T

Thanksgiving Dinner – Our First Turducken

Thanksgiving breakfast

Thanksgiving came and went this year. I’ve celebrated this food-filled holiday with my family starting with the traditional New York breakfast of smoked salmon and piping hot, fresh bagels from my local bagel shop, and some delectable pastries and tarts from the fantastic bakery Breads Bakery.

Pumpkin soup with black truffles
Red quinoa salad with roast acorn squash and pomegranate arils


As the evening approached, I’ve cooked up some pumpkin soup from scratch but made it a bit unusual with the intense black truffles and toasted sunflower seeds and platters of red quinoa salad with roast acorn squash and pomegranate arils. This is just the healthy stuff before we roll in the centerpiece of this dinner…

Our roast Turducken stuffed with Italian sausage
Our roast Turducken stuffed with Italian sausage

…The Turducken! This beast is essentially a large boneless turkey (save for its limbs and wings) stuffed with a de-boned duck and chicken. What Echelon Foods (the brand that produces the turducken we had) makes it over the top is to stuff it with Italian sausage, and arguably give this bird structure. What does this taste like? It’s tasted like its individual meats that’s listed. It’s juicy (I roasted this bird with an instant read thermometer while it’s cooking to prevent overcooking) and seasoned well. I would sort of think of this like a very large meatloaf since there’s no bones to deal with and it is a mixture of many meats.

Seared steak, asparagus topped with fried onions

I grilled up some steak in case my family was still hungry or needed more protein. I doctored it up by having a side of asparagus and topped it with fried onions. There were mashed potatoes as well since my family adores that side dish.

Dessert - Earl Grey tea ice cream with cranberry sauce and Dark chocolate gelato
Pecan pie for dessert

For dessert we had more pecan pie and there’s ice cream. Earl grey ice cream with cranberry sauce or dark chocolate gelato for those who want something creamy and frozen.

Lots of delicious food. We’re thankful to have our family together and keep counting our blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!

Tina

I shoot, eat, and drink. My full time job is a hospital administrator. Moonlighting as a freelance photographer and food and travel writer.