A few quick Tips for cooking the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.
Awe yes, Thanksgiving… The day when all of us have to find the inner chef within us, and pull together all of our cooking knowledge we can muster, for the king of all family feasts. To a select few, (I’m looking at you grandma), this was a breeze. However, for the vast majority of us, being put on the spot for cooking a lavish Thanksgiving meal is a scary event. I mean it only comes once a year, and you only have one shot to get it right. Juggling six or more dishes at once while trying not to dry out the bird takes skill and a few tricks. Here is our list of Thanksgiving cooking tips that even your grandmother would be impressed with!
GO ORGANIC!
If you’re already purchasing organic food: great. If you’re not, do it! Organic food can coast more but the flavors and freshness you receive in return will shine through in your dishes.
FRESH HERBS OVER DRIED
One of the easiest ways to add beautiful flavors to your Thanksgiving dinner is leaving that spice rack where it is and using fresh herbs. It’s not always practical to have fresh herbs on hand when cooking, and every good cook has their own dried herb collection, but this is the Super Bowl of Dinners! Bring out your A-game!
DON’T DO IT ALL BY YOURSELF, DO IT POTLUCK STYLE!
I’m from the Midwest, so I’m not entirely sure the term “Potluck” is a universal concept, but it basically means that everyone brings a dish (or pot) to share with everyone. And with a little “luck” everyone has brought enough variety of food, that you have a complete meal with main dishes, side dishes, and possibly desert. Potluck.
AND NOW THE TURKEY…
What’s Thanksgiving without turkey? It’s the only time of year most of us ever even eat turkey so it has high expectations. It’s the centerpiece of the whole day really. You’re going to be eating leftover turkey for the rest of the week, so it must be cooked right.
Since turkey takes the most preparation, and the majority of us have never even cooked something this size before, the turkey can be a bit intimidating. Reading a recipe card on how to properly cook this beast does not make me feel better about it either. An oven temperature and an amount of time to leave it in, is far from adequate for something this important. Whenever I’m in need of a bit of steadfast cooking advice, I always turn to Alton Brown’s Good Eats on the Food Network. If you really want to learn how to cook, I highly recommend Good Eats. Sure, it gets a little corny at times, but it an education you will not forget:
This 4-minute video will explain everything you need to know on cooking the perfect Thanksgiving turkey: