Typical Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

In a hurry? Don't know how to prepare the bird for its special day? Don't fret none. Just read on and follow the directions below. The Keiman's glad to help out.

Cookbook:One-Hour Thanksgiving Dinner
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Current revision (unreviewed)
Jump to: navigation, search

Cookbook | Recipes

This recipe is for an entire Thanksgiving Dinner that takes one hour to cook. The recipe uses various pre-cooked ingredients and instant foods, and is designed for those cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, such as college students.
[edit] Ingredients

* 1 5–6 lb fully pre-cooked smoked turkey breast. Certain brands are readily available in almost every U.S. supermarket, however they must be fully-cooked frozen turkey breast, as they only require 1 hour of heating. Avoid processed turkey breast loaf. Average price: $10–$12
* 2 cans of desired vegetables. Average Price: $1.50
* 1–2 box package(s) of instant potatoes or stuffing. Average price: $1.50-$3.00
* 1 package of 12 instant frozen biscuits. The frozen home-baked butter variety works best. It is important that the biscuits in a can are not used. Average price: $2
* 1 package of turkey gravy mix. Average price: $1
* 1 small disposable aluminum turkey pan with built-in rack. Average price: $2.
* 1 can of spray oil (can be substituted with regular vegetable oil). Average price: $1

[edit] Optional

* 1 pre-made pumpkin pie. Average price : $6.
* 1–2 cans cranberry sauce. Average price: $1.

[edit] Preparation

1. Make sure you have thawed the turkey breast. A frozen 5–6 pound breast thaws within one day in the refrigerator. It is also very important that you have purchased a frozen fully pre-cooked breast. The words "heat and serve" may be on the package.
2. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
3. Remove turkey from bag and place in aluminum roasting pan.
4. Spray the turkey with cooking oil. If using regular vegetable oil, rub the breast with it.
5. Place turkey breast in the oven on the middle rack.
6. Cook for 15 minutes.
7. Begin the gravy mix according to package directions.
8. Place the vegetables on the range set to low heat.
9. Prepare the instant potatoes or stuffing according to the package directions.
10. On a small pan lay out your frozen biscuits allowing them to touch one another. At this point the turkey breast should have been cooking for 30 minutes.
11. Place your biscuits on the lower rack. The biscuits will cook just fine with the turkey in the oven and will be ready in 25–30 minutes. Check them at 20 minutes to be sure they do not burn.
12. Finish preparing your instant potatoes or stuffing, instant gravy, and vegetables. Place them in serving dishes if desired. Place the cranberry sauce in a serving dish. If you are serving pie along with the dinner you will also need to place the pie on a serving dish. If a frozen pie has been purchased, follow the microwave directions.
13. At the end of the hour, remove the turkey. It is recommended that you use a food thermometer to make sure it has achieved a temperature of 160°F — the minimum temperature necessary to kill any bacteria which have survived the freezing process. Remove the turkey and serve.

This dinner serves 6–8 people comfortably.
[edit] Leftovers

There are many uses for the leftover turkey. Sliced turkey leftovers can be used to make sandwiches or turkey biscuits.

The portion along the bone can be used to prepare turkey soup by placing it in a soup pot along with 4 cups of water, 1 chopped onion, 2 tablespoons salt, and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 2 hours. Add another cup of water, spices to taste, desired vegetables such as carrots or potatoes, and noodles. Simmer for an additional hour and a half.

Thanksgiving Menu at the Keiman's House

Here's a pix of the Angelic duo from their 1990 calendar:



Here's a pix of Naruto and his Ninja tomos at a Thanksgiving feast:



Thought you guys and gals might like to see what our family holiday dinner menu's going to be. Enjoy yourselves.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu 2009 (Keiman's Family in Brookhaven PA)

Roasted Turkey
Pot Luck Stuffing
Turkey Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato Bake
Braised Sweet Carrots
Creamy Country Corn
Fruit Ambrosia Compote (McElwee Family Tradition)
Fruit Salad
Green Salad
Waldorf Salad
Non-alcoholic Punch
Non-alcoholic Eggnog
Java (Coffee)
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie

