Thanksgiving on the boat

[SabrinaKS]

Has anyone started planning for Thanksgiving aboard? We would love some ideas, hints and such as to what works in a small galley. I am sure there are probably some funny Thanksgiving aboard stories as well.

[bljones]

The weather was too good to pass up, so we celebrated Thanksgiving (Canadian) on our boat, and, after a lazy daysail, packed the cockpit with the usual suspects from the Dock Six Sailing Club and Rum Drinking Society (SCARDS- to be spoken in your best pirate accent), and served dinner. Our boat is small, our galley smaller, so we cheated: we cooked a turkey earlier in the week and brought the drumsticks and breast to the boat to be carved into sandwiches, laid out some fantastic portuguese rolls from a local bakery, and we whipped up pears and brie on toast with mango chutney, then served veggies and dip and guacamole, a cheese plate and a shrimp ring. Laid it all out on the table, and with a little poking nudging, excuse-meing and laughter, everyone was able to wend their way from the small cockpit to the small cabin and back up with full plates.
Guests brought booze. Amazing how good simple food tastes with the right company and the right atmosphere.

[sailjunkie]

I would love to help you out, but us Canucks celebrated Thanksgiving last month. Must be those northern latitudes!

In lieu of a canceled club cruise, we ended up with a dock party that was complete with pesky seagulls, turkey dinner & crepes suzettes! A good time was had by all.

[MacGyverRI]

scale these to # of people, all are 1 pan dishes.

2 lbs. butternut squash, 1 cup water, cook and mash w/ some butter, a dash or 2 of cinnamon and either Maple syrup (real stuff) or 1/8-1/4 cup brown sugar and put that in a bowl. Rinse and reuse same pan, then add 1-2 lg. apples diced or thin sliced that have been cooked (translucent) in a little butter and stir that into the squash. (3-4 people)

Cranberry chutney;
1-2 bags washed cranberries simmered in 1/2-1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup water until they all pop open, then add 2-3+ lg apples diced into that along w/ 1/2 cup raisins and cook it all until the apples are done. You can also add 1/2 cup shelled walnut pieces from the start w/ the cranberries. 2-4+ people... I've even put shredded coconut and canned Mandarin orange slices (just stir them when it's done) in this.

A quick and easy turkey dish that works w/ chicken also.
3+ lbs. raw real turkey breast cut into bite sized pieces (single layer) in bottom of a deep baking dish/pan. then add 1 can cream of mushroom or cream of celery etc. (any fav. cream soup) soup mixed w/ 1 can milk, poured over the turkey pieces, then stir it in and level it. Cover that w/ a good layer of 1-2 bags bread stuffing cubes (Stove Top stuffing works well) then cover it tight w/ foil and bake @ 375 for 45+ mins until the turkey is cooked. Just spoon it out onto the plates, no carving required!

[eryka]

Last year we made individual pumpkin-and-mushroom lasagnas in mini-loaf pans - Or individual pot pies, or phyllo pastries - do you see a trend here? Sometimes I like the elegance of individual dishes, which have the additional benefit of being easy to scale to the number of people present, and easier on a boat-size oven.(Disclaimer:We're vegetarian, so our basic menu doesn't include turkey.)

[QuickMick]

for an easy tasty dessert i core some fruit (apples/pears) pack the hole with brown sugar wrap in tin foil and put em on the grill for a bit. the fruit softens up and the brown sugar kinda melts in there.... mmmm mmmm good!

[SVAuspicious]

Two burner cooker with an oven (no broiler, no thermostat).

A day or two ahead, bake bread and make an apple pie.

Roast a turkey breast and bake potatoes in the oven. Homemade stuffing on top of the cooker on one side, steam broccoli, carrots, cauliflower on the other. Caeser salad and dressing. While the turkey is resting make gravy on the cooker while keeping the veg and stuffing warm in the oven.

Works a treat.

[T37Chef]

dont forget to brine your turkey

[SVAuspicious]

Originally Posted by T37Chef

dont forget to brine your turkey

That's what the 5-gallon plastic bucket is for.

[T37Chef]

FWIW...

Salty Brine: The basic ratio is water or liquids to salt & sugar.
1 Gal water/liquid
1 Cup Salt, Kosher
1/2 Cup Sugar

The rest is up to you as far as flavor:

I make 2 gallons of brine for a 18-20# Turkey, it includes the following:

• 1 Gal Water
• 2 Cup Kosher Salt
• 1 Cup Sugar, granulated
• 2 Each Onion, Yellow
• 4 Bulbs Garlic
• 1 Cup Pickling Spice
• Star Anise

Heat the ingredients above to a boil, then remove from the heat and add:

• 1 Bunch Thyme
• 1 Bunch Rosemary
• 8 Ounces Ginger
• 4 Each Apples

Let Cool, then add

• 1 Gal Apple Cider (1 gal cider + 1 Gal water = your 2 gallons of liquid to 2 cups of salt + 1 cup sugar)

Rinse Turkey in with cold water, removing any giblets/neck, etc. Place in a large bucket and cover with cool brine, weight down with some plates, or plastic bottles so it is kept submerged. Important note: If you want to speed up the process of brining or have a large turkey, you should inject some of the brine into the meat using a bringing needle.

Let the turkey brine for two to three days, dependent if you injected it or not and how large a bird it is.

Prepare for Roasting: After removing the turkey from the brine, rinse it with cold running water for about 30-60 minutes. Then let it dry for a few hours under refrigeration.

Prepare for Roasting:

Preheat oven 500 degrees. Gently separate the skin from the breast of the turkey and slide pork fat back that has been sliced 1/8" thick between the skin & breast. This is called barding. Stuff the cavity with some chopped onions, apples, Cinnamon, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, etc. Truss the turkey using butchers twine or the supplied wire being sure the legs are pulled tight to the breast. Arrange your turkey in your roasting pan on a bed of chopped onions, carrots, celery, bacon and chicken stock. Add chicken stock occasionally throughout the roasting to keep the vegetables from drying out and burning. This also will provide some steam in the and a good base for your gravy.
Place in the preheated oven for 15-30 minutes at 500 degrees, then reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and cook to and internal temp of 160 degrees, with a final temp of 165 degrees.