Whose ready for some turkey? I sure am! We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving, not only for the food but also for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I always get a bit sentimental when we see Santa arrive at the end of the parade. My kids are teenagers now, but when they were younger they would get so excited to see him. Sigh…
I also miss the days of getting together with my entire family for the holiday. I miss the craziness. These days it’s just me, my husband and our two kids. Needless to say I don’t have to cook much. In fact, we used to buy pre-made Thanksgiving meals from a local grocer (fully cooked turkey and all the side dishes). For $50 we had everything we needed. We just had to warm it up. Clean up was a breeze too.
As easy as it sounds, I would much rather cook a real Thanksgiving meal and have my home filled with family and friends. I wouldn’t mind cleaning up and washing dishes after a great gathering like that.
This year our daughter has to work too, so she won’t be home until after our normal Thanksgiving dinner time, so that is going to mess things up too (we won’t eat until she’s home from work).
Slicing the turkey has always been tricky. We honestly don’t know how to do it. We see how turkey is cut on television (remember the turkey cutting scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation?). It’s almost like an art form. When we cut the turkey it’s like we’re attacking the poor thing – stabbing and jabbing it anywhere there is meat. LOL!
Dennis Snuszka, Vice President of Food & Beverage at dining destination TooJay’s Deli ( www.toojays.com ) has the must do’s and don’ts to make sure you carving and serving of the feature Thanksgiving item is perfect.
Don’t cut too soon. Allow the roast turkey to rest 30 minutes before carving. This allows all of the natural juices to redistribute throughout the meat to prevent the turkey from drying out.
Separation is a good thing. Separate the leg from the breast by running a boning knife through the skin between the two. Continue to cut in a downward direction until you reach the thigh joint and carefully separate as you push the leg away from the frame. Cut off drumstick and serve it whole. Place thigh on to a cutting board and slice through the meat on either side of bone straight down
Slicing the right size. Using a slicer knife use the full length of the blade to cut slices no more than a ½” thick starting from the outside of the breast and moving towards the center or breastbone.
Again and again. Repeat these steps until the entire bird has been sliced. Remove the wings from the frame with a boning knife in the same way you removed the leg from the breast.
Boil and go. Make sure that the turkey gravy is brought up to a boil before serving to reheat the sliced turkey.
These are great tips. We’ll have to employ them in a few weeks when we sit down to enjoy our Turkey dinner.
Tell me about your Thanksgiving? It it more like a Norman Rockwell scene, or it is a lot more like a holiday dinner with the Griswolds?
Kimberly
*I was not compensated for this post. I posted this for the enjoyment of my site readers.