My Top 5 Thanksgiving Tips

Time’s a wasting and I hope you’re knee deep (elbow deep?) in Thanksgiving preparations. Those pies aren’t going to make themselves! I may have shared these tips before - especially number 1, but they bear repeating. 

#5 Make a list of all the dishes you plan to serve on Thanksgiving. Refer to it occasionally during the serving of the meal. I still remember the July 4th when I found red cabbage slaw in the fridge AFTER our barbecue. H’s darling grandmother made everyone have a bowl of it then and there. (This is even more critical at Thanksgiving. You may not have a lovely relative pushing the creamed onions after you’ve served the pumpkin pie.)

#4 For an effortless garnish for your turkey, place a dozen or so lady apples and/or little pears around the turkey for the last hour of cooking. Remove them to a plate, cover with foil to keep warm and place around the platter of sliced turkey.

#3 Keep all your vegetable trimmings (the stock-appropriate ones) from 2 or 3 days before Thanksgiving to add to your turkey stock. Store in plastic bags in the fridge. I have a stockpot going from the time the turkey goes into the oven until it’s time to make the gravy. I add carrot trimmings, onions skins (which gives poultry or vegetable stock a nice golden color), onion ends, celery hearts and parsley stems. Often I don’t need to add any other vegetables.(My gravy recipe is at the end.)

#2 Roll out your pie crust right after it’s made and BEFORE it's chilled. One of the reasons people flock to bought pie crusts, I think, is because homemade ones are so hard to roll out after chilling…which most recipes tell you to do.

It’s a hundred times easier to roll it between plastic wrap while it’s nice and malleable. Place 2 sheets of plastic wrap on your counter overlapping width-wise, so it will handle a 12 to 14 inch wide piece of dough, if you need it to. Place your flattened ball of dough in the middle. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and roll out to desired size. I usually line the pie dish, flute the edges (if it’s a one crust pie) and cover it gently and freeze. I take it out as I’m making whatever filling goes in and it’s all ready to go. If you’re baking your pie that day, you still should freeze it for a half hour to firm it up.

I also freeze the crusts for two crust pies. I do the bottom crust first and then after rolling out the top crust, I lay it on an upside down baking sheet and freeze it. It stays between the same 2 sheets of plastic wrap that I’ve rolled it between. 

For a lattice, I remove the dough a little early from the freezer and let it sit out for 5 minutes and then cut it into strips. It cuts beautifully and it’s unfrozen enough to twist nicely.

#1 Turn your turkey upside down when it comes out of the oven. This is my favorite Thanksgiving tip of all time! This applies to a stuffed AND not-stuffed turkey. The juices flow down into the breast, where they're needed the most and results in a moister turkey. I know it’s hot, heavy and hard to handle, but it’s worth it. Silicone oven mitts work well here. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm while the turkey rests for at least 20 minutes.

T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T   

Gravy (makes about 4 cups)

I multiply this recipe by four and I've never run out. I also keep Gravy Master on hand in case I haven’t had time to cook the flour to a nice nutty brown. I don’t really approve of it, but that doesn’t stop me from using it if I have to.

3 tbls. fat, skimmed from the drippings of the cooked turkey*
¼ cup flour
up to 3 cups stock, hot is best, but don't worry about it
1 cup white wine
optional: Gravy Master

After the turkey comes out of the oven, remove it from the roasting pan and place it upside-down on a cutting board with trough. Cover with foil. Pour drippings from pan into measuring cup.

Add one cup of white wine to turkey-less roasting pan. Bring to the boil and stir, getting all those little bits up. Remove from heat and set aside for the moment.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of fat from the drippings into a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook over low heat, stirring all the time until golden brown. (I often whisk the roux with a fork to get the smoothest roux.) Strain wine from roasting pan into saucepan and keep whisking over heat.

Start whisking in the stock until you’ve added 2 1/2 cups. Bring to a boil. Keep whisking.  Continue simmering until the gravy is the consistency you desire, adding more stock if necessary.

