Like many folks in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the first time for my family. It went… all right.
I spatchcocked a turkey and brined it in buttermilk, an overall tedious, messy and fridge-space-consuming enterprise that resulted in a turkey that tasted “fine,” according to my family. I made cranberry sauce — fresh cranberries with what I thought was a dash of orange juice — that tasted, essentially, like tart, warm orange juice. I made a soggy green bean casserole and an impenetrable cornbread. Everything came out at very different times.
The thing is, I’m a decent cook, but Thanksgiving dinner is an unwieldy beast, particularly if you’ve never endeavored to cook it before. When you’re feeling overwhelmed in the kitchen, getting it all done at roughly the same time comes secondary to making sure what you do plate actually tastes good.
Fortunately, there’s help. And I’m not talking about Google — that’s how I ended up in the spatchcock-buttermilk fiasco. Instead, I asked North Jersey chefs to share their tips on cooking turkey, sides, making drinks and managing the kitchen on Thanksgiving; here’s what they had to say.
Turkey: Separate, brine, butter, baste and rest
The first bit of advice from local chefs is to separate your turkey’s white and dark meat before cooking. This little bit of extra effort prevents drying out the breast while the legs and thighs cook.
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“If the person can’t separate it, I’d have the butcher do it,” says Luigi Tripodi of Luigino’s in Montclair.
Tripodi says he cooks the breast on the bone with the wing, puts both parcels of meat in the oven at the same time and takes the breast out “much earlier” than the legs — at least a half hour.
Greg Power, of Matisse 167 in Rutherford, also separates white from dark meat before cooking and advises that you can brine just the breast separately, or brine the whole bird before separation. He then sears and braises the dark meat.
Speaking of brines, chefs have varying compositions. Power uses thyme, rosemary, sugar and water and advises “you can keep it simple like that.”
More:To brine or not to brine? A guide to different methods
Carlos Castillo at Carlitos Taqueria in Paramus puts a fine point on brining: “Only amateurs skip this step.” His brine is hot water, apple cider vinegar, fresh garlic, sugar, salt and peppercorn. (Cool it before submerging the bird.) He suggests brining for at least two days.
Chef Ehren Ryan of Byrd in Hoboken advises brining your turkey a few days before roasting with a brine of: two gallons water, one cup of salt, half a cup of sugar and “any spices or herbs you like” for at least 12 hours.
Ryan, and almost every other chef here, also recommends patting the bird dry after your brine and letting it sit in the fridge to crisp up.
And for those of you smoking your birds, Jamie Farella at Brothers Smokehouse in Ramsey uses a brine of a gallon of water, one cup of salt, one cup of packed light brown sugar, one large orange quartered, thyme and rosemary bunches (stemmed), and six black peppercorns. Brine it for 12 hours and let it sit in the fridge to let the skin crisp up.
Chefs also recommend rubbing butter underneath the skin and seasoning inside and out. Tripodi suggests making a compound butter with sage, thyme and rosemary, and “blend it all up with garlic [and] shallots, and sneak it underneath the skin.”
Castillo says in addition to buttering your bird, stuff the cavity with “fresh rosemary, thyme and oregano plus a few wedges of lime, garlic, onion and celery. Then rub olive oil all over the turkey and sprinkle it generously with kosher salt.”
Castillo cooks his turkey on a pan with a rack at 275-300 and periodically bastes and injects the bird with its own drippings. A final touch: brush the turkey when it’s done cooking with a touch of balsamic vinegar and “return it to the oven for five minutes to give it a deep, mahogany color.”
All the chefs recommend letting the bird rest for about an hour to let the juices settle; while you wait, Power suggests you make gravy from the drippings: “Momma’s old fashioned way is always best.”
Sides: You do you
I happen to agree with Power when he says, “Thanksgiving is just as much about the sides as it is about the actual meat.” As such, here are some tips on some classics.
Stuffing: Power uses potato bread and likes to put sausage in his stuffing. Add in a little sage, thyme and heavy cream, and you’re on your way to a good dish.
