Thanksgiving Turkey
And
Leg of Lamb on our Traeger

Thanksgiving Dinner at our house was hickory smoked turkey, Leg of lamb, stuffed Portobello mushrooms,
twice baked sweet potatoes and broccoli
topped with crispy bacon.

Thanksgiving this year has given me cause for thought. This is the hardest time that Patti and I have experienced in our six years together. The lack of work along with trying to make the mortgage and keep the lights on at the same time has been a real challenge for us. And I am not sure we are winning. All we can and are doing is praying harder. But, as I sit here thinking of all the people who have lost or are losing their homes and businesses, that are depressed and unhappy with life, family and or marital problems, health issues and our men and women in the Military, far away from their loved ones. It does make us count our many blessings.

We know that we have so much to be thankful for and that we are truly blessed. I have a loving, faithful, devoted wife that takes excellent care of me and me of her. We eat well if you like to BBQ. We really don’t have any problems that a good job won’t take care of…

Sadly, few of our friends and relatives can say that…

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Grill: Smoke

Pellets: Hickory

Ingredients: Turkey

Turkey

Olive oil

Cajun dry rub

1 lb. bacon

 

Directions: Turkey

Defrost and clean turkey as you would any turkey. Remove giblets. Then, lay it breast side down and cut down the middle of the back so that it’s butterflied. Turn her back over breast side up, spread her out.

Drizzle some olive oil on her then sprinkle her with your rub. (You can use any rub you like; I went with Cajun this time.) Cover the turkey all over with the oil and rub, rubbing it in as best you can.

Then, bacon weave on top of your bird. This will add tons of flavor and helps keep things moist. I found it easier to put the turkey on the grill then put the bacon weave on her there.

Just lay the bacon strips directly onto the bird.  If you want it to look good, try to lay it out in a basket weave. It won’t change the taste however you put the bacon. But, it is always nice to hear the ooooh’s and ahhhh’s when everybody sees your work. Have fun with it…

Turkey with Bacon Weave on the Traeger.

Ingredients: Leg of Lamb

1 Leg of Lamb (ours was about seven lbs. of yum)

Olive oil

Coarse ground black pepper

Dry crushed garlic

Directions: Leg of Lamb

This is the nicest leg of lamb I have ever seen, and to make it even better Stater Brothers had them on sale for 3.99 a pound. It even had a pop up timer in it. Patti was so excited she literally launched it into the basket.

I covered it with a little olive oil. Then, a heavy coat of coarse ground black pepper, dry crushed garlic well rubbed in. Now, it is ready to go on the grill with the turkey. This lamb being so large the cooking times were the same but I did keep an eye on my temps because you can’t always be that lucky.

Hickory Smoked Leg of Lamb

Cooking Directions: Traeger

Open the lid and set the dial to “smoke”, after about ten minutes shut the lid. Then, turn it up to the “High” setting. Patti has lined the drip pan with foil for me, it makes for an easy clean up. When you come up to heat 400-450 (10-15 minutes) set your thermostat to “Medium” 275-300F.

Place your turkey and lamb directly onto the grill and just let it hang out and get happy for 30 minutes or so. Your goal here is to quickly get the bird up to around 100 degrees.

After 30 minutes and an internal temp of 100 is reached turn the digital control down to “smoke”, 180 up to 225 degrees is where you want to be for 3 hours or so. The beauty of cooking in this low heat is that you can play with the time. If you want a more intense smoke flavor just leave it in the “smoke” setting longer.

This is the time that you put your stuffing and anything else you want to bask in the smoke on to the grill. I put ours in a big cast iron skillet.  Anything oven safe will be fine. Patti likes to cover the bottom of casserole dishes with foil. It keeps the bottom and sides of the dish cleaner.

After 3 hours, check the internal temp on both the turkey and lamb. You want 170 for the turkey and 140 for the lamb. Keeping in mind that thing will continue to cook another 10 degrees after they come off the grill. So, I pull things off 10 degrees low and it comes up to temp as it is resting.

