A Few Thanksgiving Prep Tips from Melissa d'Arabian, host of Food Network's 10 Dollar Dinners

One of the Food Network stars I most relate to is Melissa d'Arabian, host of the 10 Dollar Dinner Show. Although I always get some great budget saving tips from watching her show, that's not why I'm a fan. I love that her husband is French, and the fact that her exposure to European cooking shines through in her easy, yet sophisticated recipes. I'm also inspired by the fact that she has 4 daughters, and a successful cooking show in its second season.



I participated in a group conference call with Melissa yesterday to talk turkey and share strategies for Thanksgiving Dinner. I walked away with some useful tips and an even greater appreciation for this easy-going, energetic, and very intelligent foodie mom.



Melissa's has two Thanksgiving-themed airing this weekend on the Food Network: her regular Ten Dollar Dinner show and a special Dear Food Network show where she and other Food Network stars will answer viewer Thanksgiving questions.



Here are a few of the tips Melissa shared in answer to our questions.

Stay in Touch with your Pantry: The most expensive ingredient in your pantry is the one you throw away. You should always scan your pantry before you begin cooking to use up anything close to going bad. Pantry management is an important part of the cooking process.
Loss Leaders: Melissa's MBA shone through in her explanation of the deep discounts some supermarkets give on turkey, cranberries, stuffing, and canned pumpkin in November. They discount these items so deeply that they often take a loss on selling them, all to get the customers in the store. Paying attention to prices and taking advantage of loss leaders before Thanksgiving and Christmas is a great way to keep costs down.
Serve a Signature Drink: Keep your alcohol costs down and the festivity up by serving a signature cocktail to your guests. Make up a pitcher of cranberry mojitos and serve them to everyone. You can make an infused simple syrup by combining equal parts of water and sugar and flavoring it with orange zest, lemon zest, cinnamon, or vanilla beans. It's a great way to make fun, seasonal drinks and keep costs down.
Stuffing is the Highlight: Stuffing is the most important dish on Melissa's Thanksgiving table. It's still a novelty to her French husband, and a must have at Thanksgiving. Melissa doesn't stuff her bird however because she thinks it dries the turkey out. Instead, she makes it on the stovetop and mixes it with plenty of turkey pan juices for moistness and flavor.
Leftover Management: Our palates can only handle so much of one flavor profile at a time. When you have leftover meat, divide it in half. Then cut half into little pieces to be frozen and re-used in sautes or pastas. This is great for turkey and ham leftovers.
Just to get our taste buds re-engaged after a couple of days of Thanksgiving turkey, Melissa shared her recipe for Cranberry Salsa.



Cranberry Salsa

Recipes courtesy Melissa d'Arabian

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canned whole cranberry sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped

1/2 white onion coarsely chopped, covered and microwaved for 1 minute

1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

1/2 cup Mexican-flavored canned tomatoes, drained and chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper



Place the cranberry sauce, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, onion, red pepper, green pepper, tomatoes, and salt, and pepper, to taste in a food processor and pulse until blended, but still chunky. 
Serve with Turkey Taquitos. Or delightfully plain and salty tortilla chips.