Saving Cooking Disasters
I happened to think of a couple of things today that might help you for Thanksgiving and for any of the other holidays, too.
First, if you haven’t already done it, clean out your refrigerator today. You really should clean your refrigerator before you go buy everything for your dinner but if you haven’t done it yet, do it now. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to stuff leftovers into an already full fridge when you have a house full of company over, so clean it now. If you can, leave a certain shelf for the things you are going to store before and after Thanksgiving dinner.
Fixing Cooking Boo Boos:
- If you didn’t cook your turkey with our recipe, it may come out too dry. Don’t panic. Just slice it, lay it on a platter and pour gravy over it. Then serve.
- If your stuffing is too dry, once again, add some turkey brot or gravy to it.
- If a side dish burns and sticks to the bottom of the pot, carefully pour it out of the pot, being sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan or any of the food stuck to it. You can save quite a bit this way.
- If your dinner rolls burn, carefully slice off the bottoms. If all of the bottoms are gone, people will think that is just the way they are supposed to be.
- If the crust on your pumpkin pie doesn’t turn out, scrape out the filling and place it in a nice serving dish. Cover it with lots of whipped topping sprinkled with a little cinnamon and call it Pumpkin custard.
Let’s Talk Turkey
I don’t think there is anything more dismal looking then a picked over turkey carcass. Usually, I am so tired from making the meal, being hostess and cleaning up that having to face the turkey carcass can almost put me over the edge. What I finally learned is not to do anything with it on Thanksgiving day. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, we pick at it all day long, making sandwiches and other things. Later I pick off the last of the big chunks.
I usually cook my turkey wrapped in foil or in a disposable pan so, when I’m done, I just wrap the foil around the turkey or gently shape the disposable pan around it. Then I stick it all in a couple of plastic bags, pop it in the freezer and forget it for a couple of weeks. Often I wait until January when I bring out the turkey remains and toss the carcass into a large pot for soup. That’s when it gets it’s final picking over.
If any of you have tips about how to fix Thanksgiving cooking boo boos for our beginning cooks and even some of us old timers, feel free to post. You may be the one to save someone’s Thanksgiving. : )
-Jill
We just received this today from a reader and thought it was perfect to add here.
From Cindy:
I had just made your pecan pie muffin recipe and popped it into the oven. I checked another recipe site (not as good as yours!) and many commenters said their muffins stuck to the pans and that they had to make it over again with flour, oil, Baker’s Joy or whatever.
I thought “Great! I need these for a bake sale tomorrow. Just my luck– They’ll be stuck in the pan and unusable.” So when I took the pan out of the oven I immediately ran a sharp knife around the sides and popped the muffins out. It worked just fine. I can see, though, that if you left them in the pan to cool they probably would stick. They’re very good. Thanks for the recipe and Happy Thanksgiving!
This is a good place to give everyone a heads up that if you bake anything sticky, sugary or syrupy, you’ll want to get it out of the pan immediately before it cools. I put a sticky topping on my cinnamon rolls so I have another pan ready to “dump” them on to the minute they come out of the oven.
Be careful with things like pecan pies and don’t fill them so full that they spill over the top and onto the edge because you will spend most of the day chiseling and trying to get a piece of pie out of the pan.
Of course, when it comes to pecan pie, I would find a way to get it out of the pan and into my mouth, even going as far as sucking on the pan if I have to. Yum! : ) : )
No matter what you make, a good rule of thumb is that if it is sticky and touches the pan it is like brushing on glue so either grease it very well or get it out of the pan quickly.
-Jill
photos by: toomanythoughts and technodad
I don’t know how good this works; but on Rachael Ray today she said if your turkey is dry, leave it sit in chicken broth for a little bit and people will be going on and on about how juicy your turkey is.
I place my turkey breast side down in a turkey bag. That way it self bastes the breast. No more dry turkey. I have down this for a couple years now, and the turkey is moist and tender every time.
