Some Tips To Take The Stress Out Of Cooking Big Meals
- By Jenny Duram
- Published 11/22/2011
- Food and Drink
- Unrated
I really enjoy having my family over for a big meal, it doesn't need to be a special occasion but I don't like to do it too often as it does require a lot of work to get everything ready. First you need to find room for everybody which may require a lot of juggling of furniture depending on the size of your family and the size of your dining area, but mainly I am talking about all the work that goes into making that delicious meal!
The centerpiece of pretty much every normal meal is going to be the big slab of meat that you have, or you might have something else with meat in it as the main dish, like a lasagna or a butternut squash stuffed with mince or something like that. You should be looking for something that can comfortably feed everyone, but that doesn't take a lot of fuss to prepare. Turkey is what you will traditionally have for thanksgiving, but actually there is a lot to be said for having this all year round. I mean if you decide to go for something like a casserole or a pasta bake or something like that then it is going to take you an hour or so to make all the different part of that before you even start cooking it, so this saves you a whole lot of effort.
Having a turkey can go wrong though, if you don't cook it right. If you want to make sure your turkey tastes nice and juicy after cooking then the only way really is to use a turkey fryer. By frying it in oil then it traps the juices inside the meat as it cooks, while making
the skin crisp. You only really have two options for fryers, an outdoor propane one, or an indoor electric one. I think the electric fryer wins hands down just because it is so much safer to use and leave on while people are around, plus it regulates the temperature itself to make sure it cooks properly.
Now that part is sorted then you need to decide all the extras that you want to have with it. A few of them will be special recipes that you have picked up over the years from friends or books, or had handed down to you from parents. Then the rest is really up to you, but I would scour your cupboards before you decide what to cook to see what you already have available, there is little point in wasting money on new food when you already have some ready and waiting. Make sure you give everyone enough accompaniments though, even if you are having them in a dish in the center which people serve themselves from then I still like to put in a certain amount per person. So say it is broccoli then I allocate a medium sized stalk to every adult and a little one to every child, then pop them all into a bowl for people to serve as they see fit.
Finally you need a tasty dessert. Personally I think this is the biggest time waster of the lot. Cooking the main part of the meal is important, but really nobody is even going to ask if you made the dessert yourself as you did such a good job with the rest. So just grab something from the supermarket that looks tasty, or if you want something special then head to a fancy cake store to get something a little more exotic and tasty.
The centerpiece of pretty much every normal meal is going to be the big slab of meat that you have, or you might have something else with meat in it as the main dish, like a lasagna or a butternut squash stuffed with mince or something like that. You should be looking for something that can comfortably feed everyone, but that doesn't take a lot of fuss to prepare. Turkey is what you will traditionally have for thanksgiving, but actually there is a lot to be said for having this all year round. I mean if you decide to go for something like a casserole or a pasta bake or something like that then it is going to take you an hour or so to make all the different part of that before you even start cooking it, so this saves you a whole lot of effort.
Having a turkey can go wrong though, if you don't cook it right. If you want to make sure your turkey tastes nice and juicy after cooking then the only way really is to use a turkey fryer. By frying it in oil then it traps the juices inside the meat as it cooks, while making
Now that part is sorted then you need to decide all the extras that you want to have with it. A few of them will be special recipes that you have picked up over the years from friends or books, or had handed down to you from parents. Then the rest is really up to you, but I would scour your cupboards before you decide what to cook to see what you already have available, there is little point in wasting money on new food when you already have some ready and waiting. Make sure you give everyone enough accompaniments though, even if you are having them in a dish in the center which people serve themselves from then I still like to put in a certain amount per person. So say it is broccoli then I allocate a medium sized stalk to every adult and a little one to every child, then pop them all into a bowl for people to serve as they see fit.
Finally you need a tasty dessert. Personally I think this is the biggest time waster of the lot. Cooking the main part of the meal is important, but really nobody is even going to ask if you made the dessert yourself as you did such a good job with the rest. So just grab something from the supermarket that looks tasty, or if you want something special then head to a fancy cake store to get something a little more exotic and tasty.
Jenny Duram
If you are interested in finding out more about indoor electric turkey fryers then please visit us at IndoorElectricTurkeyFryer.com.
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