Post Thanksgiving Post: What Did and What Didn't Work
This post serves as a reminder to myself: Stick with the tried and true! While everything was good, pretty much every new recipe I tried was not nearly as good as the recipes I usually use.
Let's begin with the turkey. I tried the woven bacon breastplate discovered on Pinterest. While the finished product looked beautiful, we all agreed the turkey really did not benefit from the bacon and we all missed the crisped up turkey skin. The turkey was moist and flavorful, but only because it was brined for two days. Ladies, always, always brine that turkey! You will never regret it. Our bird cooked well beyond the 165 degree mark and it did not dry out in the least.
I stuck to tried and true for the dressing, although I did use homemade peasant loaf for the first time. Win!
Skoshi A made the sweet potato casserole using our traditional recipe. Cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy were made from previously used and favorite recipes.
I used a new recipe for the pumpkin pie because I wanted to make it completely from scratch, including the pumpkin puree. I did substitute goat's milk in the recipe and it did set up just fine, even if it did need just about 10 extra minutes in the oven to do so. While it tasted pretty good, this particular recipe called for too much ginger, in my opinion, two teaspoons was overwhelming. I may use the same recipe again in the future, but will adjust the spices.
The pecan pie recipe was also new. It claimed to have won the Blue Ribbon at the Texas State Fair. It was a lot more work than my usual recipe and it was WAY TOO SWEET! The best recipe for pecan pie is the one on the back of the Karo bottle. Do not stray, I say!
For the chocolate pie, I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe. I subbed all natural creme filled cookies for the Oreo crust, used Ghiradelli bitter sweet chocolate chips, and subbed canned coconut milk for the dairy. It was spectacular! It had just a hint of a coconut flavor, which was a nice unexpected touch.
How was your feast?
Let's begin with the turkey. I tried the woven bacon breastplate discovered on Pinterest. While the finished product looked beautiful, we all agreed the turkey really did not benefit from the bacon and we all missed the crisped up turkey skin. The turkey was moist and flavorful, but only because it was brined for two days. Ladies, always, always brine that turkey! You will never regret it. Our bird cooked well beyond the 165 degree mark and it did not dry out in the least.
I stuck to tried and true for the dressing, although I did use homemade peasant loaf for the first time. Win!
Skoshi A made the sweet potato casserole using our traditional recipe. Cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy were made from previously used and favorite recipes.
I used a new recipe for the pumpkin pie because I wanted to make it completely from scratch, including the pumpkin puree. I did substitute goat's milk in the recipe and it did set up just fine, even if it did need just about 10 extra minutes in the oven to do so. While it tasted pretty good, this particular recipe called for too much ginger, in my opinion, two teaspoons was overwhelming. I may use the same recipe again in the future, but will adjust the spices.
The pecan pie recipe was also new. It claimed to have won the Blue Ribbon at the Texas State Fair. It was a lot more work than my usual recipe and it was WAY TOO SWEET! The best recipe for pecan pie is the one on the back of the Karo bottle. Do not stray, I say!
For the chocolate pie, I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe. I subbed all natural creme filled cookies for the Oreo crust, used Ghiradelli bitter sweet chocolate chips, and subbed canned coconut milk for the dairy. It was spectacular! It had just a hint of a coconut flavor, which was a nice unexpected touch.
How was your feast?
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