With the Thanksgiving Holiday just a week away, Paula Kraft, founder and President of Atlanta, GA-based Tastefully Yours Catering, offers some Turkey-based inflight catering ideas . . .
Turkey Season has officially arrived

And yes, there was a real turkey at the heart of the meal - bones and all. I wish I could say that I prepared it, but honestly I must admit it was purchased.

I was driving past one of my favorite spots to eat; a place that serves less than fancy food, full of fat and calories. (You all have one of those spots you sneak away to on occasion I'm sure). It looks as if it went out of business years ago. A 'hole in the wall' place without much care taken to make it look welcoming; a place where none of us would go for a special occasion. I'm sure you'd die of horror if you saw my hole in the wall place. It's an old 'mom and pop' style cafeteria where “mom” makes everything - and makes it with love (plus added fat, salt and calories galore!).

I've been going there for years - whenever I've wanted what I know I shouldn’t really have. The same people are still working the line and serving patrons as they did 20 years ago.

So, I'm driving by and I see the sign on the street saying 'Fresh Turkey and Stuffin’ Tonight'. The urge to turn around and go back just for their cornbread stuffin’ was out of my control. It has been chilly and rainy here in Atlanta the last couple of weeks and I needed some comfort food. I was feeling low. I still had hours of work ahead of me in the kitchen at Tastefully Yours and late orders to fill for the nights deliveries. I made a U-turn and doubled back 3 blocks. I don’t know what got into me - I couldn’t fight the urge. I decided I'd treat myself . . . and I did.

As I walked the cafeteria line, I was searching for the stuffin’ and gravy - gravy that had all the tidbits of turkey pieces mixed in it, thick rich and made from the pan juices. I must admit my heart skipped a beat when I saw that gorgeous roasted bird sitting on the cutting board and that pan of gravy next to it. I saw Martha’s homemade cranberry sauce with fresh orange bits mixed in and her southern pole beans (they're big flat green beans cooked in bacon until they almost fall apart). I

should've asked for a small portion, but sorry to say, I told Sam the server to just pile it on! And I wonder why I can’t seem to take off this weight! My mouth was watering, I couldn’t wait. I opened a folding chair and slid it to the counter as Sam ran over a fork for me to DIVE IN!!! That bite, that first bite of the season was memorable.

I try to save special foods for their seasons and enjoy them when they're at their peak. It is turkey season. I have a neighbor who goes out to hunt for their Thanksgiving turkey. But not me - a fresh one from the market will do. The stuffin’ is the secret . A touch of salt inside the bird's empty cavity, then filled with a mixture of old dry bread and a pan of broken cornbread; a touch of sage, poultry seasoning and cooked celery ribs; chopped onions to wet the bread along with a bit of butter (maybe a pound or so to leak out and help those dripping along) and you have achieved perfection!

It's not just the turkey, it's all the things to come from the leftovers

The casseroles, the sandwiches, the hash, and finally soup when all that's left is the carcass.

We all have a special way we prepare a turkey. Many of you might enjoy it year round. A dear friend of mine in Switzerland wraps hers in bacon before baking. I can’t imagine the flavor, but, I've been told it's delicious.

And then there are the leftovers . . . and sandwiches. We make a turkey sandwich at Tastefully Yours called a Tom Turkey sandwich which was always made in my family the day after the turkey was cooked and the extra stuffing pulled from the bird. It was old-fashioned white bread, usually homemade, smeared with a bit of mayonnaise, then sliced turkey, salt and pepper, a good dollop of cranberry relish, then a slice of the stuffing, and another bread slice smeared with more mayonnaise. Friends of mine add lettuce and tomato, but not me. Some change the bread, but, I personally like the bread to get a bit soggy with all the fillings, some make it layers upon layers. No matter how it is prepared, hot or cold, it's worth the wait.

Others may take the leftovers and make a casserole or turkey hash where everything ends up in the same pan and is heated through before pouring on the gravy. Turkey pot pie in individual casseroles are great cold weather additions to any aircraft lunch or dinner flight. I prefer to make individual casseroles so that they can be heated as needed. Remember, only one reheat is acceptable if you are following food safety guidelines. Casseroles hold their heat well once heated, send an alluring aroma through the cabin to entice passengers and crew to eat and enjoy, but also must be heated to the center and the temperature checked with a thermometer.