As a rule we watch a few Thanksgiving specials on TV not the least of which is the Macy's Parade. Bobby and Mama like the original Miracle on 34th Street film starring Ed Gwenn while I prefer the 1973 version starring Seb Cabot as St Nick. We try and watch at least some of the NFL games. While I cook (Mama and Bobby help too) and Jasmine our 13 yrs young Border Collie/Siberian Huskie doggie watches and waits for treats I listen to anime music on my CD player. Now that I have a lot of pre-recorded anime music and not just burnt CDs of it I don't have to listen to Sailor Moon and the Angels exclusively. Latest additions are Rave Master, Death Note and Code Geass. My fave? Easy. Nonstop Angel from the DP Flash collection. In fact it's from the only pre-recorded Angels CD available this side of Japan.

This year we'll get to use our stove oven instead of our Dutch convection oven. Why? We finally got our Maytag range's oven repaired. However, I still miss our Roper eye-level oven we had back in 1977 when we moved here from Lenni PA where we had resided for 15+ years. Here's a holiday tip for you guys and gals. Many parts of your feast can be prepared some days ahead of time and either refrigerated or frozen. However, turkeys as a rule can take 2-3 days to fully thaw out. Don't be tempted to hasten the job by nuking the bird in your microwave or you'll dry it out for sure! Once thawed you MUST cook the bird within a few hours even if you stick it in the fridge. After the feast is over leftover turkey will keep for up to a week in the fridge and a few days longer in the freezer. Remember that you can keep a raw turkey in the freezer indefinitely but after the first couple of years it will begin to lose its flavour.

If you are like me you cook holiday meals from scratch. I make one or two convenience concessions. I use prebaked (thawed) pie shells rather than home made dough. Why? I have little space to roll out the dough. I will use a stuffing mix and augment it with stale bread and rolls as well as a few secrets of my own.

OK- here are my two most precious cooking secrets.

What do you use to tenderize and flavour just about everything? Hint- you probably keep it on hand around the holidays to put in eggnog and pumpkin pie. Surprise! It's nutmeg of course. Oro? You didn't know that nutmeg will tenderize meats, veggies, etc.? Well ginger and allspice work just as well but their flavours are stronger and more pungent. Nutmeg is lighter and imparts just the right amount of flavour to anything you put it on.

How do you moisten meats, veggies, potatoes, etc.? Liquid? Sure but which one(s)? Water? Certainly if you just want moisture. Remember onegai that water has NO flavour or odour by itself and flavoured water is mere food colouring and artificial flavourings. So oro liquids can you use? It'll floor you but the answer is- anything you want! I use coffee or tea as a rule except for meats where I include root or birch beer or Coke or Pepsi. Pork chops like Dr Pepper and applesauce. Ham prefers pineapple juice and/or ginger ale or 7-Up or even Sprite. If you're an old Food Network fan you'll recall the Two Fat Ladies from Britain. One of them once made French onion soup for the boy scouts and guess what she used for liquid- beer! Beer is used with Cajun seafood a lot and the Europeans live on wine cooking. Even liquors can be used you know. Kids? Forget it. The alcohol is burned off or cooked out or just plain evaporates leaving only the flavour. Even Tom Jefferson and Ben Franklin served 'syllabub' to their guests which included young tykes. Syallabub is a type of gelatin parfait made from wine. Wikipedia has a few nice recipes if you want to try making the stuff. Good luck though because the recipes are a mite complicated for us.

By the way old TJ published the first cook book in the Americas but whether he did that before or after he penned the Declaration I do not recall offhand. It was he or BF who introduced ice cream to the Colonies although Jim Madison's wife Dolly usually gets the credit for it. In fact to this day there is an ice cream brand called Dolly Madison. We prefer a local brand made in PA's Lehigh Valley- Turkey Farms. Nothing like vanilla fudge TH ice cream over hot apple or pumpkin (or any kind really) pie any old time.

Gad! This was supposed to be a holiday menu and nothing else, was it not? Better post a pix and close for now. Happy eating to all my tomos- K&K