Wednesday, November 10

Dinner for two: Tips help pare down turkey

The Tennessean

You have a favorite Thanksgiving recipe that feeds a crowd, but you need it to serve only two. No problem. Many recipes can be cut down with attention to a few details. Here are some tips:

• Smaller cuts of turkey take less time to cook, so follow the package directions for the shorter time. Be sure to check the internal temperature, which should be 180 degrees, with a thermometer. The instant-read thermometer is especially handy for this task.

• The fewer prepared foods you use, the easier it is to adjust the portions and not have half-used cans or boxes of things.

• When cutting back on a recipe for vegetables it is easier to use fresh vegetables. Figure one-fourth to one-third pound per person.

• The tricky part comes when measuring the seasonings. Most can be reduced by at least half, maybe more. Keep in mind that you usually can add more, but you can't take away.

• When it comes to items such as homemade cranberry sauce, you can cut the recipe in half and freeze the remaining whole cranberries or you can make the whole recipe and use the remainder to top cheesecakes, spread on morning biscuits or even to add zip to salad dressings or homemade fruit smoothies.