(Power also adds there’s nothing wrong with Stouffer’s if it’s a shortcut for you: it comes out more like bread pudding, which isn’t so bad.)
More:Your ultimate Thanksgiving guide: What to buy, cook, eat and drink
Tripodi uses croutons, sage, sausage, celery, Spanish onion, turkey stock and chopped parsley for his stuffing. Place it all in a greased pan, bake it covered for about a half hour, then uncovered for another 20-30 minutes.
Cranberry sauce: Tripodi composes his cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries in a pan with a little sugar and some cinnamon sticks. (As with Power and stuffing, Tripodi says you needn’t feel shame about using the canned sauce if it saves you time.)
Power adds lingonberries to his sauce “which give it a little pop.” You can even go so far as to add cranberries into your dessert — he suggests that a cranberry compote makes a nice topping for something like pumpkin spice creme brûlée.
Other side tips: You can use marshmallow fluff on your sweet potato casserole to get a more even coverage on your pan.
Don’t let your family traditions go by the wayside, either. Tripodi makes German red cabbage a la his mother-in-law, and Power makes a family-favorite Brussels sprouts dish with bacon and syrup.
And don’t forget the drinks. Kevin Silva, bar captain at Ventanas, recommends making this Cranberry Bourbon Sour for guests:
Combine two cups of fresh cranberries with one cup of sugar and one cup of water in a saucepan and simmer until the berries burst and thicken (about 10 minutes). Strain it and let it cool. In a large pitcher, combine two ounces of cranberry syrup, two ounces of bourbon and one ounce of lemon juice for each drink. Serve over ice with a garnish of fresh cranberries or a lemon twist.
“This simple and festive cocktail is easy to prepare ahead of time, freeing up the host for more important tasks during the holiday rush,” Silva says.
Or, get a jump on the next holiday: “Make a good egg nog,” Tripodi says.
How to get it all done: Prepare and plan
Look, it’s a lot of work getting Thanksgiving dinner on the table, whether you have two guests or 20. Take it from these chefs, who push out hundreds of meals a day on how to manage your kitchen.
Power worked at Capitol Grille on 42nd Street in Manhattan on Thanksgiving’s past and he recommends: “If you prepare yourself to be busy, you’re never going to be busy. Don’t be a last-minute person. Plan it out, know what you’ve got to do at certain times. If you’re making mashed potatoes, peel them up, put them in a pot of water; you can get ahead and get ready. All your veggies should be cut and blanched. If you’re blanching and sautéing, make sure you blanch earlier in the day, drain all the water out of them and make sure they’re dry.”
Indeed, be careful of kitchen hazards: introducing water to a hot pan with oil, or overloading your oven with grease drippings, which can lead to a fire.
Tripodi agrees that a little preparation goes a long way: “Do your prep a couple days in advance. Cut your mushrooms, cook your spinach, make sure the bird is picked up the day before so the fridge is not too packed with stuff. Do all your prep work; Ziplock bag it or put it in the fridge.”
Andrew Riccatelli of The Hudson Rose in Nutley says the benefits of planning go beyond a less stressful cooking venture; it means you’ll have more time to spend with the people you care about on Thanksgiving.
“For me, the day is all about spending time with family so do as much as you can ahead of time,” he says. “Don’t sacrifice on ingredients or flavor but making cranberry sauce, cutting your bread for stuffing or blanching your green beans a few days ahead will save you time and give you the opportunity to spend the time with loved ones. Also, don’t forget to brine that turkey.”
Indeed, if there’s one thing we’ll take away from this, it’s to brine your turkey.
If that still sounds like too much
Brothers BBQ has smoked or fried turkey and smoked prime rib packages with pie and sides at smokenallday.com. Byrd has in-house Friendsgiving turkey meals for 6-8 people. Email [email protected] for more info. The Hudson Rose has a full Thanksgiving feast for 6-8 people. Go here for more info.
Matt Cortina is a food reporter for NorthJersey.com/The Record. Reach him at [email protected].