Celebrate Thanksgiving with Hoskins BBQ!

Brine your turkey, prepare your dressing, and stock up on pie ingredients because the holidays are near. Or, hear me out… Or you could skip all of that and get an entire holiday feast fully cooked and ready to eat from Hoskin’s BBQ. I recently had the honor of sampling the entire holiday menu, and it was so good I might be disappointed at the family dinner table this year.

Smoked Turkey: the star of the show.  This big, beautiful bird adorns many American tables for traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, but I’ve heard so many people tell me they don’t like turkey. 100% of the time my response is, “Have you ever had smoked turkey?” 100% of the time their response is, “No.” There’s the problem.

The Main Attraction

Traditionally, people have roasted their turkeys in their kitchen’s oven. An oven cooks with a very dry heat and often the end result of the turkey is dry, chewy, and flavorless. Leave it to America to remedy this (and every other problem) with deep-frying. As intensely heated oil covers every molecule of the bird, it’s quickly cooked to a crisp. This does leave some of the juices but cooking a turkey quickly doesn’t render the soft tissue as it should be therefore texture just isn’t quite right.

When you smoke a turkey, steam is created with a pan of water inside, and you cook with a low, moist heat giving the meat more time to tender up and retain all those delicious juices. Plenty of flavor is added by the smoke but most people still prefer a rub to add even more. Traditionally, a rub made with a mixture of all the holiday spices such as sage, rosemary, thyme, ginger, and bay leaf, is combined, but Hoskin’s BBQ takes a different approach. They use their homemade, Cajun inspired poultry rub. With a hint of paprika, cayenne, and garlic, it really mingles well with the smoke to create a huge amount of flavor for the turkey. I really enjoyed this approach and would highly recommend this method.

The Sides

Some prefer to skip the main course altogether to carb load on a plate of sides. If you’re currently raising your hand in guilt, Hoskin’s BBQ has you covered.

I understand that your grandmother makes the best dressing on Earth. I’m not here to change your mind – I’d never want to insult your grandmother. That being said, the dressing at Hoskin’s BBQ is pretty ridiculous. It begins its life as made from scratch cornbread, the way it should be. It’s perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of sage. Hoskins’ dressing is moist but not mushy, it has just the right amount of chew to it, and it’s not dried out leaving the gravy to do the heavy lifting to make it edible. I apologize to any of my family members that could be reading this, but it’s the best dressing I’ve ever had. There. I said it. (Hopefully, I’m still invited to Christmas.)

Hoskins’ gravy was so smooth and perfect. Just like everything I tasted, it was also made from scratch right there in their kitchen.  Green bean casserole is a staple. Theirs is very creamy and isn’t overly salty like the stuff from a can. The sweet potato casserole is indeed sweet. Just the right amount of brown sugar added and, of course, it’s topped with toasted marshmallows. The sweetness perfectly balances the savory dressing and the spiciness of the smoked turkey.

The Desserts

Some prefer to skip the main course altogether to carb load on a plate of sides. If you’re currently raising your hand in guilt, Hoskin’s BBQ has you covered.

I understand that your grandmother makes the best dressing on Earth. I’m not here to change your mind – I’d never want to insult your grandmother. That being said, the dressing at Hoskin’s BBQ is pretty ridiculous. It begins its life as made from scratch cornbread, the way it should be. It’s perfectly seasoned with just the right amount of sage. Hoskins’ dressing is moist but not mushy, it has just the right amount of chew to it, and it’s not dried out leaving the gravy to do the heavy lifting to make it edible. I apologize to any of my family members that could be reading this, but it’s the best dressing I’ve ever had. There. I said it. (Hopefully, I’m still invited to Christmas.)

Next came the pumpkin pie – thick and dense, rich and creamy with a dollop of whipped cream. Up next was the salted caramel pecan cheesecake. The cheesecake at Hoskin’s is worth a visit in and of itself. Made from scratch, like everything else, it’s very light and creamy with that balance of sweet and tangy other desserts lack. Topped with salted caramel, it was so good I didn’t mind eating around the pecans.

If you decide that your culinary skills aren’t up to snuff or if you’d rather spend your day enjoying your family instead of sweating over a huge meal to prepare for Thanksgiving or Christmas, take a look at the Holiday Menu from Hoskin’s BBQ featuring whole smoked turkeys, hams, sides, and desserts. We’ll even let you take the credit and claim it as your own cooking.

Hoskins BBQ Holiday Menu