The White Thanksgiving of 2010.. they weren’t kidding when they said it would be cold. We woke to 1 degree, uno baby.. damn cold for November.
OK, the herbed turkey from America’s Test Kitchen… rocked. Best bird I’ve ever made. Basically you make a herb sort of emulsion, not unlike a pesto but w/o basil. Lots of parsley, some sage rosemary and thyme, two folk singers, shallots, lemon zest, and olive oil. Rub it under the skin, over the skin, in the cavity, an in to two pockets you make in the breast by inserting a paring knife and wiggling it around to make a deep whole. Pack the pocket BTW.
For an 18lb bird, 1 hour upside down at 425 then remove from the oven, turn it over and bake normally for another 2 hours at 325. The bird was done on time, and it was moist and delicious. Thinking back on all the time I spent with stupid Reynolds bags baking at 300 for 11 hours and what not. Uh… this was easy. A new Sank tradition is born folks.
I did get a laugh out of the talking head babe from Jenny-O who was on the radio in the morning. When asked about putting the turkey in an oven at high temp them lowering.. basically she said that was a bad rumor out there in the market, “that’s a really bad idea.. all you need to do is put the bird in the oven at 325, no bags needed, and bake until it hits 160 degree, about 5 hours.
She must like her turkey in the traditional D R Y manner. Then again, Jenny-O turkeys come dry and tasteless. Iknow, we had one last year that was the worst bird I’ve ever made.
This years Market Pantry bird, despite the initial skepticism from the fambo.. was outstanding. And you know, at .69 cents a pound, was a great deal too. GREAT deal.
She came out of the oven perfect and after only 3 hours!
Some other big hits this year, stuffing balls from Aunt P. Sweet potato casserole with pecans and brown sugar, and the feta cheese squash.
Ahhhh. Long two days of cooking, but well worth it when it was all said and done.
Thanksgiving 2010 a hit. What to do next year.