If you have a lot of lumps, don’t panic and strain mixture into large bowl and return to rinsed out saucepan. NOTE: You may not need to add all the stock. It depends how thick you want your gravy and how much time you have to keep reducing it. 

Add Gravy Master to improve the color if needed. Taste for seasoning (all along). Keep warm over low heat.

* I don’t actually skim the drippings. I just pour whatever’s in the roasting pan in a pitcher and measure THAT for my fat. Whatever is left in the pitcher gets added to the stock and mixed into the roux.

T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T  T 

The super long version of my gravy recipe is here. Maybe save it for when you’re less busy and start reading it in July… to get ready for next Thanksgiving.

Quickie In The Kitchen

Here’s a great tip I was reminded of from Chef Kathleen Daelemans on the Today Show. To cut the fat in guacamole, substitute puréed baby peas for half the avocado. Their color is perfect and they add a sweetness to the dish.

Let’s Talk Turkey

There are as many ways to roast a turkey as there are cooks (and turkeys). I’ve done it in many different ways and here’s one that works well for me.

I start with a fresh turkey, which means I don’t have to battle it in the kitchen sink.

I stuff mine, although I know NO ONE else does. Whether you cook your turkey unstuffed or stuffed, put a little something under the skin. It gives a lot of extra flavor and helps to keep the breast moist. You can use herb butter, plain butter or in a healthier vein, orange slices are a beautiful alternative.

I put STUFFING under the skin. That way, each breast piece – sliced crosswise – has a bit of bonus stuffing with it.

This is my stuffing recipe. It’s a good one.

After I’ve stuffed the turkey in various places and sewed and tied it up, I’m ready to go.

Roast Turkey (serves 15)
(Thank you Julia, Mom and Joy of Cooking)

16 to 20 pound turkey, stuffed and trussed
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
stock for the bottom of the pan
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced carrots
12 Lady Apples

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Melt butter and olive oil together in small saucepan. Rub that all over the bird, on all sides. Season with salt and pepper. Place on rack in roasting pan and slide into the oven.

After 30 minutes, add a cup or two of stock to the pan. Add a little more stock every 40 minutes or so. You don’t even have to cover the entire bottom of the pan. You just don't want the bottom to burn.

1½ hours before the end of roasting time, add 1 cup of diced onions and 1 cup of diced carrots to the roasting pan under the rack. Place Lady Apples around turkey. (They can be on the rack.)

When the breast is nicely browned, cover it with foil. Baste or don’t baste, it doesn’t matter, just check every once in awhile that the bottom has some liquid in it. Add stock, if you need to.



Cook a 16 to 20 pound stuffed bird for approximately 5ish hours. Every part of the bird should register 165 degrees, including the stuffing.

Remove turkey from the oven. TURN IT UPSIDE DOWN. That is my super duper special secret tip. It’s not easy, but just devote 2 pot holders that you can wash fifty times to the task. Remove Lady Apples from pan and set aside. Strain all the vegetables, drippings and stock into a large measuring pitcher to use as the base for gravy.

Cover turkey well with foil and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Cut all the strings off and remove. Remove the stuffing from the 2 openings (not from under the skin). Slice off the legs. Cut off the breasts in one piece from each side of the turkey’s backbone. Slice them crosswise. Cover with foil until ready to serve. Garnish with Lady Apples.

The Scoop On Gravy

Wow, folks are in an uproar about gravy this year. Long time Ina fans are appalled that she’s making gravy in advance, with chicken stock and NO turkey drippings. Okay, maybe that’s mostly me, but a few others aren’t happy either.

Making gravy from scratch on Thanksgiving isn’t easy, but it is sooo much better than the alternative. The one pass I’ll give is to the guy I mentioned the other day who actually roasts turkey parts in order to get what he needs, makes the gravy from that and freezes it.

