One month to Thanksgiving!

Order your heritage turkeys now (if you eat turkey)

Posted by Roz Cummins (Guest Contributor) at 10:08 AM on 26 Oct 2006

Read more about: holiday

For those of you responsible for producing a Thanksgiving meal that features a turkey, it's time to start thinking about ordering one.

You can order a heritage turkey from a local farmer in certain states. To learn more about heritage turkeys, and for contact information for local farmers, go to Slow Food's "Ark of Taste."

Also, if you want to serve a turkey that's been brined, did you know you can buy pre-brined turkeys from Whole Foods? It's true.

My personal turkey strategy is to make two "small" turkeys, around 12 pounds each. I make one the day before Thanksgiving (without stuffing), take all the meat off the bones, and use the carcass and skin to make the broth I'll need to make the gravy and stuffing. Then, the next day, I cook the second turkey. It takes a lot less time than cooking a monster-sized turkey and yet I still get to serve a beautiful, warm bird and the house smells fantastic. I heat the turkey slices from the day before in some of the turkey broth.

When I explained my approach to a friend, she got a stunned look on her face that, a second later, turned to awe. She whispered, "That's genius!"

Yes. It is. My one true contribution to human civilization: the two-turkey protocol. Thanksgiving recipes to follow in a few weeks, including my Great Aunt Karlie's Sweet Potato Pudding, which is largely composed of bourbon. Very, very good bourbon.

For story: One month to Thanksgiving!
7 Comments | Post a Comment

O! Happy Day!

Thanksgiving is my favoritest holiday ever. All you're required to do is cook and eat. A lot. I love doing both of those things!

I also love bourbon (what can't it do?) so I look forward to the recipe.

by mihan at 10:55 AM on 26 Oct 2006

Turkey

Roasted turkey with the skin is one of my favorite indulgences, but not one I have often because how often do you have the time to roast a turkey?

Last Thanksgiving I tried out what I call the Julia Method (a la Julia Childs, but not sure she came up with it first) of browning the turkey in a hot oven for 15 minutes or so, then turning the oven down for the remainder of the roasting. I have to say it worked fabulously well: produced a bird with moist (sorry David), tender white meat, very crispy skin, and cooked through dark meat, all in less time! Wonderful.

Also, when I get a chance I'll have to share my roasted butternut squash/red pepper recipe. Easiest thing in the world to make and gets rave reviews every time. Yum.

by kmp at 11:51 AM on 26 Oct 2006

bourbon; dinosaurivory

Sure, God bless the state of Kentucky. My husband is devoted to Jack Daniel's, which is just bourbon by another name. I do not think he ever tried cooking with it, though.

Bon appetit, all you dinosaurivores. Thanksgiving, and occasionally Christmas, are the only days in the year when I eat my cousin the turkey. And I usually enjoy it, too, I must admit.

I suppose by now it is well-known that the vegan Mr. Mackey at Whole Foods has come up with a "humane" categorization for the meat on sale there. Apparently, a lot of people feel better, knowing that their dinner got to run around and play a bit before it met the ax. But there is also a small number of a very squeamish sort who seem to be put off by any suggestion that their dinner might ever have had any life of any kind, and would prefer to eat meat that is totally morally blank.

Oh well, it takes all kinds.

My Michael would like to make some recipe that he read somewhere, or invented, for a turkey breast casserole. (Everybody we know basically only likes the breast meat. With the exception of Little Dog.) He will never get the chance to try it, though, so long as we continue the tradition of going to my parents, and my mother insists on serving a whole turkey, in her inefficient and labor-intensive way.

I suppose there is something to be said for the visual impact, that classic Norman Rockwellish image, of the entire golden brown dromaeosaur-grandchild on its back, in a big dish, its erstwhile killer-legs now reduced to stumps and poking pathetically toward the ceiling.

Still, if Mihan is right -- and I strongly suspect she is -- , and the day ought rightly to be dedicated to good eating, then the image itself should not matter so much, should it.

Dear Roz, on a related subject, please tell us something at some point about sweet potatoes and/or yams. And about autumnal pies other than the pumpkin kind (as wonderful as they are).

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 12:40 PM on 26 Oct 2006

"Harvest Apple Pie"

When I do my Thanksgiving column in three weeks I should have a recipe for an apple pie with dried fruit in it (prunes, raisins, cranberries, cherries, and figs that have been soaked in brandy) but it is still in the tinkering and highly experimental phase right now. Still trying to get the fruit mix right, deciding whether to use dried apples as well, etc.

As for the whole yams vs. sweet potatoes deal, I might not get around to that in time for Thanksgiving beyond the sweet potato pudding recipe. Maybe I can fit it in later in the year. I have a recipe I made up for an oven-roasted sweet potato dish with mango chutney sauce and red peppers and lime juice and cilantro, etc., that's very tasty and nice in the dead of winter, so maybe I can fit it in during January or something. It's sort of a hot sweet potato salad, as if you made a salad with sweet potato fries.

by Roz Cummins at 1:12 PM on 26 Oct 2006

Sweet Potatoes & Cinnamon

Dear Caniscandida,

I just made a new sweet potato recipe about a week ago, from Michael Nichan's new book Homegrown Pure & Simple.

I can't remember the exact recipe (I'll reproduce it tonight if you're interested) but the gist was this:

Cut sweet potato(es) in wedge-like pieces
Rub honey (I think mixed with a little grapeseed oil?) onto potato pieces
Arrange on a baking sheet, with a cinnamon stick under each potato piece
Season w/ salt & pepper
Roast (temp eludes me 400 or so) for about 20-30 minutes

You end up with a sort of sweet potato fry, but with enough bulk to be more like a steak fry and the unique flavor of honey & cinnamon. My boyfriend absolutely raved about them; I enjoyed them, but was a little more reserved in my praise (I don't really like honey). If nothing else, I would make them again to see his face light up, and because the house smelled incredibly wonderful.

by kmp at 2:17 PM on 26 Oct 2006

Last year

I made an amazing Breast of Tofu. Best thing is, no carcass, no bones, no high carbon price, no cholesterol, no turkeys gotta die after a sad short life, no tears at your table when you explain to your three-year-old where turkey comes from...

And the worst thing? When people try to access the page on my site, their adult content blockers block it!

Vegans: corrupting your children with our tofu!

by KathyF at 4:13 AM on 27 Oct 2006

corrupting children

What a delightfully Socratic occupation!

Children seem to have no difficulty in growing up to become at least as wicked as their parents. But sure, they could always use some help.

It is so sweet, though, the way they discover entirely new vices, all on their own! Those darling little sugarplums!

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 6:26 AM on 27 Oct 2006

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