On the day after Thanksgiving, we just do Thanksgiving all over again, the way Associated Press writer Holly Ramer suggests in her story. Each of us makes a plate, then we warm it in the microwave. Tonight, we also heated the gravy in a pan on the stovetop, so we could "gravy up" as soon as we pulled the food out of the nuker. It shouldn't taste better than on the first night, but it always does. I guess it's because I'm more relaxed than when I'm trying to get everything on the table at once.
She also gives a few other ideas for farther down the road when everyone's turkeyed out:
To the victor go the spoils; to the host go the leftovers.
One of the great rewards of preparing a Thanksgiving feast is getting first
dibs on the leftovers. But guests don't have to resort to sneaking potatoes
into their purses to extend the feast beyond the main meal.
Etiquette expert Lizzie Post says those who dine away from home for the holiday
can boost their odds of scoring a doggie bag by bringing a side dish to share
and helping their host clean up.
Then, as the host begins to put the food away, innocently inquire: "Oh! Do
you want me to start packing this up for people to take home for
leftovers?" "Offer it as a suggestion rather than asking," says Post, a
great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post who works at the Emily Post Institute
in Vermont. "It gives them a chance to say what they were hoping to do
with the leftovers without you just asking and putting them on the spot."
Once the delicate task of securing leftovers is achieved, the options are nearly
limitless.
Julie Grimes, associate food editor at Cooking Light magazine, says she likes
to use leftovers in unexpected ways to make post-holiday meals feel fresh and
exciting. The easiest way to accomplish that is to rely on ethnic flavors, she says.
"Since Thanksgiving is truly an American holiday and the fare typically
reflects this fact, I like to spice up the leftovers with flavors from Asia,
France or Latin America for a change of pace," she says.
Some of her favorite recipes in recent years include turkey-mushroom bread
pudding, turkey fried rice and turkey pho, a take on Vietnamese noodle soup.
"Remember that many ethnic foods rely on ingredients with strong pungent
flavors, such as spice pastes or fish sauce, and a little goes a long
way," she says. "Combine leftovers with just a few powerful
ingredients for a fresh twist on yesterday's meal."
Kemp Minifie, executive food editor at Gourmet magazine, also recommends taking
an international approach to leftovers. Turkey in particular lends itself to
strong flavors and can stand in for chicken and even pork in many recipes.
"It's a blank canvas," she says. "It's the white sheet of paper
you can do all kinds of things to."
Her magazine's November issue includes a recipe for turkey jook, a Chinese rice
porridge with turkey and ginger. Just throw the turkey carcass in with some
rice, stock, ginger and scallions. Serve it drizzled with sesame oil, fresh
scallions and shreds of ginger.
"It is so warming and satisfying," Minifie says.
But recognizing the reality that most people won't venture beyond sandwiches,
the magazine also includes two turkey sandwich recipes, including one that adds
cranberry sauce. A blue cheese butter offsets the sweetness of the sauce and
gives the sandwich a more sophisticated taste.
Minifie says she's crazy for smoked paprika, so she'll probably find a way to
incorporate the spice into her leftovers this year. And she always makes turkey
tetrazzini because it reminds her of the casseroles her mother used to make. But she also points out the obvious: simply piling a bunch of leftovers on a
plate and replicating the original meal can taste as good if not better the
next day.
"My favorite meal of the Thanksgiving weekend is the day after, when you
reheat everything," she says. "The turkey has had time to sit so it's
firmed up and it's much easier to get thin slices of the breast meat. The gravy
tastes better. ... You're getting all the good stuff without having to do any
work."
If you've been invited to a potluck for Thanksgiving, you now have only a day to finalize your plans and get cooking.
As a potluck guest, think portable when you consider what to make. It's always best to bring something that fits into a single box or container and doesn't require a lot of assembly or additional cooking.
If you've been assigned a turkey alternative, a Pork and Apple Tourtiere, based on the sumptuous meat pies served during the holidays in Quebec, is not only savory, but also economical. It costs just $1 per serving.
