When it comes to the holidays, consider dinner without reservations

The column usually focuses on dining out, but with Thanksgiving fast approaching and the fact that two major forces of the culinary world were kind enough to share some of their formidable wisdom with me while in town last week, today’s column addresses the home cook and kitchen.

American Public Television held its annual Fall Marketplace at Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa last week, attracting television professionals of all sorts as well as stars from APT’s top programs. Among those were Chris Kimball, of “America’s Test Kitchen from Cook’s Illustrated,” and Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, of “Lidia’s Italy.”

It’s hard to sum up the credentials of these multimedia culinary giants, but food devotees no doubt are well acquainted with both.

Mr. Kimball approaches cooking with a scientific zeal. He founded Cook’s, Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines as well as “American’s Test Kitchen,” the public TV show he’s hosted for eight years, and “Cook’s Country,” which debuted in September 2008. He has also authored cookbooks, runs a thriving Cook’s Illustrated Web site and appears regularly on “The Today Show” and “The CBS Early Show.”

COURTESY PHOTO Chris Kimball on the set of “America’s Tests kitchen from Cook’s Illustrate.” Ms. Bastianich presides over “Lidia’s Italy” on public television, owns six restaurants as well as interest in a winery. The recently published “Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy,” her sixth cookbook, explores the cuisine of 10 lesserknown regions. Her broad smile and passion for Italian fare has made her a favorite of everyone from the novice home cook to Pope Benedict XVI, for whom she prepared a meal.

COURTESY PHOTO Linda Bastianich on the set of “Lidia’s Italy.” Despite their hectic schedules, both are planning to cook Thanksgiving dinner for their families. Here are some tidbits of advice and insight from each.

Chris Kimball

FW: Where will you celebrate this year?

CK: Thanksgiving dinner is always at our farm in Vermont.

FW: When it comes to turkey, should it be organic and free range? Heritage? Kosher? Brined or not?

CK: Unless you buy a kosher bird or a Butterball, brine in 1 cup table salt to 2 gallons of water for six to eight hours. Cut the salt in half if you brine overnight. Use a large cooler with ice if it won’t fit in the refrigerator. Heritage birds don’t have much breast meat and the legs are huge. If the group likes white meat, a heritage probably isn’t the best choice.

FW: What can home cooks do to simplify Thanksgiving preparation so they can spend time socializing?

CK: No one will follow this advice, but I’ve cooked with very good cooks and they always keep things simple. They don’t make a lot of things. But on Thanksgiving, we all make too much. If you can withhold that eagerness, make just mashed potatoes, a good gravy, a turkey and two desserts instead of five. If you cut in half the number of dishes, no one is going to miss that stuff. The problem at Thanksgiving is that everyone wants something special so it’s a hard rule to follow.

FW: Are you seeing any emerging trends that might be the result of the recession?

CK: There seems to be some interest in less expensive foods, less costly cuts of meat. I’ve been surprised at how popular preserving has become. We do it, but I’m seeing people all over the country doing it now. We’ve done surveys of the best 6,000 recipes and we’ve had two green bean casseroles in the top 10. (We made our own sauce but found the canned fried onions tasted the best.) Comfort foods will never go away.

FW: What other trends are you seeing?

CK: I’m seeing 8-year-olds at book signings. They come up and are very interested. They watch the shows. I was worried that cooking would die off. The 30-to-50 generation seemed to move away from home cooking, but their kids are rediscovering it. TV has a lot to do with it. It’s like watching a fantasy; it’s totally foreign to them.

Lidia Bastianich

FW: What are you planning for Thanksgiving?

LB: My mother lives with me and we’ve already worked out the menu. We’ll have two small free-range turkeys instead of one big one. There will be prosciutto and I’ll bring in octopus from the restaurant, sear and dress it. For vegetables, we’ll have roasted squash drizzled with balsamic and almonds, and green beans with anchovies and raisins. That may sound strange, but I just use a little bit of anchovy to flavor it. Mom wants a crostada. We’ll have quince and cranberry.

FW: What makes your new cookbook different from the previous five?

LB: These 10 lesser-known regions are ones people are asking about — Calabria, Basilicata, Abruzzo. When Italian immigrants came to America at the turn of the (20th) century, many came from these regions. Now people are connecting back, they want to bring back the traditions, get the recipes they’ve never gotten from their grandmothers. These recipes get to the essence of the areas. They are straightforward and simple and deliver great flavor.

FW: What will surprise people about the recipes in the new book?

LB: The book shows the reality of how Italians cook. They use seasonal ingredients grown locally and they waste very little. One recipe is for meatless meatballs that uses Italian bread, pecorino and eggs in a tomato sauce. It’s hard to tell there’s no meat in them. There’s a chocolate bread parfait, using leftover bread, good chocolate, espresso, rum and sugar. The bread absorbs the sauce, then it’s layered with whipped cream and toasted almonds. Calabria is one of the prime regions for licorice. It’s made from the roots of the bush. They use it for ice cream, which is something that’s beginning to surface in New York restaurants.

FW: Why do you think Italian food is so popular and, although there are many restaurants, people still want to cook it at home?

LB: To Italians, food and well-being and social comfort are all connected. They are so important. They are willing to give up a lot of things but not that. It brings families together. When you fill the table full of good food, people will come, just like the birds. ¦