Need a 2020 Thanksgiving Motto? “Think Big, but Prepare Small.”
Thanksgiving Food Fest is a virtual food festival full of turkey, pie, games, and fun, starring many of our favorite cooks, ready to share the secrets of a most delicious Thanksgiving. Watch the event live at @thekitchn on Instagram from November 14-15 (or check back here after if you miss it).
The moment when Alexander Smalls joined Kitchn’s Editor-in-Chief, Faith Durand, on Instagram Live this past weekend for our Thanksgiving Food Fest, I dropped everything I was doing (and I’m sure I’m not alone!). Even though I was tuning in from my phone, hearing the James Beard Award-winning author, Tony and Grammy award-winning opera singer, and acclaimed chef’s warm, hearty, contagious laugh made me feel like I was sitting at the table right along with him. The topic of conversation? Thanksgiving 2020 (obviously).
Chef Smalls’ opening thoughts on celebrating the holiday in this deeply strange year struck a chord and might just have become Kitchn’s official Thanksgiving motto: “Think big, but prepare small.”
While he won’t be gathering with a large group of friends and family this year (and no one should!), chef Smalls is going small in a big way.
Instead of a turkey, chef Smalls is planning to stick with a smaller bird (either quail or Cornish hens). If your day is incomplete without a turkey, he recommends simply buying “the smallest turkey they have,” or turkey broken down into parts. Regardless of size, Smalls recommends preparing your bird in a luxurious way.
He likes to start his by making a nice glaze of mustard, apricot, and brown sugar, “to cut the gamey turkey.” My favorite tip of his? Place the bird (or bird parts) on a rack in a roasting tray and steam with beer or Champagne (!) while it’s cooking. “It’s gotta be drunk,” Smalls says. I like where his head is at.
He’ll also be preparing a veggie medley including creamed peas and green beans and benne seeds; full-berry cranberry sauce with apples, pears, and crystallized ginger; crab cakes; both chestnut and oyster stuffing; and sweet potato pie. “You can’t have a holiday celebration without sweet potato pie where I come from,” he says.
As you can see, chef Smalls is thinking big, even if his guest list is a lot smaller this year. “Preparing small” doesn’t mean you have to skimp on the spread — it just means making what you do have feel festive, fun, and celebratory.
Are you thinking big but preparing small this year?