A Bachelor's Guide to Holiday Cooking

Woo Her With A Holiday Meal

From Christmas through New Year's Eve, there are so many chances to feast that at a certain point you have to stop being a guest and host a dinner yourself.

Holiday cooking demystified

Before you take out the apron, one must acknowledge that baking a chicken or turkey is no small feat -- until now that is. AskMen has realised that conventional turkey cooking is a thing of the past and absolutely not for today's man.

Every time we hear others talk about turkeys, they all put down some instruction as to how to pull it off but never address the ultimate challenge of the Big Bird: Too dry? Overcooked? Exactly.

Don't dry out the bird

The biggest problem is that everyone assumes that the bird must be presented in one piece. While we'll be the first to agree that presentation is a huge part of the culinary science -- we'd would also add that what any chef is concerned with is what people say after they eat, and not before.

Turkeys have always presented the challenge that the breasts must not be overcooked, since they will get dry, stiff and essentially crappy, whereas the legs have to be cooked until they practically melt in your mouth. It is for this reason that the bird cannot and should not be left in one piece. Sacrilegious? Perhaps. But who cares, your guests will be delighted.

Hunt for the ultimate fowl

When looking for a bird, assuming you will serve six people, get a 10-pound organically raised fresh bird (fresh as in "not frozen," lads). The trick here is to ask your friendly butcher to cut the turkey's breasts.

Now, the butcher might know your mum as she visited him often (get your mind out of the gutter), but seeing how this just might be your first visit, be prepared to leave him the change in order to persuade him to go this extra mile.

Anyhow, the advantage of separating the bird is that each portion of the fowl will get cooked to perfection.

Don't get stuffed just yet -- find out what to do with the bird...