I too thought to clean my fridge. Well that led to me pulling out the fridge to clean the floor under it. Well that lead to the copper pipe that brings water to the icemaker. As I was pulling it out I heard a whisteling sound followed by an explosion of water. Please be careful if you move your fridge, the movement cause the pipe to crack open. I did not know this, but they now make a flexable tubing, like a garden hose type to use instead of copper piping. Know where water shut off valves are!!!!!! haha Happy Thanksgiving, God Bless. Julie
An old chefs trick to save over cooked or dry meat is to melt a fairly large quantity of butter—don’t know if marg will work for this as I don’t use it—and soak the meat in the melted butter for as long as you can then drain. You can re-use any butter in dishes like veggies or for browning meat etc. You can place this in the oven on LOW to hold so things don’t get chilled while getting the rest of dinner on the table.
To save an over salty soup add a few potatoes and remove—they don’t have to cook thru if you don’t want them to–or cook and mash or save them for home fries etc.
For soup that is not salty enough and lacks flavor add a few bouillion cubes—yes your Granma did it and didn’t tell anyone!!!! Tamari soy sauce works well for this too.
For amazing turkey or chicken soup add whatever leftover stuffing you have. Let it cook in there and if you want you can strain. If I don’t have any leftover stuffing (and I try to make enough so I DO have some for this-can be baked in a casserole dish at any time so it is not taking up the oven room)—use the stuff you like straight from the bag and just pour in to the stock pot. Add some celery, parsley, an onion (browned or not up to you) some carrots and some black pepper and you will have the best soup ever!!!! I also make and save the GRAVY to add when the soup is just about done. I would almost rather have the soup than the bird itself! And Matzo balls in turkey soup is wonderful! Much richer than chicken.
A dash of good soy sauce—TAMARI kind—will improve most soups and gravy. And almost anything else!
A good fast use of leftovers:
1 pkg linguine or fettucine or soba noodles –cook al dente
Chop in slivers:
Left over chicken or roast pork
1 bunch scallions sliced thin in coins –white and green
5-6 garlic cloves chopped very fine (processer is fine)
2 Tablespoons HONEY
1/8 cup TAMARI
Black pepper
DRain noodles well. Hold in strainer while you heat a few Tbls cooking oil in pasta pot (need a deep pot) and add in the garlic, scallions and meat; stir fry until heated and just getting brown on edges. Stir together the Tamari and honey and add pepper, toss noodles back in pot, add sauce, mix all together GENTLY and serve.
This will vanish if not watched and people late to the table will be mad.
Can be garnished with other veggies or what have you and also a drizzle of duck sauce and hot mustard (Chinese type) will not make anyone unhappy either.
Judith WOW thank you so much for the great ideas ! I never would have thought to add honey though. I can’t wait to try these.
One year my grandma was having a problem with her gravy being lumpy. I used a wisk and saved the day also if gravy is a little to runny place back on heat while wisking for a couple of minutes should thicken up.
Another way to keep gravy from bring lumpy is to mix the thickening agent in cold liquid first and then whisk into the hot gravy.
One year for a party at my parents house my sisters and I planned a turkey dinner.
The dressing was so dry and crispy since we had left it to stay warm in the oven (too hot)
A friend of my dad’s came in a bit early and he is a chef. He saw the dressing and said he would save the day. Great what more could we ask.
He picked up the pan it was in walked to the garbage can outside and dumped it in.
He then made a stove top stuffing which saved the day. He said if it was for family you could cover the mess with gravy but for company a new start was best.
He still laughs about rescuing us 37 years later.
Well, some things just can’t be saved. My worst disaster happened while taking my much asked for “Aunt Margaret’s spinach casserole” to Thanksgiving dinner in a corningware casserole. It was sitting on the floor of our van, and my husband stopped at a red light a little too fast, and that casserole dish slid forward under everyone’s feet and smacked into the front console. We looked and the lid had become glass slivers all over the top of the spinach. We had to throw it away of course, and everyone still talks about the year that we didn’t have the spinach casserole. So even if you’re running late, a little time packing the dishes carefully is well-spent, or have your children, if they are old enough, hold dishes if you aren’t traveling too far.
I feel you pain Margaret. I have had messes like that too and that is literally what they are big messes. : ) For those of you when transporting things here is a couple of things you can do to help. Like Margaret said when possible have some one hold the dish but if you can’t I set my dish (hot or cold) in the center of a large flour sack towel and bring up the 2 opposite corners and tie, then bring up the other 2 corners and tie.
