So today is when I did my Thanksgiving meal. I am beat as I do 100% of the cooking.

I make gravy from the neck and giblets and it takes about 3.5 hours to make but it is so good.

While I brown the neck and giblets, I caramelize the onions. Then I add in some scallions, then garlic, celery , carrots, fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme. Then add in the neck and giblets, add chicken stock, bring to boil, and simmer. At the end I strain it to a broth only, make a roux, and then mix to make gravy.










Turkey all ready for the oven:




Turkey done.



My overloaded plate!

Inspired by dsiets, I made my first ever deep dish pizza. A lot more work than Neapolitan, but very good. Sausage, spinach, and mushroom stuffed. And a shit ton of cheese.

^^^------- Very Nice!

Just be careful about thinking you need a second piece. I only made it half way on the second and had to give up.
Mine was my first time doing a 14"x 1.5"
I thought I would need a 2" but 1.5" deep worked fine and it'a good pan for the price.
14"x1.5" Deep Dish

BBQ chicken and pepperoni Crusties:

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
^^^------- Very Nice!

Just be careful about thinking you need a second piece.

Yeah, I learned that years ago when I lived in Chicago. We used to get Giordano's all the time and one piece was a meal.

I've got a lot of leftovers.

I used my #10 cast iron skillet. Worked great.

I picked up a sous vide immersion cooker on a Black Friday deal.

Tonight is my first meal - 13 oz prime grade NY Strip cooked medium rare. Very flavorful and tender.

Pic 1: immersion tank at 130F to keep it medium rare (75 minutes)
Pic 2: high temperature sear (2 minutes each side)
Pic 3: cut in half with a side of Mac & cheese

Not to ignore your steak but damn the mac-cheese looks awesome. I can imagine how it tastes (only thing I would do, personal preference, is grind some pepper over it - I like the smell and taste of ground pepper with creamy cheese).

Today I was in a cooking mood. I made a cranberry bread recipe that has been passed down generations in our family and then also made turkey soup. Both were delicious!

Cranberry bread fresh out of the oven:




Start of soup cooking:




Look at all that goodness!

I love cranberries! Cranberry scones or muffins are favorites (always bought - I don't make). I've never seen cranberry bread - would love to try that. The local french bakery (grandma) always has things like banana bread, pumpkin bread, chocolate bread, zucchini bread and others. I've never seen her make cranberry bread. One for the suggestion box perhaps.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
BBQ chicken and pepperoni Crusties:

Never heard of it or seen it, but they look like an awesome appetizer. Is that pizza dough? Do you add any pizza sauce before rolling them? I am guessing you cut the strips as you have the ingredients laid out and then roll it up? So many questions…lol. I would like to make this as a New Years Eve appetizer.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I love cranberries! Cranberry scones or muffins are favorites (always bought - I don't make). I've never seen cranberry bread - would love to try that. The local french bakery (grandma) always has things like banana bread, pumpkin bread, chocolate bread, zucchini bread and others. I've never seen her make cranberry bread. One for the suggestion box perhaps.

Here is the recipe. I always double it to make two loaves. It is so very good!!!!! BTW “Short” means Crisco Shortening. I also use the Crisco to coat the loaf pan and then coat with flour before adding the final batter.

Thanks! Reads like a winner. I’ll try it out. I need to buy a bread pan.

Cranberries - straight out of the bag? Or boiled and popped first?

If I don’t have short, can I substitute butter?

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

Todd, can we get a pic of the stove/oven? It appears to have five burners and looks rather badass. Very curious as we need to replace ours soon. Ours gets the job done, but it really isn’t what I enjoy to cook on.

First up is some Hungarian bacon I found that is amazing.
Second pic is some pork loin cutlets I cooked up with spices and fresh thyme.
Third is Thanksgiving, molasses rosemary pork render loin with Brussels sporouts/hungarian bacon.
Last is the four ingredient French onion soup (onions, butter, salt, pepper) that was served with thanksgiving dinner. It did have crostini with cheese broiled in top.

Kept it simple last night. Spaghetti aglio e olio with sauteed shrimp mixed in. Fresh parm and fresh parsley. Easy and so good with leftovers for lunch.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Thanks! Reads like a winner. I’ll try it out. I need to buy a bread pan.

Cranberries - straight out of the bag? Or boiled and popped first?

If I don’t have short, can I substitute butter?

Straight out of the bag and washed. I have never done it, but I bet you could substitute butter. I have found it easier to just use store bought OJ and also orange peel seasoning.

Bean cooker - that all looks amazing!!!! Did they smoke the Hungarian bacon or something to give color to the fat?

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
Todd, can we get a pic of the stove/oven? It appears to have five burners and looks rather badass. Very curious as we need to replace ours soon. Ours gets the job done, but it really isn’t what I enjoy to cook on.

I've been hobbled by this ruptured achilles tendon for nearly 3-months so kitchen isn't photo worthy. Instead, here is a pic from my 2016 home inspection and a stock photo of the 36" GE profile gas cooktop (2 regular burners on left, 2 simmer burners, and lower right is power boil burner).

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:

Never heard of it or seen it, but they look like an awesome appetizer. Is that pizza dough? Do you add any pizza sauce before rolling them? I am guessing you cut the strips as you have the ingredients laid out and then roll it up? So many questions…lol. I would like to make this as a New Years Eve appetizer.

I just used store brand premade pizza crust. No marinara sauce inside, just pizza dough, pepper flakes, oregano, salt and pepper. A few slices of provolone, a few pepperoni, BBQ chicken, or whatever your favorite pizza toppings (already cooked). Then a sprinkling of mozzarella or Italian blend cheese. Roll it up and slice in topping voids. Bake +/-400 untill it looks cooked. I flip them halfway through, but that's totally not needed.

They are just a pepperoni roll or pinwheel, Crusties was a name given to them by college restaurant that would deliver these at 3am to drunk students. They would make a great appetizer, probably even better if you use your own dough, but I'm lazy. They were served (and should be) with marinara sauce and a house ranch dressing.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I picked up a sous vide immersion cooker on a Black Friday deal.

Which cooker did you get, I have the circulator that goes in a pot and it's not really an effective method, requiring all kinds of bits to be added together.