Turducken

[bucketmouth64]

Never have had turducken and everyone is supposed to bring a side to share with this. Need some ideas that would go with this.  

[lovebigbluegills]

Smoked eggs!!!

[delcecchi]

Wild rice and mushrooms.  Good hand harvested wood parched rice. 

A good green salad

Home made hot rolls

Rutabagas

 

Amy Thielen, from around park rapids, has a new cookbook out.  She is sort of a media chef these days.  It's really interesting.

Looking through the "sides"  section for ideas. 

My great-aunt Irene first told me of the farmhouse habit of cooking vegetables in milk, explaining that her mother sold their cream for extra money but poured lots of milk into her cooking. “And that, I think,” she said, “is why we were such healthy girls.”

A very scant amount of cornstarch mashed into the butter efficiently thickens these quick-cooked peas. I love them with chervil, a feathery herb that tastes like a milder tarragon or a licorice-y parsley. It grows easily in soft fluffy rows in the herb garden and goes well with most green things.

4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter, at room temperature

¾ teaspoon cornstarch

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2½ cups shelled fresh peas (from 2 pounds in the pod)

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup half-and-half or whole milk

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chervil, or 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh parsley and ½ tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Mix 1 tablespoon of the butter with the cornstarch, and set aside.

In a saucepan set over medium heat, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Add the garlic, and cook until the garlic begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the peas and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and cook until the peas turn bright green, about 1 minute. Add the half-and-half and cook until it bubbles in the center, about 30 seconds. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring, until the contents of the pan thicken and the peas lose their starchy, raw taste, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the lemon zest and chervil. Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust if necessary. Serve immediately. You may want to remove the garlic cloves before serving, but I never do because some people like them.

 

 

CRISPY CABBAGE
with Poppy Seeds

SERVES 4 TO 6

If I were tracking which side dish my family most often circles back for at the end of the meal, it would be this crispy, caramelized spiced cabbage. No matter how much I make, it always disappears at some point on its second trip around the table.

The trick to browning cabbage (or any dry vegetable), taught to me by an Indian instructor in cooking school, is to fry the vegetable in ghee, or clarified butter, over high heat. The ghee is the key. Making it is a simple cooking process that separates the milk solids and whey from the clear golden fat so that it can be heated to a high temperature like an oil, but still retain all the warm flavors of butter.

Anything benefits from being fried in this stuff, but the sweet nuttiness of the brassicas (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, cabbage, and their relatives) rises to the surface when they’re cooked this way, without any added moisture. I think cabbage fried in ghee is the best, though cauliflower is a close second.

5 tablespoons salted butter

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

8 cups shredded cabbage

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

2 teaspoons poppy seeds

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Ready your seasonings, because once the cooking starts, it will go fast.

Heat your very widest skillet over high heat. Seriously, it should be almost comically oversize for this amount of cabbage. If you have nothing larger than a regulation 10-incher, you should probably cook this in two batches to avoid steaming—instead of lightly charring—the cabbage.

When the skillet is hot, add the ghee and the ginger. The ginger should fry immediately. Dump in the cabbage and stir. Add the garlic, thyme, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, salt, and pepper. Spread the cabbage out evenly and continue to fry over very high heat, stirring every 45 seconds or so, giving the cabbage time to caramelize on the bottom. Watch that it doesn’t actually burn, but let it get a little dark on the edges. Cook until the cabbage has lost its raw taste but before it goes completely limp, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved butter froth, stir to combine, turn out into a serving dish, and serve immediately.

NOTE: First, make the ghee: Put the butter in a small pan, bring it to a simmer, and cook until it turns brown at the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Let the butter sit for a minute. Then tilt the pan and carefully skim off the solidified top crust with a spoon, taking care to remove as much of this stiff white froth as possible. Put it in a small dish. Pour the clear golden butter into another small dish, and pour the darker brown dregs at the bottom of the pan into the dish containing the froth. This can be done well ahead of time, even a day or two before; ghee keeps well in the refrigerator.

 

CAMPFIRE-BAKED BEETS
with Hazelnut-Sesame Salt

SERVES 6 TO 8

One night, staring into my campfire, I was entranced enough to want to test the heat properties of the hot coals.

I went to bed that night after burying three foil-wrapped bundles of beets under a thick bedding of smoking ash. The next morning they were still warm, and when I slipped them from their skins, the egg-shaped ruby beets were transformed: spoon-tender and as sweet as cake. All the starch had converted to sugar. And the dark char sores, formed where the beets had come too close to fire, were a smoky reward.

They were almost too rich on their own, so I pounded together a quick gomasio—a dry muddle of sesame and salt—and then added some toasted hazelnuts, finding a surprise affinity between the seed and the nut.

Even without the overnight detainment in the campfire, beets taste good when tossed with this fragrant dust, and on regular nights I often sprinkle it over roasted beets.