This is the long of it:

For 3 days before Thanksgiving, I gather up all my onion, carrot, celery and parsley bits and pieces and bag them up and put them in the fridge. First thing Thursday morning, I take out all that stuff and put it in a stock pot with tons of water and peppercorns and a bay leaf or two.

When I clean out the turkey, I add the turkey neck and giblets to the stock pot. That simmers on the back of the stove all day. That will become my stock for the gravy and any other thing I need it for.

I roast the turkey…more about that in another post. When the turkey is done, I remove it from the roasting pan, place it upside down (yup, that’s what I said) on a cutting board with a trough and cover it with foil. Everything that’s left in the pan – veggies, stock, wine, whatever - gets strained into a measuring pitcher.

Here’s what you need to remember:
3 tablespoons fat
¼ cup flour
up to 4 cups of liquid, usually 1 cup of white wine and 3 cups of stock

After I strain all the roasting pan stuff into the measuring pitcher, I spoon off the top 3 tablespoons of fat and put that into the saucepan I’m making the gravy in.

This is where I do things a little differently than most people. I keep all the stuff that’s left in the measuring pitcher, which will be partially fat, and I count that as part of my 4 cups of liquid. In other words, I don’t stand there trying to get all the fat off the remaining drippings. I use it ALL.

So now I’ve measured 3 tablespoons of fat into a saucepan over medium heat. I stir in the flour, turn the heat to low and cook it for at least 3 minutes, stirring all the time. Get it as brown as you dare. I normally give up a little too early. Then I whisk in 3 cups of stock, fairly vigorously.

At some point, I add one cup of white wine to the roasting pan (after the turkey is out of it) and stir over medium high heat. I get all the good stuff up and strain that into the gravy.

Now what can go wrong? Lots. You can have a lumpy mess at any point, but this is an easy problem to solve. After you've added the stock and cooked it for a bit, have a strainer and a bowl ready. Strain the gravy, pushing all the flour bits through and you’ll be left with a nice smooth texture. Add it back to the rinsed out saucepan and keep simmering. NOTE: You may not need to add all the stock. It depends how thick you want your gravy and how much time you have to keep reducing it. 

Continue simmering, stirring and tasting for seasoning. I always sneak in some Gravy Master to help with my usually not dark enough roux.

I may turn off the gravy and just leave it there, but usually I leave it on low and stir every once in a while. Sometimes, a skin forms on the top and then I just skim it off. I may add that tablespoon of brandy that Ina talked about. That couldn’t be a bad thing.

If the gravy is too thin, keep simmering to reduce it. You could always add a bit of cream before reducing it. Too thick? Add more stock.
One more thing, I usually multiply the recipe by four and I must say, I've never run out of gravy.
This is the short of it:
Gravy Recipe (makes 4 cups)
(This is basically an adapted version of Julia’s recipe)

3 tablespoons fat, skimmed from the drippings
¼ cup flour
up to 3 cups stock, hot is best, but don't worry about it
1 cup white wine
optional for cheaters like me: Gravy Master

Spoon fat into large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 3 minutes on low heat, stirring constantly. Cook until roux is brown.

Start adding stock, and keep whisking. Stir 2 1/2 cups of the stock and bring to a boil. Keep whisking. If you have a lot of lumps (much of the time I do), strain mixture into large bowl and return to rinsed out saucepan. NOTE: You may not need to add all the stock. It depends how thick you want your gravy and how much time you have to keep reducing it. 

After the turkey comes out of the oven, let it rest upside down covered with foil on a cutting board with trough. Add one cup of white wine to turkey-less roasting pan. Bring to the boil and stir, getting all those little bits up. Strain into gravy.

Continue simmering until the gravy is the consistency you desire, adding more stock if you've kept any aside. Add Gravy Master to improve the color if necessary. Taste for seasoning (all along). Keep warm over low heat.

Tiny Tip

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Leave all your lemons and oranges at room temperature for a few days before you need to squeeze them. You'll get substantially more juice from them than straight from the fridge. Every little bit helps...

