Turkey Talk

Ah... the season of Thanksgiving is upon us once again.  Westerly winds have robbed the maples and oaks of their few remaining leaves, and tickled our cheeks pink while whispering promises of winter. This is the season of gathering. The harvest. A time to reconnect with people and ourselves.

There is so much to thankfulness to celebrate this year: my family and friends are healthy and happy (one of the most marvelous gifts, in my opinion).  This is also the first Thanksgiving I will share married to my college sweetheart (who just so happens to share his birthday with the holiday)!  Due to work conflicts and finances, we are staying put in Denver for our turkey feasting, to gather around a table with a handful of like-minded interns in Joe's medical program and others.  I think this holiday will be a merry one. 

That is, if the turkey turns out to be edible!  

Let me jump to the main reason for blogging today: I have turkey duty and I feel I need to engage in some turkey talk or pep talk... prep talk, perhaps!  In all honesty, I have never laid hands on a turkey. In my family, meat was most always Papa's responsibility.  Mine was pumpkin pie and playing "all-time offense" to tackle other needed kitchen duties.  Thinking back on Thanksgivings of the past, I only remember eating turkey. Not cooking it!  

Dad and brother with turkey.
Thanksgiving 2009.

So, I am giving extra thanks this holiday to the wonderful web, which enables turkey novices (like myself) the confidence to tackle the mysteries of preparing the perfect thanksgiving bird! Particularly, one of my favorites, known as Epicurious.  They have a comprehensive turkey "manual" for all things related to purchasing, brining, thawing and cooking.  

Click HERE to find this useful website.  

It was here that I pinpointed my turkey-related recipes.  Despite dozens of inventive "foodie" recipes that have evolved as hip and chic, I decided to stick to the classics.  You know, the ones with less vegetables and more butter.  Guaranteed crowd pleasers that stir up nostalgic memories of yesteryear.   My turkey-related recipes are these:  Classic Roast Turkey with Herbed Stuffing and Old-Fashioned Gravy.

Something else I had never grasped from years past, is the time required for shopping and menu planning... it about equals that of the cooking!  I had thought ahead and secured all of my ingredients, except the turkey, this past Sunday afternoon in order to avoid crowds and scanty product selection. My plan was to postpone the purchase of the turkey until the night before to avoid a crowded refrigerator.  Last night, however,  I had a panicked realization that most turkeys come frozen.  According to the experts, a frozen turkey requires 1 day of thaw time in the refrigerator for every 5-lbs of bird. YIKES!!  Doing the math, Thanksgiving is 2 days away and I was thinking about getting a 16-20 lb bird, therefore, I should have started thawing on Monday. That was a full 24 hours ago!  

I consulted my mother and cooking confidant, Emily, for some much needed advice.  Do I get a smaller bird?  Is there a way to hasten the thawing?  Oh, the drama that would unfold if half of the medical intern staff would have to call in sick because of food poisoning caused by my attempt to accelerate turkey thawing! Noooooooooooo!  I resolved, after kind reassurance, that I would simply thaw the bird in the sink as I long as I make sure to continuously change the water and check the temperature. Awww... *sigh of relief* but I couldn't waist anymore time.

Early this morning I marched off to my local grocery store to hunt for a suitable turkey.  In an ideal situation, I would have contacted a local farm and purchased a fresh turkey that was free-range and raised on organic grains (the most humane and healthiest choice).  However, time and money are big limitations this year.  Frozen isle, here I come!  From reading the Epicurious turkey bible, I gathered that I should try my best to avoid turkeys that are "self-basting" or in other words, have been injected with salt solutions.  My turkey recipe calls for a pre-roasting smothering of butter in addition to multiple basting steps.  Having injected brine could disturb the texture and flavor that the recipe intends.  As it turned out, my options for turkey came down to this:

A frozen bin full of brine-infused, far-from-natural turkeys.

Hmm... well, it wouldn't be the end of the world, I thought. Plus the price was nice. A large bird was priced around $25.  I picked up one of the generic, frozen-meat masses and headed for check out.  On my way through the store, I passed by the poultry section of the meat isle. There were 4 turkeys, neatly stacked and labeled with lots of "all-natural" jargon, but the words that hit me more than the "no fillers" was the word "FRESH." It wasn't frozen! Meaning, I would simply purchase the turkey and stick it in my fridge until Thursday morning. No messy sink and no stressful thawing countdown. But, shucks. The price was a bit steep. I better stick with the cheaper version, even if its more hassle, right? Yeah.

I continued towards the check out area, but my thoughts were now tangled: But it is Joe and my first Thanksgiving. Don't we deserve a decent turkey? I pivoted and started walking back to the fresh turkey to swap. Geez, even a cheap turkey is a decent turkey! We are already spending so much money this season with skiing and no one will know the difference between the filler injected-turkey and one without. Turned around again. Yeah, but I want to do this first Thanksgiving right!  It is probably a bad omen to eat a inhumanly sacrificed poultry on this day of humble thanks and remembrance. What would our founding forefathers do? They would eat turkeys that spent their lives happily grazing upon the natural earth underneath the sun. With that I marched right up to the frozen bin, dumped my frozen turkey out of my basket, and grabbed one of the last remaining fresh ones. My soul felt content. Man, maybe this whole living in hippy Denver thing is really getting to me? 

My prized bird.

As my turkey waits patiently in my refrigerator for its grand transformation into a golden centerpiece at the feasting table, I want to say "thank you" for letting me unleash some heavy turkey talk here. If you have any suggestions or similar stories, please share them with me! Best of luck to all of you other turkey goers out there! Warmest wishes to you and all of those gathered at your table for this year's thanksgiving feast. Cheers! 

Until next time... after Thursday's food hangover wears off.