2 pounds (about 5 medium) beets without tops

1 small clove garlic

1½ tablespoons sesame seeds

⅓ cup hazelnuts, toasted

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of sugar

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives or chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Wrap the beets in three or four foil packs, and then double-wrap the packs. Bury the packs in a healthy layer of lightly glowing (not pink-hot) campfire coals and leave them, untouched, for at least 6 hours or until morning.

Using a knife, mash the garlic to a paste on a cutting board. Put it into a bowl. Put the sesame seeds in a heavy plastic bag, pound until bruised, and add to the bowl. Pour the hazelnuts into the bag, pound until reduced to a coarse rubble, and add to the bowl. Stir in salt to taste, ¼ teaspoon pepper, the sugar, and the chives. (Alternatively, pour everything into a food processor or mortar and pestle and pulse or pound until coarsely ground.)

Pull the foil packages from the ash, unwrap the beets carefully, and rub off their skins. Rip the beets lengthwise into large bite-size chunks. In a bowl, toss the beets with the vinegar, olive oil, and a sprinkling each of salt and pepper. Pour into a shallow dish, sprinkle heavily with the hazelnut-sesame salt, and serve lukewarm or at room temperature.

 

BUTTERCUP SQUASH
with Ricotta and Fried Sage

SERVES 8

This one gets a little gold star for Thanksgiving, mostly because of the extra-silky texture that the ricotta adds to the pureed squash (though it’s also wonderful with pork chops any time of the year). You can whip the squash with the ricotta cheese and keep it warm until dinner; but once you dress it with the browned butter and sage, serve it immediately so that you can enjoy the crackling sage leaves.

1 small to medium buttercup squash

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese, at room temperature

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) salted butter, at room temperature

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

12 fresh sage leaves

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Season the squash cavities with salt and pepper. Lay the squash halves cut-side down on a heavy baking sheet, and bake until the squash is very tender when pierced with a knife at the deepest part, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When the squash is done, combine the ricotta and 3 tablespoons of the butter in a food processor, and process until smooth. Measure 3 heaping cups of cooked squash, and add this to the processor. Season with salt, pepper, and the allspice, and process until smooth and whipped. Transfer the squash puree to a baking dish and keep warm.

Right before serving, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and the sage leaves in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring now and then with a fork to submerge the sage leaves, until the butter turns a chestnut-brown color and the leaves turn crisp, about 3 minutes. Pour the sage brown butter over the warm squash puree and serve immediately, while the leaves are still brittle and crumbly.

 

There are more recipes but don't want to over do it.  Squash or Beets in some form would be good

[Pat K]

Here is a Sweet Potato recipe that doesn't involve marshmallows!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the sweet potatoes on the oven rack and bake until fork-tender, about 45 minutes. When the potatoes are finished cooking, let cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Slice them open lengthwise and scrape out the flesh with a fork into a large bowl. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

Add the granulated sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla and salt to the bowl with the sweet potatoes. Mash the mixture with a potato masher until combined and slightly lumpy-you don't want it to be perfectly smooth.

Now, in a separate bowl, mash the brown sugar, pecans, flour and butter with a pastry cutter or fork until thoroughly combined. The mixture should resemble a crumble.

Spread the sweet potato mixture in a 14-cup oval-shaped baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

 

Edited December 23, 2015 by Pat K

[reinhard1]

Man those sides look great!!!  I made a turducken just one time.  That was a lot of work having to bone out the turkey, duck, and chicken.  Turned out great though.  I made it for Thanksgiving and we had the normal sides like stuffing but I did make my German dumplings.  It made some great gravy.  good luck.

[Boar]

ohhhhhhhh, Tur duk en... Ok that makes sence now. I just couldent escape TURD Duken sound awsome tho. !!

[delcecchi]

Man those sides look great!!!  I made a turducken just one time.  That was a lot of work having to bone out the turkey, duck, and chicken.  Turned out great though.  I made it for Thanksgiving and we had the normal sides like stuffing but I did make my German dumplings.  It made some great gravy.  good luck.

Leave it to Reinhard to do it the hard way.  The rest of us just buy one at the store. 

[reinhard1]

Probably why I haven't made another one LOL.  good luck.

[LindellProStaf]

I saw that guy in Louisiana who I think invented it on Andrew Zimmers show.  It was great.  He did the turkey the duck and the chickenn in about 8 minutes or something like that.  Unreal.  It was actually funny he was so good.  I remember looking at my watch too.  

[delcecchi]

I saw that guy in Louisiana who I think invented it on Andrew Zimmers show.  It was great.  He did the turkey the duck and the chickenn in about 8 minutes or something like that.  Unreal.  It was actually funny he was so good.  I remember looking at my watch too.  

like watching a pro clean fish.  He does ten in the time I might do one.

[bucketmouth64]

Thanks for the ideas. I think we'll go with the wild rice and some sort of salad, I know everyone likes that.  

[RebelSS]

Turducken sure is spendy, though. $125 for one here....

[delcecchi]

Yes they are expensive.  Pretty much a specialty item.