Episode 512: Cooking at Thanksgiving – Dishing Out the Secrets

Voice Over: You’re about to listen to an episode of What the Hell Just Happened?! Join Paul Edwards and his guests as they discuss interesting HR topics and solve some of our listeners’ submitted questions.

Paul: And occasionally I’ll go off HR topic and talk about whatever I want to talk about. Think barbecue. Space exploration. Technology. Money. Managing. Business. Things that interest all of us.

Voice Over: We get a lot of emails with questions. Stay tuned for details on how you can submit yours to the show. And now let’s get started.

Amanda: Okay, so Paul, I asked Chat GPT how I should open this podcast with you.

Paul: Okay.

Amanda: It gave me some really good stuff. [laughing]

Paul: Did it? Because it’s kind of stupid.

Amanda: So first it suggested I open with a joke. I’m going to tell you that joke.

Paul: Okay.

Amanda: What did the turkey say to the computer?

Paul: I have no idea.

Amanda: Google! Google! [laughing]

Paul: I’m so bad at these really bad jokes.

Amanda: And then it said –

Paul: You’re enjoying this too much.

Amanda: Yeah. And then it said, I should say, “Hey, folks, before we gobble up all that turkey stuffing and pumpkin pie, we’ve got a mouth watering podcast for you.”

Paul: Wow.

Amanda: Get ready to feast your ears on some delightful conversation.

Paul: [exasperated] Stop.

Amanda: [laughing] I don’t think – I think these are excellent. I’m pretty sure everyone is hooked in, but my main thing here –

Paul: Why am I here?

Amanda: I have a problem that only you can help me with.

Paul: Okay.

Amanda: Not HR related.

Paul: Alright.

Amanda: This year is different from any year for me because I am hosting Thanksgiving.

Paul: Oh! Great!

Amanda: And I’ve never done that before and I also kind of don’t really know how to cook. I’m learning, but I don’t really know fully yet. I have like 11 people coming over and I’ve never cooked for more than, like –

Paul: Two.

Amanda: Yeah, me and my boyfriend. Maybe two people. So you cook every week for what is it, like 50 women? At the shelter? So you know about cooking for crowds and since it’s Thanksgiving time –

Paul: Right.

Amanda: I want tips.

Paul: Oh! You want tips?

Amanda: I want tips on how to cook, not only for just more than two people, but just what are your favorite Thanksgiving dishes? How can I impress these people? Make them be like, “Wow, she has her life together!”

Paul: Okay, so between now and the time that you do it, we’re going to create a menu.

Amanda: Ooo! Okay.

Paul: Unless it’s going to be more, because the things that you do create are going to be the best. So the tendency is to try to please everybody. I think Thanksgiving is a little more difficult these days because we have a lot more vegetarians and –

Amanda: So many different diets.

Paul: So the cure for all things, if you don’t know this, if you’re listening to my voice right now as a former professional chef and then cook and all that stuff: Butter. It’s just butter. We fix that – There’s so much fat and salt and stuff in your food. So for Thanksgiving, I want you to embrace salt and butter. It’s the right time to do it, but you can’t do butter for vegetarians or vegans. So many vegetarians are cool with butter and cheese and that sort of stuff, but you gotta ask. The other thing, since it’s your first time doing this, is you need to do test runs of just about everything that you do.

Amanda: That makes sense.

Paul: You really do. So, you know, the basic staples for Thanksgiving and I try to change these every year. So I do a big gathering where anywhere from 10 to 25 people will show up at my house. Thanksgiving is my favorite. It’s just my favorite holiday. For me, the world stops. It feels like you do all this work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to feed everybody. On Thursday, you’re exhausted. Friday, the world just seems to stop. You know, if you go out on Saturday to get food or something, everything’s kind of tamped down, you know?

Amanda: Wait. You don’t go Black Friday shopping?

Paul: I don’t go Black Friday shopping. I don’t!

