THANKSGIVING

IN PAST YEARS FOR THANKSGIVING, I’VE COME IN ON A LOCAL; THAT IS, I POST MY RECIPES FOR THIS ULTIMATE FOOD-CENTRIC HOLIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, WHICH, WHEN YOU COME TO THINK OF IT, IS JUST DUMB.  I’D LIKE TO CORRECT THAT ERROR OF OMISSION BY POSTING SOME RECIPES IN THE FEW WEEKS REMAINING BEFORE EVERYONE SITS DOWN TO EAT.

THANKSGIVING IS AN ORGY OF EXCESS.  TOO MANY DISHES, TOO MANY RICH DISHES, TOO MANY DESSERTS.  BUT THAT’S THE POINT, ISN’T IT?  NEVERTHELESS, I COMPENSATE BY OFF-SETTING THE CREAMY AND STARCHY WITH GREEN VEGETABLES, WHICH I PREPARE SIMPLY, SO THE GREEN STAYS GREEN.  THAT MAY INCLUDE STRING BEANS AND/OR BRUSSELS SPROUTS (SEE RECIPE).  SOMETIMES, I ROUGHLY CUT UP CABBAGE, CHARD, KALE OR A COMBINATION OF THEM AND WHILE THE BIRD IS RESTING, TOSS THE GREENS INTO THE PAN AND RETURN TO OVEN AT A HIGH HEAT, WHERE THEY WILL WILT NICELY ABSORBING THE DRIPPINGS.  I SPREAD THEM ON  A SERVING PLATTER AND TOP THEM WITH THE CUT UP TURKEY.

THE BIRD

THERE’S A REASON I ONLY MAKE TURKEY ONCE A YEAR:  IT DOESN’T TASTE AS GOOD AS CHICKEN, DUCK, SQUAB, PARTRIDGE, OR QUAIL.  I COOK IT DEFENSIVELY, SEARCHING FOR RECIPES WHERE BOTH THE WHITE AND DARK MEAT ARE EQUALLY JUICY, WHERE THE SKIN IS CRISP BUT NOT CHARRED.  I’VE MADE IT A PRACTICE TO TRY A DIFFERENT RECIPE EACH THANKSGIVING.  SINCE TURKEY HAS LESS FLAVOR THAN THE AFOREMENTIONED FOWL, HOW BEST TO COMPENSATE FOR THAT IN IT’S PREPARATION?  WET-BRINING YIELDS A MOISTER BIRD, BUT DRY-BRINING (SALT, PEPPER, HERBS, GARLIC, ONIONS, CITRUS) FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS GIVES YOU A SIMILAR RESULT.   THEN THERE’S THE SLOW VS FAST COOKING CONTROVERSY.  BELIEVE ME, FAST IS BEST; IN OTHER WORDS, HIGH HEAT.  NEITHER OF THESE METHODS, HOWEVER, SOLVES THE WHITE-MEAT-DARK-MEAT DILEMMA.  WHITE MEAT COOKS FASTER.  BUT UNLESS YOU LIKE UNDERCOOKED DARK MEAT, YOU HAVE TO OVERCOOK THE BREAST.   IT’S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ROAST A TURKEY WITHOUT DOING ONE OR THE OTHER.  SADLY, WE’VE NEVER SHAKEN OUR DEVOTION TO NORMAN ROCKWELL’S “FREEDOM FROM WANT”, THE SATURDAY EVENING POST COVER FROM 1943.   BUT I WONDER HOW JOLLY THIS FAMILY LOOKED AFTER THEIR FIRST BITE OF WHITE MEAT?   MY FIRST PRIORITY IS TASTE, SO A FEW YEARS AGO, I TRIED MELISSA CLARK’S DRY-BRINED TURKEY, WHERE YOU CUT THROUGH THE SKIN WHICH CONNECTS THE BREAST TO THE THIGH WHICH ALLOWS THE LEGS TO BE SPLAYED OUT AND FLATTENED SO THEY’RE IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE ROASTING PAN TO GIVE THEM A LEG UP, SO TO SPEAK, ON THE BREAST.  MELISSA ROASTS THE BIRD AT 450º ON THE BOTTOM OF THE OVEN FOR TWO AND A HALF HOURS FOR A 12-POUND TURKEY.  LAST THANKSGIVING, I PREPARED SAMRIN NOSRAT’S BUTTERMILK-BRINED TURKEY RECIPE (ANOTHER ITERATION OF HER FLAWLESS BUTTERMILK-BRINED CHICKEN) AND SPATCHCOCKED MY BIG BIRD, COOKING IT FOR TWO HOURS AT 400º.  BOTH RECIPES REWARDED MY GUESTS WITH THE JUICIEST TURKEYS THEY’D EVER EATEN, ALTHOUGH THANKS TO THE BUTTERMILK BRINING, THE NOSRAT TURKEY WAS A BIT MORE TENDER.  THIS THANKSGIVING I INTEND TO COMBINE BOTH RECIPES.  I’LL BUTTERMILK BRINE THE TURKEY ADDING SOME SEASONINGS TO THE BRINE, BUT INSTEAD OF SPATCHCOCKING, I’LL SEPARATE THE LEG AND BREAST AND ROAST IT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE OVEN À LA MELISSA.   INCORPORATING BOTH METHODS IN ONE RECIPE, HOW CAN ANYTHING POSSIBLY GO WRONG, GO WRONG, GO WRONG… https://johnpleshettemealoftheweek.com/recipes/turkey/