Thai Turkey - Ideas?

[haolebaby]

So I was thinking of combining two of my favorite things - Thanksgiving and Thai food.

I am thinking I will baste the turkey in Singha and make a chile-cilantro stuffing. Any ideas beyond this for a Thai-themed Thanksgiving?

[The Turtle Bay Dove]

My family has done a different style Thanksgiving every year for years now (everything from Indian to Hungarian to Colonial-American), and I've just started the campaign to do some variation on a SE Asian Thanksgiving for next year after having loved a recipe for butternut squash (or pumpkin) coconut-milk soup from Hot, Sour, Sweet, and Salty. I'd definitely recommend a squash/coconut milk soup as a starter. The recipe in that cookbook I believe was mostly just those two ingredients plus fish sauce, lime juice, and cilantro.

I was thinking some sort of duck curry rather than roasting a whole bird, but I like your ideas too. I'm keeping track of this thread for next year!!

[melon]

This recipe from Epicurious has always looked good to me (though I haven't tried it myself)

It's a little fusion-y, but you could de-fuse to make it more Thai.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[JungMann]

I make a longbean and eggplant saute with red curry paste and miso in lieu of green bean casserole. For the cranberry sauce, you can make a spicy chutney with sambal, ginger and perhaps some apple added to the cranberries.

[gordeaux]

Stuff kefir lime leaves under the skin and a put a few in the cavity. I do this ALL THE TIME with chickens. Perfumes the flesh really nicely. It's something you'd expect from a five star restaurant.

"Kefir infused fire roasted free range chicken..."
LOL!!

[alkapal]

gordeaux, you are brilliant!

the kaffir lime leaf is also needed in that seafood and galanga soup i mentioned, iirc! oh, what about lemongrass, too?!!

break up some lemongrass and put in the turkey cavity, along with gordeaux's gourmet leaves. ;-) i'd also throw in a cut lime, having used the juice elsewhere, or also in a basting sauce (maybe with coconut milk and chiles?).

you need coconut custard pie for dessert. (cause i love it!) instead, though, just make it in custard cups without a crust, and top with fresh roasted coconut! maybe infuse the custard base with lemongrass and/or ginger...

how would a 5-star "ginger-lemongrass fragrant fresh toasted coconut custard" sound to you, gordeaux?

[haolebaby]

Mmm.. All those sound wonderful except I am the anti-lemongrass. The sweet basil and chile suggestions will be taken into account. Ooh, and the coconut custard. Also I am thinking maybe a curried long bean casserole..

[alkapal]

"curried long bean casserole" -- sounds 100% better than "the other green bean casserole."

[gordeaux]

sounds phenom!

Another suggestion for the op -
Rub the bird with a little (watch the sodium) of your favorite canned Thai curry paste if you don't wanna make your own. Then baste with a mixture of the paste and coconut milk.

[alkapal]

rice stuffing, or rice with some noodles?

i'm loving hill food's (aka "cranky mccrankpants") spring rolls with sweet potatoes. i'd mince --or probably julienne --- the taters, with scallions and ginger and maybe add some jicama or water chestnut for crunch, and some cellophane noodles. make a cranberry juice reduction/lime juice/palm sugar dipping sauce. (cheat by adding some lime juice to melted cran jelly, with chili sauce, or doctor up chinese plum sauce...)

oakjoan just linked nigella's plum sauce recipe: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/413499#4189889

i'd also like: thai mixed vegetables with kra pow sauce.
a light, hot and spicy soup, maybe seafood with galanga and cilantro?
i'd make som tam/som tum (green papaya salad), just cause i love it so much and could eat the whole batch by myself!
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i have an idea for leftover dark meat: that spicy thai warm duck salad recipe!

Yam Ped- Yang . here's a recipe one that looks close to what i've had -- and loved: http://www.manic.com.sg/recipes/duck.html

or this recipe for thai salad using minced duck: "larb" http://www.chow.com/recipes/13001

this one looks good, too: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/a...

oh heck, why not duck instead of turkey? just kidding (halfway...).

ps, what time is dinner, and can i bring some singha beer?

[haolebaby]

Shooting for 3pm but come early and help me cook, bring Singha, and can't wait to see ya!

[alkapal]

haolebaby, i will have to set off now to get to you by turkey day ;-)

thanks for the invite! i like your style.

[crowsonguy]

great suggestion on the dark meat turkey substitution for duck. I'll make it too.

[hill food]

alkapal: duck? that's what we're prob. going to do either Thursday or Friday (just 2 people this year)

[alkapal]

just saw duck, pheasant, capon, goose and turkeys at my harrison street harris teeter. i'm sure all the stores have them, but i only saw one pheasant. i'll bet they've got their poultry "product mix" down pretty well.

i roasted a goose one year that i bought at sutton place gourmet in mclean ($$$), as mr. alka loves it from his england days. yuk, what a greasy bird!

[hill food]

I've done goose - and for anyone reading - alkapal is NOT exaggerating. line up that grease can now or plan a winter cottage industry of rendered schmaltz (can that be used in reference to other than chicken?).

pheasant is fantastic if one isn't shy about barding. bit large for us this year though.

[alkapal]

let's call it "groose". goose+grease. the "groose" may be properly mis-pronounced as "gross" -- as in "gee, that is really gross!"

i guess i should've saved it for cooking frenchified dishes, but man it was strong-smelling.

[hill food]

chile-basil-red onion with lime? I always go an ingredient too far. but rice stuffing (dressing) not bread.

if you want to get really labor intensive, mashed sweet potatoes in fried rice paper packets.

why turkey? pork would be so much better. (OK not the tradition - but then neither is Thai)