbs and refrigerate over night. Use the rest of the herbs in your stuffing.
The morning of, Wash the turkey and take out the giblets in the pockets up front and behind. With the tail facing you, put your fingers between the breast and the skin of the turkey. Loosen the skin from the breast down to the thigh and all the way up to the neck. No knife is necessary and it is a simple process. Once you have loosened the skin, cut the butter into cubes about a 1/4 inch. With your finger, poke holes all over the breast and top of thigh and place the butter inside the hole. I hold the butter in the same hand between my middle finger and thumb, poke the hole with my pointer finger and then press the butter in with my middle finger.
When you get done your turkey will look like it has green pimples under the skin all over the breast. Don't worry as the butter melts and the skin browns you will have a turkey that looks like one on the television commericals. Brown and crisp.
Stuff the inside of the turkey with quartered orange,apple and onion (don't peel). Put a whole garlic (unpeeled) beside the turkey to roast. (This will be used in the mashed potatoes.) Put the turkey in the oven using a roasting pan. You just don't want the turkey to sit in it's juices. Roast according to the directions on the turkey. 325 at 20 minutes per pound. Don't over cook!!!!
Use some of the butter that is left to baste the turkey and the rest of it in the stuffing.
THE SECRET TO A GOOD TURKEY IS LETTING IT SIT AT LEAST 20 MINUTES BEFORE CARVING IT. The juices stay in the turkey not all over the carving platter.
I thawed my bird for 2 days in a 425F refrigerator. Is it still ok to cook it?
The day before go to your favorite "next day" pizza place (ie place whose pizza tastes best the day after you get it). Order 2 large pizzas for every person who will be enjoying Thanksgiving at your house, plus breadsticks. Get 1 or 2 six packs of beer for each person.
Go home, eat the breadsticks Wednesday night.
Get up, watch the days sports and/ or sci-fi marathon (which ever tickles your fancy) eating left over pizza and drinking beer.
Be thankful that, along with all the other reasons to be thankful, you didn't have to cook.
And, because you got so much pizza, you even get to share in the find Thanksgiving tradition of leftovers, generally if you store your pizza properly you should still have some for Sunday's normally scheduled football, probably will need more beer though.
That been our household tradition for 6 years. And for 6 glorious years we have NOT shared in the rest of our families Thanksgiving tradition: the holliday fight (both of our families have matriarchs that are obsesses with making the holidays "special", which I learned very early in life is the fastest way to ruin a holliday).