After many years of thinking about how to bring my husband’s traditional foods and mine together for a meal like Thanksgiving, I finally decided to take the plunge and try out the recipes dancing through my head last year. The centerpiece was a tandoori turkey. While I didn’t build a traditional tandoor oven like I had envisioned, this version turned out quite nicely. It had a mild spice and the spatchcocking of the turkey took the cook time down to about an hour and a half. (more…)

Filed under:
Dinner, Gluten free, Indian, Thanksgiving by Courtney

As I sit down to start planning Thanksgiving, I start to think about Thanksgivings past, and all of the yummy recipes I’ve discovered. Typically, I pick one recipe I really want to make (whether it’s from the past, or something I’ve just seen) and then I begin to plan the menu around that.

This year, I’m going to pick a recipe I did in 2007 to center on – a riesling-brined turkey from Martha Stewart Living. It was one of the best turkeys I have ever had (deep-fried excluded here, of course). (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Gourmet, Thanksgiving by Courtney

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Somewhere around October 1st I start getting the urge to plan, to start thinking about what the perfect meal will be. Come November 1st, it’s high time to start pulling out all of my previous menus, turkey recipes saved, Martha Stewarts from Novembers and Decembers past. About a week or so before I’ll finalize the menu, send it around (in the fancyfont), solicit feedback. Then my master shopping list is printed out – every ingredient for every recipe listed, then compiled, ticked off against what I already have, and split out into various trips to the store (weekend before, Wednesday before).

With all of this planning and anticipation, you’d think I’d be uptight about the big day. That I might send out a letter similar to this nut, stipulating that everything must be perfect! Actually, it’s not about that at all. Enter the above turkey… (more…)

Filed under:
Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Side Dish, Thanksgiving, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney