If you like crispy turkey skin, this method is the way to go.
Happy Thanksgiving a few days early from Beer and Wine Journal. We hope everyone gets to enjoy the holiday in the company of the people that are important to them. Every once in awhile, we publish a story on food and today we just thought we’d remind you of a story I posted awhile back on smoked turkey. This method (setting the turkey on a Foster’s can, in the manner of beer can chicken) works for roasting turkey in the oven as well as smoking it in a smoker.
If you’ve got leftovers, or your local supermarket has a sale on Thanksgiving items after the holiday, check out our recipes for Cranberry Zinger and Sweet Potato ESB.
And finally, here’s another recipe for Thanksgiving. It’s very simple and quick to make, but tastes great.
Jennifer’s Green Beans
Mmmm . . . green beans. (Photo by the USDA)
INGREDIENTS
2 lbs. (900 g) green beans (ends cut off)
1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
3 oz. (85 g) pecans (pieces)
2 strips bacon
PROCEDURE
Bring 3 qts. (3 L) of water to a boil and blanch the green beans. (Don’t overcook them; pull them out of the water before they get soggy.) While waiting for the water to come to a boil, toast the pecans in a frying pan. (Toast them just enough so they start smelling good and pick up a little bit of color. Shake the pan often to keep the pecans moving.) Place the toasted pecans in a small casserole dish. Add a little olive oil (or other oil) to the frying pan and sauté the chopped onion. Place the sautéed onion in the casserole dish with the toasted pecans. Fry the bacon until crispy and place on paper towels to absorb some of the grease. Crumble bacon and mix onion, pecans and bacon together. When beans are ready, mix with other ingredients. That’s it.
Option: You can also sprinkle on a little bleu cheese, if you want.
We’ll have updates all week, except for Thanksgiving day.
Hey Chris,
Do you collect drippings from the turkey to make gravy when you smoke the bird? If so, how much do you get? I usually need 2 cups + to have just enough gravy for a single sitting of six people or so. Thanksgiving just isn’t the same when you don’t make the gravy from the drippings, and it seems like it might be more difficult to collect them when you are smoking instead of oven roasting.
Oh, a tip I learned by experience this year (we had thanksgiving early): learning to properly caramelize onions will provide a huge flavor boost to all of your gravies and casseroles. I find a touch of slaking (pickling) lime to drop the pH really helps.
– Dennis, Life Fermented Blog
Yep, I make pan gravy. Smoked turkey gravy is insanely good. From a 12-lb. bird, I usually get about 1/4 cup of fat, and maybe 1.5 to 2 cups of drippings in the pan under the bird. I just add chicken broth to make about 4 cups of drippings and broth combined and use that for the liquid in the gravy.