Amanda: [laughing]

Paul: I never did that. I never did that. So I love Thanksgiving also, because it’s an opportunity to cook for other people and for me, that’s kind of like my love language, right? Like, well, maybe the way I speak love to other people. It makes me feel really good. Then it’s a reflection of my mom in some ways, because when it’s time to eat, I’m not hungry. That was my mom, you know? She was like, “Mom! Come on! Sit down!” She’s like, “I don’t want any of this crap.”

[laughing]

Paul: We’re like, “What do you mean?” So the hints I would give you, to backtrack a little bit, is, since this is going to be your first one, let’s create a menu and then let’s test a couple of things so that you feel super comfortable. So one of the things we’re going to introduce to your cooking this year is we’re going to teach you how to sous vide.

Amanda: Oh! I’ve heard that word, but I don’t know what it means.

Paul: It’s…Well, it’s cooking. It’s basically cooking underwater. So we’re going to teach you how to bag something, put it in water. You’re going to have to buy a little sous vide rig. It’s not expensive. This is something that they only used to do in restaurants, but it’s very popular and plenty of people do it now. It will create the perfect turkey breast because you cook it to the right temperature and it can’t get hotter. You can’t overcook it. It just maintains that temperature. How do you feel about gravy?

Amanda: I love gravy.

Paul: Okay. Well, then we’re going to teach you how to make gravy –

Amanda: Oh, like homemade? And not from a jar in the store? [laughing]

Paul: Yeah. We’re gonna teach you how to make homemade gravy. You know, we never make our bread. We’re always going to buy biscuits or whatever kind of the bread and the stuff is. I think there has to be the obligatory string bean casserole. I don’t know how your family feels about it, but –

Amanda: Yeah, I think that would be a popular addition.

Paul: And I can help you with something called dressing, and then we can talk about a couple of other kind of really cool side dishes. One of the things that we will do is we’ll grab some cranberries and we’ll put some orange juice in a pot, and we’ll dump those cranberries in there with butter. If we can, if we can get away with it…Well we’re going to do two versions of it because you’re a vegetarian.

Amanda: Yeah.

Paul: One version will have bacon in it and the other one will not and we’re going to cook those cranberries down. We’re going to add sugar to it until it’s no longer tart, and then everybody’s going to wipe it out.

Amanda: Really?

Paul: Oh yeah.

Amanda: What’s that for? Is it a cranberry sauce?

Paul: It’s a cranberry sauce. It just goes on everything. So on turkey or anything else that you’re doing. It’s going to make it really good. Then if you want to do a turkey…Do you want to do a turkey?

Amanda: Well, there’s going to be people that want turkey, so yeah.

Paul: Okay. So what we’ll do is, we’ll do that turkey breast and you can just buy the breast and we’ll do that sous vide. On the other one, we’re going to bake it and I’ll talk to you about how to bake that turkey, what to do to get it…It’s a no brainer. We’ll talk about what to do to make that work for you.

Amanda: So do you think when it comes to crowds, because I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there that are also cooking for people this year, do you suggest prepping the night before?

Paul: Oh yeah. I prep two days before and the night before, so all the casseroles are ready to go. So Wednesday is the day that I try to get all the casseroles and everything ready.

Amanda: That’s smart.

Paul: And in a commercial kitchen, we do this to varying degrees, but I bring this to the house, you know, to the home cook: I have a sheet for the next day and it says, “Turkey goes in. Gravy gets here.”

Amanda: Ohh. Yeah.

Paul: “This casserole goes in at this,” and then that way I can see how much oven space I’ve got. Do I need to co-op the grill from outside?

Amanda: See, that’s what I worry about, is like nothing being ready all at the same time. I’ll be like, “Okay, here’s turkey.”

Paul: Oh no –

Amanda: And now in an hour, “Here’s your casserole.”

Paul: Well, it’s going to be super easy and then I’ll introduce something else to you, which is to use your coolers to keep your food hot.

