SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ EE R3
A: That’s a nice idea. You could
add a little minced garlic as well. I
love white pepper in a cream
sauce with mushrooms, so that
could be good. And, it won’t add
spice, but I like to add water
chestnuts for a little crunch.
— A .M.Q: Are there any vegetarian tur-
key substitutes you like?
A: I tend to like stuffing vegeta-
bles and otherwise creating the
sense of a centerpiece without
using a faux turkey. But of theones I’ve tried, Field Roast’s Cel-
ebration Roast is my favorite.
— J oe YonanQ: I plan to roast a brined and
spatchcocked turkey for Thanks-
giving. Should I spatchcock the
turkey before or after brining, or
would it not make a difference?
A: Before — because then it will
be easy to fold the turkey and fit it
into, say, a 2-gallon zip-top bag
with the brine, as opposed to
needing a big tub/bowl!
— J .Y.reheating. Many classic casse-
role-style sides can be assembled
and divided up, to be cooked or
reheated by the recipient. Think
sweet potatoes and mac and
cheese. Soups are simple to re-
heat, and roasted vegetables can
be enjoyed cold, at room temper-
ature or warm.
One thing to avoid: Fried
foods, advises Ben Lin of Wash-
ington’s B. Lin Catering. They
won’t hold up well. Meat can be a
little tricky, though not impossi-
ble, to share. Should you have
the right equipment and inclina-
tion, sous vide turkey will retain
its moisture well and can even be
passed off to the recipient stillsealed for a gentle reheat in a
water bath. Other moist-cooking
methods, such as pressure cook-
ing in a multicooker/Instant Pot,
are helpful. Lin says extending
your brining time to up to 48
hours (cut back the amount of
sugar and salt 10 to 20 percent)
can also prevent turkey from
drying out.
Keep in mind that plenty of
meat requires and benefits from
a post-roasting rest, so if you’re
exchanging food with someone
nearby who plans to dig in
promptly, you can hand it off
tented under foil. Carry-over
cooking, when the internal tem-
perature of food continues to riseafter it’s removed from the oven
(hence that meat resting period),
can apply to vegetables as well.
Lin says you may want to slightly
undercook them until they’re
just shy of tender, so that they
reach perfection while hanging
out warm and covered.
How to pack. My mom and I
already have plans to exchange
pans the weekend before so that
her sweet potato casserole can
go into a baking dish and the
cranberry mold into a loaf tin. If
you’re sharing food with family
or other people you trust, aim to
use actual cookware rather than
something disposable. Lin rec-
ommends c eramic or Pyrex,which can help cooked dishes
stay warm or can be popped into
the oven or microwave for re-
heating. Plus, they can be
brought straight to the table for
serving. If you’re handing out
food and would rather not have
to worry about tracking down
dishes, use disposable alumi-
num; Lin suggests buying in bulk
from a restaurant supply store or
Costco for the best deal. The cost
can add up if you’re purchasing a
large amount from the grocery
store.
If salads are on the menu, pack
greens or vegetables separate
from the dressing. Crispy top-
pings, such as fried onions for thePHOTOS BY TOM MCCORKLE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
FOOD STYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTLemony Breadcrumbs With Garlic and Parmesan.BY BECKY KRYSTALTo be honest, I was just about
ready to give up on the expected
Thanksgiving food this year and
do something like a giant sheet-
pan pizza. I was already feeling
spent by holiday recipe testing —
so many turkey legs! — and I felt
like maybe I didn’t want to be
reminded of how much we were
going to be missing this year
without the big family to-do. It
was only going to be three of us
anyway, including a toddler who
isn’t interested in our traditional
dishes.
But then my mom had an idea.
Why not swap dishes during one
of our regular outdoor visits so
that we can still feel like we’re
sharing a family meal, even if
we’re not sitting down together?
Less work, more food and a taste
of nostalgia? Plus, with a surging
pandemic, it felt like the respon-
sible thing to do. I was immedi-
ately on board. If that sounds like
something you’d like to try, too,
here are some tips for pulling it
off.
Be safe. Transmission of coro-
navirus by food is unlikely, as
experts have been telling us since
the beginning of the pandemic.
However, you should still use
common sense when preparing
food for others. Wash your hands
before, during and after cooking.
