Moser Good Eats and Good Times: Thanksgiving 2018

As we’ve done for the past eight years, we spent Thanksgiving week in Portland. It was much the same as previous holidays with lots of eating, drinking, and fun. We’ve got a great family and it’s always fun when we’re together. Verne and I do most (actually, all) of the cooking for Thanksgiving day. As much as I plan with lists and schedules, when the dinner hour approaches I’m always in a panic feeling overworked, overstressed, and overheated. I decided that this year would be different and made a revolutionary change – I cooked the turkey the day before Thanksgiving!

Remember last year when, for the first time, I had the butcher spatchcock the turkey? As a refresher, spatchcocking is just another word for butterflying poultry. The backbone is removed so that the turkey (or chicken) lays flat in the roasting pan. Well, this year I took that concept a step further and basically had the entire bird boned. The legs and thighs were removed, boned, and used to make a leg-and-turkey roulade. The breast was separated and slow-cooked. The balance of the bird, including the bones, was used to make turkey stock and gravy. All done a day early.

Let’s begin with the roulade, defined as “a dish of filled rolled meat or pastry.” The length of the leg and thigh together was about 8” and the width around 6”. When I do this again (and I definitely will do it again next year), I will probably pound the meat with a tenderizer to not only thin it, but enlarge it a bit. I used a filling of sauteed leeks and herbs, rolled the meat lengthwise, and tied with kitchen string. I then poached the two roulades in wine and chicken broth until the internal temperature was 165 degrees. After cooling, I wrapped the roulades in foil and placed them in the refrigerator. The following day, I brought them to room temperature and then roasted them for about 30 minutes in a very hot oven until the roulade was warmed and the skin crisped. After resting a few minutes (the roulades, not me), I cut them in 1” rounds for serving. They were beautiful and appealed to even the anti-turkey eaters and anti-dark meat eaters at the table.

I decided to slow cook the breast, even after reading Martha Stewart’s new book, Slow Cooker, that warned against using lean cuts of meat in a slow cooker. I placed chunks of onions, garlic cloves, and several sprigs of thyme in the bottom of my 6-quart slow cooker and carefully placed the two breasts on top of the vegetables keeping them elevated from the bottom of the pan and away from the sides. I generously sprinkled the breasts with a poultry seasoning I’d bought at Penzey’s (one of my Happy Places), and slow cooked the breasts on low for about 5 hours until the internal temperature was 165 degrees. Same as the roulades, I let them cool, wrapped them in foil and refrigerated until the following day when I reheated them for about 30 minutes along with the roulades. I honestly don’t think I have ever had a more succulent piece of turkey breast. For once Martha was wrong!

At this point we had all the makings for our gravy. Verne cooked the bones, balance of the turkey parts, and poaching liquid to make a delicious, rich stock. Combined with a roux (flour and butter), we had 2 quarts of gravy for our Thanksgiving dinner the following day. There was still plenty to do on Thursday, but with the turkey and gravy pre-made the rest of the dinner was easy-peasy.

I’ve always hated the commercialism of the holidays. However, Black Friday has become a “thing” for us. Many years ago it involved getting onto the computer at midnight and shopping for Amazon sales. I left that to the girls. Then one Black Friday we actually went to the mall at midnight along with half of Portland and suffered the limited parking, crazy crowds, and hour-long lines to check out. Believe me, it wasn’t worth it. Black Friday has now become Black Friday week and it’s followed by Cyber Monday week. There are some incredible sales during that time, like 50% off everything at the Lucky Brand store in Portland, or 30% everything at Stash Tea or 40% off all furniture at La-Z-Boy. I mention each of those, because that’s where we shopped on Friday. It’s Lauren’s favorite time of year to replenish her Lucky jeans, which is a big part of her standard work attire (they are very, very casual at Nike). Of course Stash Tea is one of our favorite places in Portland as we’ve all become avid tea drinkers and Stash is a good quality everyday tea. As for La-Z-Boy, Lauren’s Christmas and birthday gift for the next two years was a beautiful La-Z-Boy chair for her bedroom.

Black Friday at La-Z-Boy sale

As for internet shopping, I’d planned to give Jana a subscription to Master Class. She’s been studying Spanish on-line and I figured she would enjoy Master Class, also online education. There are about 35 or 40 classes offered including six cooking classes. I’d had the gift idea for several weeks but had dragged my feet and waited to order it the day before the girls’ birthday celebration on Saturday. You can imagine my delight when I received a notice from Master Class that they were offering a Black Friday deal -- a free subscription for every one purchased. That meant I could also take classes from the masters! I wasted no time and started my first class on the way home from Portland. Cooking classes are offered by Thomas Keller, one of our favorite chefs, Gordon Ramsay, Wolfgang Puck, and Alice Waters. There is a class on wine appreciation, photography classes, and writing. I plan to take them all. What fun!