Grandma always saved up leftover biscuits in the freezer and combined these with cornbread for the stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
When I was living overseas, as a teenager, we sometimes had Thanksgiving dinner with other Americans. What we found was that two kinds of stuffings had to be made. One with cornbread, for those of us from where cornbread is the custom, and one for those from elsewhere, that was made from, I don’t know… brownbread and nuts… or something.
I thought about making this a poll, but I don’t really think it’s poll-type stuff.
My question, what do you think of as normal, when you think of Thanksgiving or Christmas stuffing?
I cook the turkeys in this household, and I don’t stuff them.
I was picking up Natasha at daycare Tuesday, and I chatted with Linda the director, who looked exhausted. I told her I hoped she didn’t have a big cooking project to go home to, and she assured me she would get a good rest.
Then she went on to tell me that the first turkey she roasted when she and her husband got married, she cooked upside down. And she said it was the tenderest turkey she’d ever had because the juices drained into the breast meat and made it incredibly good.
Later, thinking about what she’d said, I wondered why she didn’t try it again. Has anyone else roasted a turkey this way? I’m tempted to try that with our Christmas turkey.
Comments, please.
(Turkeys, whistles, you name it. I can’t leave well enough alone. Try to say turkey tweaker ten times fast.)
Jerry, I think you could cook it that way, but the breast might not brown well, especially if it’s sitting in the juices. Tasty, but unappealing to the eye.
We always use Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing with chopped up chestnuts, celery, and onion. The chestnuts are what really do it.
At least 20 “turkeys” were stuffed at our house today – with turkey, ham, 3 types of potatoes, other veggies galore, homemade rolls, 8 kinds of pie and cake.
Kidding aside, dressing (stuffing) at our home has always been leftover biscuits, onions, sage & celery mix. My grandmother usually added oysters to hers.
My ex sister-in-law cooks her turkey this way. It makes for very juicy white meat. We’ve never carved the turkey at the table, so presentation wasn’t a problem.
Never cooked a turkey myself (and missing the feast this year ), a question - what would happen if you cooked it upside down for the first half of the cooking period to get the juiciness, and then flipped it over for the second half to get the browning? Would that work?
A friend at one of the hospitals where I work does this:
Cook turkey for the first hour at 450 (eek) That browns it.
Then turn heat to 350 and cook until it has one hour left ~
Then flip it over, and finish up breast side down (by then, all the juices are in the pan)
She brought one of these for the OR staff lunch, and it wasn’t any better than the Butterballs I always make ~ throw an onion and some celery in the bird instead of stuffing, then bake it (covered with foil) for the whole time. Foil off the last hour browns it. Easiest thing you’ll ever cook.
My boys prefer Stove Top stuffing, but I add sauteed onion and celery.
I cooked my turkey breast side down for the first 45 minutes - then flipped it over (it wasn’t too hard to do, but if you had a very large bird I could see it would be. My turkey was about 14 pounds). The skin that way gets crispy still but the breast meat was much juicer. I also brined the turkey (soaked in salt water) for about 4 hours, then let it air dry in the fridge for about 18 hours, before I cooked it. The meat was incredibly juicy!
As far as stuffing, I didn’t stuff my turkey because of the increased risk of food-bourne illness with a stuffed turkey. (Because the stuffing doesn’t always get thoroughly cooked and that warm moist environment inside the turkey can be a bacteria breeding ground). But I made the traditional bread stuffing that emmline spoke of, I also tried this year a wild rice stuffing with wild and brown rice, pork sausage, chicken stock, herbs and spices, including a little bit of sweet curry powder, and topped with parmesan cheese. It was excellent!
Presentation isn’t an issue at our house either, so I think I’ll try it.
Dixie, what your friend does sounds like the benefit is gone before she turns the turkey over, since the juices are already drained before the turkey’s upside down. It sounds like the juices don’t get into the breast meat the way she roasts them because they’re already in the pan.
I did that too when I did my first Thanksgiving turkey years ago! In addition to leaving the little packet of neck, liver, gizzards inside the bird while it was roasting. It was rather embarrassing when it was discovered while carving the turkey at the table.
I’ve been letting my turkeys roast (“right side” up) until they’re golden (maybe a little more than half the total time), then tenting them with foil so they don’t dry out.
I’m thinking maybe I should reverse the sequence:
Cook the turkey upside down under a foil tent for the first half, then turn it over and remove the tent for the remainder.
