Gobble Gobble

The Best Turkey Day Advice

Here's looking at you, dinner.
Here’s looking at you, dinner. Photo: iStockphoto

Thanksgiving is upon us again, meaning turkey, sweet potatoes, and even turducken get their annual moments of glory before fading into obscurity for the rest of the year. To help you sort through the slew of media coverage, we’ve compiled the best Turkey Day links, from our own site, the blogosphere, and beyond. Happy gobbling, and see you Monday!

Since you can’t have T-Day without the turkey, the Feast checked in with ABC Kitchen executive chef Dan Kluger about how he makes his bird. Meanwhile, Serious Eats solicited tips on fowl and other matters from food wizard Harold McGee, while we took our turkey tips from Aldea’s George Mendes (also see our collection of recipes from other New York chefs), and the New York Times had video of minimalist Mark Bittman cooking a bird in under 45 minutes. If this USA Today story has put you off conventional turkey, Chow has pointers on cooking a Heritage-breed bird — and there’s always the option to kill your own.

It seems turducken, the turkey stuffed with a duck and a chicken, just won’t die; every year someone revives the three-headed beast. The New York Post broached the topic this year, while Serious Eats offered tips on how to stuff and cook your own Frankenfowl. Those not in the market for any sort of bird at all can turn to the Daily News vegan-Thanksgiving primer, or Serious Eats’ veggie-meal rundown.

Meanwhile, since spending hours with one’s family is often much more palatable after a few drinks, there’s the all-important question of wine and other quaffs for the big day. We checked in with five experts for the best bubbly, whiskey, sake, and other occasion bottles, while New York Times critic Eric Asimov pens a rant on Thanksgiving wines. Second only in importance to boozing is what the celeb chefs are doing for the holiday. We’ve got you covered where Michael White, Donatella, and other luminaries are concerned, and the Times checks in with Bobby Flay, Daniel Boulud, Tom Colicchio, and others for some down-and-dirty advice.

If your postage-stamp-size kitchen means you won’t be cooking, options abound for dining out. The Feast, Serious Eats, and the Times all have lists, while Eater has a handy map, plus a dozen places that won’t be serving turkey and stuffing. And if your big plans include lolling around in your P.J.’s with a bottle of Wild Turkey, check out our handy lineup of spots that do fowl (and the rest of the fixings) to go.

After Thanksgiving comes the ever-important question of leftovers. Chow’s advice columnist has a solution for coping with a leftovers hog, we bring favorite day-after recipes from chefs around the county, and if you run out of ways to use up cold turkey, there’s always this cake.

Of course, there are a few people it’s important not to forget on Thanksgiving — namely, one’s hosts and the needy. Thankfully, we’ve compiled this handy roundup of the best hostess gifts, from haute salts to objects d’art. And holiday do-gooders of all types should check our primer on where to volunteer, from races for hunger to senior soirées.

Lastly, if it just doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving without your November issue of Gourmet offering guidance, know that the defunct periodical has a free iPad app, whose latest edition of Gourmet Live details Frank Bruni’s London Thanksgiving, plus where to get New York’s most decadent (read: triple-Michelin-starred) Thanksgiving dinners.

The Best Turkey Day Advice