The filling is made with inexpensive ground pork and seasoned with sauteed onions, bacon and ground nutmeg. Diced apples provide a tart-sweetness to balance the savory flavors of the other ingredients.
The pie, which travels well, calls for a ready-made pie crust. If you like, you can cut costs a bit more by making a crust from scratch. If you do buy the crust, look for store brands, which are as good as name brands and usually cost less.
You can make the pie early Thursday and reheat it just before serving. To make the pie today, follow the recipe but don't bake. Instead, store the prepared tourtiere, wrapped in plastic, in the refrigerator. When ready to bake and serve, unwrap the pie and cook as indicated in the recipe, adding 10 minutes to the cooking time.
If you're thinking ahead and want to make the pie for another, later holiday gathering, it can be refrigerated for up to two days or frozen for up to two months. Add 25 to 30 minutes to the baking time, if the pie was frozen.
As you coordinate with your hosts, keep in mind which dishes will need to be heated in the oven or on the stovetop so you don't end up with a traffic jam in the kitchen.
Of course, much of the Thanksgiving meal is made up of sides, sauces and desserts, and the cost of these can add up, making a potluck more appealing than ever for holiday hosts.
Most guests are more than happy to bring and show off a favorite side dish. This also gives the meal a more festive, communal feeling.
Hosts who are preparing several of the sides themselves may want to consider using frozen vegetables.
Frozen vegetables usually are picked at peak ripeness and can cost as much as 40 percent less than fresh.
And since frozen vegetables can be kept for months, you have the flexibility of watching for sales. In fact, you may already have the ingredients you need stashed in the freezer.
Apple Cider-Glazed Baby Carrots and Honey Mustard-Glazed Roasted Green Beans both cost less than 50 cents per serving and can be prepared several hours ahead of time, then reheated just before serving.
Don't know what it's like where you work, but here at The News-Journal, we are preparing for an onslaught of pages that must be produced, proofed corrected and released before we get out of here on Wednesday and head for the house to get as much accomplished as possible before we collapse for the evening.
Having a sharp knife is not going to come into play here at work (I promise), but I will need one for my annual mountain of celery, onions and carrots. Iron Chef Michael Symon gives us his last "holiday basics" video, and it's something every cook should know: how to sharpen a knife.
We just finished our Thanksgiving shopping yesterday, and one thing we didn't buy was garlic. I use that the whole rest of the year and love it, but not on this holiday. Onions, yes. Lots of onions. Sage, yes. But garlic, NO.
Chef Symon of the Food Network apparently thinks T'giving is a garlic holiday, too. That's one of the things he demos in his holiday video series from USA Weekend. And here he is:
Oh, I forgot, I do use garlic when it comes to making turkey soup with the frame, but that comes after the actual holiday.
Executive Chef Michael Perri showed us a way to carve the turkey that keeps the bird lookin' good and intact on at least one side. If you're in a rush and don't mind going for an approach that more closely resembles dissection, check out how another Michael -- chef Michael Symon of "Iron Chef America" and "Dinner Impossible" on the Food Network -- quickly breaks down the bird:
After all, there's more than one way to skin a cat (yes, I went there, but maybe I shouldn't have).
Here's the second installment of basic instruction on kitchen technique from Michael Symon, an Iron Chef and host of "Dinner Impossible" on the Food Network. These videos are courtesy of USA Weekend magazine, which you can find in The Daytona Beach News-Journal every Sunday. This particular video shows one way of cutting an onion that I don't use at Thanksgiving -- slicing -- and one way that I use all the time -- dicing. I'm attaching a recipe for my cornbread stuffing that includes plenty of diced onion and other veggies.
There are so many ways to cook a turkey: You could deep-fry it, grill it, high-heat roast it or even smoke it.
To me, though, the easiest, best and most authentic is the standard roasting method recommended by Butterball and other packing houses.