Amanda: Oh!

Paul: So we have little devices in commercial kitchens that are these…Think of them as like a Yeti cooler with slots on the inside. So you slide food in, it’ll hold it at temperature for like 4 hours.

Amanda: Oh, that’s genius.

Paul: Where you can kind of – You can order these things online, but, you know, if you’ve just got a couple of coolers, you can take stuff out and put them into the cooler, into even your cheapest cooler, to keep it hot for about an hour and a half.

Amanda: I never thought about that.

Paul: It’s, you know, it’s these little tricks that you learn, but the best thing is to organize. Do a menu, and then organize the prep work. Cut the potatoes, put them in water, and let them soak overnight because we want to get that starch out of those potatoes so that we get nice, fluffy and not gummy potatoes. A hint for everybody who’s listening right now: Go ahead and just if you’re cooking for ten, just go ahead and put at least two cups, let’s make it three cups, of half and half and melt in 3 to 4 sticks of butter and bring that to temp. That’s what you’re going to pour into your potatoes and you’re going to get a chemical reaction from that, which helps to prevent that gumminess in those potatoes.

Amanda: And probably makes them really good. [laughing]

Paul: Yeah, it makes them delicious. At one place I worked, I was in charge of the mashed potatoes and gosh. I made a lot of mashed potatoes.

Amanda: Yeah. So then how do you cook your turkey every year? What’s your favorite thing to do? Do you change it up? Do the same thing?

Paul: Well, I keep it really simple. I just shove a bunch of soft butter up underneath the skin and put some salt and pepper on the outside.

Amanda: Oh, okay. Yeah. Is it just the oven? Or do you sous vide?

Paul: I put it in the oven. You can’t – It’s too big to sous vide. So I just put it in the oven and I pay very close attention to what the internal temperature is on that turkey. Even if they have, even if it has a pop-up thing? I still use a thermometer to check the internal temp of the turkey around where the thighs and the legs come together.

Amanda: And then what’s that thing where you have to baste it? What does that do? [laughing] I don’t know what that is. I’ve seen it on, like, Bob’s Burgers.

Paul: No. I mean, if you want to, you can baste it every now and then, but you don’t have to baste it. You may have to cover it with tin foil, what we call tenting, at the end to keep it from browning too much because all ovens are weird. The dial on your oven is not what’s usually going on in your oven.

Amanda: Yeah, I noticed that.

Paul: It’s usually a lot hotter, a lot colder or something along those lines.

Amanda: And then what’s your favorite appetizer to put out for people? Or do you not do an appetizer for people?

Paul: I don’t do appetizers for Thanksgiving. They better be hungry when they sit down. You know what else they better not do? After I tell everybody to sit down and I’m ready for everybody to eat, stop and let the food get cold while they do something else or take pictures.

Amanda: Yeah!

Paul: If you want a picture, if you want a group picture, you better do that before I tell you, “It’s time to eat.” I have a little anger here around that, if you can hear my voice.

Amanda: [laughing] Has that happened to you in your past?

Paul: Oh yeah.

Amanda: And the food’s gone cold?

Paul: Oh yeah.

Amanda: Oh no. [laughing] That’s not good. Okay, so now, last question: Desserts. What’s your favorite dessert for Thanksgiving? I know you don’t like…Baking is not your favorite, right?

Paul: Baking is not my favorite. Although I’ve been making pizza nonstop for the last –

Amanda: Pizza’s baking?!

Paul: Yeah, it is. I’ve been making dough and I’ve been weighing, so I’m leaning more towards – What I’m going to recommend is a recipe from a woman who used to be on the Food Network. Her name is Paula Deen.

Amanda: I’ve heard that name.

Paul: Yeah, you’ve heard the name. She kind of messed up in this world, but she has a banana pudding recipe. I think it’s called Not your Mama’s Banana Pudding or something like that? Again, it’s sugar and banana. It’s just the most glorious bite of banana pudding as a dessert that you’re ever going to have in your life, because she just laden it with calories. Again, you know, everything in moderation.

