Turkey Time: What the Food Magazines Are Recommending

In early October, November's food magazines started arriving, promising "the easiest feast ever!," "great food for the entire weekend" and "Thanksgiving at its best."

Honestly, it's a little nerve-wracking. 

Now that we're writing The Bitten Word and hosting family this Thanksgiving, we're feeling the pressure to cook a nice meal that will fit a variety of palates.  Mostly, though, we just want to outdo last year (more on that in a minute). 

November's issues of food magazines are chock-full of tips, recipes and sage advice. We thought it might be useful to talk about some of that advice here, so over the next few days we'll be holding a little Thanksgiving-a-thon, starting today with the center of the meal, the turkey. 

Over the next few days, we'll provide you with a complete index of what the magazines are recommending for Turkey, Starters & Sides, and Desserts, to help you plan your perfect Thanksgiving meal. 

We spent last Thanksgiving at home in D.C.  Our close friends had all left town and we decided that we'd like to spend the day cooking a nice meal to enjoy that evening.

And cook we did! 

We went all-out, making an appetizer, a turkey that was far too large for two people, five sides and a kick-ass dessert.  It was one time during that year that we truly put our food magazines to use, scouring through them for our ideal Thanksgiving recipes, and then pairing them with family recipes that we love.

Starting with turkey, last year we decided to dry-brine our bird.  We had never heard of dry-brining prior to our research for last year's menu, and we have to admit we were very impressed by both the process and the results. 

Dry-brining works like this: Spread salt all over the outside of the bird. Over the next several hours, the salt will leech moisture out of the meat and onto the surface. But THEN the meat re-absorbs the (now salty) water.  It gives you all the moist, tender meat you get from traditional brining, but you don't have to deal with plunking your bird in a tub of water for a day and a half. 

It was a technique that worked really nicely for us, and we recommend it. But there's a whole lot more advice on turkey from the food magazines. Here's what they're saying about the Big Day this year.

GOURMET (NOVEMBER 2008)
Subscribe to Gourmet

Feature #1:  "Over the Top"  (aka Fancy Pants Thanksgiving)
Roast Turkey with Black-Truffle Butter and White-Wine Gravy

Feature #2:  "Come Together" (aka Latin-Fusion Thanksgiving)
Adobo Turkey with Red-Chile Gravy

Feature #3:  "Four Hour Feast" (aka the Thanksgiving meal that looks like you slaved all day even though you didn't)
Extra-Moist Roast Turkey with Pan Gravy

Feature #4:  "Harvest's Home" (aka The Vegetarian Thanksgiving Zach and Clay Are Very Unlikely To Ever Have)
Do Roasted Chestnuts count?

BON APPÉTIT (NOVEMBER 2008)
Subscribe to Bon Appétit

Feauture #1:  "A Heritage Feast," (aka Thanksgiving with the Shakers)
Roast Heritage Turkey with Bacon-Herb and Cider Gravy

Feature #2:  "Salt It, Don't Brine It" (aka Do It Like Zach and Clay Did Last Year)
Salted Roast Turkey with Chipotle Glaze and Caramelized-Onion Gravy
Salted Roast Turkey with Orange, Fall Spices, and Sherry Gravy
Salted Roast Turkey with Herbs and Shallot-Dijon Gravy

SAVEUR (NOVEMBER 2008)
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Feature #1:  "Open City" aka A Big Easy Thanksgiving in New Orleans
Leah Chase's Roast Turkey

Feature #2:  "Turkey Throw Down" aka An Inconclusive Test on Keeping Breast Meat Moist
Turkey Confit
Stuffed Turkey Breast

EVERYDAY FOOD (NOVEMBER 2008)
Subscribe to Everyday Food

Feature #1:  "Kick It Up" (aka Thanksgiving with Emeril)
Turkey Roulade

Feature #2:  "Downhome Tradition" (aka Southern Thanksgiving)
Roast Turkey with Brown-Sugar and Mustard Glaze

MARTHA STEWART LIVING (NOVEMBER 2008)
Subscribe to Martha Stewart Living

Feature #1:  "Turkey For Every Table" (aka Options, Baby, Options)
Roasted Dry-Brined Turkey with Stuffing
Herbed Turkey Breast
Rolled Turkey Breast with Sausage-Pecan Stuffing

FOOD & WINE (NOVEMBER 2008)
Subscribe to Food & Wine

Feature #1:  “Ultimate Thanksgiving Planner” (aka Bold Claims of Not Needing Any Other Resources)
Apricot-Glazed Turkey with Fresh Herb Gravy
Grilled Butterflied Turkey with Caraway-Ancho Gravy

Feature #2:  “A Chef’s All American Thanksgiving” (aka A Spanish Take on Turkey)
Citrus-Marinated Turkey

COOK'S ILLUSTRATED (NOVEMBER 2008)
Subscribe to Cook's Illustrated

Slow-Roasted Turkey with Gravy

Comments

[Anticiplate]

This is such a great post! I love how you have organized everything to make it easy to plan Thanksgiving this year! I will be checking back often to see what else you have to say. Which bird are you going to make?

[Cassidy]

I am so excited about tasting the fruits of your labor and being together for Thanksgiving! I can't wait!

[Miz K]

Great post! Doing the Turkey Roulade here (assuming I can communicate to a butcher in French that I need a 1.5 kg turkey "poitrine" sans bones and all in one piece... seems like the turkeys here are smaller than the US ones.) Cook well!

[Molly]

Wow, you guys rock.
I've been loving your blog, but this post is above and beyond the call of duty. I'm bookmarking it; So many great resources gathered together! Thank you!
And don't worry, your Thanksgiving meal will be wonderful.

[Mrs. L]

The grandkids (all two of us) are going to try to do all the cooking at Grandmas this year (at 93 I think she's finally ready to let someone else cook!). My sister is in charge of the turkey so I'll pass this info on to her. Now help me with everything else since sides and dessert are all my job!:)

[Heather Rascona]

what a cute pic! glad you guys had so much fun doing your thanksgiving cooking :) it all sounds lovely!!

[Lori]

Wow you two really do your homework. I fall into the "I plunk my bird in the water bath brine" category. Alton Browns way. I love it but your dry rub sound interesting.

[Sally]

I can sometimes sneak in a new dish or two, but the traditional dishes made in the traditional way MUST be there. Otherwise, I'll have a revolution on my hands.

[Zach @ The Bitten Word]

@ Sally -- I'd be really interested to hear what your family's "must" dishes are. My family isn't too orthodox about the Thanksgiving menu, although there would be a riot if we deviated from my grandmother's tradition recipe for dressing.

[Rose]

Great post. Thanks for sharing!

[Heidi / Savory Tv]

Really helpful post, thank you for your hard work!

[Deborah Mele]

Great post!! I am sure many folks will find this extremely helpful. I have already passed this link on to many family members.

Thanks!

[Lick My Spoon]

wow thank you for the round up! now the question is....which recipe are YOU going to use this year? :)