Bon Appetit November 2013

Our brand-new app, Thanksgiving: a Bon Appétit Manual, has 101 foolproof recipes, plus tips, tricks, and how-to videos from our test kitchen, all designed to deliver the tastiest, least-stressful holiday ever. It’s the closest we could get to coming to your house to help you cook. Download it for iPad® or iPhone® at bonappetit.com/tgivingapp PIE CHART WE ASKE DOUR FACE BOOK FANS: 32% PUMPKIN “I live in Britain most of the year and they just don’t do pumpkin pie. I miss it like crazy!” —Elizabeth Lee 21% PECAN “It brings back memories of our time living in the South.” —Vicki Lande 19% APPLE “The blend of fruit and cinnamon tastes like love.” —Elizabeth Barrie Buck 15% OTHER “Mincemeat! It’s sad that this time-honored and delicious pie has fallen from favor.”…

THERE WE WERE, ABOUT 20 OF US Bon Appétit editors gathered around a ginormous conference-room table, ready to agree upon why Thanksgiving is, you know, the greatest holiday in the history of ever. Except we couldn’t agree on anything. Stacey Rivera, our intrepid managing editor, was talking some nonsense about eating dinner at 2 p.m. Creative director Alex Grossman, our resident Pacific Northwesterner (he’s from Orcas Island, Washington), was lobbying for oysters, not sausage, as the primary flavoring agent in stuffing. Food and features editor Carla Lalli Music insisted on roasting a leftovers-only “backup” turkey. And I was arguing with all of them. For a holiday so rooted in rituals, rules, and traditions, it’s fascinating how Thanksgiving is celebrated differently by all of us. It’s almost as if—gasp!—there isn’t just…

DEAR BON APPÉTIT, I’M NOT A HUGE CHOCOLATE CAKE FAN, BUT I LOVED THE SALTED VERSION AT SPORTELLO IN BOSTON SO MUCH, I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO BE ABLE TO RE-CREATE IT. —BRIANNE STUDER, Boston CHOCOLATE-CARAMEL CAKE WITH SEA SALT 10 SERVINGS Mayonnaise in the batter isn’t as weird as it sounds—it’s just eggs and oil, after all. It’s also why this cake is so moist. CAKE Nonstick vegetable oil spray 2¼ cups all-purpose flour ¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder 1¾ tsp. baking powder ¼ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. kosher salt 3 large eggs 1½ cups sugar 1¼ cups mayonnaise (not low-fat) 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract FROSTING AND ASSEMBLY 12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped ¾ cup sugar 1 Tbsp. light corn syrup 1 cup heavy cream 1½ cups…

We love a classic brined turkey (so moist, right?), but it’s too much of a production. Enter the dry "brine." Like a concentrated rub, it’s massaged onto the skin and left to cure for 6-7 hours before the bird hits the oven. The result: flavor down to the bone. Ingredient options are endless, but this citrus and peppercorn number goes with everything on the table: Toast 2 Tbsp. black peppercorns, 1 Tbsp. pink peppercorns, 2 tsp. white peppercorns, 2 tsp. coriander seeds, and 6 bay leaves in a skillet until fragrant. Let cool, then crush in a bag using a rolling pin or heavy skillet. Mix with !4 cup kosher salt, 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar, 1/2 cup lemon zest, and 2 Tbsp. orange zest. Apply to a 12-14-lb. turkey…

Invite Everyone You Know “Growing up, we had 30, 40, 50 people coming through the house some Thanksgivings. Sometimes there was a kids’ table; other times the plate was just sitting on your lap. You get in where you fit in at that house.” Get Your Pregame On “Gotta have a drink. I’ll pour myself some Don Julio Blanco, or Avión Silver, or Don Julio 70, then I get this Jamaican grapefruit soda called Ting. I mix my Thing and my tequila and call it Ta Ting!” Nail the Timing “I’ve had Thanksgiving dinner as early as 1 p.m., but it’s usually around 5 p.m. That gives you enough time to eat, get full, relax, and then eat again.” Seconds First “I know people who make a second plate before…

I was born in the seventies, when people weren’t, like, into food yet. Thanksgiving was always green beans and almonds, Pepperidge Farm stuffing—old-school stuff like that. My grandfather had this tan-and-brown electric knife that made tons of noise, and that’s what we used to carve big birds. At Thanksgiving, I’d be starving, and the buzz of the knife was a sign that we were about to eat. As a craftsperson, my knives are my tools; I like them sexy and sharp. But after having a conversation with Alex Talbot from the blog Ideas In Food, I got serious about the electric knife. I picked up a Cuisinart one and did a demo last year on YouTube. The first couple of cuts with that electric knife on a beautifully roasted bird…