I am NOT a domestic woman and I come from a LONG line of undomesticated women. My mother (pictured left with me!) made a pie with the guts from a pumpkin after pulling out each and every seed. My grandmother cooked a turkey 3 weeks in advance and THEN froze it! She attempted to warm it that day but needless to say it was less than delicious. With all of that said, Mama Fox and I decided it was time to learn a little something. We took a 4 1/2 hour Thanksgiving Cooking Class with Louise Hasson from the Bon Vivant School of Cooking!
What I learned from Bon Vivant school of cooking… click more to read!
You do NOT need to drown your potatoes in water to boil them! Put a 1 1/2 inches of water at the bottom of the pot and steam the potatoes. It will prevent the starch from breaking down and making your potatoes like paste!
Also, don’t beat your potatoes to mash them. Put them through a potato ricer!
Flash boiling your vegetables. Put them in a pot of boiling water for about 5 – 10 min depending on the vegatable. When they are just the right crisp, stick them in ice cold water to prevent them from cooking any further!
You do not need to go by a thermometer to know your turkey is done! You will see it pulling off the bone on the drumstick and tearing away at the wings.
NEVER cook your bird for long periods of time with the breast up! The dark meat takes the longest to cook. When you cook it with the breast up, you just dry out the white meat while waiting for the dark to cook.
Putting stuffing inside your turkey will rob it of the delicious seasonings. The stuffing soaks all that good stuff up! If you want to put the turkey flavor in your stuffing, take some of the drippings from the pan and drizzle them over the stuffing while baking. The more turkey drippings, the more moist the stuffing.
The high roasting technique will cook a 12-16 lb turkey in just about 2 hours! You have to pay close attention to the time on this technique because you start by cooking at a high temperature of 450 degrees on the side, breast up and then the other side for 15 min each. (The high temp time would total 45 min). Next, place the bird on it’s side and cook at a lower temp of 350 for 30 min – 40 min. Flip the turkey over and cook on the other side for 30 – 40 min or until the turkey is done. (The turkey we cooked during class is pictured right!)
***Tips: The turkey we cooked was done about 20 minutes early so definitely keep your on your turkey. When the meat starts pulling off, it’s done! (or when the temperature is at 170 degrees) Also, DO NOT leave the door open on the oven to look at your turkey. You are ruining the roasting. When you need to flip the bird, take it completely out of the oven and CLOSE the door. Also, when buttering up your turkey with some really good seasoned butter rubbed (We made a Hungarian paprika butter rub) rub it hard and thoroughly!
SHARE your own Thanksgiving tips in the comments below!
Listen to the Podcast for all of the Roasting tips