A Thanksgiving Tip

Keep a running list of what you need and what you need to do. It is a bit discouraging when it gets to be 3 pages long, but it’s better than depending on this fragile thing called memory to see you through the week.

The worst is when you’ve had garbage bags on your list for weeks (and they’re probably laughing at you every time you pass them by) and by the morning before...or worse the morning OF Thanksgiving, you realize you’re down to 2...so get them today.

FYI

All of my sidebar Thanksgiving Tips have been moved to a post titled, appropriately enough, Thanksgiving Tips 2007 and dated November 22nd.

THANKSGIVING TIPS - Roasting A Turkey, Plus Gravy for 50 - I Do It My Way

I don't claim there is only one way to cook a turkey. In fact, there are probably as many ways to cook one as there are mothers or mothers-in-law to tell you how to do it. One could write a book about this. There's so much to say.

Timing is always tricky. I don't worry too much about the turkey coming out early. That's what piping hot gravy is for. But the opposite IS a bit of a bore... when it's not ready and you are.

An instant read thermometer is your best friend. Having said that, the first year I got one, I put it in and I had something else to do. So I closed the oven door just for a minute or two. Guess what? It melted, thankfully not on the turkey. See? I don't pretend to know everything.

Parts of this recipe depend on the knowledge and experience of those that went before me: my mother, Julia, the authors of EVERY version of The Joy of Cooking...and some of it is just me.

Roast Turkey and Gravy - Narratively told...

The day before, when you’re cutting up all your vegetables - onions, carrots, celery and parsley - for the stuffing, or anything you’re making, save all the bits and pieces, including onions skins, and put them in a plastic bag.

On Thanksgiving morning, while the onions and celery are softening for the stuffing, place all your veggies and a couple bay leaves in a large stock pot. Add the neck and gizzards from the turkey. Fill with water and bring to a gentle simmer. That will stay on the back of the stove, cooking gently, for 4 to 5 hours. The exact time doesn’t really matter. This will be the stock for your gravy and for your roasting pan. It‘s also great to have to thin out your leftover gravy.

At some point when you have a minute, maybe before the company arrives (but never mind if you don’t get to it) strain the stock (I strain it into my KitchenAid bowls) and return it to the stock pot.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. (I admit half the time I just turn it to 350.) Stuff the turkey and place a heel of bread in the biggest opening. Sew up the various openings with butcher’s twine and the biggest carpet needle you have. Tie the legs together.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil (not extra virgin) in a small saucepan. Rub that all over the bird. Salt and pepper it. (I never have before, but I will this year.) Place it on a rack in a roasting pan. After 30 minutes add a bit of stock to the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover with foil, if the turkey is getting too brown. Add a little more stock every 40 minutes or so, not even to cover the entire bottom of the pan. You just don't want the bottom to burn.

About 1½ hours before the end of roasting time, add 1 cup of diced onions and 1 cup of diced carrots to the roasting pan UNDER the rack (if you can). Noone said it was going to be easy. Place Lady Apples around turkey.

My approximate cooking time for a 16 to 20 pound stuffed bird is 5ish hours. Every part of the bird should register 165 degrees, including the stuffing.

Remove turkey from the oven. TURN IT UPSIDE DOWN. It's hot and hard to do. Cover well with foil and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Cut all the strings off and remove. Remove the stuffing from the 2 openings (not from under the skin). Slice off the legs. Cut off the breasts in one piece from each side of the turkey’s backbone. Slice them widthwise. Cover with foil until ready to serve, garnished with Lady Apples.

Now, don’t be frightened of the gravy and don’t judge me when you see what I do and how much I make. IT’S ONCE A YEAR.

Here’s the recipe in long form. (The truncated version follows.)

This is the formula for the gravy base: 3 tablespoons of fat to ¼ cup of flour to 4 cups of liquid. (1 cup of that can be white wine to deglaze the pan.) I usually multiply that by FOUR!!! I told you not to be shocked. For me, it’s about the gravy.

