Perfect Feast’s Main Course: Togetherness

When first married, I tried to plan the perfect Thanksgiving dinner, with roast duck. Wrong. I discovered my bride was resolutely devoted to the turkey as the holiday bird.

I’m still searching for the perfect Thanksgiving feast. So I sought help this year from the experts. (Warning: The rest of this column may make you hungry.)

I began with Bill Barber, program coordinator for culinary arts at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Consider his offering for today if you haven’t lit your oven yet:

Smoked turkey on the revolving spit on your backyard barbecue. But do it right, said Barber--indirect heat (coals to the outside, not directly under the bird) and plenty of wood chips to add flavor. Chips usually come in cherry, hickory, mesquite or alder. (Alder gives the turkey a milder taste, mesquite a smokier tang.)

Also, he cautioned, keep the heat low enough that you’re cooking 20 minutes per pound, instead of the usual 12 to 15.

“It’s great if you have guests who are willing to try something different,” Barber said.

Zov Karamardian, who owns Zov’s Bistro in Tustin, suggested an almost fat-free Thanksgiving dinner--no butter on anything, and no regular stuffing. She stuffs her tom with leeks, mushrooms, jasmine and smoked rice; it gives the turkey a lighter taste.

But her big kicker: Smother the turkey on your plate with apple gravy. That’s grated apples mixed into your regular gravy.

“It cuts the greasiness and gives you a crunch you’ll love,” she said.

But if your tradition demands traditional stuffing, chef Roberto Delarosa of the Cannery in Newport Beach suggested you add a new twist: “Mix your stuffing with chunks of pineapple, oranges and raisins. Everyone loves it when I fix it that way.”

You want the perfect turkey? Sorry, said chef Florent Marneau at Pinot Provence at the South Coast Westin in Costa Mesa, by nature that’s just not possible. Unless you follow his suggestion: Remove the legs and roast them separately.

“Otherwise,” he said, “by the time you get the legs properly done, the breast is already overcooked. Take the legs off and cook them longer if you want perfect timing.”

Pascal Olhat, whose Newport Beach French restaurant, Pascal’s, got the highest “top food” rating in this year’s national Zagat survey, offered planning advice:

“Too often, friends come over and they all bring a dish, but you wind up with too much mix of flavors,” he said. “The best Thanksgiving dinners have a theme, and everybody brings a dish that will make a good marriage of food.”

His example: French and Mexican are great by themselves, but aren’t compatible on Thanksgiving.

The idea that got me hungriest came from Franco Barone of Antonello’s at South Coast Plaza Village in Santa Ana. Stuff your bird of choice with this mix: rice, hard-boiled eggs, onions, shaved almonds, roasted chestnuts and walnuts, making it moist with broth from the meat.

Our worst Thanksgiving mistake?

“Overeating,” said Karamardian. “On Thanksgiving, we give ourselves the right to eat ourselves to death. All the more reason for a fat-free dinner.”

Whatever you do, don’t follow the lead of the chef in the movie “The Accidental Tourist,” who believed cooking the turkey at 140 degrees would make for a better-tasting bird.

Now here is my vote for the best tip yet, which comes from Olhat of Pascal’s. His holiday recipe is very simple:

“The perfect Thanksgiving dinner, just being together. I wish Thanksgiving would come more than once a year. Because it’s the one time when we truly join as family over the dinner table and spend time caring about each other.”

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by e-mail at jerry.hicks@latimes.com