If you ask any seasoned home chef who has managed to pull off preparing an entire Thanksgiving feast or two what the hardest part of the task is, they will tell you that it isn’t cooking the meal itself—it’s timing each item so that nothing is served cold.
Are you nodding your head in agreement right now? Looks like SOMEONE’S had to go it alone in the kitchen on Thanksgiving day before. Good for you!
Now, if it looks like you may end up getting stuck with a similar situation this year, it’s definitely time to listen up! We have a must-know cooking hack from the grill master himself, Bobby Flay, that will allow you to infuse the heat back into your cooled bird—all in seconds flat!
Flay’s secret to keeping his turkey (and Thanksgiving sides) piping hot
As it turns out, preserving the heat in your hard-earned dishes is a whole lot easier than you thought! Here’s how Flay manages to keep his dinner warm before serving the dishes to his 40-to-50-person annual Thanksgiving shindig…
Earlier this month, at the Savor Borgata Food and Wine Festival, Flay revealed that he makes sure that he always has at least a couple of cups of chicken stock simmering on the stove before serving up his items. Now, he doesn’t do this to make an impromptu chicken soup; he does this for the express purpose of re-heating.
“I break down the [turkey] breast, then I take all of the meat off the legs and thighs so it’s a pulled, dark turkey meat, like carnitas,” Flay says. “I have hot chicken stock on the stove, and then I just hit the meat with it, and it brings it back to life.”
Makes sense, right? Not only will the stock bring the heat back to your turkey, it will ensure that the bird doesn’t “dry out” on you at the same time. Good to know!
Colorful words to help you survive your Thanksgiving cooking sesh
If you are, in fact, an unwilling head chef for your upcoming Thanksgiving party, we know that you are probably under quite a bit of stress at the moment. After all, cooking one of these meals is NOT an easy task. Hey—Bobby Flay even struggles with it!
At that same festival where he revealed the aforementioned turkey revitalization hack, he also shared a sentiment that pretty much all of us can understand.
“I don’t know how non-professional cooks [make Thanksgiving dinner],” Flay said. “Somebody’s mom who really doesn’t cook that much – how the f**k do they get Thanksgiving out? I literally want to jump out the window.”
It’s good to know that even celebrity chefs want to “jump out the window” while cooking this annual meal! That said, we think his warming tip will make this year’s Thanksgiving dinner just THAT much easier to pull off.
To hear all about the other dishes that can be re-heated with hot chicken stock, be sure to watch the video below. Just-from-the-oven heat in seconds? We’re in!
We’d love to hear your thoughts on Bobby Flay’s brilliant Thanksgiving re-heating hack! Have you ever tried warming up your dishes with chicken stock before? If so, were you happy with the results? Do you have any similar tips of your own that you would like to share?