Thanksgiving dinner at 400 degrees

 Turkey porchetta

The Thanksgiving holiday is arguably the biggest food holiday in the United States. After all, it is the only official holiday created specifically to celebrate food, in the form of the fall harvest. It’s a mere ten days away, which means that cooks across the nation are making meal plans, stocking up on ingredients, sharpening knives, and polishing silver. Most of us make several dishes ahead to save both time and critical oven space. 

Not so Sam Sifton and Melissa Clark. They show us how it’s possible to create a complete Thanksgiving dinner in one day, with a four-burner stove and a single oven set to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The process is shown in a series of mini-videos, each a few seconds long, interspersed with recipes and checkpoints so you can make sure you are staying on track to finish in time. 

Sifton and Clark say that while one person can create the entire meal in eight hours (breaks are included), “an extra set of hands makes the work more enjoyable and the conversation better.” The videos show the pair drinking wine during part of the process – that might help, too. 

While I have a few nitpicks with their plan (and the menu), the concept includes solid advice: decide on a plan, set a realistic timeline, and find a way to keep on track. My menu is nearly set, and my game plan will be finalized by the end of the week. This year I am trying something new, the Serious Eats Sous-vide, deep-fried turkey porchetta (turchetta) (pictured above) in addition to the tried-and-true classics. How’s your menu planning coming along? 

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2 Comments

  • annmartina  on  November 14, 2017

    Please share your nitpicks. That's the fun part!

  • Rinshin  on  November 14, 2017

    Oh goodness, you are certainly organized. I normally have no idea what I'm making until day before.

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