It’s always a good idea to have a few tricks up your sleeve just in case things don’t go exactly the way you expect this Thanksgiving. Two of our favorite last-minute Thanksgiving tricks come from Christopher Kimball, the esteemed founder of America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country, as well as Milk Street Kitchen, his latest venture, a multimedia company that combines global cooking techniques with layers of flavor and fresh ingredients created for the home cook.
Great-Tasting Stock in a Pinch
Stock is an essential part of so many Thanksgiving recipes, including two all-stars: gravy and stuffing. Perfectionists will tell you to buy turkey backs, necks and wings and make your own broth from scratch a few days before Thanksgiving. Sometimes, though, life gets in the way and you need to turn to store-bought broth.
Here’s Mr. Kimball’s last-minute Thanksgiving hack to make a container of store-bought stock taste like homemade broth you spent hours simmering:
Piecrust That Won’t Shrink, Ever
Christopher Kimball spent decades perfecting this recipe for foolproof pie dough. He used techniques from Japanese bread-making to develop a crust that’s tender, easy to work with and—most importantly—won’t shrink on you, no matter what. Watch his video to learn what the secret ingredient is:
For more, head over to our Thanksgiving Cooking Essentials playlist on YouTube.
