Posts Tagged ‘Thanksgiving’

November 27th, 2024 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Cooking Technique, How To & Tips, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Easiest, Go-To Roast Turkey Recipe – All in Pictures

Easiest, Go-To Roast Turkey Recipe – All in Pictures

stress-free-roast-turkey

Here’s an easy-to-use, go-to cooking technique that makes for a terrifically tender, fully flavor – and good looking – roast turkey.

First some quick tips:

  • I highly recommend using an oven-proof meat thermometer, as shown in the equipment needed picture below, to ensure roasting the turkey to the proper doneness temperature.
  • Traditional recipes usually call for roasting the turkey with stuffing in the main cavity. I recommend roasting the turkey without stuffing for the best turkey roasting result.
  • Make sure the turkey is completely defrosted, if you’re using a frozen turkey, and then allow that defrosted or fresh turkey to warm close to room temperature before roasting.
  • Start cooking the turkey breast-side down for most of the roasting timeand turn the turkey breast-side up for the last 50 minutes no matter the turkey weight.
  • Let the freshly roasted turkey rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before carving and serving.

Regarding temperature and timing, start with the turkey placed in a roasting pan BREAST-SIDE DOWN and cook at high oven heat (450℉/230℃) for the first 30 minutes no matter the turkey’s weight. After 30 minutes, turn the oven heat down to 325℉ /165℃ for the bulk of roasting time with the turkey still breast-side down. Again, no matter the turkey weight, turn the turkey breast-side up and keep the temperature at the same 325℉ /165℃ for the last 50 minutes of cooking. See the note below about how to turn the turkey breast-side down to breast-side up.

Here are all the ingredients you need to make a stress-free roast turkey.

stress-free-roast-turkey-ingredients

Here’s the equipment you need.

stress-free-roast-turkey-equipment

The most difficult part of this recipe is turning the turkey from breast-side down to breast side-up, but the picture book directions show how to do that as easily and safely as possible as shown here.

turning-roast-turkey-breast-side-up

Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete, newly revised step-by-step picture book recipe.

stress-free-roast-turkey-picture-book-recipe

November 25th, 2024 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Cooking Technique, How To & Tips, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Stress-Free Thanksgiving Dinner Planning & Timing Guide With Recipe Links

Stress-Free Thanksgiving Dinner Planning & Timing Guide With Recipe Links

Thanksgiving food shopping list by grocery store aisle and stress-free Thanksgiving dinner planning and timing guide blog banner image.

All right! Thanksgiving’s just 3 days away, and if you’re the one on the hook to make Thanksgiving dinner, it’s time to flip the action switch to on – without making yourself crazy.

First, if you haven’t yet gotten all the ingredients you need to make Thanksgiving dinner, please get to the grocery store today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday), especially if you’re roasting a frozen turkey as frozen turkeys take at least 2 days to defrost properly. To make grocery shopping as easy as possible either click this link or the picture below to download a Thanksgiving Dinner Shopping List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle.

Thanksgiving Food Shopping List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle

Next, either click this link or the picture below to download the Stress-Free Thanksgiving Planning and Timing Guide so you know in advance what to expect realistically over the next few days, which is all manageable even if you have little to no experience in the kitchen.

Next couple days: fully flavorful and easy-to-make Thanksgiving Day recipes.

November 23rd, 2024 Blog, How To & Tips, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Easy-to-Use Thanksgiving Food Shopping List by Grocery Store Aisle

Easy-to-Use Thanksgiving Food Shopping List by Grocery Store Aisle

Thanksgiving Grocery List - Step One Banner

Look at it like having to get a high school or college research paper done on time. If you chip away over time, no problem. If you wait til the last second, like I always did – right to the gonging bell, big time stress.

Same with putting together a fully-flavor Thanksgiving dinner. If you give yourself time, and you do have time if you’re reading this 4-5 days before Thanksgiving, you’ll be fine – even if you’ve never put together any kind of dinner before. I’ll help you right here. If, on the other hand, you don’t give yourself the time you need, you already know the answer.

looking down the barrel at Thanksgiving less than a week away

As of this weekend, we’re looking straight down the barrel at Thanksgiving less than a week away. No problem.

The first step: use the next 2-3 days to get what you need from the grocery store. I’ve made it easy for you. Just click this link or any picture on this page to download a Thanksgiving Grocery List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle.

Thanksgiving Grocery List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle.

More Thanksgiving help real soon!

