The Thanksgiving Menu - Primal Supply Meats

I love hosting and cooking a local turkey for friends and family at Thanksgiving. After nearly two decades of trial, error, A LOT of recipe reading, plus some butcher knowledge that certainly comes in handy this time of year, I’ve collected my favorite recipes and some other Thanksgiving tips and inspiration for you.

Happy cooking!
Heather

THE BIRD

The Classic Roast

Let’s start at the beginning. For a long time I didn’t mess with success, and I can 100% vouch for Martha Stewart’s recipe for Roast Turkey with Herb Butter. It works for a stuffed or unstuffed bird (your cook time will just be shorter without stuffing), and if you’re a traditionalist who wants to show off a whole roasted bird on the table, this is the recipe for you. You might wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into when you stick your butter-cover hands up under the skin to massage your bird, but when you take a bite of turkey with perfectly golden, herb drenched skin you’ll never look back.

RECIPE: Roast Turkey with Herb Butter

HOT TIP: Note that most recipes call for a 12lb turkey, which is a pretty small bird by our standards. A large bird can take quite a bit longer to roast, so be sure to start early and give yourself plenty of time. The general rule for time and temperature as a foundation for planning is 13 minutes per pound of turkey at 350°. There are a lot of really sound tips and references for cooking times in this article on bonappetit.com

The Dry Brine

Maybe you remember when the LA Times + Russ Parsons made the “Judy Bird” famous? It borrows the famous Zuni Café magic of salting chickens long before roasting them (this technique is dry brining) as the secret to a perfect turkey. Back then I was ready to switch up my tried and true butter roasted turkey, so I gave dry-brining a shot, and I’ve never gone back! Yes, you have to plan ahead and salt your bird 2-3 days in advance of cooking. And yes, this takes some precious refrigerator space during that time. But the result is crisp, golden skin and tender, well-seasoned meat.

RECIPE: Dry-Brined Turkey

The Spatchcock!

The year I decided to forfeit showing off a whole roasted bird, I spatchcocked my turkey out of necessity for time and oven space – I wanted it to cook fast enough for me to prepare my whole menu in the same day. Now I’m committed, and there are other pros to a butterflied bird (the other technical, but less fun term for spatchcocking). It cooks more evenly from the legs being in contact with the hot roasting pan or sheet tray, all of the skin is facing up as you roast so you get even more crispy surface area, and when it’s time to carve, you don’t have to wrestle a hot bird rolling around on your cutting bird – I find it much easier to cut up a turkey (or chicken) that is laying flat. And have I mentioned? It cooks so fast!

One of the most popular Thanksgiving recipes on the internet in recent years is Samin Nosrat’s Buttermilk-Brined Turkey for the NY Times. This combines two of my favorite things: Spatchcocking your bird AND buttermilk brining. I love brining chickens in buttermilk. Whether you’re grilling or roasting, you’re pretty much guaranteed juicy, golden brown meat. Full disclosure: I’ve not personally gone all-in on Samin’s buttermilk turkey recipe, but I know a lot of you who have and reported amazing results.

RECIPE: Buttermilk Spatchcocked Turkey

After reading this year’s food magazines to see the latest trends and newest recipes, I’m most intrigued by Food & Wine’s Sheet-Pan Turkey With Brown Sugar and Coriander, which involves both spatchcocking and dry-brining your bird. If I follow a recipe this year, it’ll most likely be this one:

RECIPE: Spatchcocked Sheet Pan Turkey

HOT TIP: You can do this yourself, but if you’re intimidated, yes, we will spatchcock your bird for you. Once again a lot of recipes call for a 12lb bird which is pretty small. Your larger bird might not fit in your roasting pan or on a sheet tray once it’s spatchcocked – and you don’t want drippings falling over the side into your oven or you’ll have smoky mess on your hands. You may consider cutting a large turkey fully in half, so you can roast it on 2 sheet trays using the top and bottom racks of your oven, just be sure to rotate the trays at least once for more even cooking.

THE SIDES

Everyone Loves Gravy

Once again Martha Stewart’s recipe for rich gravy is my go to. This recipe has become my ride-or-die reference for making gravy that a friend once referred to as “liquid silk”. The key to rich gravy is roasting your turkey neck (plus your giblets if you don’t have another use for them) and root vegetables under your turkey. Once caramelized in the cooking liquids and fat from your bird, they’ll become the foundation of flavor for your gravy.

RECIPE: Rich Gravy

I’ve gone both ways over the years, but ultimately I’m on team No Stuff. You might be thinking, how can you stuff a spatchcocked turkey? You can’t! But even if you’re cooking your bird whole, it slows the cooking time considerably and some say the stuffing soaks up precious bird juices, so I recommend cooking your stuffing on the side. You can bake your stuffing in advance and reheat it, but I typically have my stuffing prepared in a buttered roasting dish, and when the turkey comes out of the oven the stuffing goes in. It will cook in the time it takes for you to rest the bird, make the gravy, and carve your bird, so the stuffing hits the table hot out of the oven.

To Stuff or Not To Stuff

You might not be surprised, but I also love to add sausage to stuffing. We make a classic pork and sage sausage at Primal just for Thanksgiving. I also love using cornbread as an alternative to traditional bread stuffing which can be gluten free. And make sure to have plenty of poultry broth on hand – no one likes dry stuffing! But don’t sweat it too much, that’s what gravy is for.

RECIPE: Cornbread and Sage Sausage Stuffing

The Rest of the Menu

Of course there will be mashed potatoes. Some other recipes I’ve got my eyes on? I’m pretty interested in these Honey Milk Bread Rolls. My family will likely revolt if I don’t serve baconey brussels sprouts, so here’s a classic recipe from the one and only Anthony Bourdain (and yes! We’ve got you with those lardons). But I’m seriously considering switching it up for these charred green beans with brown butter vinaigrette for this year’s menu.

HOT TIP: For dessert, ask the best baker on your guest list to bring the pie! Or consider ordering from a local bakery like Mighty Bread or Lost Bread Co. here in Philadelphia.