Overcooked turkey, too many sides

By Sono Motoyama, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH — Most of us are not professional chefs or caterers or decorators, so the thought of cooking for and entertaining a Thanksgiving crowd can be daunting.

That’s why we turned to the experts — professional chefs and caterers and interior designers — to discuss some typical Thanksgiving mistakes and how to avoid them.

Not prepping

“The overriding first mistake people make is they think they have more time than they do,” said Bistro to Go Cafe and Catering executive chef Kate Kobylinski.

She regularly hosts her extended family of 30 and knows “every single problem.”

“Food takes longer to cook, the table takes longer to set and houses take longer to clean than you think.”

Clean your house on Monday. On Wednesday, dice vegetables so they’re “food-show ready,” as Kobylinski put it. Prepare (but don’t cook) your green bean casserole (leaving off garnishes like fried onions) so it can just be popped in the oven and set the dining room table.

Not enlisting help

Don’t feel that you have to do everything yourself. But be as specific as possible when doling out the assignments.

“Don’t let them make their own decisions!” Kobylinski said emphatically. Thanksgiving is “micromanager’s heaven.”

For example, have someone bring ice on Thanksgiving Day because going out to buy it takes time and ice hogs freezer space. If you don’t like making desserts, have someone bring one. If a guest wants to prepare a side dish, great, but decide beforehand what they will bring.

Ahead of dinner, interior designer Kacie Cope likes to set out all of her serving platters with Post-it notes attached denoting what will go on them.

“You’ll be amazed if you have them labeled,” she said. “People can help in a jiff.”

During the evening, Kobylinski gives people assigned jobs, such as serving drinks or taking charge of an after-dinner game.

And the chef is forgiving about using premade ingredients, like gravy or cranberry jelly.

“There’s no right or wrong way to make any of your foods,” she said.

But you might want to give a homemade touch to prepared ingredients, like adding sauteed onions or celery to prepared gravy.

Not defrosting your turkey

“Everyone goes into Thanksgiving Day with a half-frozen turkey,” said Kobylinski. “And you can’t get the bag of giblets out because they’re frozen in place.”

It takes one day for every 4 pounds of turkey meat to defrost in the refrigerator. (No, it is not safe to leave your frozen turkey out on the counter to thaw and breed bacteria.) So if you’ve got a 20-pound bird, you’ve got to start thawing on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

However, there are other methods. Kobylinski suggests submerging the bird and running a thin stream of cold water over it. “It doesn’t have to be a lot of water.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says there are only three ways to safely thaw food: In the refrigerator, in cold water or in the microwave.

To safely thaw turkey in cold water, the USDA says it takes about 30 minutes per pound. Put the turkey in a leak-proof plastic bag to prevent cross-contamination and submerge it. Change the water every 30 minutes, and cook immediately when it’s thawed.

If opting for your microwave, follow its instructions for thawing and cook immediately.

Then, if you’re running late and need to speed things up to satisfy the hungry hordes, you can cut the bird in half before cooking (skin side up).

This significantly reduces cooking time, requiring about 10 minutes per pound. Kobylinski also recommends resting the turkey on vegetables in the oven to keep the bottom from getting burned.

Serving a dry, overcooked turkey

Private chef and culinary educator Emily Larsen warns that those plastic thermometers in supermarket turkeys are setting you up for failure. The USDA says that you should cook a turkey until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.

Plastic thermometers don’t pop out until the breast meat is at about 180 degrees, “when your turkey is completely dry,” Larsen said.

Plus, people forget that meat continues to cook once it’s out of the oven. She recommends taking a bird out of the oven when it is at 155 degrees — she likes to use an inexpensive instant-read folding probe thermometer — and continue to monitor it. (Insert it into the thickest part of the breast, avoiding the bone.)

“Ten dollars [for the thermometer] can save your Thanksgiving,” she said.

Some feel that buying a frozen rather than fresh bird is another no-no, since freezing leaches water out of the turkey.

However, if, despite your best efforts, your turkey is lacking moisture, Kobylinski has a fix: Put warm chicken or turkey stock and clarified butter into a mister and spritz sliced turkey with it before serving.

“The same with stuffing if it’s too dry,” she said.

Overcomplicating the menu

Thanksgiving Day is not the time to try out a completely new recipe. And you don’t have to lay out 10 side dishes.

In addition to opting for a simple menu, Kobylinski also recommends figuring out how long your items will take to cook and what method of cooking it requires ahead of time.

Your turkey will be monopolizing your oven for four hours, so other oven foods should be limited or be easily reheated during the time that the turkey is resting. (As for resting a turkey, the chef puts her turkey on a hot plate with towels over it so “the meat rebinds itself and stabilizes for a smoother cut.”)

“Stovetop items should be staggered,” she said, so you don’t have a frying pan and three pots all going at once.

As a sample menu, she suggests you might have one baked potato dish and one mashed. And for vegetables, one baked dish and one that is blanched or grilled.

Overcomplicating the decorating

Interior designers advise against going too crazy with holiday-specific décor.

“There’s a lot that’s being sold to us that we feel like we need,” said Pittsburgh interior designer Amanda Bock.