Holidays with Shoo for Good

Before founding Shoo for Good, I was a magazine editor. I landed my dream job in New York just as I finished journalism school at a start-up to be called Saveur. It would turn out to be everything I loved: food, travel, history, wine. 

I learned a lot at Saveur, not least of which were some really good recipes. I pull two of them out every Thanksgiving: Mama Lou’s Turkey and her Scalloped Oysters. They’re both so easy and so delicious. I thought I'd share.

The turkey cooks in a brown paper grocery bag (or a roasting bag, if you prefer). No brining, no searing, no changing the temperature half-way through.

Mama Lou’s Turkey

Preheat oven to 375*.

Season the turkey, inside and out, with salt, pepper, and paprika. Fill cavity with chopped onions, celery, and carrots.

Spread soft butter inside the paper bag and all over the outside of the turkey. Slip the bird into the bag, head-first. Pour chicken stock into the cavity, fold the bag closed, and cook until done. (About 2 ½ hours for a 10-pound bird.)

Let cool in the bag for about 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from the bag onto a carving board. Use the flavorful juices for your gravy.

Mama Lou’s Scalloped Oysters,

Not everyone around my table is a fan of this decadent dish, but I love it:

Pick a baking dish according to how much you want to make and butter it. Make layers in the dish: crushed saltines, topped with shucked oysters, and drizzled with melted butter. More crushed saltines, more oysters, more butter. Add a final layer of crushed saltines on top, dot with butter, then slowly add cream along the edges of the dish, moistening the filling. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350* oven, then brown under the broiler.

Mama Lou rounded out the menu with cornbread stuffing, a cranberry mold, and sweet potato pie, but here I stick to my family’s tradition of cubed-bread stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. If I didn’t, there would be protest.

Happy Thanksgiving!