Thanksgiving Tips From Philly Chefs
From deep-fried turkey to avoiding turkey altogether, Philly chefs give us their Thanksgiving tips and tricks.
Tired of the same old turkey? Get some Thanksgiving tips, tricks, and recipes from our favorite Philadelphia chefs. (Getty Images)
Want to know how to tell if your turkey is actually done? (Don’t trust that pop-up thing!) Not sure if you’re supposed to take that bag containing the weird looking stuff out of the cavity before putting your bird in the oven? (You are.) For queries like these, there’s the tried-and-true Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, 1-800-BUTTERBALL. But if you want advice from some of our favorite Philly food people on how to spark new life into America’s biggest food holiday and not go totally bonkers in the process, you’ve come to the right place. Happy Thanksgiving!
Ryan LaFrance on Maximizing Time With Family
Heavily prep the days leading up to Thanksgiving. The holiday should be fun and spent with the family, not stuck in front of the stove! Anything you can do ahead to make the day of easier, do. This will also cut down on clean-up time the day of. Ryan LaFrance is the executive chef at Wilder.
Sam Henzy of Fork on Getting Perfectly Crispy Skin
For me, the key to having your turkey come out nice and juicy inside with perfect crispy skin on the outside lies in the brine. Of course, a brine needs to have good salt content, but I like to get some sweetness in there as well. I make one that has plenty of salt but also apple cider, soy sauce, and even a little brown sugar, which all help with caramelization on the skin. Add a bunch of aromatic herbs and spices, and gone are the usual complaints of dry, flavorless turkey. Sam Henzy is the executive chef of Fork.
Tyler Akin on Adding Zest to Your Holiday
Thanksgiving growing up was rich on top of rich: lots of low bass notes but few high ones. A lemon or orange squeeze, lemon zest, and especially grilled citrus, which is a little more muted, can lift up so many parts of a holiday spread. Tyler Akin is the chef-partner of Bastia and Caletta.
Nick Kennedy on Non-Traditional Sides
I like to have something acidic and punchy with our Thanksgiving meal, which the traditional spread is missing. If you can plan two weeks in advance, homemade sauerkraut is an option. A good quality store-bought option is always on our table. Another option is roasted onions or scallions with balsamic vinegar, getting them a little bit charred and then finishing with vinegar so it reduces and coats them. Make extra; there never seems to be enough. Nick Kennedy is the partner and chef of Defined Hospitality.
Steve Cook on Using the Whole Turkey
I recommend you do everything in advance except for the turkey, and then when it’s turkey time, don’t cook the turkey whole. Cooking it in parts ensures that the bird actually cooks evenly, and that the process is relatively simple. First I cure the whole bird so the skin gets extra crispy. Then when I break it down, I keep the breast on the rib cage, reserve the back for stock and gravy, and cook the legs separately. After the meal, I toss the whole cage into a big pot for soup. This year’s turkey is coming from Mike Lehman of Locust Ridge Farm in Hammonton, NJ. Steve Cook is the co-owner of CookNSolo Restaurants.
Jose Garces on Deep-Fried Turkey
I’ve been frying my turkeys for a long, long time. It’s a tricky thing. And it’s kind of dangerous. But it’s also the most simple and effective way to do it. The end product is great. And it’s fast. For a 20-pound bird, I fry it for 45 minutes to an hour. And by frying the turkey, the oven is freed up. When you’re entertaining, the hardest thing is to get all of your sides hot. This solves that problem. Jose Garces is chief culinary officer of Garces Group.
Ellen Yin on Turkey Being Overrated
Turkey was never a big thing in our house. It was always just symbolic. My mother used to stuff a chicken with rice and Chinese sausage and braise it in soy sauce. People will eat turkey. But what people really want are the fixings. Ellen Yin is the owner of Fork, A.Kitchen, and High Street Market.
Jennifer Zavala on Gift-Giving
If you’re going to someone’s house for Thanksgiving, you absolutely need to bring a gift, whether that’s a bottle of wine or a joint. You can also bring some pre-made items from a small, local business. These are great conversation starters. Go to Isgro’s and get cannoli. They’ve been making those cannoli for 120 years! Bring them and tell all the guest the Isgro’s story. Jennifer Zavala is the owner of Juana Tamale.