Turkey Tamale pie and other casseroles filled with hearty vegetables can be comforting and filling. They have moisture which is key to a good finished meal for the aircraft.

Try a Turkey Tetrazzini or Turkey Bolognese

Turkey hash can easily be prepared on board. Order the hash from your catering source along with a couple fresh eggs per person.  When the dish is almost completely heated through, crack the eggs on top and you can enjoy the warm yolk stirred through the hash cooking it in the process. And not to mention what a fresh presentation.

Soups and Gumbo, chowders and stews made from turkey can be made much healthier than my adventure of the car turning around to pile on the gravy and stuffin’. A turkey gumbo, soup with a spoon full of mashed potato or sweet potatoes in the center will prevent the soup from splashing as you carry it from the galley to the lucky recipients.

Add regional spices and vegetables to change the flavor to be what you like best, add black beans and cilantro and you have a southwestern turkey soup, rosemary and lemon or Irish with the addition of potatoes.

Make an English Shepherd’s pie by using turkey instead of beef, again try individual casseroles for serving and portion control. No one will say “pile it on” as I did.  Or think outside the box for a long flight and have your catering source remove the turkey breast before cooking from the bone, and roll it with a stuffing made of bread, dates and figs, then roll and tie up the breast meat for you to cook on board that long haul flight. It will take about an hour and half.

Be sure to remember all the food safety rules when dealing with raw poultry, keep it away from cooked and other prepared foods, on the lowest shelf of your chiller drawer, make sure that it is sealed in a cooking bag so it doesn’t have to be handled on board until it is fully cooked and be sure heat to the correct internal temperature of 165 F. Now I take my turkey out at 155 F and allow it to rest before cutting. As the turkey rests while you gather the other meal components, the meat will rise to the desired temperature of 165 F

Enjoy turkey season I have enough leftovers for 2 or 3 meals. Maybe I'll have some for breakfast!

About Paula Kraft . . .

Paula Kraft is the founding partner of the DaVinci Inflight Training Institute located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the founder/president of Tastefully Yours Catering, an aviation specific caterer, located in Atlanta, Georgia for over 35 years.

Paula is active with many aviation and catering-related groups including the International Caterers Association, the International Inflight Food Service Association and is a board member of Women in Corporate Aviation. She is the past chair of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee Caterer’s Working Group for 15 years perfecting unique catering training sessions for NBAA conferences and events. Currently, she serves on the NBAA Flight Attendant Advisory Committee and is a member of the Training and Safety Subcommittee. Paula was a founding member of the Steering committee for the creation of a European Flight Attendant Committee and conference and serves as a subject matter expert to the board of International Standard for Business Aircraft Handlers (IS-BAH).

After founding Tastefully Yours Catering, she has been offering culinary and food safety related training to the general aviation community. With a strong dedication to improving catering safety, risk mitigation and safe food handling, she developed and introduced the concept of “catering safety management systems”. As a certified food safety instructor, Paula offers catering SMS and culinary classes for all aviation professionals. Paula’s first-hand experience, business acumen, research, and relationships make her an industry expert - one which allows her to share information that will help raise the professional training level for flight attendants today that will reduce the risk of food-related concerns tomorrow.

From Paula . . .

I have coordinated training programs and clinics for NBAA and EBAA conference attendees for over 10 years, created mentoring programs for caterers and flight attendants to broaden their aviation culinary skills, and to assist them in adapting to the unique challenges and constraints found in catering for general aviation. I recognize the need for training and have worked closely with flight departments, flight crews, schedulers and customer service reps at the FBOs to ensure that catering specific training provides information and skills necessary to reduce risk while assisting them in their job duties that include safe food handling, catering security, accurate transmission of food orders, and safe food production, packaging and delivery.

I fell into aviation catering quite by accident. I was the in-house caterer and bakery supplier for Macy’s department stores in Atlanta when catering was ordered for a Macy’s customer which was soon to change my life. After the client enjoyed the catering provided, I was summoned to the client’s corporate office to provide several of the items delivered through Macy’s to the executive dining room. Within a week, I was providing food for the flight department and my first order was for the President of a foreign country (as I was too be told soon after).

So, here I am, some 35 years later, still loving every minute of every day in aviation catering.

©BlueSky Business Aviation News | 16th November 2017 | Issue #439

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