Thanksgiving Tips & Techniques

I have a confession to make. I've never made a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I always cook something for the feast at my parent's house, but not the whole meal and certainly not the turkey. I'm not sure I could take the pressure! Thanksgiving is one of the most traditional of meals and most of us have very specific expectations about what that dinner should be.

Here to help make yours a success, whether you are cooking one dish or ten, is cooking teacher and cookbook author extraordinaire, Rick Rodgers. His book Thanksgiving 101, is out in paperback and in stores now. Rick is answering questions about Thanksgiving and sharing his advice over on the Epicurious blog but I snagged him for a few questions of my own...

What kind of turkey do you recommend for Thanksgiving--organic, heritage, wild, fresh, frozen?
 
Look for a fresh bird from a local source.  Where I live, organic Eberly from Pennsylvania is my bird of choice, but when I teach in Northern California, I am happy with Foster Farms. There are a lot of very good supermarket birds out there at a reasonable price.  Look for the words "all natural, minimally processed" on the label, and your bird won't have been shot up with lots of gunk.  If you want to splurge, get an organic bird.  Heritage birds are very pricey, and frankly, their rich flavor isn't to everyone's taste, and you won't get a lot of meat--they are much more compact than mass-produced birds. 
 
I teach my Thanksgiving cooking class all over the country, and almost always roast standard, local fresh turkeys, and as long as the turkey comes out moist, I hear "This is the best turkey I ever had" a lot.  the secret to a juicy breast isn't brining (which only adds salty water to the flesh), but protecting the breast from the oven heat.  Simply wrap aluminum foil over the breast area (not the wings or legs) and roast as usual.  This slows down the cooking in this area and keeps it moist.  Remove the foil during the last hour of roasting.  That's all there is to it. 


What's the biggest mistake home cooks make on Thanksgiving?

Making too much food.  The typical Thanksgiving menu can be pretty tyrannical--turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, yams, green vegetable (you are very lucky to get something fresh and not green bean casserole), often turnips, cranberry sauce, rolls...and who knows how many desserts?  The first thing that goes on my menu is mashed potatoes because it is ridiculous to have so many starches on the menu.  I will make extra gravy and serve mashed potatoes on Friday or Saturday, but not at my holiday meal. Make a sensible meal that is balanced in flavors and portion sizes.  If you and your guests are so full that you can't truly enjoy and savor the meal, what's the point? 


What's your favorite thing to do with leftover turkey?
 
Hot turkey sandwich with gravy and cranberry sauce on Friday lunch.  After that, I usually make Mexican food with the turkey.  It's great in enchiladas, tostadas, and tacos. 


What do you recommend for vegetarians on Thanksgiving?

I will make a wonderful vegetarian main course (roasted portobello mushrooms in a Gruyere sauce was a hit one year) that doubles as a side dish. Of course, you have to be sure that the vegetarians get their larger portion before any teenagers dig in!  I have also purchased individual main courses at the best natural food store in town.  And, my favorite scenario was when a vegan friend called and said: "You are already making dinner for twenty other people, and I am not going to make you create something special for me.  I am perfectly happy to bring my own main course.  Frankly, because I cook vegan all the time, I know that it will be good--nonvegetarians don't "get it," as hard as they try.  I'll bring enough so you can serve it as a side dish, too." 


How would you feel about making Thanksgiving a two day event with a second holiday meal devoted to eating leftovers?

Hmmm.  There's nothing celebratory about leftovers.  I vote for what more and more of my friends are doing: Having a second holiday dinner with their chosen family members in addition to the "be there or die" edict put out by their blood relatives.  My friends Heather and Alexis always have a big turkey dinner one Saturday in November with friends, neighbors, and co-workers, leaving them free to have a family-only dinner on the fourth Thursday. 

If you are looking for a twist on the classic dessert choices, check out Rick's Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding 

iFoods on ABC in America

Recognition from accross the Atlantic in the USA yesterday with iFoods being featured on American TV.. We have also been doing heaps of interviews for the States so its nice to know the iFoods word is spreading! we have actually been getting tons of press from all over the world in the last couple of weeks, check it out and see what you think.



Another exciting thing happening this weekend is the news that we will be launching our thanksgiving videos in the next couple of days with all the classics in there like how to roast a turkey, pumkin pie and a whole host of side dishes. So rest assured that you won't be in a panic this year and thanks to videos cooking for the family this year will be a walk in the park!

Cute Food, Japanese Style

The only thing I can say in my defense, is that after two weeks of being bombarded with that special type of Japanese cuteness known as "kawaii" I had a momentary lapse.

