Carving the beast

The two things I am asked to do almost every year at Thanksgiving is to make the gravy and carve the turkey.  Let’s talk about carving.

 

March 6^th 1943 The Saturday Evening Post published the now famous painting by Norman Rockwell of the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.  Go find this painting.  No really right now go to the internet and look for it, I will wait.  Norman Rockwell does the impossible in this painting.  Every face in the family is smiling and in frame.  The table is set with the whitest table cloth and the silver is polished and that casserole dish, it had better be filled to the rim with either sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes!  What is with that bowl of fruit?  Really, nobody is there to eat fruit!  More on that later.  By the way, keep your eyes on that Eddy Haskell looking kid in the upper left corner.  He is up to something.

 

This painting single handedly sent housewives across America into epileptic fits leading up to the third Thursday in November.  From that moment on every turkey cooked was brought to the table whole, on an oval plate decorated with sprigs of parsley.  Then the oldest male of the host family would do his best to carve the turkey with his entire family watching.

 

It doesn’t have to be this way!  If you do cook an amazingly beautiful turkey that you want everyone to see go ahead, put it on the large oval, put some parsley around it and  present it to the family.  Then take it back in the kitchen and behind closed doors disassemble that turkey, slice it and arrange it on that oval plate, garnish it and then bring it to the table.

 

Now we will get to the order of business, carving the turkey. 

 

You will need a few tools for this task:

 

1.       A sharp knife.  A chef’s knife is fine.  A boning knife will also work

2.       Sharpening steel

3.       Carving fork or real metal tongs are nice to have

4.       Possibly but not necessary an electric knife.  It should be noted that you DO NOT carve the turkey with the electric carving knife.  It is only for slicing large boneless pieces  into nice planks or slabs. 

 

The following diagrams should help simplify the process.

It is not TOO EARLY to start planning!!

theKitchn, one of my favorite blogs has collected 10 great recipes for Thanksgiving in Canada, Monday, October 14!  Check it out here: http://www.thekitchn.com/10-recipes-for-canadian-thanksgiving-195808

Enjoy!
J.Jones

Essential Parts of Thanksgiving Dinner

Starters: This could be just about anything small you put out for your guests to nibble on while put the finishing touches on your main course dishes such as, a relish tray pickles and olives and or deviled eggs.  Cheese platter with some nice sausage sliced.  Roasted or candied nuts dried fruits what have you.

Main course:  Broken down to its parts

Protein: There will be a Turkey (Unless you are a vegetarian) If you are lucky enough to live in a region that feels it necessary to have something besides a turkey you might have a ham or prime rib as well.

Starch: Sweet potatoes of some kind (I will address the Yam conspiracy later), mashed potatoes with gravy.

Veg: Green Bean Casserole.  I cannot think of a single additional vegetable that belongs here.

Cranberry: There will be some sort of cranberry concoction here.

Sides: Jello salad, mac’n cheese, rolls, bread etc…If you feel the need to express your culinary abilities this is the appropriate place.

Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Potato Pie, Pecan Pie etc…

Beverages: Beer, Wine, Spiced warm Cranberry or Apple Juice, Eggnog other

After you have picked your dishes you will need to need to develop a time line so your dishes are finished at the proper time.