An Easy Recipe

It’s that time of year again, when you gather together with friends and family for a splendid slap up dinner – and you have decided to host it! Hopefully you have done all your shopping and not left it till the last minute as you may not find a suitably large turkey and the, assuming it’s frozen, it will need two fays to thaw slowly and evenly in the refrigerator. Have you invited your guests and worked out your menu?

Preparing ahead as much as possible makes it easier on the day but there is always a chance of something going wrong, Read on to find out the most common mistakes and problems and how to deal with them. Don’t leave your frozen turkey in the sink or on the countertop to defrost. It does not do so well left at room temperature, but should instead thaw more slowly in the refrigerator. This can take two or three days for a large bird so you need to allow for this. There is nothing worse than when you come to cook it on the big day it is still part frozen.

Don’t leave it too late to start thawing the turkey. It is much better thawed slowly in the refrigerator than left out at room temperature. You may want to make the stuffing ahead of time but you don’t want food poisoning so it’s best to get the ingredients ready beforehand and then make up the stuffing early on the actual day.

You can dry out your bread by leaving it out for a day or two or baking it in a medium oven till crunchy. Fry off your onions and vegetables, let them cool, and then refrigerate. You may need some broth and some eggs, refrigerated. Then on the morning of Thanksgiving day you can make up the stuffing and pop it into your turkey.

The 5 common things that can go wrong are as follows:

Dry turkey If the turkey is too dry you can slice it and put into a roasting tin with some of the juices plus some chicken stock. Then add some knobs of butter around the pan and cover with foil. Place in a warm oven for a while until the butter melts.

The turkey is done too early – Take it out of the oven and make a foil tent to cover it. It should keep warm this way for up to 45 minutes. It is best anyway to let the turkey rest for about 15 minutes after cooking as it tends to become tenderer.

Gravy is too thin -Mix together equal parts of cornstarch and water. Then add this slowly to the mixture stirring constantly to incorporate. If there are lumps they can be removed before serving by straining the gravy. An alterative is to leave the gravy on a light boil to evaporate more liquid and allow it to thicken naturally. Don’t let it boil too hard or for too long though, or you won’t have enough gravy left!

4. The gravy is too salty to the taste – In this case you can alter the taste and make it satisfactory by adding a few pinches of sugar. Add in small increments, tasting until it comes right. Another trick chef’s use is to place a whole peeled potato into the gravy and let it simmer for a while. The potato will absorb a lot of the salt. Just remember to remove the potato before serving!

The mashed potatoes are watery Potatoes can easily go soft if boiled for too long, but you can always overcome this by adding one of the following and then mixing in well: baking soda, instant potato buds, a teaspoon of powdered milk. A power blender gives a nice creamy smooth texture.

If you are aware of what can go wrong and are prepared to deal with any problems that may arise you will be under less stress and more able to enjoy the dinner!

Author: Juliette White is an experienced chef. If you don’t want to risk your Thanksgiving and you want to surprise your mates and parents with a great Thanksgiving meal make sure you obtain a free Thanksgiving Recipe Ebook . If you want more amazingly simple and free recipes and register here

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