We do not stuff the bird but make the dressing separately. Yesterday we had a cranberry sweet potato dressing. We deep fried the turkey which makes for a crispy outside and juicy inside. We fried two 14 pound turkeys and a turkey breast. The second turkey we ignored the advice to never leave the turkey unattended and went in to eat the first one. When we went back for the second one the temperature had climbed to about 450 degrees. It was one crispy critter. It was a wonderful day with lots of family and gave many thanks for how greatly we are blessed.
This reminds me of one Thanksgiving when I was a little kid. My brother’s wife was hosting Thanksgiving for the first time (he’s 20 years older than me). She boiled it. We all went out for Chinese food.
I’m full …(gross under-statement) … thanks to Peg, my wife, the food pusher. Thanksgiving is her big feed of the year and whatever mama wants to make, mama makes. Dinner starts between 1-2 pm followed by a buffet to accomodate visitors that stop in through the day.
Over the last 6 years, I’ve convinced Peg to make smaller turkeys, this year’s was our smallest at 25 pound, 10 years ago we had our largest which was 46 pounds. She cooks them in a roaster with the lid on, basting hourly. The last hour the lid is off to brown the top. The turkeys alway go in the night befor.
The turkeys are alway stuffed, with the long cooking times bacteria is not a concern. The roaster keeps all the juices inside and the meat is alway well done. Stuffing consists of stale breads diced, some spices, celery, onion, turkey juices, and occasionally mushrooms and/or oysters. She also makes a little stuffing on the side adding pre-cooked turkey parts (heart and/or liver).
This year we only had 8 people sitting for dinner; so, she economized on the side dishes:
Mashed potatoe,
dressing/stuffing,
turkey gravey
sweet potato pie,
saurcraut and sausage (a Baltimore tradition),
ambrosia,
cranberry sauce,
green been cassarole,
apple cornbread (cornbread with baked apple chunks in it),
pumpkin pies(2) with toppings, (whipped cream or cool whip)
beverages
Last year we had out of town guests (18 people for dinnerl) which meant a 35 pound turkey and all the above plus:
a large spiral cut honey ham
2 types of gravey
fresh cut vegetables tray (carrots, brocolli, green and red peppers, celery, cauliflower, mushrooms, garlic pickles, sweet pickles, and dips: maryland crap, peppercorn ranch, honey dijon.
Maryland Crab Balls,
mushrooms sauteed with butter and brandy, and then covered with bread crumbs (leftover from stuffing) and baked
brussel sprouts
corn
apple pie (ala mode optional)
my special quick bread (banana bread with pecans, raisins, and marbled honey top)
hot cider
After dinner breads, condiments, and chips are added to the table which is moved to the side and setup as a buffet for afternoon and evening sandwiches as folks visit. All visitors are required to take a plate or two of food home, selecting their favorites.
We eat the left overs through the weekend, and Peg makes 3-5 gallons of turkey & vegetable soup/stew on monday or tuesday. We have an large extra refrigerator in the basement which is used for much of the preparations which start on monday.
This is kind of how I made mine this year: Put an onion, a head of garlic, and 2 big sprigs of fresh sage in the bird. I don’t believe in stuffing the turkey itself..it’s hard to get it hot enough to kill salmonella without over cooking it.
But then I put sage-butter between the meat and skin in the breast, thigh, and leg areas. I cooked it for 1 hour1 at 350, browning it first, 1 hour with a patch of foil over the breast and legs to prevent further browning or drying, and then 1 hour with smoked bacon shingled over the breasts. Every half hour throughout the entire process, I basted it with a maple syrup glaze.
It turned out pretty good
I usually just make Stove Top. I prefer home made stuffing, but I usually make so many other intensive side dishes that I end up just grabbing a box of stove top cause it’s easier. Ditto for biscuits (i usually get either frozen or canned)
This year I made fried zuccini, orange-zest sweet potatoes, and a strawberry-cranberry-walnut relish (with merlot).
That’s really beautiful, Lee… I’ve always wanted to have that sort of thing on the holidays; my holidays are usually very small. It would be wonderful to have such a flow going on throughout the day. Truly a chance to honor and celebrate the abundance of love and friendship!! Your wife amazes me me her culinary stamina, though!
), a question - what would happen if you cooked it upside down for the first half of the cooking period to get the juiciness, and then flipped it over for the second half to get the browning? Would that work?
