Fun Playing With Thanksgiving Food

As the Thanksgiving Weekend draws to a close - a few thoughts. As usual - Bob and I were guests rather than chefs on Turkey Day proper. All of my family is east and south, and for years, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Bob's family. Sadly, since his mom decided to "retire" (as in - not go anyplace - she's going to be 95 years old shortly, and gosh dang, if she doesn't want to go anyplace, I say, "you [don't] go girl!"), his other family members have scattered more and more each year. The last three years, we've  been fortunate to share Thanksgiving dinner with wonderful friends (the photos from this year's feast are here). 

Still, we always roast our own turkey on Black (or in our house, Gobble) Friday. We started this tradition as we became immersed in the local and sustainable food movements, and because we missed having our own leftovers for sandwiches and the like. This year's guest bird came again through the tender auspices of Breychak's Farm. Every year, Kathy Breychak says she is done raising turkeys, and so far, every year she's relented. I hope we get to enjoy another of her pasture-raised birds next year!

Our 14 pound bird prepares for the Symon treatment - a generous Kosher salt rub a day before cooking.



Twenty-four hours later - a double layer of cheesecloth is soaked in warm oil and aromatics, then draped over the bird. Sorry Michael - we love the flavor of our locally raised turkey so - we prefer a neutrally flavored oil to your recommended butter only for that reason.



Michael's "high temp" method is pretty similar to how we've always roasted - and we were rewarded with crispy skin and succulent, moist meat.





Organic cranberries, organic Florida cane sugar, filtered water. Looks, feels and tastes a lot like the canned product - only better! I actually make this more to grace turkey sandwiches than the turkey dinners - but this year, it got a little late on Friday, and Bob decided for forgo the gravy until Saturday. Good thing we had cranberry sauce - and yes Mom, we remembered to put it on the table. (In my house, the term "Cranberry Sauce" means that something that was supposed to be on the table is still in the fridge.)



I improvised this vegetable side dish from a couple of on-line recipes - roasted cubes of local winter squash, local onion, our last Richter's Orchard (LI) apple, Pumpkin Pie Spice/Pepito butter (Ohio City Pasta), toasted pecans and garden parsley.



Here's the stock Bob made several days ago from extra turkey necks and giblets Kathy Breychak bestowed on us. Thick with gelatin - perfect for gravy-making.


Turkey with Crisp Skin - 20 or so minutes out of the oven


Garden Purple Viking Mashed Potatoes with Garden Parsley


Turkey Slice with Gravy - Saturday night


Garden Purple Viking Mashed Potatoes with Gravy - Saturday night


Our first leftovers meal:


Bob's Potato Bread





Breychak Turkey Breast, Trader Joe's Organic Mayo, Cranberry Sauce, Skin Crackling, Purple Viking Potato Bread = yum. Another Thanksgiving in the books - we had great fun playing with food and fabulous company at Linda and Fred's place, and lots more fun playing with our own food the rest of the weekend! And I've got about 8 lunches worth of turkey breast sandwich makings already resting in the freezer, for me to play with later! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours - hope you had fun playing with your food this weekend!

Fun Playing With Thanksgiving Food

This is the obligatory Thanksgiving post. We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at friends'; Bob made lots of brown-and-serve dinner rolls, so we'd have plenty for sandwiches later.

 
Batter

 
 Rolls Risen and Formed into Rolls


 




On Thanksgiving Day, I prepped our cranberry sauce so it could chill overnight:

Bob and I have created our own tradition of our own roasted turkey on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year, as last, our bird came from the Breychak Farm. This was our first year roasting a heritage bird - a Bourbon Red - and we may never go back to a broad breasted white!

  

Our 17# Bourbon Red

 

We learned this year that a heritage bird changes everything. We generally eschew stuffing because, well, stuffing is evil. Actually - my mom never stuffed her turkey. And the one year that my sister decided to make stuffing for the family feast - it had nuts in it, and my poor boyfriend at the time, who was violently allergic to nuts, reacted, well with violent allergy.

Aromatics for the turkey cavity

Bob had already stuffed the rosemary into the bird by the time I snapped this. Note the cassia bark; much better flavored than cheap "cinnamon" sticks that really aren't. And our garden Garlic Chives.


Turkey Porn

A "between the legs" shot of the aromatics - yummy farmers' market apple!



We decided to use the above pictured rub instead of making our own. Delicious!




Rubbed Up and Ready for Action

We started the bird at about 450 degrees - but I turned it down when I smelled something burning. After an hour around 400 - we turned it down to 325 and let the instant read thermometer do its thing!



Delightful Dinner Libation

 
Fully Rested and Ready for Love

 
The Heck With Love - Dinner is Served!

 
Drumstick


Slices of Breast Meat

OMG! We've enjoyed non-heritage, locally raised birds before, but nothing like this. Just like our Berkshire Hog - this birdie featured a built-in basting system. Beneath the layer of crispy skin was a layer of beautiful fat, which kept the breast meat (which was of course proportional to the rest of the bird) incredibly moist. Yum!



 


Marvelous. Simply Marvelous.

 This was the best turkey we've ever tasted. A touch of gaminess. Huge hits of flavor and mouthfeel, from both the white and dark meat. Moist, delicious meat. Crispy skin. Creamy fat. Here's a photo from the next dinner, when Bob made gravy:



And what's the only thing better than a turkey dinner? Leftovers made into sandwiches!





 

We had much fun playing with our Thanksgiving food this year! An amazing heritage turkey from Kathy Breychak; wonderful friends and food for the holiday proper.

We are truly blessed, and thankful for all of the good things we have.