The Thanksgiving Shopping and Schedule
I have a personal cooks rule. If a meal will have more than 3 courses or more than 5 people, then there needs to be a plan. So last Saturday night, I made one. The anatomy of a big meal (for me) plan consists of the following: a menu, a master ingredient list, and a schedule. Let’s break it down.
The menu is usually the easiest part, especially for a meal like Thanksgiving. I’m mainly going with dishes I’ve already cooked. In this case, I’ve prepared the soup, turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato fries, stuffing and cranberry sauce all before for previous holidays (and potlucks). I know they’re good, so I don’t have to search. However, there are a few unknowns here: the green beans and the pies. However, I’ve done enough with the ingredients to be used to be confident in my ability to fix any mishaps that might happen. As for the Mozambique Frozen Custard, that will come from the ever wonderful Dairy Godmother. While I’m also confident in my ice cream making abilities, this would be the most time consuming part of the process. So, for my own sanity, I’ll let Liz (The Dairy Godmother herself) provide the wonderful cinnamon, clove and nutmeg concoction that will be perfect with dessert.
I wish putting together a project plan were as easy scheduling a meal, where I am usually the only variable. Basically, I figure out what can be done ahead of time, then for the actual day, I’ll start at dinner time and work my way back. I prefer to do it this way because I like to be able to say: “dinner will be at 5:30,” and make sure it’s actually at 5:30 instead of 7:00. While eating on time usually isn’t an issue at a normal dinner party where I’ll do an amuse bouche and appetizers, Thanksgiving is different. On Thanksgiving, I feel like the main meal really is the star, so why take up stomach space on anything else! So here’s the schedule:
Monday:
Pick up Custard
Tuesday:
Turkey Arrives
Make Cranberry Sauce
Dry out the bread crumbs
Make Soup Base
Wednesday:
Dismember Turkey and Set Turkey Breast to Brine
Make Madeira Sauce
Make Stuffing
Make Compound Butter
Boil Potatoes
Bake Pecan Tart
Make Pie Crust
T-Day
Bring everything to be cooked out to room temperature
0900 Set Soup in Crockpot
0915 Assemble Apple Pie (complete first bake)
1200 Soup for Lunch!
1300 Prep Turkey to Roast
1345 Prep Turkey to Braise
1430 Turkey to Braise in Oven
1500 Turkey to Roast in Oven
1500 Make Mashed Potatoes
1545 Prep Sweet Potatoes to fry
1600 Blanch Green Beans
1630 Sweet Potato First Fry
1650 Stuffing and Mashed Potatoes to the Oven
1655 Set up chaffing dishes
1700 Turkey out of Oven
1700 Make Gravy
1710 Stuffing and Mashed Potatoes into Chaffing Dishes
1715 Assemble Green Beans
1720 Sweet Potato Second Fry
1730 Apple Pie to the Oven
1730 Eat!
Most of the items will make more sense once I post my methods, but really, I just like to do as much before hand as possible.
The most time consuming part of this process is compiling a master ingredient list that I can shop from. Basically, I’ve got to pull out every recipe from the files, internet and my head, to figure out exactly how much of everything I’ll need for the entire meal. Well, you can see the results for yourself.
Fruit
1 cup dried currants
1 12-ounce package fresh cranberries
3 pounds baking apples
Vegetables
1 3lb Butternut Squash
4 onions
2 heads of garlic
12 ounces mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
2 large leeks
1 carrot
1 celery branch
2 large sweet potatoes
3 lbs yukon gold potaoes
Meats & Nuts
One Heritage Turkey
1 lb spicy Italian turkey sausage
1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage
6 quarts chicken broth
3/4 pound vacuum-packed or canned whole chestnuts
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
4 large eggs
2 cups pecan halves
Herbs & Spices
1 bunch flat-leafed parsley
1 bunch sage
2 bunch thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dairy
2 lb unsalted butter1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 small crème fraiche or sour cream
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar
Other Liquids
1/2 cup Madeira
1 bottle of white wine for braising
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
4 tablespoons good orange juice
Vegetable oil (for deep-frying)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Etc.
1 lb seven-grain bread (1/4-inch dice)
4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
6 oz medium chocolate
Maple Syrup
¾ cup golden syrup
Local Honey
Mustard
Mayo
Salt
Pepper