November 7th, 2024 Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Shagsgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Killer Fun 2nd Annual Pour Choices “Shagsgiving”

Killer Fun 2nd Annual Pour Choices “Shagsgiving”

Friends and family make all the difference – always! And that difference lives on vibrantly in our warm, energetically tight Hickory area Carolina Shag dance family.

Sure, we love tearing it up on the dance floor. But we’re tight in a way that’s no kidding soul-to-sou and always there for each other no matter what. Nothing better!

I told that to good Westborough, MA, friend, Deb Ledoux, about a month ago. She’d never heard of Carolina Shag dancing and got a laugh when I old her about our Thanksgiving shag family dinner-dance at our favorite weekly Wednesday night spot, Pour Choices in Newton. “Thanksgiving? Why don’t you call it Shagsgiving?”

“Great idea!” That’s what we call it now, and that’s what we had last night for the second straight. Killer food,…

Shagsgiving food spread: roast turkey, layer cake, and much more.

…hoppin’ dance steps,…

Terrifically fun Carolina Shag dancing at Pour Choices, Newton, NC

…and best of all, having it all with a full-on loving family that goes beyond the fun of good food and dancing!

November 4th, 2024 Blog, Cooking Technique, Dessert, Poultry, Thanksgiving Dinner, Vegetables Comments Off on Stress-Free Picture Book Thanksgiving Dinner Help

Stress-Free Picture Book Thanksgiving Dinner Help

I know it’s just the beginning of November, and Thanksgiving comes late this year: November 28th. But time flies, and these next posts will be about how make the most of that most excellent holiday.

First, Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. All that’s expected is a fully flavorful meal with good friends and family. Great – unless you’re the host AND you’re stressed about how to put that meal together.

Breathe easy – no problem!

To make any of the standard Thanksgiving dishes you see above – and more – as stress-free as possible, just click any picture on this page or this link to the Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook Thanksgiving Help page for step-by-step picture directions that will show how how to make any of the fully flavorful Thanksgiving dishes you see above – and more – as easily as possible.

In following posts, I’ll highlight some of those recipes along with other recipes and tips to help you make your Thanksgiving as fun and flavorful as possible.

More soon!

January 21st, 2019 Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Poultry, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes Comments Off on Roast Turkey – Warm, Fully Flavorful Feast Any Day

Roast Turkey – Warm, Fully Flavorful Feast Any Day

With all that it has to offer: its signature warm smell while it roasts, terrific comforting flavor fresh out of the oven, incredible leftover versatility, and much more, especially when it’s cold out, why have roasted turkey just on Thanksgiving?

I’ve roasted two turkeys since Thanksgiving: one to have leftovers at home after Thanksgiving, which I’m still enjoying in portions out of the freezer, and another to prepare for a Bicycles Battling Cancer dinner at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge in Boston last week.

If you’ve never roasted a turkey, you might think it’s a real chore.

It isn’t. In fact, it’s stress-free easy.

The keys to roasting a turkey beautifully successfully are roasting the turkey without stuffing (which otherwise will lead you to overcook the bird to cook the stuffing safely), using a meat thermometer, and doing most of the roasting with the turkey’s most delicate meat, the breast meat, cooked out of direct contact with the heat, which means roasting the bird mostly breast side down as shown in the top left picture below.

Click either this link or any picture on this page for complete, easy to follow fully flavorful stress-free roast turkey directions.

 

November 27th, 2014 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Stress-Free Turkey Roast and Easy Thanksgiving Help – All in Pictures

Stress-Free Turkey Roast and Easy Thanksgiving Help – All in Pictures

Carving Roast TurkeyHappy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving because all that’s expected is good company and a great tasting meal. At the same time, I sure understand that putting together that fantastically flavorful meal can mean a good deal of stress for those in the kitchen.  To help relieve that stress, here’s the easiest, most stress-free way I know to roast a moist and tender turkey, especially one that, like the majority of turkeys available, weighs less than 15 pounds. Read more »

November 28th, 2013 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Comments Off on Stress-Free Roast Turkey

Stress-Free Roast Turkey

Here’s how the 15 1/2 pound turkey I roasted last night (Thanksgiving Eve) turned out after 2 1/2 hours of high heat roasting. After misreading a recipe and making adjustments years ago, using high oven heat (450°F/230°C) at 10 minutes per pound is my favorite stress-free method for ensuring a moist and tender turkey. Read more »

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