This helps keep the lid from moving, if it is hot the knot you made on the top gives you a handle to help hold it by – if it is very hot you can place a hot pan holder in the center of the towel before setting the dish down. The towel it is wrapped in helps soak up some of the spills if you have some. It also helps keep it warm.
I have done this for years but my all time favorite now is to wrap it in the towel then set it all inside a cardboard box that is deeper then the dish. The boxes don’t seem to slide as much plus they absorb the spills real good, the cardboard insulates it, and it helps when carrying a hot dish.
I recommend placing hot dishes in cardboard boxes and placing them on the floor where they will least likely be stepped on. The passender side sounds most safe, because I think the kids might be squirming around the back seat. That way if any spills over no one is burned. I can only imagine travling 200 miles with a burned child and nothing being open for the holidays!
Remember, we in the U.S. are probably overfed and regardless people will have their “tater holes” filled. Don’t sweat small disasters. If anyone complains, consider editing your guest list for next year. One Thanksgiving my mom made a doggie plate of everyone’s leftovers. A family friend came over and enjoyed it immensely!
My favorite story was the one listed here about leaving the turkey on top of the fridge and not cooking/serving it and no one noticed or commented. That was a great party of the right guests!
I have these wonderful aluminum rings that I put on top of my pies before they are baked. If you do not have these, take long, thin strips of aluminum foil and form them around the edges of your pie crust before baking. This will keep the crusts pretty and edible.
Yes the rings do work nicely Heidi. Another thing which helps with the crust for fruit pies is I mix the filling all up then put it in the microwave for 2 – 3 minutes and get it bubbly hot before pouring it into the pie crust. This helps cut down the baking time and helps with the crust getting to brown before the pie is completely cooked. I do like the foil and rings too.
Another hint for transporting is to wrap dishes in newspaper; insulating and disposable. Also, even if you don’t cook something in your crockpot, you can often transfer it and transport it in one. Especially nice if you have a crockpot that has a locking lid.
One year someone decided to ‘help’ with the gravy and added salt without tasting when it had already been seasoned. It was way too much. I cut up a huge potato and left it in there until it cooked. It soaked up all of the extra salt and the gravy was perfect. It saved the day. Ever since then I always have extra potatoes and a few back up jars of gravy for an emergency. I haven’t needed to use it as back up yet, but that’s fine because later I can get sliced turkey and use the gravy in open faced sandwiches for a fast and easy last minute dinner!!!
Yesterday, I found out that lining muffin pans for pastry tarts could be done a lot quicker, easier and with no waste. For years I have rolled out dough, cut it, and lifted it, to then line the muffin pans. Yesterday, my dough wasn’t working right, and barely into the project, I was ready to give up. I had a commitment to make butter tarts for a fund raiser for a Christian youth center. I believe the Lord gave me the idea to just pinch off large marble sized balls of dough, and simply press the dough into the sides and bottoms of the muffin cups, the same way you would press out a graham wafer pie crust. Pastry dough is high in fat, which makes it quite sticky and pliable. My pastry recipe is the same one posted on this site a week or two ago. It took half the time and effort of roll and cutting the dough. There was also no waste from scraps that have dried out from being rolled up too often. I filled and baked the tarts as usual, and they came out of the tins even easier than my roll and cut method. Allow the tarts to cool slightly, and then remove with a thin metal spatula (like the ones you ice a cake with). You have to work gently and carefully with hot tarts, but they all came out easily, even the ones made in my old regular (NOT non-stick) pans. The non-stick pans were a breeze. I don’t know if other people have always done this, and I am just late to the party, or if I have just discovered a great short-cut. I am in my fifties and have been baking since I got married at age 16. This has changed my life and the dreaded chore of making tarts. The part I hated has been taken care of.
Great idea Mary Jane. I have cooked for years but still keep learning “why didn’t I think of that sooner” things. Thanks
Years ago my oven was broken during Thanksgiving :~{ I placed my turkey upside down in a cooking bag and placed the cooking bag into my (large) crockpot {breast-side down}, tie the bag, place the lid on, towel over lid {to keep lid in place}, cook overnight… ENJOY!!!! Moist tender turkey and little clean-up!!!