One of the most challenging tasks while preparing a festive dinner isn’t the cooking per se, it has to do with organizing the dinner so that every part of the meal arrives at the table in top shape. The last thing you want is for the turkey and stuffing to get cold and stiff once the guests finally arrive. To remedy this culinary fiasco, celebrity chef Bobby Flay has a trick to share with you, and all you will need is some chicken or vegetable stock simmering away on a burner.
If cooking is an art form, then preparing a massive turkey dinner is like ballet. When so many people and so much food is involved, you have to take so many things into account, every dish has to be immaculate and ready to be served just at the right time, and on top of it all, you have to be equipped for unexpected situations, such as people arriving late.
And while many foods that are served cold can handle a 30-minute delay, warm dishes, such as stuffing, sauces, and most importantly - the turkey - will require reheating. Reheating gravy isn’t a problem, but doing so with meat and stuffing can be more problematic if you don’t know the trick we’re about to tell you.
This trick is straight out of celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s cooking arsenal, who is known for the massive 50-people Thanksgiving feasts he throws in his New York apartment every year. Flay suggests that instead of reheating the turkey and gravy in the oven, which can dry out the food, you should just use some piping hot chicken stock to bring the food back to life.
To reheat the stuffing, the chef suggests making small indentations in the stuffing tray using a spoon and then filling up these holes with hot stock. You can do this just a few minutes before serving, and the stock will keep the stuffing warm for a while.
As for the star of the show - the turkey, you’ll need to section off the breast and remove the meat from the thighs and legs first. Using forks, tear the dark meat into strips of meat, as you would when making pulled pork, and also slice the breast, putting all the meat on one tray. Then, drizzle the hot stock all over the meat, and in a matter of seconds, it will warm up and still taste just as juicy.
Do this right before serving the turkey, so that it’s still perfectly warm when it gets to the guests. That’s all you need to know! Just keep some hot stock simmering on the stove, and your turkey dinner will stay as good as fresh for hours.