I strain all my drippings and the diced-roasting-pan-vegetables into a 4 cup measure.

Now, this is where I stray from the traditional recipes. I don’t skim those drippings at all. Remember they’re sitting in a 4 cup measure. I spoon out the fat (and whatever comes with it) at the top and use that as the fat in my gravy base. I need 12 tablespoons, which happens to be three-quarters of a cup. I scoop that up from the top (it’s not all fat, but some other juices, I don’t care) and put it into a large (5 quart) heavy bottomed Dutch oven.

I add 1 cup of flour (because I’m multiplying by 4) and stir it on the lowest heat for 3 minutes to make a roux. Cook it to as dark as you have the patience for. I don’t.

Deglaze your roasting pan with white wine (no more than a quarter of your total liquid). Strain that into the same 4 cup measure that has the drippings and juices. Make up to four cups with the turkey stock on the back of the stove. Add that slowly to the gravy base. Measure another 4 cups of stock and keep adding it, while whisking. Bring it to the boil and just let keep simmering, whisking occasionally.

Don’t tell anyone this next part. If you want to hate me, go ahead, but I’ve never found a better alternative. When no one’s looking, I add a few spoonfuls of Gravy Master and that will give the gravy its traditional rich brown color. Even if you had browned the roux, the stock isn’t dark enough to give a great color. (The onion skins in the stock do help, but not enough.) Season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

If the whole thing lumps up, put it through a strainer and work through all the floury lumps, so you don’t lose your thickening.

Now, actually, honestly, I probably don’t add all 16 cups of liquid. I just have it on the back of the stove and I add more liquid as I need to, leaving it simmering all during hors d‘oeuvres and the first course. I certainly add 12 cups, but maybe not all 16.

Short Form Gravy Recipe - using only 4 cups of liquid:

Strain all your drippings into a 4 cup measuring pitcher.

Skim 3 tablespoons of fat from the 4 cup measure into a large saucepan over medium low heat.

Add ¼ cup of flour. Stir slowly over low heat for 3 minutes, or until as brown as you have the time and energy to make it.

Deglaze your roasting pan with 1 cup of white wine. Strain that into the 4 cup measure. Make up to 4 cups of liquid with turkey stock.

Stir liquid into roux, whisking all the time. Simmer for at least 10 minutes or until thickened. Add gravy master for color, if desired. Season to taste.

THANKSGIVING TIPS - Conquer The Crust

I'm talking about that bit of graham cracker crust that always stays behind in the pie dish as you're cutting the pie. This is a brilliant Maida Heatter tip for dealing with that. It is, admittedly, a bit tricky, but it works beautifully. And you can, in fact you MUST, do it in advance. Here's what to do and then I've outlined it again below with pictures.

Line your pie dish with foil. The easiest way to do this is to turn your pie dish upside down and cover the outside with foil. Then remove it and fit the into the inside of the pie dish. Pat your graham cracker crust into the foil lined dish, making sure that the top edge isn't too thin.

After I've patted all the crumbs down, the inside bottom edge of the pie is sometimes a bit thicker than it needs to be. I scrape away at it with a teaspoon and use THOSE crumbs to build up the top edge. (Turn your sound on, it sounds as if I'm chipping away at a frozen sidewalk and this is BEFORE I've frozen the crust.)





The crust for The Pumpkin Chiffon Pie that I'm making doesn't need to be pre-baked, but YOUR recipe may. In that case, bake it according to your recipe’s directions. Cool it completely.

Whether you bake it or not, cover it with plastic wrap and foil and freeze it solid. I do it for a couple of days. You can do it a month in advance if you want. It must be very HARD.

Take it out of the freezer and carefully peel off the foil. You may have to do it in strips. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Just be careful not to shatter the crust.

After you’ve removed all the foil, place it back in the pie dish and wrap it superbly. And freeze it until you need it.

