Claire Saffitz Quotes

That's the ultimate goal of most turkey recipes: to create a great skin and stuffing to hide the fact that turkey meat, in its cooked state, is dry and flavorless. Does it have to be that way? No. We just have to focus on what the turkey is and what the turkey needs.

If you salt a chicken the day before cooking, it starts to break down the cell structure of the meat and allows it to take on more flavor and actually helps it to stay more moist. Same goes for a steak, a pork chop. A lot of people brine; we preseason.

For people who think of chicken as the meat choice of those-who-don't-really-like-meat, brining a bird will be a revelation.

I always buy the smaller turkeys. On the pre-baste put pats of butter on the meat under the skin, put the skin back on, put a bunch of seasoning on the top, call it a day, put it in the oven. With a 10 - 12 pound turkey you are done in a couple of hours.

My mother very rarely skipped a Thanksgiving turkey. And yet, none of them ever tasted quite the same, landing somewhere on a sliding scale of succulence. She'd try new methods.

Manage the heat, let the meat cook, and you'll get fantastic results.

A week before Thanksgiving, my mother bought the turkey, frozen. Then she froze it some more. Then she let it thaw and cleaned it - and I mean really cleaned it, because nobody wanted a 'dirty bird.' She salt-and-peppered the turkey, buttered, paprika-ed, and nominally stuffed it.

In order to have good fried chicken, you should wash and season the bird the morning you're preparing it for dinner. Don't wait and do it right before you start cooking. Throw it in the refrigerator, seasoned, that morning, and give it a chance to soak up all the salt and pepper and goodness.

The most important thing with turkey is to let it rest - most people don't let it rest long enough. It will get juicier the longer you let it rest.

I always pan-fry sprouts - it retains texture and enhances flavour.

I use the confit principle for chicken thighs. I season them with herbs and garlic, let them marinate, and then cook them in chicken fat.

The key to a good meal is simplicity and the right seasoning.

Marinating chicken in miso adds lots of character to the meat with little work.

Cooking turkey every year doesn't have to be monotonous - I want people to always mix it up using different spices and preparations.

Blanching the cloves removes the harsh and bitter bite of raw garlic.

Don't make a big to-do about the turkey; brine it, put it in the oven, and don't think about it again.

If you are working with high quality products, you can elevate the flavors more by cooking it at a low temperature than you can by searing it.

I love watching a single pork chop seasoned with garlic and shallots cook and see the fat bubble around it.

We don't yet call it 'Thxgvng,' because any holiday whose centerpiece sits in an oven for four to six hours, after having sat out for as long to reach room temperature, must be spelled all the way out. Cook a turkey. You'll see. This is to say that you're not just roasting a turkey, obviously.

I always have homemade chicken stock in the refrigerator. I'll reduce it, maybe add a little cream and a few shallots. Before you know it, eureka! It's the best.

It's all about technique. Rotisserie sounds simple, but to really do it the right way is important so you can get really great products and let them stand on their own.

The shape of the meat and the taste of it starting from the top down is a part of me. All of my feelings are coming from inside of the meat down to when I put the salt onto the meat.

At some point during every cooking class I teach, I do my signature move: dramatically add handful upon handful of salt to a large pot of boiling water, then taste it and add even more.

While a pot of boiling water may not offer the char or smoke of a grill, it does give the cook an advantage when it comes to seasoning food.

The ingredients of a hamburger seldom vary. It's a percentage of fat to lean meat, add salt and prepare and that's it. It shouldn't need a recipe.