USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

[St. Clown]

I've been advocating for a year off from turkey for eons, and I finally get to decree it now that my wife and I are hosting. I'm hoping to serve a standing rib roast.

my brother moved his family to a rotation of rib roast, or prime rib, something like that each year, a number of years ago. No more dry meat! My ex-girlfriend and I were there five years ago, it was prime rib. She didn’t understand what uncut horsey sauce really was, but she was warned. It lasted for a single bite. Sooooo much water was to be had!

 

[MissThundercat]

For cranberry sauce, I've come to prefer the big purple lump in a can.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Wat

 

[Kepler]

For cranberry sauce, I've come to prefer the big purple lump in a can.

A weirdly large number of people say this.

 

[leswp1]

My friends in St Croix ended up doing capons. Turkey there is obscenely expensive. Love this idea but the traditionalists would have apoplexy.
I make turkey but I barely eat it. I eat all the veggies.
We used to have 22 people but are down to 4 this yr. The upper generation is spotty with feeling like they are up to coming/ have health issues that prevent, but they all don't like the thought of having anyone outside of the family there. They are outspoken about this so if I did invite it would be unpleasant for who ever came. Eventually we will end up having Friendsgiving instead of family but dealing with the blowback is not worth it now.
I am thinking of making tourtiere as one of the sides (insert exploding head emoji)
-

 

[Kepler]

I'm sure there are many, many substitutes for people who can't / won't eat turkey. Leaves more for me.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

For cranberry sauce, I've come to prefer the big purple lump in a can.

Me too. For some reason my grandma did this and I just thoughts that is how it always comes

 

[ScoobyDoo]

For cranberry sauce, I've come to prefer the big purple lump in a can.

Yep, this is pretty much a staple for me as well. Critical part of the meal.

 

[anygreen]

My favorite dish was chicken biryani in the past . Would love to cook something like but i think it is too fatty and i wouldn't feel good after. With the diabetes i need to keep a very healthy diet and always make sure there is not much sugar or gluten inside the particular dish. Ozempic coupon helps me of course when i ate/ drank something which wasn't allowed and the level of my sugar getting too high

 

[dxmnkd316]

Anyone has a good chicken biryani recipe?

1 cup loose bolts
1.5 cup 40W oil (synthetic if you can find it)
1/2 cup silicon chips, finely diced
3/4 cup flaked plastic
one large gear, chopped in half, no need to unwrap
2 (dry) leaf springs

1. In a ceramic cauldron over 1,000 degF heat the oil
2. Wait until it starts to shimmer then add the flaked plastic. It's going to sputter some and might catch fire but it will die down.
3. After 3-5 minutes, add the cup of loose bolts, stir until coated
4. Add silicon, gear, and leaf springs. Cover, bring to boil, and reduce to simmer for 24 hours.

serving suggestion:
1/2 cup copper wire, any shape works
heat wire just until it's malleable
immediately serve in a shallow, printed circuit board.

 

[Kepler]

Thanks, Bender.

 

[St. Clown]

Grading thanksgiving day dinner is definitely grading on a curve. Turkey sucks and I need to find a way to get my family to recognize that.

“Yeah, but when else are you going to have turkey and stuffing? That stuffing was good.”

Fine the stuffing was good. You know what it was not? It was not cooked inside the turkey. There are better options in this world. Fight the power!

 

[dxmnkd316]

Turkey does NOT have to suck. It just doesn't. It kills me a little every time I hear that.

smoked turkey (skin is inedible, but the rest is killer)
maple sage glazed, dry brined
deep fried

Just spatchcock it and dry brine it if you roast or smoke it. To hell with stuffing. You can make incredible dressing without the hassle. I'd rather have a spatchcocked incredible turkey than stuffing that's only like 20% better than I can make in a pan. You can drizzle the drippings on it and still have tons for gravy.

Kenji Lopez Alt's dry brining procedure produced the most flavorful and juicy bird I have ever eaten. Blows Alton's (the previous standard bearer) out of the water. I ALMOST said it was better than the smoked bird.

edit: last year I did both smoked AND roasted birds in case one went to hell. When we host again next year I'm doing straight up roasted and maybe smoke just a whole breast. The roasted Turkey was so juicy. Even after a rest it was like cutting into a firehose. And the flavor was spectacular.

 

[Kepler]

Turkey is incredible. I have almost never had it suck. It is almost impossible to fuck up, witnessing that I can make it.

 

[dxmnkd316]

I'll disagree that turkey is impossible to screw up. You can't cook the thighs to 165 and expect everything else to be edible, not without some intervention.

edit: I'd argue getting anything up to 165 is inedible.

 

[walrus]

Turkey done low and slow sucks, turkey done at higher heat, convection roast and checked with thermometer rules. Gravy made with a stock from giblet/neck a ton of roasted carrots, celery and onions, some pan drippings and then beat smooth with immersion blender rules also.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Let’s talk knives

I want some good, quality pieces. I tend to prefer Japanese over German but don’t want to pay for hand crafted steel as they can chip easily and I’m not wanting that.

I know to avoid a giant knife set- waste of money and too many needless knives. I want the 3-4 basic knives that most people need and what brand you like.

the best knife I have currently is a miyabi chefs knife.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

I would look at a small set of Globals. They're cheaper than artsy Japenese knifemakers like Miyabi and Shun, and a lot of pro chefs have traded in their Wusthofs for them over the last 20 years because they don't require as much constant care.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

I looked at subreddit chefknives. Holy are those people pretentious. They sneer at factory made anything.

sure wusthof, shun and miyabi are overpriced. But most people cannot and should not have hand crafted mini samurai swords either.

a family member who is actually a chef in a Michelin starred restaurant saw that sub and doubled over in laughter.

 

[dxmnkd316]

I looked at subreddit chefknives. Holy are those people pretentious. They sneer at factory made anything.

sure wusthof, shun and miyabi are overpriced. But most people cannot and should not have hand crafted mini samurai swords either.

a family member who is actually a chef in a Michelin starred restaurant saw that sub and doubled over in laughter.

LOL that's hilarious.

Honestly, I think you're dead on in your assessment. You need a big knife, paring knife, shears, and a carving knife if you're so inclined. Maybe one other. I've honestly been happy with my shltty ass CHicago Cutlery and would probably perform really well (for what I need) if I had them sharpened annually. I basically use the santoku, shears, bread (which I use for carving, sue me), and the small santoku. I've used my wife's chef's knife sometimes but I just find it too unwieldy.