If you want more smoke flavor you can keep it on smoke longer or if you are ready to finish up the cooking turn the heat up to “medium” around 300 degrees so the internal temp reaches 170 degrees. Be sure you use the thickest part of the turkey for your heat reading.

I can’t give you a cooking time because that will vary by the size of what you are cooking and the outside temperature. So use your thermometer. Here it was a beautiful 82 degrees today.

This is when you put the stuffed mushrooms on …

When your bird and lamb are ready, pull and let it set for 10-15 minutes before carving. Or, if you are still waiting on late comers, put the thermostat back to the “smoke” setting.  Put a piece of foil over things to keep it from browning too much. You can hold it there for an hour or so with no problem. Then you’re ready. Patti sure was.

Note: I use a spray bottle when cooking on the grill filled with a Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke mix that keeps things moist and adds tons of flavors. (Mix is 3 parts Worcestershire with 1 part liquid smoke)

Directions: Gas Grill
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4-5 Hours
Grill: Low Indirect Heat

Preparing Grill:  Low Indirect Heat

Preheat your grill to low heat (200-250) and turn off one side so you will be cooking with indirect heat. Add your wet hickory chips over the fire and oil the grill. A cooking spray is easiest for this. (Note: you can add your hickory directly to the grill or you can use foil smoke packets.(Two handfuls wet chips and one dry, fold foil into a packet, poke holes in it with a fork and you’re good to go.)

Preparing Charcoal Smoker

Get the smoker ready. Your cooking temps and time will be the same, just more work to keep the heat right. You will want your temperature at around 180-225 degrees. Remember, you are going low and slow here. This will take all day (4-6 hours). Make sure you have plenty of cold beer.

Penguin Army

Our daughter Katie brought an army of Penguins.

These guys didn’t have a chance…

Broccoli with Bacon

Ingredients: Broccoli with Bacon

I lb. frozen broccoli, thawed

¼ lb. pepper bacon, rough chopped

¾ cup parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Directions: Broccoli with Bacon

In large saucepan cook bacon until almost crisp. Drain bacon, place in serving bowl, reserving 3 tablespoons drippings.  Add broccoli to drippings and stir fry to desired doneness. (3-5 minutes.) Remove broccoli to serving bowl, toss lightly with bacon. Sprinkle top with cheese.

Pina Colada Yams

Ingredients: Pina Colada Yams

4 yams, about the same size

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1 egg, beaten

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

½ cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

1 cup cocoanut, shredded

1 Tablespoon coconut extract

1 teaspoon pineapple extract

Directions: Pina Colada Yams

Bake potatoes at 425 for one hour or until soft. Set aside or refrigerate until cooled. Slice in half. Scrape insides gently into medium bowl add remaining ingredients, except coconut.

Note: The first time I made these some of the potato skins tore. So, I tossed the skins and put the potato mixture in a lightly greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with coconut. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Hey, it was my recipe and nobody knew my original plan.

This time I filled the yam shells with mixture. Sprinkle the coconut on top, pressing lightly so it doesn’t fall off. Bake as above.

Crab (with a K) Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients: Crab (with a K) Stuffed Mushrooms

I lb. fake crab aka surimi, flaked

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup cheese crackers, crushed

1 Tablespoon horseradish mustard

1 Tablespoon crab seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

¾ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 Tablespoons  ground chipotle mixed with ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions: Crab (with a K) Stuffed Mushrooms

In medium bowl, blend first eight ingredients. Remove stems from mushrooms, chop and add. Spoon crab mixture evenly into mushrooms. Sprinkle chipotle/cheese on top. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Katie’s Favorite Fiesta Mac & Cheese

Of all the goodies we made, this is all our daughter Katie would eat!

Fiesta Mac & Cheese

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

 

Ingredients: Fiesta Mac & Cheese

1 Lb. elbows or rotini

8 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 jar Queso cheese sauce

1 can mushroom soup

1 jar chunky hot salsa

¼ cup minced garlic

½ cup half & half

3 Tbsp. red pepper flakes

1 Tsp. black pepper

1 cup Parmesan, grated

1 cup bread crumbs

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

8 slices pepper jack cheese