Post by Christopher on Nov 27, 2004 7:52:16 GMT 12.75
Or, "how much time you can spend on one freekin bird"
So, it was that time of year again. I pull the 24 pound offender out of the deep freeze, and set it out overnight to thaw Tuesday. Wednesday morning it goes in the fridge... flesh seems soft enough, still pretty cold, don't want it to get icky sitting out all day. Not to mention the cat.
Wednesday evening, time to brine. I pull the bird from the fridge, and find a frozen middle still. Hmph. Into the sink we go, a lukewarm rinse for about 20 or 30 minutes gets the giblet pack dislodged from the ribs, and I begin to prepare the brine. Gallon of Chicken Stock, peppercorns, allspice, ginger, and salt. Wow, what's that hanging from the assend of the turkey? A clump of fat the size of my fist. That's gotta go. Bird in the brine, ice cubes and water to cover... alright.
Thursday morning, all is well. Into the roasting pan we go. Insert steeped aromatics (apple, onion, rosemary and cinnamon). Pat down with oil, and into the 500 deg oven for 30 minutes. Pull 'er out, put some foil over the breast and set the oven to 350. Probe thermometer in, alarm set to 161F. Outstanding.
Watch the wife wait until 145F to start scurrying around with her dishes (stuffing, potatoes, etc..)
161. Turkey comes out, set off to the side to rest for a bit. Help wife with stuffing, rolls, and veggies. Then I gotta siphon off the juice this bird's put out over the cooking time. Got a half gallon of it (no kidding!) Out come the carving tools. For 40 minutes, I dismember this bird. There's still plenty of scraps on the carcass, so I set it aside. Go back to the siphoned juices, I then remove the fat that's floated to the top into a seperate container. This stuff will be useful once it sets up in the fridge. Now, on to the gravy.
I take half of the siphoned juice, toss it in the cast iron skillet, and bring to a boil. Throw in some shredded up dark meat, since I've totally forgotten about the giblets now. A little salt, lotsa pepper, just a light dusting of garlic powder, and a healthy dose of sage. Bubble, bubble, bubble. Make a corn starch slurry in a cereal bowl, add to the juice. Stir on high for about five minutes. Remove from heat, and pour off into a jar.
That jar of gravy (which I deemed Out-friggin-standing) along with 1/4 of my turkey and appropriately portioned side dishes, all go over to the neighbors we were supposed to eat with but had to cancel on 'cause my 2 year old was puking for 2 hours the night before. They don't want this.
I get back, make another quart of gravy, then set the carcass in the monster stock pot with about 3 gallons of water and some spices (can't even remember what went in there; salt, pepper, allspice, ground cloves? and maybe some more sage) as well as the aromatics I left inside, and set to boil.
Ahh, time to eat.
Okay, eating's over. Football, play with kids, help out reeeally old neighbor with a plate of dinner since he forgot to drive himself to his kid's house an hour away.
Now, back to the carcass. I let it boil for about 3 hours or so. Time for Turkey Stock. Start pouring broth I've just made through the strainer to a smaller pot, which I set to a rolling boil. Once that stuff gets hot, I transfer to canning jars to seal up for the season. I get 10 quart jars out of the effort, all really really good for making gravy, making soup, whatever. In my strainer I pick out about another pound or two of meat bits, which I seperate well and bag up in three ziplocks.
Sooo, by 9pm I had a fridge full of turkey, three bags of "soup meat" in the freezer, 2.5 gallons of stock, a pint of hard grease in the fridge, and 9 full bellies, counting our deliveries.
This is why Thanksgiving only happens once a year. Thank Goodness!
So, it was that time of year again. I pull the 24 pound offender out of the deep freeze, and set it out overnight to thaw Tuesday. Wednesday morning it goes in the fridge... flesh seems soft enough, still pretty cold, don't want it to get icky sitting out all day. Not to mention the cat.
Wednesday evening, time to brine. I pull the bird from the fridge, and find a frozen middle still. Hmph. Into the sink we go, a lukewarm rinse for about 20 or 30 minutes gets the giblet pack dislodged from the ribs, and I begin to prepare the brine. Gallon of Chicken Stock, peppercorns, allspice, ginger, and salt. Wow, what's that hanging from the assend of the turkey? A clump of fat the size of my fist. That's gotta go. Bird in the brine, ice cubes and water to cover... alright.
Thursday morning, all is well. Into the roasting pan we go. Insert steeped aromatics (apple, onion, rosemary and cinnamon). Pat down with oil, and into the 500 deg oven for 30 minutes. Pull 'er out, put some foil over the breast and set the oven to 350. Probe thermometer in, alarm set to 161F. Outstanding.
Watch the wife wait until 145F to start scurrying around with her dishes (stuffing, potatoes, etc..)
161. Turkey comes out, set off to the side to rest for a bit. Help wife with stuffing, rolls, and veggies. Then I gotta siphon off the juice this bird's put out over the cooking time. Got a half gallon of it (no kidding!) Out come the carving tools. For 40 minutes, I dismember this bird. There's still plenty of scraps on the carcass, so I set it aside. Go back to the siphoned juices, I then remove the fat that's floated to the top into a seperate container. This stuff will be useful once it sets up in the fridge. Now, on to the gravy.
I take half of the siphoned juice, toss it in the cast iron skillet, and bring to a boil. Throw in some shredded up dark meat, since I've totally forgotten about the giblets now. A little salt, lotsa pepper, just a light dusting of garlic powder, and a healthy dose of sage. Bubble, bubble, bubble. Make a corn starch slurry in a cereal bowl, add to the juice. Stir on high for about five minutes. Remove from heat, and pour off into a jar.
That jar of gravy (which I deemed Out-friggin-standing) along with 1/4 of my turkey and appropriately portioned side dishes, all go over to the neighbors we were supposed to eat with but had to cancel on 'cause my 2 year old was puking for 2 hours the night before. They don't want this.
I get back, make another quart of gravy, then set the carcass in the monster stock pot with about 3 gallons of water and some spices (can't even remember what went in there; salt, pepper, allspice, ground cloves? and maybe some more sage) as well as the aromatics I left inside, and set to boil.
Ahh, time to eat.
Okay, eating's over. Football, play with kids, help out reeeally old neighbor with a plate of dinner since he forgot to drive himself to his kid's house an hour away.
Now, back to the carcass. I let it boil for about 3 hours or so. Time for Turkey Stock. Start pouring broth I've just made through the strainer to a smaller pot, which I set to a rolling boil. Once that stuff gets hot, I transfer to canning jars to seal up for the season. I get 10 quart jars out of the effort, all really really good for making gravy, making soup, whatever. In my strainer I pick out about another pound or two of meat bits, which I seperate well and bag up in three ziplocks.
Sooo, by 9pm I had a fridge full of turkey, three bags of "soup meat" in the freezer, 2.5 gallons of stock, a pint of hard grease in the fridge, and 9 full bellies, counting our deliveries.
This is why Thanksgiving only happens once a year. Thank Goodness!