Estero High School culinary program Chef Jasper shares Thanksgiving tips

Estero High School culinary freshmen Lindy Leblanc, right, and Kristen Lorenzo learn how to prepare the Thanksgiving basics from Chef Jeremy Jasper on Monday, Nov. 12, 2017.

Room 116 at Estero High School smelled like home cooking Monday morning.

The scent of seasoning and spices filled the air as students filtered into the classroom and took their seats around stainless steel kitchen tables.

“Today is Thanksgiving Day,” Chef Jeremy Jasper said to the 26 students in his 10:30 a.m. food preparation class. “I’m going to show you how you can impress your family this week by making the best turkey of your entire life.”

Over two days and five different class periods, Jasper, an Estero High School graduate and former Ritz-Carlton chef, demonstrated tips and tricks for Thanksgiving dinner to the more than 150 students in the Estero High School Culinary program, which they could take home to their families for the holiday weekend. 

Turkey

The Monday morning class started with turkey. But before cooking, Jasper said it’s important to properly thaw your Thanksgiving bird.

You’ve got two options, he said: Thaw it in your fridge for three or four days or put it in your sink with cool running water at 70 degrees or less.

Before the turkey makes it in the oven, it also helps to brine the bird. This keeps the turkey moist while it cooks, Jasper said.

Jasper told his students he uses a brine with instant lemonade mixture, which adds a citrus flavor to the turkey. Then, the high concentration of flavors moves inside the bird, which keeps the meat from drying out.

On two roasting pans, Jasper laid a bed of mirepoix, a mixture of onions, celery and carrots to serve as a flavorful base for the turkey. The mirepoix is a ratio of two parts onion, one part celery and one part carrot.

“You don’t want to put your turkey straight on the pan,” Jasper explained. “Anytime you roast something, do it on a bed of veggies like this. The liquid that is left at the end will have a lot of flavor.”

More: Where to eat Thanksgiving dinner at restaurants in Naples, Bonita and Fort Myers

Jasper separated the turkey, showing the students different parts of the bird from the thigh to the wings. He recommends separating the bird into pieces as opposed to putting the entire turkey into the oven.

“You know how on Thanksgiving or Christmas, when you’ve got turkey in the oven and your mom lets it go all day?” Jasper asked the class. “You’re not supposed to do that.”

Jasper said separating the turkey makes getting the bird to 165 degrees much easier.

And he doesn’t recommend putting stuffing inside the turkey.

“You have all that carcass on the inside,” he said. “The hardest part to get up to temperature is that dead center.”

The next step was seasoning. Jasper slathered each part of the turkey with his combination of Montreal chicken seasoning and a secret ingredient: mayonnaise.

“All that mayo, when it hits the heat is going to drip down into the vegetable mixture and give us all that flavor,” he said to the class.

The chef told his students not to dig in right away once the turkey is done roasting.

“We have to let them rest,” he said. “All the juices will go back where they came from.”

Mashed Potatoes

While the turkey cooled, the class moved on to the mashed potatoes.

Jasper told his culinary students to use Yukon Golds, a buttery potato that’s perfect for mashed potatoes.

Estero High School culinary junior Dat Nguyen stirs the potatoes during a demonstration on how to prepare the Thanksgiving basics from Chef Jeremy Jasper on Monday, Nov. 12, 2017.

Don’t boil your potatoes in water, Jasper told the students. Use items like chicken stock, half and half, heavy cream, or milk, which the culinary class used on Monday.

“Water is blah. It has no flavor. You want to kick it up a notch,” Jasper said.

Once the potatoes were cooked and tender, the chef and a few students put the Yukon Golds into a blender. They added cream cheese, butter and extra milk from what was used to cook the potatoes. Then the class added salt and pepper to taste.

“These are definitely not fat-free,” Jasper said.

More: Black Friday arrives early in Naples

Once the potatoes were prepared and the turkey was cool, Jasper removed a tray of stuffing from an oven in the classroom. It was time to feast.

After students served themselves with turkey, vegetables, potatoes and stuffing, they devoured the Thanksgiving meal that was prepared right in front of them. Many took plates wrapped in aluminum foil to their next class. 

The mashed potatoes were an overwhelming favorite. 

“The potatoes are amazing,” said Marissa LaFleur, an Estero High School junior. “They’re not bland at all, and I can’t believe he did it with milk.”

Sophomore Chloe Weaver said she was ready to share Jasper's advice.

“I’m definitely telling my mom about adding milk this weekend,” she said.

EXTRA TIPS FROM CHEF JASPER

  • Be safe and sanitary in the kitchen. Wipe down your counters. 
  • Keep hot foods hot and keep cold foods cold. 
  • Don't use pop-up turkey timers. Buy a thermometer and make sure the turkey is cooked to 165 degrees. 
  • Have leftovers? Try turkey sandwiches or throw items in a pot to make soup.

TURKEY BRINE RECIPE

Courtesy of Chef Jeremy Jasper, director of the Estero High School Culinary Program

  • 1 gallon of water
  • 1 cup of instant lemonade mix (such as Country Time)
  • ½ cup of salt
  • ¼ cup of brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of Montreal chicken seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon of cracked black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a bucket or container large enough to hold your turkey. Put the turkey in the brine mixture and make sure the turkey is covered in it. Refrigerate. Remove when you’re ready to roast.

Students in a culinary class at Estero High School learn how to prepare the Thanksgiving basics from Chef Jeremy Jasper on Monday, Nov. 12, 2017.
Students in a culinary class at Estero High School learn how to prepare the Thanksgiving basics from Chef Jeremy Jasper on Monday, Nov. 12, 2017.
Students in a culinary class at Estero High School learn how to prepare the Thanksgiving basics from Chef Jeremy Jasper on Monday, Nov. 12, 2017.