Some last-minute foodie links for the slow pre-Thanksgiving news day:
Mark Bittman has a recipe for make-ahead gravy; Ruhlman shares his method for make-ahead stock. Why not combine the two? (And while you’re at it, make Ruhlman’s Brussels sprouts with bacon, roasted red pepper, and pine nuts—or just gawk at his wife Donna’s amazing photos, including the one at left.).
Elsewhere, Bittman offers another of his famous 101-item lists—this one, things you can make today and serve on Thanksgiving. My faves, from a cursory glance: Proscuitto-wrapped sweet potatoes; cornbread stuffing with fresh corn, beer, and cherry tomatoes; pumpkin noodle kugel; and raw Brussels sprouts salad with shaved sprouts, lemon vinaigrette, and bacon.
Blue Kitchen has a yummy-looking recipe for gnocchi with roasted root vegetables, for the vegetarians at your Thanksgiving table. Also, a guide to fire safety on Thanksgiving! (Tip No. 1: Don’t deep-fry your turkey. Just don’t).
Wondering what to do with those turkey gizzards? The Nasty Bits has some ideas.
To brine or not to brine? Brine, I say! Here’s a standard, adaptable method from the Chicago Tribune, and a less conventional milk-brined alternative.
Grist and Slate both took four meatless “turkeys” for a spin. Slate liked the Gardein stuffed veggie turkey roast, available in the hot foods aisle at Whole Foods; Grist ranked it second to Quorn’s Turk’y Roast, which tasted, “weirdly, like pizza.” The losers: Tofurkey (Grist said it smelled like “art class”; Slate gave it credit for looking like a “small ham”) and Field Roast Stuffed Celebration Roast (Slate said “the stuffing had a mashed, canned-cat-food quality”; Grist said it tasted like cement, rubber, and “dried pudding.”
Not strictly Thanksgiving, but definitely seasonal: Homesick Texan’s sweet potato-chipotle soup.
In a rare appearance behind the stove in an actual kitchen, Anthony Bourdain dishes tips on turkey, stuffing and gravy in this No Reservations holiday special from 2007.
Gourmet‘s gone, but the fine folks at Sassy Radish, Pithy and Cleaver, and In Jennie’s Kitchen are keeping the recipes alive at Gourmet, Unbound. Top of the site: Retro sage stuffing, from Gourmet‘s 1975 Thanksgiving edition. (Sassy Radish has her own Thanksgiving menu, too).
Share the bounty: Donate food or money to Northwest Harvest now or any time.
What to do with the leftovers? Working Class Foodies (warning: video starts playing automatically) has some suggestions.
Still at a loss for ideas? Check out Epicurious’ guide to its 21 top-rated Thanksgiving recipes, from turkey to stuffing to cranberry sauce and pie.