Wash your produce, and be sure
to cook food to a safe internal
temperature. You may wish to
wear a mask or food-safe gloves
as an extra layer of protection,
although don’t let that lull you
into a false sense of security and
lead you to disregard at least one
very important piece of advice: If
you are sick, with anything, do
not make food for anyone else.
Pick the right dishes. So many
Thanksgiving dishes are perfect
for making ahead, which means
they’re great candidates for shar-
ing with family and friends.
Cranberry sauce (or, in my f amily,
the classic Jell-O mold!), bread
and pies/desserts are the easiest,
as they need zero to very little
green beans or nuts for the sweet
potatoes, should also be set aside
for the recipient to add at the last
minute.
Foil, or a layer of plastic wrap
followed by foil, can help keep
food warm. If your dish has a lid,
even better.
For food safety purposes, the
U.S. Agriculture Department rec-
ommends that food should be
stored within two hours of cook-
ing, so pay attention to that time
frame should you be planning on
handing off already-cooked dish-
es.
Reheating. Lin generally
thinks the oven is your best bet
for bringing food back up to a
warm serving temperature
(again, look to the government’s
food safety advice on leftovers,
which is an internal temp of 165
degrees). For foods you want to
keep moist, such as mac and
cheese and meats, cover them.
Roasted vegetables or other
foods you want drier or crisper
should be uncovered. Aim for an
oven temperature of 325 to 350
degrees, checking every 10 min-
utes until the food is ready.
The microwave is an option,
with some caveats. The danger
there, Lin says, is that you risk
overcooking the outside before
the inside is ready. You may want
to reduce the power to guarantee
more even cooking.
A little extra liquid can go a
long way if you’re reheating cer-
tain foods on stove tops. Broth for
pureed vegetable soups can
smooth them out into a more
slurpable consistency. Adding
moisture back into rice or
mashed potatoes as they’re being
warmed is another way to return
them to form.
Give thanks. It’s been quite a
year, and now’s the time to appre-
ciate what we have, when we can.
Be effusive in your appreciation
for the people you’re sharing food
with, even if it’s virtually. Savor
each bite — and wash those
dishes well if you’re returning
them.
[email protected]Safely swapping food is a smart way to keep some connection in the holiday
WHITNEY WONG FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTEach week, we field questions
about all things food related at
live. washingtonpost.com. Here
are edited excerpts from last
week’s chat. Recipes mentioned
whose names are capitalized can
be found in our Recipe Finder at
washingtonpost.com/recipes.
Q: My husband and I decided to
stay home for Thanksgiving in-
stead of visiting family. Now we
need to decide what to do —
whether it’s w orth it to try to cook
something for ourselves or place
an order somewhere. I’m think-
ing it could be a good time to
finally use our roasting pan. Any
tips for first-time turkey r oasters?
A: If you’re set on turkey, our
Simply Seasoned Turkey recipe
couldn’t be easier. But since it’s
just the two of you, you may want
to try making just the turkey
breast, and there are lots of ways
of doing that, including roasting,
which will give you lots of bur-
nished skin and some pan drip-
pings for gravy, too. I also love the
idea of just roasting the legs.
Finally, if you want a whole bird, a
chicken would make use of your
roasting pan, too.
— G. Daniela Galarza
Q: I am going to make a green
bean casserole. Some of the peo-
ple in my family have allergies to
mushrooms. I could make a
straight bechamel for the sauce,
but I’m hoping to add something
to bring a little more flavor or
umami. Do you have any sugges-
tions?
A: I think you could slide in just a
little bit of soy sauce or even
minced anchovy to amp up that
savory quality. Another option
would be to start with cooking
some onions in the skillet first.
They don’t have to be all the way
caramelized, but definitely dark-
ened and soft.
— B ecky Krystal
Q: What would you recommend
as a crisp topping, perhaps au
gratin, to a homemade green
bean casserole? No fried onions
for this household.
A: I’ve used buttered, toasted
breadcrumbs. Check out this reci-
pe: Lemony Breadcrumbs With
Garlic and Parmesan.
— A nn Maloney
Q: What else would you add to a
classic green bean casserole to
“spice” it up? I was thinking some
smoked paprika would work.
Also, I have seen recipes that use
cream of celery soup, rather than
the mushrooms.
FREE RANGE EXCERPTS
Rookie roasters in search of a recipe
Simply Seasoned Turkey.FACE MASKS & HAND SANITIZER IN STOCKOur LocationsIMAGES SHOWN ARE FOR I LLUSTRATION
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