Tweaking Tradition

 There;s nothing like time homored recipes. Yet they may be too time honored and may need to be updated,especially for the holidays. It's not completely disregarding the recipe.It's enhancing it with new flavors and new cooking methods.

Have you ever thought of using the sous vide method on your turkey. This is a different way of cooking a turkey but it provides the bird with juicy , flavorful meat. You do need a sous vide machine to do this. They're around $99 on Amazon if you want to get one overnighted. You will have to butterfly or spatchcock the bird along with giving it time in the oven for crisp skin.Then there's dry brining it instead of wet and cooking it in a hot water bath for six hours. Another tweaking idea is spatchcocking the bird for a more even roast.It's split open thanks to poultry scissors (which cna be bought at any grocery store) and the back bone is removed. This lets it sit flat on the roasting pan where it cooks for just two hours. Butterfying or spatchcocking also works for any other kind of poultry too like Cornish hens and chicken. Of course you'd never omit thhe turkey's must have - stuffing but you can tweak it.Instead of the usual bread crumbs, stale bread especially French or Italian works just as fine. It gives for  a more chewy and crunchy bite. You could also add some soft pretzels too for flavor and texture.

Sides always deserve a tweaking. Everyone makes the usual sweet potatoes with marshmallows. This may have been great decades ago but its time to update them. Try them as fries , crisped in the air fryer. These are definitely a fun change up everyone will like .in fact they'll be the first to go. Another idea is mashing them. This is the same as the traditional mashed potato recipe with boiling them first and then mashing with milk and a stick of butter or plant butter. Add a tiny drizzle of maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg for more flavor. If you opt for potatoes then think smashed for something different. This is taking red or yellow potatoes and boiling until tender. It's then smashing them with a masher and baking them on a large baking sheet. You can drizzle olive oil on them, followed by a sprinkle of rosemary leaves. Theur crispy texture and meaty interiro are reminiscent of French fries  but they have more oomph. This cam be done to that other Thanksgiving staple Brussels sprouts. Again it;s just boiling until tender and then smashing them. They're then popped into the air fryer with just a salt and pepper seasoning . If you  want to be fancietr sprinkled htem with Parmesan cheese and some chili powder.

Traditional needs to be tweaked in onder to remain fresh and relevant. Start with family recipes. it will make for a more interesting and delicious Thanksgiving.