The Food Fanatic’s Shopping Guide

HOW TO…

 

How to . . .Wow Those Last-Minute Guests
No need to agonize over intricately wrought appetizers, says Michael Leviton of Persephone and Lumière. All you need is a classic smoked fish tray,
gussied up with capers, shaved red onion, lemon wedges, and a sieved hard-boiled egg, with brown bread on the side.

How to . . . Get the Crispiest Turkey Skin
According to Beacon Hill Bistro’s Jason Bond, it takes more than a perfectly calibrated oven and a judicious sprinkle of salt to turn out reliably crisp-skinned roasted birds. “Every chef’s secret is goose fat or duck fat,” says the chef. “They use it in everything. I rub the skins of my chickens and turkeys in duck fat. It gives you really great crispy skin.” Bond renders the fat himself, but a good butcher, like Savenor’s or John Dewar, may offer it for sale by the pound.

How to . . . Cook a Picture-Perfect Rib Roast
The hallmark of a perfectly roasted prime rib is its crusty, flavorful exterior. Gaslight chef Chris Robins gives the crust a boost with a simple yet potent homemade paste. A blend of sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, olive oil, garlic, and powder made from dried porcini mushrooms—applied 24 hours before roasting—creates a rich, savory crust that the oven’s heat alone could never muster. See recipe.

How to . . . Jump-Start a Pie Crust
Even made-from-scratch pie crusts start out in the freezer, say Sofra Bakery’s Maura Kilpatrick and Sarah Gabriel. The pastry chefs cube and freeze their butter before using it to make pie dough, resulting in a flakier crust that isn’t greasy.

How to . . . Keep Mashed Potatoes Silky
Mashed potatoes are notoriously hard to make ahead without drying out or becoming pasty, thanks to the tendency of a tuber’s starches to turn to glue. Garden at the Cellar chef Will Gilson tackles the problem by holding them in a double boiler over gently simmering water or in a Crock-Pot set to low, which keeps them silky-as-new for up to three hours.

MAKE THIS…

Make This: Mignonette
An oyster’s subtle flavor profile can become overwhelmed by a ketchupy, horseradish-laden cocktail sauce. Troquet chef Scott Hebert recommends instead a mignonette, a vinegary shallot sauce, which pairs brightly with the briny shellfish. See recipe.

Make This: Turkey Brine
The white meat in a roast turkey has the famous and unfortunate tendency to dry out to sawdust by the time the slower-cooking dark meat reaches the ideal temperature. Soaking the bird in a salty brine is an age-old chef’s trick designed to keep moisture from escaping (similar to the way humans swell up after bingeing on salty food). Grill 23 chef Jay Murray uses the turkey’s eight-hour soak to infuse the bird with additional flavors as well, including herbs, garlic, and fruit. See recipe.

Make This: Sweet Potato Casserole
Most sweet potato casseroles are mushy affairs whose only discernible flavor is sugar. But you can upgrade this holiday classic by upping the salt-to-sweet ratio of the potato mixture, topping it with spiced marshmallows from local fave Tiny Trapeze Confections, and sprinkling the whole business with pecans for a contrasting crunch. See recipe.

Make This: Chocolate Tart with Red Wine Syrup
We asked Mistral pastry chef Shane Gray for a super-easy chocolate dessert for the holidays, and he offered this luscious chocolate treat, dressed up with a red wine syrup. It’s fast, too: Simmer the wine while you make the tart, and you’ll have the whole thing done in under 40 minutes. See recipe.