Twists on Tradition....Thanksgiving Re-mix!

As mentioned in a previous post, I made a tofurkey thanksgiving feast with my sister and her girlfriend. I love the traditional meal, but it was pretty fun trying something new and improvising at the last minute....although I really missed having leftover turkey for turkey sandwiches.

I wanted to hear about other people's twists on thanksgiving meals so I threw it out on Facebook and these were some FB friends alternative thanksgiving meals.....

This was Milad's 2nd Thanksgiving making a smoked turkey. It is a crowd pleaser and Milad says everyone loves the smokey taste of this bird. This is a serious process that requires quite a bit of planning and preparation and using some special gear- mainly, an all- ceramic Kermado smoker from 1970. He says the number one secret to a great smoked turkey is dry skin!

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Prepared brine. Brine turkey overnight	.
Prep, Day 2	Air-dried the turkey in the refrigerator.
	Thanksgiving Day 1:00 PM  Arranged grills and heat deflector. Started the fire. Stabilized the Kamado at 475 degrees Fahrenheit dome temperature..
1:30 PM	Began roasting the turkey at 475 degrees.
2:15 PM	Adjusted dampers to reduce dome temperature to 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
3:00 PM	Basted the turkey with the olive oil/butter mixture. Checked the internal temperature in the thigh (130 degrees) and the breast (139 degrees). Added one fist-sized chunk of pecan to the fire. NOTE:  Cover the breast or the entire turkey with aluminum foil if temperatures are too high or the skin is getting too dark.
4:30 PM	Monitor internal temperature.
4:45 PM	Removed the turkey to a carving board when the breast temperature reached 161 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly covered the turkey with aluminum foil. Allowed the turkey to rest for approximately 15 minutes before carving.
5:00 PM	Carved the turkey and served.
Total Cooking Time	3 hours and 15 minutes (15 minutes per pound)

Some other variations on traditional thanksgiving dinner.....

Christine made ground turkey meatloaf.....

"saute 1 onion, 4 celery sticks in 2 tbsp butter.
Add 2 tbsp poultry seasoning and a bay leaf.
Add bag of big stuffing cubes.
Soften with a box of chicken stock.
Remove from pan and in big bowl let cool.
Add 1 egg and package ground turkey.
Form into a loaf on a cookie sheet.
melt 2 tbsp butter and drizzle on top of the loaf.
Bake @ 375 for 1 hour.
Yummm yummm"

Keeping with the loaf theme....Mona made a veggie loaf. 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup (about 1 onion) chopped red onion
1 stalk celery, minced
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon tumeric powder (optional)
1 teaspoon sambar powder (or any masala or curry powder you have on hand) (optional)
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
10 sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped finely
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan with oil; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside in large mixing bowl.
2. Heat more oil in pan, saute onion, celery, garlic, jalapeno (with tumeric and curry/masala spice if desired) until soft, put in bowl with mushrooms.
3. Meanwhile, put beans, oats and 1/2 cup water into a food processor and pulse until almost smooth. Add this bean mixture to the large bowl, along with quinoa, peas, parsley, tomatoes, onion, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan, gently pressing down and mounding it in the middle. Bake until firm and golden brown, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Set aside to let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

For more of Mona's recipes: www.monasrecipes.blogspot.com

Chelsea J rang in Thanksgiving at IHOP with her mexican family in texas.

"I had rubbery turkey bacon with eggs, hash browns, and cream filled french toast ALL slathered with maple syrup for my dinner! Xo"

Kallie kept with tradition.... (please send me this recipe....!)

"Not chicken courd en blu, not burre blanc, why can't I remember the name of what I ate tonight? Anyway, the chicken breast with prawns and scallpos, let me rephrase, a prawn and a scallop and one piece of asparagus in a white wine cream and or butter sauce. Ricks Grill en Whistlah a solid 6.5. Server insisted on being MIA, not like we needed anything and on making us feel like we were getting in the way of his "closing duties." Maybe if I was Australian I would have been more "thankful?"

"I make my great grandmothers southern corn soufflé which is nothing like a real soufflé but tastes incredible! It's like a twist on cornbread just creamy... Mmmmm"

And Amy W. had a pretty disappointing dish at a whistler restaurant