Let me start by saying Thanksgiving dinner is my jam! I love everything about it. From the potatoes three ways and corn casserole to the stuffing and green beans and, of course, that amazing bird,
I love Thanksgiving dinner!
I even love preparing it. For years, I have voluntarily handled Thanksgiving for my entire family. And when I say “handled”, I mean all of it. The turkey, all the sides, even the pies. At one point, I was preparing the holiday meal for more than 25 guests!
Over the years, I have created my own Thanksgiving Bible. Starting as early as four weeks out, I buy ingredients; chopping and freezing in advance to make the big day less of a hassle.
And then it happened, I got overconfident. I believed that I had mastered this meal. Then came the day when after prepping a brine bag full of two gallons of apple cider, oranges, spices, salt, and deliciousness, I sealed in my nearly 35-pound turkey to rest for 24 hours in its tasty bath. As I slid the turkey into the refrigerator, the bag ripped open, and out came giant turkey, cider, spices and all. And it went everywhere.
I was crushed. Not only did I have a HUGE mess to clean up, but I also had no more ingredients to prepare enough brine and no time to get to the store to get more. TURKEY DISASTER!
What happened next, I’m not proud of – a culinary embarrassment I can’t believe I am sharing with you. I took what ingredients I had and created just enough brine to fill a large soup pot. I then stuck the turkey in, well, halfway in (that was a big bird!) Then I did some quick online research and found a simple recipe for a dry brine that I did on the other half of the turkey sticking out of the top of my pot!
Needless to say, it was not my best effort. I so wish that I had known about the fabulous folks at Dorothy Lane Market. I could have seriously used their advice. Lucky for you, I sat down with Chef Carrie Walters of the DLM Culinary Center and got the scoop on turkey prep and a few fixin’s in plenty of time for the big day.
Walters believes that a great turkey starts with a farm fresh turkey.
“The fresh turkeys that we carry here at DLM come from a local farm in New Carlisle, Ohio. I have been to the farm and am really proud of those turkeys. Unlike most frozen birds that are pumped up full of a salt solution to add weight and fed a diet meant to gain weight quickly; a fresh turkey tastes more like turkey!”
Watters is referring to Non-GMO DLM Free-Range Turkey. Dorothy Lane Market’s VP of Meat & Seafood Jack also suggests starting your bird at a high heat for color and faster cooking time, but finishing it at a lower temp to save on moisture loss. And, of course, both agree that the bird needs to reach the safe temperature of 165 degrees.
She warns that some frozen turkeys may have been in deep freeze for as much as a year. (What!?) Plus fresh saves you on that whole defrosting issue! As for her favorite prep method?
“I like plenty of salt and pepper, with a little butter or oil for drizzling before putting into the oven. I like the taste of a true roasted turkey.”
She adds that basting is a waste of time and causes heat loss. (Seriously, where has this little nugget of info been all my life?)
“I love to have at least one dish that has plenty of acid and crunch in it. My family menu has a lot of soft, rich dishes so it’s fun to have a bright vinegary salad or some pickled veggies.”
She also makes a zingy cranberry relish with some jalapeno in it. Here’s a recipe I plan to try this year!
Walters is also a proponent of prepping ahead, even if it’s just by a day or two. “The day before I like to chop and sauté all my ingredients for the stuffing, make the sweet potato casserole oven ready, set the table and have my guests bring all the baked goods!”
But even Watters has had her Thanksgiving disasters. “The first time my mother in law came for Thanksgiving at my house- she wanted to give me all of her cooking advice and tips and I disagreed with almost all of them! We started disagreeing from the time I unwrapped the turkey till we sat down to eat!”
She advises, in the end, to remember it’s all about family and friends coming to the table. “There are a lot of ways to get there!”
Check out 5 Things to Know about DLM’s Non-GMO Free-Range Turkey
and reserve yours today!
Or scrap the whole idea of making the meal yourself and order a fabulous meal prepared by Chef Carrie and the other talented team members in the DLM kitchens!
(We won’t tell.)
