LCBO Food & Drink Autumn 2022

MAKING THE CUT

Perfect Platters What you need to know to present like a pro.

How to Carve a Whole Turkey or Chicken To carve a whole turkey or chicken, untie any string and discard, and remove any skewers. Spoon stuffing, if necessary, out of the cavities into a warmed serving bowl. Cover if keeping warm in the oven. Place the bird on a large cutting board with the neck furthest away from you. We used our Roast Turkey with Herb Stuffing & Gravy for this demonstration, recipe at lcbo.com/fdautumn22.

Just Meat Arrange slices of meat, overlapping them slightly, like shingles, along length of platter or in a circle. Leave edge of each slice visible so it’s easy to grasp and take a portion. For poultry, alternate light and dark meat across the platter so people can reach from either side of the dish. For a rib roast, if serving the bones, arrange the individually cut bones along one side of the platter, overlapping them, then shingle the meat slices alongside.

STEP 1 With a long, sharp carving or boning knife, make a cut along the right side of the breastbone down the centre of the bird, starting at the neck and working toward you and keeping the knife blade as close to the bone as possible.

STEP 2 Working along the breastbone as it curves down under the breast, carefully cut the meat away from the bone in one large piece. Set the large piece of breast meat aside. Repeat on the left side.

STEP 3 Cut legs from body by inserting the knife between the thigh joint and the body, and using the knife to cut the meat while slightly wiggling the leg to loosen at the joint. (A boning knife can be handy to cut at the joint.)

Meat and Vegetables When using a very large platter or multiple small platters, you can put a vegetable side dish on one side and the meat on the other. The vegetables act as garnish, and it saves having an extra platter on the table. Keep the meat and vegetables in separate sections so people don’t have to “fish” through one to get the other.

STEP 4 Cut the thigh from the drumstick at the joint. Arrange drumsticks on platter. Carve slices of meat from the thigh (for turkey, or leave whole for chicken) and arrange on platter alongside drumsticks.

STEP 5 Cut wings from the body, wiggling loose as you did for the legs and using the point of a knife to cut at the joint. Place on the platter.

STEP 6 Place the breast pieces with the skin side up and a long side facing you. Hold meat with a fork in your non-knife hand and use back and forth strokes with the knife to cut crosswise into slices. Add to the warmed platter, overlapping slices slightly with edges showing.

56 FOOD & DRINK AUTUMN 2022