Thanksgiving dinner is one of those meals
that requires some serious organization and advance planning, particularly if
you’re cooking for a crowd. I think it’s nice when you can get guests to bring
along something, whether it’s a side dish, pie or even a condiment. If you can
con someone into bringing the turkey then you’ve got
it made. Then you can
focus on all the other goodies and put together a smashing meal without sending
yourself to the nervous hospital. The more things you can prepare in advance,
the better, even if you have to freeze them. Freezing is not a dirty word, by
the way – it’s done ALL THE TIME in professional kitchens,
Though
I usually try to avoid eating bread during dinner, on Thanksgiving I throw my
sensible eating plan out the window and eat a little bit of everything. And
there’s nothing quite like a fluffy, warm roll spread with good butter to
complete a meal. Luckily, my copy of a new book, Della Fattoria Bread by Kathleen Weber, just
arrived. In it there’s
a recipe for a dinner roll that’s an ideal accompaniment to a grand feast. The
yeast dough is enriched with eggs and butter, and the rolls are topped with the
poppy, sesame or fennel seeds or dehydrated onions. I topped some of them with
Maldon sea salt, which ended up being my favorite. You can make these up to a
month ahead and freeze them – wrap them in foil and store them in a plastic
freezer bag. Defrost them at room temperature, and then warm them up in the
oven before dinner. I like to serve them with a good French butter, such as
Plugra.
