I didn’t mention in my thanksgiving day post that I had to leave the party I was at earlier than expected due to some scheduling malfunctions. My ride had to leave early so I was left feeling that there was more thanksgiving to be had. As nice as it is to go to someone’s house for thanksgiving (ie dishes=gross) I much rather enjoy spending the day with a turkey in the oven, than frantically trying to decide how I am going to travel with 2 hot dishes, and a bag full of other crap. That’s why I was more than thrilled when I went to the grocery store after work on Friday only to see that the post-holiday Turkey sale was un-freaking-believable. Whole turkeys, whole 14 pound turkeys for 6 dollars. SIX DOLLARS! Although I had to sacrifice some amount of  moral dilemma that one is supposed to feel when purchasing a cleary assembly line style frozen holiday bird, I couldn’t ignore this chance to bring the cheap beast home with me. SIX DOLLARS!?! unreal considering the only slightly more “ethical” feathered & oversized creature being sold next door at Trader Joe’s was $34.

So the Turkey on actual Turkey day was wrapped in bacon and stuffed with more garlic and aromatics than I thought possible to fit inside a bird of its size. By far, it was the most moist, perfectly cooked fowl I’ve consumed on Thanksgiving. I’m not a huge fan of the taste or texture of turkey, but I can’t resist the need to roast a beast once a year. This bacon wrapped beast was superb.

When I came home with my frozen store-brand turkey, I knew I had quite an unrealistic expectation to recreate the moisture of the night before. But I roasted on. And I largely failed. Cooking a bird from the frozen state does not give you much opportunity to do the normal moisture-protecting routine of salting, stuffing, and tying. Instead, you are left with the constant fear of creating a breading ground for salmonella and other food-born illnesses that steam from over production of holiday-time fowl. I had no idea how (and I’m slightly overreacting here) dangerous it was to handle a turkey, until I started looking up ways to cook it from a frozen state. So I roasted my frozen turkey for 8 hours to make sure it and all other inhabitants of its flesh were dead. By way of this practice, I created a dry mess. BUT, I did manage to get a crispy skin which I had never done before, I made the best gravy I’ve ever made, and created 2 delicious things with the almost inedible as-is bird.So all-in-all, I am satisfied with Thanksgiving 2009 (although I miss my family, my man crow, and my kitchen crows!)

Turkey+Drippings=Gravy! - quick tip: use celery as your roasting rack for a more flavorful gravy!

This brings us to a fascinating aspect of holiday cheer and the real reason I felt this holiday was unfinished: leftovers. More precisely, that if I didn’t roast my own turkey I would have very boring leftovers of cheese squash and dry mashed potatoes. It was 11:30 by the time the turkey was done, and although my house smelled great, the charm of roasting my own turkey had worn off. I was tired, and I didn’t feel like dealing with it anymore. I carved the turkey, and by carved I really mean I hacked it into 4 nicely refrigerator-able chunks and schlepped off to bed.  In the morning I prepared myself to scrape together what goodness I could from this overall failure, and this time I succeeded. Turkey Broth, soup, and a simple salad (no recipe needed here- chop some meat and eat it over a nice bed of greens!) have left me feeling complete this time of year.

Turkey Broth
made from all the leftover t-day essentials

1 turkey carcas
3 carrots
3 stalk celery
10 sprigs thyme
sage
1 head garlic
1/2 onion
salt
peppercorns
water to cover

Boil for 1 hour, divide, & freeze

Dark Meat Turkey Chili with Plantains and Israeli Couscous
made from leftover turkey & freezer & pantry items

leftover dark meat turkey
celery
onions
black beans
corn
green beans
1/4 cup israeli couscous
28 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
3 cup fulls of water, or turkey broth to cover
plantains, fried to soften
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
s & p

Soften onions & celery, add remaining ingredients, boil for 1 hour. Fry plantains, add to soup to serve.