The most difficult part of this method is making sure to pick a bird that's big enough -- but not too big -- for the crowd you intend to serve. In fact, the Associated Press says, the most important ingredient for a successful Thanksgiving is math. More from the news service report follows:
Crunching the numbers is the best way to make sure that you have enough turkey for all your guests, that the turkey you serve them won't be raw, and that it comes out of the oven on time.
These estimates are rounded high to ensure plenty of leftovers. Keep in mind that the bigger the bird, the higher the meat-to-bone ratio. Which means that on smaller turkeys you need more total weight per serving than on larger turkeys.
Roasting times are estimates for stuffed birds; actual cooking time will vary by stove and turkey. Federal health officials say a turkey should be cooked until an instant read thermometer inserted at the innermost part of the thigh (without touching bone) reaches 165 degrees, though some cooks say thigh meat tastes better cooked to 170 degrees.
* Diners: 6 to 7 Turkey: 9 to 10 pounds Thawing: In the refrigerator for 48 hours, or in cold water (change the water every 30 minutes) for 4-1/2 hours (I prefer fresh birds, and this is the reason -- I don't want to crowd my refrigerator for this length of time.) Roasting: 325 degrees for 3 to 4 hours (subtract 20 to 40 minutes if not stuffed) Gravy: 2-1/2 cups Stuffing: 5 cups *Diners: 8 to 9 Turkey: 13 to 14 pounds Thawing: In the refrigerator for 3 days, or in cold water (change the water every 30 minutes) for 7 hours Roasting: 325 degrees for 4 to 4-1/2 hours (subtract 20 to 40 minutes if not stuffed) Gravy: 3 cups Stuffing: 7 cups
*Diners: 10 to 11 Turkey: 17 to 18 pounds Thawing: In the refrigerator for 4 days, or in cold water (change the water every 30 minutes) for 9 hours Roasting: 325 F for 4 1/2 to 5 hours (subtract 20 to 40 minutes if not stuffed) Gravy: 3-1/2 cups Stuffing: 9 cups
*Diners: 12 to 13 Turkey: 20 pounds Thawing: In the refrigerator for 4 days or in cold water (change the water every 30 minutes) for 10 hours Roasting: 325 F for 5 to 6 hours (subtract 20 to 40 minutes if not stuffed) Gravy: 4-1/2 cups Stuffing: 10 cups
*Diners: 14 to 15 Turkey: 23 pounds Thawing: In the refrigerator for 5 days, or in cold water (change the water every 30 minutes) for 11-1/2 hours Roasting: 325 F for 5 to 6 hours (subtract 20 to 40 minutes if not stuffed) Gravy: 5 cups Stuffing: 11-1/2 cups
The following are basic roasting directions from butterball.com:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 2. Remove thawed or fresh turkey from bag. 3. Remove neck from body cavity and giblets from neck cavity. 4. Drain juices from cavity and blot with paper towels. 5. Place lifter on rack in 3" deep roasting pan and then place turkey breast side up on lifter. 6. Stuff neck and body cavities with stuffing if desired. 7. Rub skin with cooking oil to prevent drying. (Do not cover) 8. Insert oven-safe meat thermometer deep into the thickest part of the thigh next to the body, not touching the bone. 9. Place on center rack of preheated oven. 10. When the skin is light golden, about 2/3 done, loosely cover the breast and top of drumsticks with lightweight foil to prevent overcooking. 11. Cook until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees in the thigh and 165 degrees in the center of the stuffing. 12. When done, let the turkey stand for 20 minutes before carving. 13. Clean up: Wash hands, utensils and work surfaces with hot soapy water and disinfectant.
USA Weekend, which will come out in Sunday's Daytona Beach News-Journal (Nov. 9), is the annual holiday-food issue. This one features tips from the Food Network's "Iron Chef America."
As a special bonus, the magazine sent food editors, including yours truly, five video clips produced by the network. In them, Iron Chef and host of "Dinner Impossible" Michael Symon offers quick tips that pay off for him in Kitchen Stadium. Here's the first one -- about zesting citrus fruits like lemons -- and I'll work in the other four during the run-up to Thanksgiving. Enjoy!
