Getting Ready For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and many of us are already in the middle of planning a big feast. You have to have a turkey and the number of side dishes can seem overwhelming, but don’t despair. In all of this food lies a great opportunity to mix in your favorite ingredient: beer.

Most important for any Thanksgiving feast is the turkey. Personally, I love roasting a turkey and wish there was more reason to do so. The addition of beer to this recipe is very easy but can result in intense flavor, and hopefully compliments for the chef.

With a traditionally brined and seasoned bird, 3 bottles of Märzen is all you need. Crack the first bottle and pour it in a glass. You’re cooking a big meal and as Charlie Papazian says, have a beer and relax. The second bottle should go directly into the roasting pan along with an equal amount chicken stock. At this point, continue to baste and roast your turkey as you normally would.

The last bottle will be used once the turkey is done. Use this bottle to deglaze the roasting pan and use as the basis for your gravy. If you need more liquid, add chicken stock to finish the job. Be careful, the choice of beer will become apparent in this step as anything too heavily hopped will come through in the gravy. For those looking for more hop flavor, feel free to add more beer instead of chicken stock to deglaze the pan. As I mentioned before, be careful, as once it’s in, you can’t take it out.

Now that you have your turkey and gravy, you’ll need the stuffing. Again, the implementation of the beer is simply a case of replacing chicken stock (or whichever liquid your recipe calls for) with beer. The beer you choose can be anything you like, as long as it compliments the dish. As mentioned before with the turkey, a Märzen would be a good choice with a traditional turkey, but feel free to experiment. Smoked beers, chile ales, unhopped beers, all can add to the flavor profile of the stuffing and play against the flavors of the turkey.

You’re probably wondering at this point, where’s a recipe? The recipe I will direct you to will be the one I plan on attempting this Thanksgiving for my family: Roasted Garlic IPA Mashed Potatoes. This recipe is courtesy of my Sonoma County neighbor the Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton. Not only does his recipe for Roasted Garlic IPA Mashed Potatoes make my mouth water, it also made the Saveur.com Best of the Web.

As far as what beers to bring to the table, I realize we’re all beer geeks, but for the most part, we’re dining with others who aren’t. Think of beers that will compliment a pile of food on a plate and not necessarily the individual dishes. Again, reach for the Märzen, maybe a brown ale or the festive pumpkin ale. Save a few special bottles to highlight the meal, but a box full of beers we’d all be thankful may be a bit intimidating to the group in general. Even worse, you may open all of those bottles and find them half full at the end of the night with no one capable of drinking them. One or two show stoppers will act as a perfect dessert as every contemplates a little cat nap on the couch.

With the heart of your meal set, it’s time for you (and me) to rely on the help of others to turn a dinner into a feast. As with any Thanksgiving, I’d like to hear what everyone else has to bring to the table. Please, contribute your holiday recipes and let’s help other make a beer-themed feast like no other.

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