Tips for a spectacular Thanksgiving Meal

Thanksgiving can be a particularly stressful time for most families, especially if you have been entrusted with the meal preparation. However, most of us over-think the menu and process of creating the meal. Here are a few surefire tips to making the best, and pretty simple Thanksgiving meal.

#1. Cook Turkey on High Heat, then reduce.

The biggest misconception is that a turkey or chicken needs to be prepared, long time low temperature. But a great bird can be prepared quite quickly if done properly. Prep your bird as usual, but insert it into a very hot oven (500 degrees) for 10-15 minutes or until skin is golden-brown (This seals in the juices of the bird). Then reduce heat to 250 for the remainder of cooking time, 2-3 hours. Check temp with meat thermometer in thickest part of meat and observe clear juices in the cavity.

#2. Keep the dishes simple.

Try to select dishes with less than 5 ingredients: roasted sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, or garlic roasted mash potatoes. Even with simple ingredients, you can really excite the palate. Besides, when it comes to food and flavor, less is more!

#3. Spice up a traditional dish by using unconventional ingredients.

Try adding green Chile to your favorite dishes: Green Chile and garlic mashed potatoes, or stuff green chile compound butter underneath the skin of your turkey. How about a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie (recipe at bottom of post)?

#4. Partially prepare certain items ahead of time

Its ok to boil your potatoes ahead of time or possibly cutting onions or other vegetables. This is called mise en place in the culinary world. The French translation means “everything in place”. This simply means having items pre-measured or pre-cut before preparing the final dish.

#5. Bake your stuffing separately from turkey

Many people believe that its best to cook the stuffing inside the bird. This can be tricky for a few reasons, the bird doesn’t evenly bake : the heat of the oven can reach the inner cavity of the bird, which helps seal in the juices. Also, the bird could not be fully cooked because the stuffing is preventing the heat from entering the cavity. Also, since most stuffing contains a binding agent, like egg, the stuffing needs to reach 165 degrees to full cook the egg.

Enjoy your thanksgiving, from our NewMexi.co Family to yours!

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons cold butter
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

FILLING:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups pecan halves, divided
• 3/4 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips, divided

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water; toss with a fork until mixture forms a ball. Flatten into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

2. On a floured surface, roll out dough to fit a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate; trim to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate and flute edges.

3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, brown sugar, corn syrups, bourbon, butter and salt until blended. Stir in 1 cup pecans and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Pour filling into crust; sprinkle with remaining pecans and chocolate chips. Bake at 325° for 50-60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is puffed. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe courtesy of tasteofhome.com