Notes on Thanksgiving
» First of all: it’s soon! Like really, really soon! If you haven’t bought your turkey, do it — today. It takes days to defrost those modern-day, genetically-modified behemoths in the fridge.* Fortunately for the chronically ill-prepared, there’s a faster defrost method (which will still take at least a day or two). Call the good ladies of the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line if you’re stumped. I visited their offices in Naperville, IL, last year — they’re the sweet home ec teachers you remember from junior high and no question is too small or silly.
» Second: life is too short to eat dry turkey. My favorite turkey is deep-fried, the Southern tradition that my Yankee family adopted in 1998, but it’s not practical in many homes, even with the advent of the (sacrilegious!) oil-less fryer.
» Brining (soaking the turkey in a salt and sugar water bath overnight or for a few days) is very much in vogue because it makes for moist and tasty flesh. If I can’t fry, I brine. However, Harold McGee, an authority on food science, chooses not to brine, favoring instead to embrace the inherent dryness of turkey meat and treating it like pulled pork, soaking it in gravy before serving. So put that in your pan and roast it.
My roommates and I have hosted a Thanksgiving potluck two years in a row. Both years, I’ve followed Alton Brown’s Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe, with excellent results. The bird is brined overnight and cooked at a high temperature for 30 minutes to get that golden brown color and then at 350 degrees for a few hours (slightly higher than other recipes). The recipe is virtually foolproof. The only challenge is carving — I recommend enlisting someone of the male persuasion for that, simply because it’s a hot and messy job and wouldn’t you rather be drinking a cocktail?
Two notes on brining:
- It’s not hard or messy if you do it in an XXL Ziploc. I stick the Ziploc (holding the turkey) inside the roasting pan in the fridge.
- You must make sure your turkey is all-natural and not “pre-basted” — injected with brine. Many fresh (unfrozen) turkeys at the supermarket are pre-basted, so read the label.
» Third: love those sides! Here are a few of my favorites…
- Old-fashioned cranberry sauce (plus a bonus recipe for turkey and cranberry sauce leftovers)
- Devils on horseback (this takes a bit of prep time, but you need only broil them when guests arrive, and they are crazy-yummy)
- Rosemary-glazed pecans
- Collared greens
- Spicy glazed carrots: peel & slice carrots into batons. Place in a double layer in a baking dish. Pour about a half a cup of chicken stock over them (and keep some on hand to add as necessary during baking). Dot liberally with a few tablespoons of butter. Sprinkle with cayenne, brown sugar and salt. Bake, covered, in a 350-degree over, checking often. If the carrots are dry, add a bit of stock. Taste and season as you go. Continue baking until they’re soft and tasty.
» Thanksgiving hot spots around the Web…
- The New York Times Thanksgiving guide includes history and lore, an inexpensive wine guide, and recipes.
- Epicurious has videos on brining and carving, tons of recipes, and regional menus from top chefs.
- The Pioneer Woman Cooks has step-by-step instructions on Thanksgiving classics.
- 101 Cookbooks has vegan and vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes.
* It’s probably too late to order your more modestly-proportioned heritage breed turkey, but put your order in at the Good Shepherd Turkey Ranch for next year. Frank Reese, the good shepherd himself, is one of the nation’s culinary heroes.
Happy eating!
xx Nora