It was during a trip through the temple of all things adorable, the toy store Kiddy Land, in the trendy shopping area of Ometosando in Harajuku, Tokyo, that I purchased not one, but two little sets of plastic food that would best fit in a dollhouse. Sigh. Yes, even food is cute in Japan. Can you blame me for wanting to go back?

Japanese Hot Stuff

I came back from Japan with numerous delectable food purchases. The first thing I brought was "yuzukosho". I was served this green paste as a condiment with nabe, a dish where you cook what you like in a pot on the table. It's a combination of the peel of the citrus fruit yuzu and kosho, a kind of chile pepper. I also had it with sashimi. Imagine the taste of limes and chiles with just a pinch of salt. Irresistible, right? So is yuzukosho! It is very common in the South of Japan, but a more recent addition to the table in places like Tokyo.

Another purchase I made was wasabi in a tube, not the pasty fake wasabi that is really just dry mustard colored to look like wasabi, but real wasabi. Real wasabi actually tastes like horseradish, not mustard. It's bright and hot but has plenty of flavor, not just heat. If you can find the fresh stuff, keep in mind the Japanese rhizome will taste a bit different from the American rhizome. It also needs to be grated on a sharkskin grater which results in a characteristically creamy texture. Even in Japan fresh wasabi was expensive. I usually request it at sushi bars and don't mind paying a little extra for it.

The other "hot stuff" I received at the Rise of Asia Worlds of Flavor conference last week. It's sansyo pepper. The light green powder is made from the ground up leaves of the prickly ash tree, the same tree that produces Szechuan peppercorns. It's a funny pepper, at first it just tastes herbal and slightly lemony, but after a few moments you get a tingly sensation in your mouth. It's not really hot, but kind of prickling; I can't think of another pepper with this effect.

Hot spices, herbs and pastes, are used in Japan, as are citrus flavors, to balance out greasiness or fat. Try using them on steak, fatty tuna or anywhere you'd like some heat. They each have tremendous flavor beyond the kick and are not that hot if used in moderation.

Golden Spiders

As i wrote last week we were lucky enough to be nominated for a couple of very prestigious awards here in Ireland last week. Even though the hard part was getting nominated we now need all you guys to help us win the actual award, basically just click this link and vote for us! It would mean a lot to us and when you are there if you could click for the humble housewife you would be doing a great favour for what in my opinion is one of the best blogs in Ireland! Thanks again guys, means a lot!

Favourite brunch treats

I was having brumch yesterday and i realised that it has to be one of my favourite types of food ever! So i got to thinking about developping our next set of recipes and I came to the conclusion that we really need a brunch section for all those weekend treats that we all love! I must say that my favourite is the always popular eggs benedict(see our video here) and i must say i have a soft spot for simple scrambled eggs and toast as shown in this Gordon Ramsey video...

So basically we want to get a bit of a debate going as to what the best all time brunch recipes are and what videos you would like to see on iFoods

Ice Cream City

When I read about the food theme parks and museums of Japan I was determined to check them out on my next trip. In Tokyo I made a side trip out to a pretty goofy amusement park because it also was also the home of Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City. After having my fill at the first two stops, I had no room for trying anything at the Dessert Forest.

Ice Cream City is pretty much heaven for an ice cream lover. Although, it can be a bit frustrating in some ways because the number of choices are completely overwhelming. There are a series of rooms and kiosks, each featuring a different style of ice cream with lots of flavors to choose from. I spent the most of my time in a gallery called "Cup Ice Museum" where the wall-to-wall freezer cases were filed with individual cups of ice cream from all over Japan. Here I was completely frustrated with my lack of Japanese because I could only read a fraction of the labels. Dracula, deep sea water, Nikka whisky and Hokkaido salty ice cream were just a few of the intriguing labels I could read. I also saw labels with what looked like cheese, bell peppers, a chicken, chestnuts and melons.

All over Japan I found soft ice cream, sometimes called "soft cream" to be particularly popular. I enjoyed it because like so many Japanese sweets it wasn't very sweet and the flavors shined through. At the Soft Cream Bar, you couldn't get two flavors swirled together, but you could get four flavors in one dish. Heaven for the indecisive! I chose pumpkin, green tea, salty vanilla and custard which I think was really butterscotch. It was the first time in a long time that I could not finish my ice cream. The green tea was fabulous but my favorite was actually the salty vanilla. Please. Someone open up an Ice Cream City theme park near me. I promise I will go very often. I will even order four flavors again, really. I will.

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites is my post on Gyoza Stadium