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Episode-1024- Chef Keith Snow on Thanksgiving Dinner Survival — 29 Comments

  1. Hey Folks…here is the flour-less chocolate cake recipe I mention in this interview…also, there is a link to my video in Jack’s show notes featuring the flower less chocolate cake…..here is the recipe:

    Name: Flourless Chocolate Cake
    Description: This flourless chocolate cake is an excellent choice for a Graduation cake.
    Ingredients: 6 eggs, separated
    1 pint organic heavy cream
    3/4 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    6 ounces 62% (or higher)dark chocolate chips or chunks
    1/2 cup powdered sugar
    1/4 cup brewed espresso (or dark coffee)
    Directions: 1. preheat oven to 350.
    2. Separate egg into 6 yolks, and 6 whites.
    3. Beat yolks with sugar until fluffy and pale in color, 5 minutes.
    4. Beat whites until stiff peaks form.
    5. In a double boiler melt chocolate, add espresso. Remove from heat.
    6. Slowly add a little chocolate to egg yolk/sugar mixture(tempering), combine well using a rubber spatula, then add the rest of chocolate and mix well.
    7. Add egg whites in three additions being careful to fold them in to keep the batter light and airy.
    8. Add to the sheet tray as per video and make sure it’s as level as possible.
    9. Place in oven and cook for 10 minutes…DO NOT OVERCOOK. Remove from oven and place a damp kitchen towel over the cooked cake to allow it to cool.
    10. Beat heavy cream in a cold bowl with a cold whisk and add vanilla extract, whip cream until it is thick.
    11. Assemble cake as per video, then chill in the refrigerator for 1.5 hours. Add powdered sugar before serving.
    Created By: Chef Keith Snow

  2. Jack,

    You’ve been doing so well on your paleo diet, I couldn’t with a good conscience, let you take all those cracked cheesecakes! Since I haven’t been on the paleo diet, I feel it’s my duty to offer to have you send those cheesecakes to me instead! I hope you and your family as well as EVERYONE in the tsp community has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.
    John R
    Long Island, NY

  3. No-one should be dieting on Thanksgiving, it’s the one day a year you are allowed to stuff yourself with good conscience. Save the dieting for black friday as you push over elderly, and children alike to get the newest electro- schwagg from your local pushers, or the death battle over the last “fondle-me-elmo” on the shelf.

  4. I am so fortunate! This year my family is going separate directions for Thanksgiving so my 85 year old father and I (we’ve shacked up together) can safely ignore it. And it gets better! After a 30 year long battle I have finally persuaded my family (my kids are adults so I’m talking about my siblings) that “Christmas is for kids” and adults should not gift each other. Hoo-Ha!!! Finally I have managed to bring sanity to the holiday season. This of course means the adults can spend more on the kids.

    But on the triple net scale, we are doing virtually nothing to stimulate the economy. Well, except for the adult beverages 😉

  5. Chef Keith Snow, I love baking but I love discovering shortcuts to save time. On my pies I half cook the filling before putting it in a half baked crust. 25 min later it’s done. So I keep the oven going on several at a time plus opens it up for other things needing the oven’s attention.
    For other baked goodies that call for oil ect, I use applesauce, it makes it more moist, great in cornbreads. Use the same amount of applesauce as oil, lard ect.
    My husbands most fav, no bake cookies it only takes a 1/2 tsp of applesauce per batch added at the end. Don’t over do or they will not set up and you’ll end up mixing another batch to firm them up. Gives them a nice gloss after cooling too along with being moist.
    Love your ideas and new things for trying out. Have a great day all.

  6. Keith, I always love hearing you on the show.

    I had a question about oven bags. What is your opinion on them for cooking turkeys? My experience with it is that it’s more forgiving as far as not drying out the turkey but the bottom of the turkey can simmer in its own juices and result in something similar to pulled pork. Is there a general rule of thumb for turkey cooking time in an oven bag?

    Thanks.

  7. as far as oven bags…I dont trust that the chemicals in the plastic does not leech…

    and I think they are somewhat of a gimmick….so cant say I recommend them

  8. Great Show Jack and Keith.

    The largest Thanksgiving turkey that my family had when I was growing up was one my mother had paid for a local guy to raise. My family was the last one on the distrubution list for all the turkeys that were raised and the guy was fearful of us rejecting the 52 lb turkey.

    My mother did not even bat an eye and accepted it. Cooking it required removing all but the lowest oven rack, putting the turkey in the largest pan we had, and using foil to extend around the turkey as it overhung the sides of the pan with regular removal of the drippings before the pan overflowed.

    We had half for thanksgiving and froze the rest for X-mas.

