Thanksgiving Barbecue: The Pig and the Bird
November 26th, 2012
Here in the United States, we celebrated Thanksgiving last Thursday. I cooked some sausage for breakfast and a ham and turkey breast for dinner. We had a really good day and a nice time with family.
I had bought a frozen turkey breast at Wal-Mart. It was an 8 pounder and I had given it a few days in the fridge to thaw. The ham was a pre-cooked spiral sliced ham. And I also picked up a couple pounds of ground sausage on sale at our local grocery store.
The night before Thanksgiving, I prepped and seasoned all the meat. I put it in glass pans, covered it with plastic wrap, and refrigerated it until the next morning.
Here’s a summary of how I prepped and cooked the meat. My memory is a little smoky on exactly how I seasoned everything, but here’s the idea:
Ham: Rubbed it down with yellow mustard and seasoned it heavily with Meadow Creek Brisket Rub and cooked it till it was hot.
Turkey Breast: Peeled back the skin and seasoned it with Meadow Creek Traditional Seasoning and Smoke’n Dudes Chicken Seasoning. Covered it back up and cooked it until the breast was about 165 degrees F.
Sausage: Unwrapped it and seasoned it good and proper with Meadow Creek Brisket and Dizzy Pig Steak Seasoning. Cook it until it’s done (about 170 degrees).
As you can tell, I get crazy with my seasonings, but to me, it’s an important part of wonderful barbecue. And don’t stress out over what to use. Find a couple you like and get to shaking!
I was cooking in my Meadow Creek SQ36 offset smoker. I used hardwood charcoal briquettes and chunks of pecan wood.
A feast coming up…
Breakfast time…
We fried some eggs, baked some buttermilk biscuits, and sliced that sausage. Mmm-mmm! That was one delicious breakfast. 🙂
Want a bite?
Nice smoke ring…
The pig and the bird…
The pig and the bird v2.0…
Another peek at the pig and the bird…
The pig and the bird covered in gravy…
We also had dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cauliflower and broccoli salad, cranberry salad, and dinner rolls. And of course, pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert.
In the afternoon the ladies dipped peanut butter Ritz crackers, pretzels, and peanuts in chocolate. One of my little boys loves to draw, so we spent some time drawing pictures of people and fish and ponds and trucks. We also made some paper airplanes.
It was really a blessing taking the day off and spending time with family. I hope you enjoyed the tease of the pig and the bird.
Count your blessings,
Lavern
Tags: Barbequed Food, smoked ham, smoked turkey, thanksgiving dinner