Joe Cicala on Turkey Soup Recipes
In the Abruzzo region, they use a lot of turkey for Christmas. And there are wild turkeys running all over the place. They have a turkey soup recipe with escarole, stracciatella style. They mix an egg with pecorino and black pepper and use that as the protein. It’s kind of like egg drop soup. And then with all of the cooked meat, they pick it off and make a turkey salad as a secundo. They dress it with pomegranate seeds. The seeds are tart and sweet and take away some of the gaminess. I sprinkle my roasted turkey with pomegranate seeds. They’re in season. Joe Cicala is the executive chef and owner of Cicala at the Divine Lorraine and Sorellina.
Keith Taylor on Planning Ahead
Do as little cooking as possible on the day of Thanksgiving. Make a list of everything you are going to make. And start early. There’s no reason you should be baking pies on Thanksgiving Day. Pies are the last thing you eat and the first thing you make. They hold beautifully. And with turkey, do a lazy man’s turkey. A day or two before Thanksgiving, roast a whole brined turkey and then cool it down to 40 degrees. Then deconstruct it. Slice down the breast meat. Take off all the dark meat. And refrigerate the whole thing. Forty minutes before it’s time to eat, put the turkey in the oven, covered with wet paper towel and then foil. Roast it for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. And that’s it. Doing things like this will take so much stress out of Thanksgiving Day. You can sit back and listen to some beautiful R&B. Keith Taylor is the owner of Zachary’s BBQ Soul Kitchen & Catering.
Jennifer Carroll on the Perks of Being Efficient
Clean out and organize your fridge before you go shopping for ingredients. This ensures you have enough room to properly store things. Make a shopping list and prep list. This will make you more efficient and focused. Clean while you cook so you don’t have a major mess at the end of cooking. Read your recipes from top to bottom before you start cooking it. Jennifer Carroll was featured on Bravo’s Top Chef and is the owner of the experiential dining company Carroll Couture Cuisine.
Rich Landau on Color in Your Thanksgiving Recipes
Most Thanksgiving food tends to be brown. Bubbling brown gravies. The stuffing. I always think of it as ugly food. We try to bring in colorful squashes. And the green vegetables that we do use, we don’t cook them to death. We also believe in the centerpiece, even at a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Many vegetarians just do the side dishes. But psychologically, we all grew up with this giant carcass as a centerpiece. So we might do a giant roasted squash, a whole roasted eggplant, or giant portabellas with gravy in the center of the table. The key for us is color and variety. Rich Landau is chef and owner of Vedge.
Marc Vetri on Why You Should Never Roast a Whole Turkey
I’ve never roasted a whole turkey with the stuffing and all that. I’m just not into it. I like to break it up and do different things with it. This year, I take the breasts, leaving them on the bone and smoking them. The thighs and legs, I’ll debone and then I’ll salt it for three to four hours. Then I kind of hammer it out and cook it between two sheet pans in the oven until it’s almost finished. After that, I’ll let them cool down and then stick them on the grill. And then I’ll use another turkey for turkey sausage and I’ll make a turkey sausage pizza. I like to have fun, mix and match. Marc Vetri is the chef and owner of Vetri Cucina.
Bryan Sikora on Avoiding Excess
Don’t overdo it. Everybody ends up with too much food, spending too much money, and too much time on Thanksgiving. Leftovers are nice. But there are really only a couple of things that people actually want. You don’t have to go out and spend $500 to feed eight people, with most of the food going to waste. You can be more focused on doing things right, buying the right wines. Because when it comes down to it, less really is more. And you always wind up with more no matter what. I don’t think anyone has ever run out food on Thanksgiving. Bryan Sikora is the owner of Noble Goat, La Fia, Merchant Bar, Crow Bar, and Hearth Kitchen in Wilmington and Chester County.
[Editor’s note: Some of these tips appeared in a previous version of this story.]