    Best, Duncan

    • @ Duncan – BIG birds are cool! We raised some bronze turkeys one year and had a turk-zilla gobbler that dressed out at 56 lbs and I had to hang it from the bucket of my tractor to do so. It was far too large for our oven so we had to dig a pit and cook it “luau style” for T-day. Another was so big I had to cut it in half w/ a sawzall to get it in the oven. 🙂 Talk about leftovers from hell. lmao.

  9. I sure learned a LOT! Thanks Chef Keith. I posted this TSP to my FB page plus sent the link to everyone in my private email list.

  10. Sorry guys, I had to skip this episode entirely. I’m out in Afghanistan and I’m sure I’ll be eating a “Turkey Breast” MRE for the happy day. Hope to catch the next episode though!

      • You are very welcome. We couldn’t do what we do without the support of American’s like you. Although I’m no longer in the service myself. I served 10 years in the Army, and now I’m a “scum of the Earth” contractor that works on their weapons. I feel like I’m misleading people if I don’t clarify that. Happy Thanksgiving!

  11. I’ve always relied on the “red thingy” to pop out when the turkeys done, and my turkeys always dry. Now I know not to trust it, but where is the best place to take a temp reading. The same area where the red thingy is or is there a better way?

    • Yep right in the fat part of the breast. I have found though that roughly 15 minutes a pound on birds up to about 18 pounds at 350 is so perfect that I don’t even bother any more.

      12-14lbs = 3 Hours
      16-18lbs = 4 Hours
      20lbs about 4 and a quarter

      I don’t do birds much bigger than this so can’t say if the formula holds. Also unlike Keith says I usually set my oven to 400 to preheat and drop it down to 350 as soon as I put the bird in. I do this because the temp is going to drop when you open the door and put the big old bird in.

    • Just FYI for anyone doing it: Deep frying takes about 5 minutes per pound. That’s how we roll here on T-Day, after the bird takes a 24 hour bath in a salt/brown sugar/multi-spice brine.

  12. Last Christmas I experimented with injecting a cube of melted butter with freshly crushed garlic into the bird. Everyone freaked out. It was totally awesome. They are all insisting I do the same tomorrow. I’m going to let the butter simmer with rosemary as well as garlic this time.

    • Steve it is hard to imagine many things that can’t be improved by butter or bacon or both.

    • Steve, How did you inject the bird? What sort of injector and how exactly did you do it? I am VERY interested in this!

      Thank you!

      • I used a marinade injector, kind of like a big ol hypodermic needle. You should be able to get one at any cooking store. This year I also let the melted butter simmer for a couple of hours, very low, with rosemary in it as well as the garlic. Excellent.

        • My wife did something similar this year but just rubbed the seasoned butter under the skin and it came out very well also.

          My oldest daughter made a “gluten free” sausage apple stuffing that was baked outside the bird that , imo, was better than her “traditional” type sourdough version that she made as well.
          Yum!

        • @Brian W, you said,

          “My oldest daughter made a “gluten free” sausage apple stuffing that was baked outside the bird that , imo, was better than her “traditional” type sourdough version that she made as well.”

          My God man! Don’t go dropping stuff like that without a recipe or at least basic guidelines. I was SOOOOOOOO sick after Turkey Day dinner. I ate more carbs in an hour that I have in the last 5 months. It was good but I was miserable. I won’t ever do it again, it wasn’t worth it.

          I know after the last two years how “sick” I was on all those carbs and this just reinforced that. I can eat a couple biscuits at Cracker Barrel once in a while or a few pieces of bread here and there but a heavy carb meal makes me sick. About the only thing that I want on Turkey Day or Christmas Dinner that much that is all carbs is stuffing. So make with some instructions!

  13. Chef Keith Snow rocks ! I listened to his Thanksgiving “survival” episode last year and >really< enjoyed it !

  14. I did order a nice, fresh turkey again this year. Amazing how it looks so different than the “Butterball” type that are cages, given hormones to grow these huge breasts, etc. A fresh bird looks like a BIRD. I followed your instructions with the carrots, celery, onion, fresh rosemary, etc. Didn’t make gravy though. Just enjoyed the veggies along side. Fresh cranberry sauce made with cane sugar…not stevia. You are right…sometimes sugar just has to be the way to go. Thanks for the vegetarian tips. My daughter is vegetarian (if it has a face, she will not eat it) and she will be coming for Christmas. I will try out that pasta recipe. Thanks Chef Keith. You’re the best (and so was my dinner!!).

  15. Chef Keith,

    I followed your basic advice on cooking the turkey this year, and it was the best I’ve ever made. No more hit and miss!

    Thank you! You can now consider me a devoted follower.