{"id":22817,"date":"2018-11-08T08:59:51","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T13:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=22817"},"modified":"2018-11-08T08:59:54","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T13:59:54","slug":"on-your-table-for-thanksgiving-dont-stress-but-plan-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=22817","title":{"rendered":"On Your Table: For Thanksgiving, don’t stress, but plan ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Cathy Branciaroli<\/strong>,\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Turkey is central to Thanksgiving Dinner<\/p><\/div>\n

Thanksgiving is coming and the best advice I\u2019ve heard about this is, \u201cTake it all in stride.\u00a0\u00a0 Everything is going to be ok.\u201d<\/p>\n

Executive Chef Tim Baker of The Whip Tavern in Unionville agrees.\u00a0 He declares Thanksgiving to be his favorite holiday for eating with family and friends.\u00a0 And it needn\u2019t be stressful.\u00a0 \u201cYou can do a million things with turkey,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIt can be stuffed and roasted traditionally.\u00a0 It can be smoked.\u00a0 It can be cooked on a rotisserie.\u00a0 It can be broken down by taking the bones out and serving the meat any number of ways.\u00a0 And then there are always turkey sandwiches for the leftovers.\u00a0 They\u2019re all good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether you are expecting to feed a big crowd, guests with strong dietary preferences, or just plain family, a little advance planning will go along way to preserving your sanity on turkey day.<\/p>\n

Flexibility also is your best friend.\u00a0 From its very beginning in 1621 the notion of Thanksgiving has been gather round and share foods that are on hand whether it be hearty fall vegetables, a meaty dish, grains or sweetened fruits – whatever is needed to satisfy everyone.\u00a0 But turkeys are central to the feast, no matter how it is prepared.<\/p>\n

So take a deep breath and relax.\u00a0 Here are a few ideas to make this year\u2019s Thanksgiving dinner enjoyable for the cook as well as the guests.\u00a0 You can thank me later.<\/p>\n

First off, about that planning thing.<\/u>\u00a0 Checklists are great for this including a serious shopping list.\u00a0 Some items are obvious, but maybe not those aluminum throwaway pans that make cleanup so easy.\u00a0 Write down your menu selections along with the ingredients to make them.\u00a0 Think about what special dietary needs need to be accommodated.<\/p>\n

Make or prepare ahead.<\/u>\u00a0 Unless you are a fan of running four hot burners and the oven simultaneously while juggling mixing bowls, pots and pans, getting as much work out of the way in advance is critical.\u00a0 Choose desserts that can be made a day or two ahead. Or better yet, ask someone to bring his or her favorite.\u00a0 Side dishes, such as the famous green bean casserole can be prepped, baked and then reheated for serving.\u00a0 This sounds obvious but the turkey itself must be thawed days ahead.<\/p>\n

Simple is best and just as delicious.<\/u>\u00a0 Thanksgiving dinner is not the time to experiment with new dishes.\u00a0 Choose dishes with straightforward preparation.\u00a0 Guests will love them just as much and after all, it\u2019s the spirit of being together that counts not fancy food.<\/p>\n

Leftovers.<\/u> \u00a0Well, there is always that turkey sandwich that Chef Baker says is a totally awesome late night snack. \u00a0\u00a0But there also are creative uses such as turkey chili, turkey noodle soup or turkey burritos.\u00a0 Family will appreciate a change of pace on Black Friday.<\/p>\n

Hopefully your Thanksgiving dinner will be enjoyable for everyone including the chef.\u00a0 As a final tip, and in the spirit of making ahead, making it simple and making great leftovers, here is one of my family\u2019s favorite dishes that feeds a crowd and always pleases guests.\u00a0 It\u2019s even tastier the next day.<\/p>\n

Potato Gratin with Boursin Cheese
\n<\/u><\/strong>
\nIngredients:
\n<\/u>3 pounds small Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes, with skins and sliced thin<\/p>\n

2 5-oz Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese
\n2 cups heavy\/whipping cream
\n1 tsp salt
\nCracked black pepper
\n2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped<\/p>\n

Preparation:
\n<\/u>Preheat oven to 400 degrees.\u00a0 Butter a 9×13 inch pan including sides.\u00a0 In a medium saucepan, heat cream and cheese until cheese melts and there are no lumps, stirring to combine.\u00a0 Add salt at the end.<\/p>\n

To make the gratin, arrange potato slices in a slightly overlapping layer in the pan.\u00a0 Pour \u00bd of the cream mix over the potatoes.\u00a0 Sprinkle with the cracked pepper and \u00bd of the parsley.\u00a0 Arrange a similar layer of potatoes in a second layer.\u00a0 Top with remaining cream mix and parsley.<\/p>\n

Cover the pan with aluminum foil.\u00a0 Bake 45 minutes.\u00a0 Check if bubbling in the center.\u00a0 If not continue to bake 10-15 more minutes.\u00a0 Serve hot.<\/p>\n

This dish can be prepared in advance to the point of baking and stored in the refrigerator.\u00a0 If you\u2019re using a glass pan, make sure it comes up to room temperature to prevent breaking.<\/p>\n

Cathy Branciaroli also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her award-winning blog <\/em>Delaware Girl Eats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Cathy Branciaroli,\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times Thanksgiving is coming and the best advice I\u2019ve heard about this is, \u201cTake it all in stride.\u00a0\u00a0 Everything is going to be ok.\u201d Executive Chef Tim Baker of The Whip Tavern in Unionville agrees.\u00a0 He declares Thanksgiving to be his favorite holiday for eating with family and friends.\u00a0 And it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[3912,3731,1126,5848],"class_list":["post-22817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-featured","tag-recipes","tag-thanksgiving","tag-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22818,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22817\/revisions\/22818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}