I’m far from family, so probably my vegan tater tot casserole. I don’t live in the Midwest anymore, but for some reason on Thanksgiving I crave this very heavy food along with my wife’s Mexican green pasta recipe (to die for!).
Roasted brussel sprouts and bacon.
Stuffing and mashed potatoes. I make the mashed potatoes, and I am really good at it. I am not sure why, since it’s just ordinary yellow (or russet, depends on what they have) potatoes, milk, salt, and butter. I don’t even peel them, but it gets all the rave reviews.
Making good mashed potatoes is an art form honestly. I’m really good at it too. I go as far as weighing each potato just so I can have the perfect ratio of ingredients. I think most people’s potatoes are hit or miss because they just add shit until it looks right but if you have a method they can be consistently awesome.
Mine are not consistently good - sometimes good but sometimes gluey. What am i doing wrong?
Measure everything. I use a fancy cooking scale I got for Christmas and I weigh the potatoes after peeling and then adjust my usual amount of ingredients to the weight of the potatoes. Plus you might be over or under boiling the potatoes. You don’t want them mushy but also not too hard. I usually test it with a fork. If I can stab the chunk in the water with a fork and pick it up it isn’t finished, but if I stab it and almost falls apart then it is good. I also soak them in water for hours before cooking to remove some of the starch, might help, might not but I do it. I also cut them in to consistently sized chunks before boiling so each potato is of similar consistency. Also gotta use the right type of potato. Golden will get mushy easily but russet is more forgiving.
Also, this is important. After you drain the potatoes put them back in the pot and cook over low heat to remove the excess moisture. That’s prolly why they’re gooey. If you immediately start mixing them after draining they’ll have too much water.
Thanks. I think I’m overcooking them and then overwhipping because they’re too wet.
That’s what I suspected. Definitely put them back in the pot after draining over low heat for like ten minutes. That will remove the moisture. The butter and milk are the only moisture you want really. I also melt the butter and whisk it into the milk then add them together slowly as I mash. That way you can get the consistency where you want. You can’t be certain how much water is still in them so sometimes it takes a bit less than you planned but this way the ratio of butter to milk is consistent no matter how much or little you needed.
Stuffing. I would eat stuffing every Goddamn day of the year except I’d get fat as fuck. I have to literally limit myself to eating it once a year for Thanksgiving or I’ll gradually work it into my regular dinner meal plans and even that is too much.
Stuffing has no flavor when my family makes it. Plus the texture makes me gag but texture is like 90% of my hangups with food. I’m a picky eater but I really don’t want to be.
I add spicy breakfast sausage and bake it crispy on top. It’s so good!
Sounds better than the flavorless mushy bread crumb mess my family serves
Man then your family is doing it wrong, sorry. I use fresh bread, a ton of butter, onions, celery, thyme, sage, salt and pepper, then bake it so every bread cube is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I have food texture issues too, so I feel your pain, but there’s definitely a wrong way and a right way to make stuffing. Also, NEVER put stuffing inside the turkey, it can result in undercooked stuffing and salmonella from the turkey.
They don’t do any of that lol they just open the box and cook it. Glad I live 1700 miles away from mess this year
The stuffing. I frickin love stuffing
I always have stuffing in my pantry because I’m not waiting around for 1 dinner a year to have it.
Candied yams from a can with toasted marshmallows is all I need! Everything else is details.
Stuffed mushrooms, my aunt’s scratch made wheat rolls, and bacon wrapped asparagus.
Whatever I bring. Seriously, the ex gets my kids this year. Of course I’m going for them, but:
- no alcohol
- no soda
- low sugar
- no corn anything
- very little spice of any kind
- none of my family’s traditional foods unless I bring it
While they’re making my favorite pumpkin pie, somehow it can’t have any spices this year. Just pumpkin. So bland but might as well be mayo
Is this some kind of weird puritanical family or something?
Stuffing and deviled eggs. However my family is also full of deviled egg fiends, so mostly stuffing
Leftovers
Collards. I only recently discovered them as a transplant to the southern part of the country, and I love making them because they’re phenomenally tasty. Plus you can justify that they’re dark leafy greens (never mind the gratuitous pork fat).
Political discourse.
A giant slice of Costco pumpkin pie with a gallon of whipped cream on top. Anyone who expresses disapproval is secretly envious.
Deep fried turkey. We have used the Butterball electric frier for over a decade and it turns out awesome every year.
Green bean casserole.
I was grossed out as a kid, but that stuff is the bomb.
I don’t like mushrooms so I make what’s basically cream of onion soup as the sauce and it’s amazing. Also, stuffing. My mom doesn’t really like either one and it’s just us, so I get to eat all of it myself.
Nice! My family doesn’t like mushrooms either, so my mom has always subbed in cream of chicken, but onion sounds pretty great too.
It’s my sister-in-law and I who practically eat the whole dish, lol.
Now I’m hungry lol
