Text 17031, 75 rader
Skriven 2008-11-28 21:59:50 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av MICHAEL LOO
Ärende: Turkey cooking
======================
ML> roast turkey - I wasn't responsible for this, and as a result,
ML> it was well well done, almost enough so to bring the hostess
ML> to tears. I ate half the skin off the bird, which was very
ML> brown and decent though nearly fatless, and was about to call
ML> it a meal, but then the host gave me a drumstick, which had
ML> about a pound of somewhat incinerated meat on it

Someone needs to bitchslap the morons at the FDA or USDA or
whatever the hell agency is responsible for the notion that
poultry has to be cooked into jerky before it can be eaten.

Cooking turkey can be so simple if people would just use a 
thermometer and a slow oven.  Yank out the damn plastic 
"pop up" thing out of the breast, put the meat thermometer
in the thick part of the thigh, and roast the bird in a 325F
(or even 300F) oven until the thermometer reads 160 or
MAYBE 165.  There is no reason in the world turkey needs to go
to 180.  

This year, I smoked the turkeys in a 225 F smoker over apple
wood for 6 hours.  When the temperature on the probe hit 165,
I dropped the temperature of the smoker to 150, added more chips,
and let the birds cool to 150 before taking them out.  They were
perfect - the thigh and drumstick and back meat done to _just_
the cooked side of bloody, and the white meat moist and tender
and very subtly pink, which I can get away with even with my
health-psycho SIL because of the Ring of Fire on smoked meat.
I have barely half a bird left over, which I consider a success.

ML> gravy - I made this, and it was mediocre, sort of brown
ML> tasting, as the turkey drippings were weller done than
ML> the turkey itself; I didn't like it much but it certainly
ML> improved the stuffing

I was well-prepared for gravy this year.  I bought a couple of
bucks worth of turkey wings at Forest Park Market a few days
in advance and roasted them in a pan with some onions, carrots,
celery, sprigs of thyme, and a handful of parsley.  Then I
deglazed the pan and simmered the wings and veg overnight.  I
made gravy just before dinner with the rendered turkey fat and
my turkey stock.  About a quart and a half of gravy for 9 
people; almost all of it went.

- -

I had booted everyone out of the kitchen for the last hour before
bringing out the food - Maryanne served appetizers and drinks and
Lynn set the table, and then I called them back in when it was time
to lift everything in.  My brother in law Jim was fairly impressed
that everything came to the table at the same time, all hot and 
ready to eat without anything being overcooked or cold, and wanted to
know how we did it.  I told him it was a matter of planning: figure out
what you can do ahead and get those things done during the week,
then  on dinner day, start with the time you want the bird out and 
carved and work backward from there to determine start times for 
everything else.  

- - 

ML> On the whole a meal that was funner for the company than
ML> the food.

Poor company can spoil good food faster than poor food can spoil
good company.



---
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