BRATTLEBORO — Do you ever open the refrigerator on the morning after Thanksgiving and look with horror at what's left of your turkey, greasy and cold, wing joints piercing the aluminum foil you hastily wrapped it in at 10:30 p.m. after oh-so-many pieces of pie?
That sad carcass seems to be screaming for attention and wants you to make it into something that will extend its brief shining life as the center of your holiday meal.
This moment always fills me with panic. I don't want the carcass of my turkey. I hate the carcass of my turkey. I want it to disappear and be replaced by lovely bundles of celery, the only thing I intend to eat until March. Then I remember that Christmas is still to come, and my eyes glaze over.
If you perhaps have even once shared a similar moment, I am here to bring hope and a few alternatives.
I am here to tell you that a fantastic and delicious holiday meal is possible without cooking an entire turkey.
Many holiday revelers share the opinion that turkey is, after all, merely a vehicle for gravy. And since most of us now cook the dressing outside the bird, there is no need to roast an entire turkey when you can braise the legs or roast just the breast or even roll some stuffing inside a turkey cutlet.
Here are some great ways to cook the “parts” of a turkey with all the flavor but very little fuss. These methods leave you with a great meal and no worry about the breast meat being overcooked or the dark meat being too rare. And there's no guilt the morning after.
All three methods work with the classic sides of Thanksgiving, and all provide their own version of gravy. The first is perhaps the most complex and perhaps even slightly sophisticated. The second is straightforward and requires a bit of effort but is not too uncomfortably unfamiliar. The third is what I like to call quick and dirty.
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Long-braised turkey legs and thighs
There has always been the dark-meat/white-meat debate over the Thanksgiving table. This luscious, rich and complex, very satisfying recipe favors the dark meat side: long-braised turkey legs and thighs made rich and meltingly tender by slow cooking with cider or wine and bacon.
This recipe yields 4 servings, plus lots for leftovers. Allow one leg and one thigh per serving. Just multiply if you are feeding more.
Preheat the oven to 335 degrees F. Dry on paper towels:
¶ 4 turkey drumsticks, with skin and bone
¶ 4 turkey thighs, with skin and bone
Put turkey parts in a plastic bag with:
¶ 1 cup of flour
¶ 1 teaspoon of salt and ground pepper
Shake until evenly coated. Remove the turkey and shake off the excess flour.
Chop into {1/2}-inch strips:
¶ 8 slices of thick bacon
Cook in a large, heavy oven-proof skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon but leave the bacon fat.
Place the turkey in a single layer in the pan and brown evenly, about 4-5 minutes on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add:
¶ 2 medium diced carrots
¶ 2 medium diced onions
¶ 2 stalks of diced celery
¶ 3 cloves of diced garlic
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until soft.
Return the reserved turkey to the pan and add:
¶ 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
¶ 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
¶ 1 cup of apple cider or red wine, depending on your taste
¶ 2–3 cups chicken broth, enough to come two thirds up the sides of the turkey pieces, leaving the top skin exposed.
Return the cooked bacon to the pan and cover. Place the pan in the preheated oven and cook for 1{1/2} hours.
Remove the cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Take the pan out of the oven, place the turkey on a plate, and pour the liquid into a large measuring cup. Let the liquid sit for 10 minutes and remove the fat that rises to the surface.
Add the skimmed liquid back to the pan and reduce over medium-high heat until slightly thickened. Put the turkey parts back in the pan until just heated through then serve.
Baked turkey breast
For white-meat lovers who have been fed too much dry, stringy breast meat, why not cook the breast on its own to juicy perfection?
This recipe for classic white meat turkey - moist, flavorful, straightforward - will generously feed 6 people.
The night before cooking, remove from its wrapping:
¶6-to-7-pound bone-in turkey breast
Leave uncovered in the refrigerator to dry out the skin and ensure a golden, crispy result.
Also the night before, leave on the counter:
¶½ stick of butter
Doing so will raise the butter to room temperature when needed for this recipe.
When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Mix the soft butter with:
¶1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¶1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
¶1 teaspoon rosemary
¶1 teaspoon sage
¶1 diced garlic clove
¶2 teaspoons kosher salt
¶1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper.
Place the turkey breast on a rack in a roasting pan with sides. Working from the edges, loosen the skin of the breast and rub the herb butter underneath, doing your best to spread it evenly. Save a bit and rub it on the outside of the skin.
Scatter in the bottom of the pan:
¶¾ cup chopped carrot
¶¾ cup chopped onion
¶¾ cup chopped celery.
Add:
¶1 cup white wine.
Roast uncovered for 1{1/2} hours until crispy and brown. A quick-read thermometer should read 165 degrees F.
When the turkey is done, remove it from the oven, cover loosely with foil, and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving with the strained pan juices.
Turkey breast cutlets with dressing
Now we come to quick and dirty, but I must confess it does require work.
Buy yourself as many turkey cutlets as you have guests. These cutlets are simply thin slices of turkey breast that are quickly and deliciously turned into a miniature version of turkey with dressing.
The day before Thanksgiving, make the dressing, which needs to be extra moist. This recipe yields 4 servings.
Put in a medium bowl:
¶6 slices sturdy stale white bread (or you can toast fresh bread in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes)
In a small skillet over medium heat, melt:
¶4 teaspoons of butter
Add:
¶ ½ diced onion
¶{1/4} cup diced celery
¶1 teaspoon Bell's Seasoning, or your dried herbs of choice
My mother used Bell's, and Thanksgiving just would not be the same without that distinctive taste.
When the vegetables are soft, add them to the bread and toss until moistened. Refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place each cutlet between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and gently pound until about {1/4} inch thick. Do so as evenly as possible to avoid tearing the meat, but remember that we are not searching for perfection here and that a few tears will not be noticed.
Remove the plastic and season the cutlets with salt and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of stuffing down the long side of each cutlet and roll the cutlets around the dressing, then use kitchen twine to tie them in 2 or 3 places along their length.
In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt:
¶1 tablespoon of butter
When the butter is bubbling, add the cutlets and brown evenly, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the browned cutlets to a small oiled baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the heat and cover loosely with foil.
Return the browning skillet to high heat and add:
¶{3/4} cup white wine, white vermouth or chicken broth
Cook vigorously, scraping up any brown bits stuck to the pan until slightly thickened. Slice the roulades about {1/4}-inch thick on an angle and coat with a bit of the liquid.
These cutlets look terrific sliced on a platter with the remainder of the sauce on the side.
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Add cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable to transform these three recipes into Thanksgiving dinners that embrace the best qualities of our very American turkey but still leave you with time to breathe.
I know you can make soup and curry and tacos and potpie and sandwiches and casseroles and crêpes out of leftover turkey. But sometimes you just need to eat the turkey and move on.
Simple guiltless holiday cooking gives you more time to concentrate on those friends and family sitting around your table.
Happy Thanksgiving.