Amanda: Of course.

Paul: Yeah, that’s probably one of my favorite things to do. Can I add one more thing?

Amanda: Yeah.

Paul: One of the things that I’ve begun to do – So I do this Tuesday night meal for the shelter. Almost every Saturday, mostly Sundays, and we’re kind of moving more towards brunch, we do a family meal where I have anywhere from 5 to 10 people show up at my house and we do family meal at my house.

Amanda: That’s nice.

Paul: Part of what I do at family meal, and also what I do at Thanksgiving, is I build in, I design in leftovers because –

Amanda: Oh!

Paul: Right? Yeah. I mean, we always did that. We always were like, “Hey, everybody, please take the leftovers.” But I actually design it in and that I cook in enough quantity that everybody gets to take dressing home. Everybody gets to take turkey home. Everybody has a little, I have a little container for the gravy. It’s when I get rid of all my old Tupperware. Out the door it goes. You gotta get rid of that stuff some time. Might as well do it at Thanksgiving. Off to Costco I go for new Tupperware every year in December. I just really design for and what I like to do is I buy a couple of big loaves of white bread because it’s turkey sandwich with mayo.

Amanda: Yeah.

Paul: And I wrap up like, you know, if it’s a couple, I wrap up like eight pieces of white bread for them and I give it to them. It goes out with the leftovers.

Amanda: That’s genius.

Paul: You give as if everybody had hosted Thanksgiving at their home. So when they’re home and you know how it is.

Amanda: Yeah, you want those leftovers.

Paul: It’s like an hour and a half later and you’re like, “I need a…I’m going to take a piece of white bread. I’m going to put some of the dressing on, stuffing, we call it dressing. It’s not stuffed in the bird, with some gravy and a piece of turkey. Then I will put a piece of bread over the top of that and then don’t even talk to me.” Then I’m going to go into the refrigerator about 10 minutes after I finish that, and I’m going to lift up the corner where the banana pudding is and I’m going to take a spoon.

Amanda: Yeah, just like scoop some out?

Paul: And I’m just going to eat a couple of pieces out of that.

Amanda: [laughing] It’s one of the best parts of Thanksgiving.

Paul: And then yeah, when I’m done with that, I’m going to reach it and I’m going to grab one of those leftover deviled eggs.

Amanda: That’s genius to kind of make them a to go kit. That’s a way to make you remembered.

Paul: It makes you remembered, and it’s the right thing to do.

Amanda: It is the right thing to do, and it’s going to be too much for my fridge anyway.

Paul: Oh no, I don’t want that stuff in my house.

Amanda: Exactly.

Paul: I’m going to keep just enough for me and out it goes.

Amanda: That’s genius. Nice. Well, thank you for giving me your Thanksgiving tips. This is the season.

Paul: Is this the Thanksgiving What the Hell Just Happened?!

Amanda: It is! Gobble! Gobble!

Paul: This is the Thanksgiving What the Hell Just Happened?! Ooo! I like that a lot.

Amanda: Yeah.

Paul: You kind of surprised me with that. Okay, so What the Hell Just Happened?! everybody is we talked about my favorite meal, favorite time of year. Some strategies for cooking for ten, which is way different than cooking for two.

Amanda: Very.

Paul: And if anybody has any questions or anything, just send it in. Okay, everybody, thanks for listening to this. We appreciate you guys.

Amanda: Gobble, gobble.

Paul: [laughing] Yeah.

Voice Over: Thanks for joining us for this week’s episode of What the Hell Just Happened?! If you have an HR issue, question, or just want to add a comment about something Paul said, record it on your phone and send it to podcast@wthjusthappened.com. We might even ask if we can play it on the show. Don’t forget to Like and Subscribe and join us again next week.