One more thing, often recipes give you JUST enough crumbs to pat into the shell and that takes time and it’s a bother. I ALWAYS make 1 1/2 times the amount of the recipe to give me enough crumbs to line the shell easily and quickly.

Note: My Pumpkin Chiffon Pie recipe is from a cooking class I took when I was a kid (way back in the 20th century). It's not my original recipe, so I won't post it here. But email me, if you'd like it. It is kind of a pain to make and you can only really do it one day in advance, but it is sooooooooooo good, that's it's worth it.

THANKSGIVING TIPS - Miscellaneous

Think About Who's Coming
Before all your various family and friends descend upon you, put their kids' pictures BACK on the fridge, and the flamingo pitcher back on the side board. No one else will notice, but THEY will.

I PROMISE I don't do this!!!!!!!!!!!! (REALLY, A, I don’t. THOSE pictures are on my fridge all year long.)

Keep Last Minute Panicking Down To A Minimum
Put out the hors d'oeuvres 30 minutes before the first guest arrives. It makes you APPEAR more ready than you actually are.

Have a bar area set up AWAY from where you’re cooking. Place cans, bottles and pitchers on one tray, glasses on another. It keeps the area tidy (I hate that word.)

Clean the guest bathroom at least 2 or 3 hours before the guests are supposed to arrive. If possible, ban family members, especially males, from that room (until the guests arrive).

Other Stuff
Tape the recipes that you'll be using to the inside of your kitchen cupboards. They'll be handy, but off the counter. (Actually, I keep my most-used recipes there all year long.)



Buy more paper towels and toilet paper than you ever think you could need.

Lay in cleaning supplies - garbage bags, at least 2 bottles of dishwasher soap, extra sponges, scrubbies, plastic wrap and foil.

Get one box of extra long heavy duty foil and keep it only for Thanksgiving (and lining cookie sheets).

THANKSGIVING TIPS - Good Things Come In Small Packages

This is an idea I got from the cover of a Gourmet Magazine from November, 2000.

I'm sure the last thing on your mind is garnishing your turkey platter. Yet this is so easy and so gorgeous that there's no reason NOT TO DO IT!!!



One hour before the turkey comes out of the oven, place 12 Lady Apples (or one per person) around it in the roasting pan. Remove them when you take out the turkey and set them aside. Garnish the serving platter with them. They are just so darned CUTE!!!

Don't confuse them with Pink Lady Apples. Lady Apples are miniature apples. These are how small they are next to Granny Smith and Macintosh Apples.

THANKSGIVING TIPS - The Tip That Will Save Your Thanksgiving

After the turkey comes out of the oven, turn it upside down and cover it well with foil. I don’t care how heavy it, how hot it is or how stuffed it is. Do it! The juices will flow back into the breast, giving you a moist gorgeous turkey. It’s worth ruining 2 potholders a year to do this.

THANKSGIVING TIPS - Party Liquids

Ewww! Who thought of that title? I guess I did. And I want you to spend the same amount of time, i.e. seconds, thinking about the drinks you're going to serve. You're going to be wrestling a turkey, for heaven's sake, you don't need to worry about complicated potables.

The easiest aperitif is a little pomegranate juice in the bottom of a champagne flute. Fill with domestic champagne or prosecco or ginger ale for non-imbibers. Garnish each glass with a frozen raspberry. (It’s a garnish that you don’t have to play with.)

Here is a wonderfully EASY punch. 1 part orange juice, 1 part cranberry juice, 1 part something fizzy - seltzer, sprite, ginger ale or the diet equivalent. THEN scoop in a pint of American Orange Sherbet. Not sorbet, not granita - SHERBET. It makes it foamy and really good. (Thanks, L, for that idea.) I like frozen raspberries in that too.

Put any individual juices you’re serving in pitchers, and garnish them with frozen raspberries and, if you have the energy, a good squeeze of fresh lime juice. It brightens up the flavor amazingly. Skol!