Wow it's crazy to think this is my tenth blog post here at Man Meat BBQ. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and I hope everyone has been enjoying the blog. November is for many the start of the Holiday season and with that comes the ultimate foodie day Thanksgiving.
Now I love Thanksgiving it is a great holiday, it brings friends and family together to share one huge meal.This also means it's a great time to do some BBQ. Now I know many people swear by the deep fried turkey but once you have had a smoked turkey you will be done putting them in a fryer.
You will have a lot more fun and be the talk of the family after you smoke up a turkey. A properly smoked turkey is flavorful, juicy and tender. Now I could go through a whole recipe and tell you how to do it but there are a million recipes and videos on how to cook a turkey. (Personal favorites are amazingribs.com and Aaron Franklin's YouTube video) what I really want to talk about is the other things you can cook on your smoker for Thanksgiving.
You can start with your appetizers. Ever had smoked spinach and artichoke dip? Make your standard dip recipe and put a nice layer of cheese (shredded white cheddar is great) across the top. Put it in the smoker and let it get bubbly on the edges. While it cooks cut up some pieces of sourdough bread. When the top is melted and it's starting to bubble on the edges pull it off and serve. This will def help get the family gathered together and talking.
Now remember that your smoker really is just an oven that is heated by smoke. What does this mean? It means other things that you like to bake in the oven can be cooked in the smoker. Things like stuffing. We all have our favorite kind of stuffing. Some has fruit in it, where other people put sausage. No matter how you like your stuffing adding some smoky goodness will add another layer of flavor. Now I know what your thinking really ok stuffing that's all you got? How about making stuffins? What are stuffins you ask why stuffing muffins. After you have cooked your stuffing on the stove top add an egg for every pound of stuffing, to the mixture. Then take a muffin tray or two and spray them with some Pam and fill them with the stuffing egg mixture. Crank your smoker up to about 325 degrees and pop them in for about 30 minutes. Because of the egg you need to cook them to an internal temperature of 160°.
Why cook stuffing this way you ask? One it makes for easy serving and two everyone gets to have some good crunchy outside with soft inside. Plus who doesn't love muffins especially when they are made of stuffing.
Another great side dish that you can amp up with some smoke flavor is your mashed potatoes. Yes you heard me mashed potatoes. Great thing about these is you can get them prepped the night before and have them in a smoker safe dish or pan.Then just refrigerate till the next day. I put some pads of butter (if you really wanna be fancy add some of your favorite compound butter) on the top and you are basically going to reheat them in the smoker for about 30 to 45 min at 350° or until they reach 165°
If your like me you love any excuse to light up your pit and the holidays are no exception. Why should the oven get all the fun. Another great thing about using the smoker is it frees up the kitchen for things like dessert! Also who doesn't like hanging out by the smoker.
From my family to all of yours have a happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to tag @manmeatbbq and @wile_e_bbq and show us how you do Thanksgiving. Remember #cowboyup and #keepsmoking
Cowboy Kev
