Chef Anne’s Thanksgiving Tips
I don’t know about you, but this year has given me so much to be grateful for. It’s also giving me some perspective on slowing down and not trying to do it all, and taking help when it’s available. For me that means this year, I’m not cooking my entire thanksgiving dinner from scratch! Yes, you heard me, the professional chef is taking shortcuts and sourcing many of my dishes from the Good Eggs Kitchen. Below I’m sharing with you a few chef tips that I hope will help you a bit, too.
For our Friendsgiving party happening the weekend before Thanksgiving, we are focusing on a stellar table of heavy appetizers, fantastic cocktails and a few non-traditional dishes. Check out my recipes for spicy crab dip and cranberry negronis! I’ve already gone ahead and ordered all of our beverage needs including Scribe Pinot Noir , Marnes & Caillottes Sancerre, SKINS Orange wine, Sparkling Cider and the Betty Sparkling Brut …don’t forget the case of sparkling water!
Here are some of my best practices for the big holiday. I hope they help you to make the day fun and delicious from start to finish.
Tips:
Order of operations: Know your oven real estate! When your turkey or main course protein comes out of the oven, you have about 30-40 minutes to rest it before cutting. Know what you plan to rewarm or cook during that time. For our Friendsgiving feast, we just need to rewarm the corn pudding, the wild rice hash with sweet potatoes, and the Parker House rolls. It couldn’t be more easy!
To brine or not to brine: In the great debate about brine, we really love the simple road (also a nearly guaranteed success road) of what some food nerds refer to as “The Judy Bird.” This is based on a classic roast chicken from Judy Rogers’s Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, and was translated to a turkey recipe by Russ Parsons at the LA Times. The long and short of it is you just need a whole lot of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and enough forethought to start a few days ahead. You’ll generously salt the turkey and then put it in the fridge uncovered for 2-3 days (it works well even with just 24 hours). This saves you from making gallons of liquid brine, and it truly has outstanding results.
Prep your veggies: When you get a quiet moment early in the week, do some of the more tedious tasks involved in preparing your ingredients. Wash and dry lettuce leaves, then store them in ziplock bags lined with a little paper towel or clean kitchen cloth. Wash, peel, and cut veggies for crudités and salad, then store in tupperware. I try (and "try" is the aspirational word) to only have a knife and cutting board out when guests arrive for slicing cheese for my cheese platter and preparing to carve the turkey.
Pie!: If you’re doing pies from scratch, this is a great make-ahead opportunity. Pies freeze very well fully assembled and unbaked. You can bake them straight from the freezer when ready. Or you can just make your pie dough ahead and refrigerate or freeze it until you’re ready to roll it out and use it. I love Erin Jeanne McDowell's The Book on Pie. She has her classic all-butter pie dough recipe available online and it's very helpful for amateur bakers.
However you go about preparing for the big meal, remember, the most important thing is that you’re taking time to be in community or with family, you have an opportunity to be reflective and intentional about this moment in life and in the world, and—of course—you have permission to enjoy yourself! If you panic about your cooking load as the holiday comes into view, you can always source additional prepared holiday dishes from Good Eggs. Just remember to check our Thanksgiving FAQs for special holiday delivery details.
