WASHINGTON — Carving the turkey is one of the most important— though sometimes daunting — Thanksgiving dinner tasks. Luckily, Brian Baer with Amphora Catering…
This turkey was rubbed down with a compound of rosemary, garlic time and whole butter, which Chef Brian Baer with Amphora Catering of Herndon, Va., says gives it a golden brown skin and keeps the inside moist.
(WTOP/Tiffany Arnold)
WTOP/Tiffany Arnold
Chef Brian Baer with Amphora Catering in Herndon, Va., demonstrates how to carve a turkey inside the WTOP newsroom in D.C. on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015.
(WTOP/Tiffany Arnold)
WTOP/Tiffany Arnold
Chef Brian Baer with Amphora Catering of Herndon, Va., says wet brines can make the gravy salty when you use a stock after preparing a turkey. He suggests using a wet and dry brine combination, which was used on this bird.
(WTOP/Tiffany Arnold)
WTOP/Tiffany Arnold
Consider leaving out the marshmallows when you make your sweet potatoes so that people can taste the integrity of the vegetables, Chef Brian Baer with Amphora Catering of Herndon, Va., suggests.
(WTOP/Tiffany Arnold)
WTOP/Tiffany Arnold
This acorn squash dish is good vegan option for Thanksgiving. This dish is stuffed with millet, a cereal grain similar to quinoa.
(WTOP/Tiffany Arnold)
WTOP/Tiffany Arnold
Chef Brian Baer with Amphora Catering of Herndon, Va., created two types of stuffing for this spread — one with apple sausage and another with chestnut stuffing.
(WTOP/Tiffany Arnold)
WASHINGTON — Carving the turkey is one of the most important— though sometimes daunting — Thanksgiving dinner tasks.
Luckily, Brian Baer with Amphora Catering in Herndon, Virginia gives us a first-hand look at how to properly carve a turkey and salvage all of its goodness.
Baer says it’s quite simple, if you know a few tricks of the trade.
Carve one side of the turkey completely before moving to the other side.
Make a slit along the breastbone, guiding the knife against the bone from head to tail.
Slice all the way down and peel away the breast.
Bend the leg bone up, turn slightly and slice between the joint.
Slice around the wing, keeping it intact, pull the wing off.
To brown the skin, Baer rubs down the turkey with a compound butter that includes rosemary, garlic, thyme and whole butter.
Baer also prefers to cook roasted sweet potatoes instead of marshmallow sweet potatoes. Canned cranberry sauce? Nope. Amphora’s homemade cranberry sauce is made with blanched cranberries, oranges and sugar.
His favorite vegan and vegetarian options for Thanksgiving are acorn squash and tempeh that is basted in rosemary and thyme.
Amphora Catering will also be offering two types of stuffing this year: apple sausage and chestnut.
Friday is the last day for Amphora’s early-bird special.
