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Everything for Thanksgiving except the turkey.

Dinner - Wine Choice - Leftovers

Dinner Recipes

Apple  & Onion Stuffing
7 cups soft bread crumbs          1 cup raisins
3/4 cup butter                           1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery             1 clove minced garlic
3 cups chopped apple               1/4 cup parsley
1/4 tsp paprika

Lightly toss bread crumbs and raisins. In a skillet melt the butter and saute the onions, garlic and celery for 4 min. Stir the sauted mixture into the bread and raisins. Add the diced apples, parsley and paprika and stir carefully. Place in the turkey.
If you wish, the stuffing can be cooked separately. Lightly grease a 2 qt. casserole dish and place in a 350 oven for 30 to 40 min.
Serves 16

Sweet Potato Casserole
2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed    2 tbps. orange juice
3/4 cup brown sugar                                  1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tbps. butter                                             1 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350.
Cook sweet potatoes in salted water for about 20 min. Drain and add orange juice, brown sugar, nutmeg and butter. Whip until smooth. Spread into a medium size casserole dish and top with marshmallows. Bake about 8-10 min or until marshmallows lightly brown.
Serves 5.

Pumpkin Bread
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour          1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon                            1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree                    1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk                        1 egg
2 tbps. softened butter

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix in the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and butter until well blended. Pour into a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Wine Comments

Pick the wine for Thanksgiving?  Me?

I suspect that thought brings sweaty palms many men and women.   Few meals have the varied tastes and flavor combinations of a "traditional" Thanksgiving turkey dinner, a minefield for wine-and-food matching.  As if that isn't enough, your entire family will be there, along with a few strangers probably caught up in the rush to your door.  This one will like only whites, that one only reds, the next will know exactly what you should have bought instead of what you did buy.  This looks like a no-win situation.

But it is not really that bad.

To begin with, the sheer number and variety of flavor interactions actually eliminate whole classes of wines.  Big bold reds don't belong here; neither do delicate wines exhibiting great finesse and complexity.  That makes your life easier -- and saves you a few bucks while you are at it.

One perennially popular choice is a French Beaujolais Nouveau, a red wine that tastes like a white, best when lightly chilled.   Released on the third Thursday in November, this is a wine designed to be drunk young, and the imperatives of marketing will ensure it is rushed to the American wine stores by air.  If you have decided to avoid French wine this year, there are American Beaujolais-style wines available.

If you want a red wine of greater body, try a Pinot Noir.  Camelot's Pinot Noir California 2001 is an excellent buy, as is Beaulieu Vineyards' Pinot Noir California Coastal Signature Series 2001.

An oaky Chardonnay can go with turkey dinners, but will usually do better with rich, buttery dishes.  Two pleasant and wallet-friendly choices are the Covey Run Chardonnay Washington 2000 and the Stone Cellars Chardonnay California 2001.  But as a rule I prefer something else.

One choice is a Riesling, such as the Hogue Johannisberg Columbia Valley 2002 from the state of Washington.  Another is a Gewurtztraminer, such as the Chateau Ste. Michelle Gewurtztraminer Columbia Valley 2002.

Dinner - Wine Choice - Leftovers

Leftover Suggestions

Tired of those plain, old leftover turkey sandwiches? Here's something new for all that leftover turkey.

Turkey Curry
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice (white or brown)                     1/2 cup minced onion
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup    1 tbps. butter
1 6 oz can sliced mushroom, drained                               1/4 cup milk
1 cup sour cream                                                            1/2 tsp. curry
2 cups chopped turkey meat

Cook rice according to package directions. In a medium saucepan over medium heat saute the onions in the butter until translucent. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the soup, mushrooms and milk. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth. Add the sour cream, curry and turkey meat, stirring until it heats through. Cover and simmer for about 20 min. Ladle the curry mixture over the rice.
Serves 4.

Turkey Salad
6 eggs                                                   6 cups chopped turkey meat
1 16 oz. jar chopped sweet pickles        8 oz. mustard
3/4 cup mayonnaise

Cook eggs and let stand in hot water for 6-8 min. When the eggs are cool, peel and chop.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, turkey, pickles, mustard, mayonnaise. Place in refrigerator for about 3 hrs. before serving.
Salad can be placed on a bed of lettuce and served with crackers or bread.
Serves 10.

Dinner - Wine Choice - Leftovers

 Last modified: August 07, 2007