{"id":97019,"date":"2018-11-20T16:26:26","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T23:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tips-for-an-easy-appetizing-thanksgiving-feast\/"},"modified":"2018-11-20T16:26:26","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T23:26:26","slug":"tips-for-an-easy-appetizing-thanksgiving-feast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tips-for-an-easy-appetizing-thanksgiving-feast\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for an easy appetizing Thanksgiving feast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"According
According to several Durango-area chefs, one of the keys to an enjoyable Thanksgiving feast is keeping the meal simple. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do 20 things; just do 10 things and do them well,\u201d says Pete Lloyd of Mancos P&D\/Mancos Pizza.<\/span>Adobe Stock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Thanksgiving can be overwhelming for hosts, but it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. Durango\u2019s seasoned hostesses, expert chefs and culinary teachers all have insight on how to surprise guests in new ways and make sure the massive meal is deliciously stress-free.<\/p>\n

Keep it casual<\/em>Durango resident Karen Brucoli Anesi has hosted Thanksgiving for at least the last 30 years and almost has it down to a science. This might be one of the reasons she keeps people out of her narrow kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people make Thanksgiving harder than it is. All a turkey is is a big chicken. If you can roast a chicken, you can roast a turkey,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople somehow think that this bird is some special bird that you\u2019re going to dry out. And if you do, that\u2019s why they have gravy.\u201c<\/p>\n

She suggests getting the biggest stressor out of the way early and not worrying about it too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point is everyone celebrating the fellowship of being together. The idea is for people to relax \u2013 and if the hostess is not relaxed, nobody is relaxed,\u201d Anesi said. \u201cPeople have disasters all the time when they make Thanksgiving dinner, and it\u2019s not the end of the world. Seventy-two hours later, it\u2019s all sewage anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an added tip, Anesi suggests not cleaning up too early.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good way to clear a room,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll tell my family, \u2018just be careful about that because it makes people feel like they have to jump up and work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Remember the basics<\/em>Bread and sweets are a crucial part of the Thanksgiving meal, and the people behind Jean-Pierre Bakery and Restaurant are experts in this realm. Chef and owner Jean-Pierre Belger immigrated to the U.S. from France in 1969.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no knowledge of what Thanksgiving was because it doesn\u2019t exist anywhere except for where those Dutch people riding the boat with their high hats (landed),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"When
When Jean-Pierre Belger immigrated to the U.S. in 1969, the Thanksgiving holiday was a foreign concept. Now his restaurant makes turkey-shaped loaves and donates hundreds of rolls to the community.<\/span>Courtesy of Jean Pierre Bakery and Restaurant<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Almost 50 years later, his restaurant now serves a turkey-shaped bread (Jean-Pierre\u2019s also donates hundreds of rolls for the Durango Community Thanksgiving Dinner). That may be too advanced for most hosts, but he has some simple suggestions on pumpkin pie and stuffing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the pumpkin pie, we use a lot of old spice. The crust of the pie is also the fundamental, critical part of the pie, of course. It\u2019s nice to mix a traditional pie dough by hand so the crust of the pie is not tough. It melts in your mouth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have for the stuffing, a very dry bread with no humidity \u2026 and then you add your own personal secret ingredients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

If you need help impressing your guests, buying pre-made stuffing isn\u2019t the worst idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of customers who will buy stuffing from us for the turkey. We do that (on a) friendly, personal basis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stay simple<\/em>Pete Lloyd owns Mancos P&D\/Mancos Pizza and has helped prepare a community meal for the town the past 16 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do a lot of pointing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Lloyd is also is in charge of the birds. He makes 16, 25-pound turkeys and eight 20-pound hams to feed around 400 people. Lloyd said that volume is the biggest challenge, but to manage it, he sticks to the fundamentals.<\/p>\n

\"Deviled
Deviled eggs are a great, simple side to include in a thanksgiving feats, especially if you\u2019re preparing them for few people than Mancos P&D\/Mancos Pizza\u2019s Pete Lloyd does.<\/span>Dixie D. Vereen\/Washington Post file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe way we do it, you keep it as simple as possible and make sure you cook enough. Just be prepared for it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe make a lot of deviled eggs. What you do is you order them fully cooked and peeled, then all you have to do is cut them in half and mix the yokes. There are 288 full eggs, so that makes 576 deviled eggs. That\u2019s insane.\u201d<\/p>\n

The average home cook probably isn\u2019t making eggs for hundreds, but Lloyd\u2019s principles still apply. He makes sure a short list of dishes are ready to go: turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, yams, green bean casserole, eggs, olives, cranberry sauce, rolls, dressing and pies.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to do 20 things; just do 10 things and do them well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Use quality ingredients you can customize<\/em>Manna\u2019s<\/a> culinary manager, Heather Hinsley, has been teaching culinary classes for over 20 years and can transform any plate into an edible piece of art. To make those dishes as delicious as they are beautiful, she wields the power of two of humankind\u2019s biggest weaknesses.<\/p>\n

\"Heather
Heather Hensley, culinary manager at Manna, prepares a graduation meal Thursday with her students. For the best Thanksgiving dishes, she recommends using high-quality salt and butter.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cEverything is better with good butter and everything is better with a good salt,\u201d Hinsley said. \u201cI recommend using unsalted Grade AA butter. The AA grade is the highest quality butter in aroma, flavor and texture. Unsalted butter allows chefs to add salt at various times in their techniques to customize their method of baking and cooking.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds that unsalted butter also allows chefs to use their favorite salt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer an iodine-free salt, processed and sourced from nature \u2013 such as evaporated sea salt. So keep plenty of butter in the kitchen, either ready at room temperature, in the refrigerator or even stored in the freezer (if necessary),\u201d she said. \u201cOh, and melting butter is best when done slowly to prevent separation, or at worst, scorching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Break and blend traditions<\/em>Executive chef and owner of Himalayan Kitchen<\/a>, Karma Bhotia, who is from Nepal, said Thanksgiving is one of his favorite American holidays. Each year, he makes a meal for his employees who cook and serve others year-round. Bhotia said that unlike chicken, lamb and goat, turkey is not a typical protein used in Indian food.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoat is very popular for Nepalese and Indian people, but Thanksgiving is specifically for the turkey, and I am focusing my dish on the turkey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While he does have some traditional sides, Bhotia incorporates the big bird in exciting, non-traditional ways that blend his Nepalese and European background (he lived in Austria in the 1980s), that may just counteract the tryptophan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy secret is \u2026 I combine a South Asian recipe with a European recipe, so I cook a little different than other Indian and other Nepalese food,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(For the turkey), I make a secret sauce and marinade the cold turkey and leave it overnight. The next day, I chop a lot of vegetables and mix that together with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil and stuff the turkey. At first, I bake it really hot and then reduce the heat and bake really slowly. Then I put some dark beer over the top and bake about 10 minutes more. This completely tastes different than regular turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durango-area cooks share their Turkey Day secrets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5843],"tags":[438,1753],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-97019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living","tag-food","tag-holiday-or-vacation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97019"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=97019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}