This year, we're staying put for Thanskgiving and I have to say, it is an incredible relief to be neither driving nor flying this holiday season. My parents and brother have graciously come to visit and we're all looking forward to a low-key Turkey Day. We're sticking with a simple menu for tomorrow. Here's what it looks like:
Menu:
23 lb. roasted turkey
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Pan sweet potatoes
Cheddar pineapple bake (recipe below)
Fasolakia
Salad
Fresh cranberry sauce
Beet salad
Pre-Game:
Tonight, we're going to go ahead and make the cranberry sauce, fasolakia, beet salad and prep the sweet potatoes for two different dishes. This allows the flavors to meld in advance and cuts down on our kitchen time for tomorrow. With three dishes knocked out, we can sleep easily and know that we got a head start on tomorrow's festivities.
Gameday:
The game plan is to get the turkey started first thing in the morning. We keep the turkey simple by lining the roasting pan with whole stalks of celery, carrots and two onions cut into halves. Then, we season the turkey with just salt and pepper and roast it breast down (that's our trick to keeping the turkey breast moist and flavorful). Set the oven to 315 degrees and cook it according to the time indicated on the package.
After the turkey is started, we usually make a big breakfast to hold everyone over (we eat around 3pm). Then, it's time to start working on the side dishes. Since we only have one oven, we'll bake the pan of sweet potatoes first, then the casserole and finally, the pineapple bake and stuffing. As things come out of the oven, we usually just tent them with foil to wait on the turkey. Once the turkey is done and removed from the oven, all of the other warm side dishes will be put back in to get nice and piping hot.
Cheddar Pineapple Bake:
So, this recipe is pretty much devoid of any nutritional value and it sounds like kind of a weird combination of things to throw together, but I promise you, it tastes ridiculously good. My former supervisor would bring this to all of our work functions and it was always the first thing gone. Here's what you need:
1 (20 oz.) can unsweetened, crushed pineapple with juice
3 Tbs. white sugar
6 Tbs. melted butter
3 Tbs. flour
5 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese
1 stack Ritz crackers, crumbled
Combine the pineapple (with juice), sugar, melted butter, flour and cheese. Mix it well and spoon the mixture into a greased 1.5 quart baking dish. Top the mixture with cracker crumbs and bake it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until it's bubbly. Then, take a bite and pass out from the sheer pleasure of it.
Well folks, I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may your tables and hearts be full.
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