Amazing Turkey

Some have complimented my skills in the kitchen, including "picky" eaters. I take pride in this, but also try to remain humble.

Actually, it's pretty easy to remain humble when one does not remember to write down recipes, and thus can end up not being able to repeat the best of the experiments.

The latest cooking experiment I did was for a turkey that I made on Tuesday, February 7th. I was doing a play off of a fairly standard recipe of mine that I call Pollo Valentino Especiale, because the first time I made that recipe was using a microwave while I lived in the barracks of Capodichino, Italy while I was in the Navy. That recipe was such a hit. . .well, such a hit that I got a husband out of it! :D Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but probably not much of one, as it is the most oft "special request" meal. The meal that's requested before deployment, and upon return. I have slowly perfected that initial recipe, with it culminating in making it in a slow-cooker instead of a microwave (I stopped using a microwave in 2008, and haven't looked back!).

So, the spin that I did on it was for a turkey. I had defrosted the turkey in the usual manner (water) the day or two before. I then washed it, as usual for any poultry; emptied the cavity and washed in it as my usual; and placed it in a glass baking pan. I prepped the onions, garlic, herbs, spices and 'juice' (to be noted later in this entry); got it all shoved into the cavity and the juice poured over it. Reached up to the top of my fridge for the foil (almost needed a stool to reach it), and low and behold, the box was empty! When did that happen? I always make poultry w/ foil over it when I make it in the oven (the turkey was too big for my crock pot) to keep a more even temperature and from burning the skin prior to even cooking. In desperation, I called the neighbor to see if she had any foil I could use-- she didn't, but she had a roaster that she said was great and that's how she always makes her turkey. At a stressed wit's end, I accepted her offer to borrow it (I usually hate borrowing appliances, because I'm afraid I'll break them and if I break them I'll have to replace it because that's the right thing to do). I went over and got it, came home and washed it up and was like, "Hmmm, this is going to be interesting." Got the electric roaster put back together and transferred the turkey to the roast, as well as the "juice" and spices-- but the roaster was so big I didn't think there was enough "juice" (and the neighbor said to be sure to baste the turkey, but I don't have a baster!). So I added a little bit more liquids to it, that were already part of the juice, and turned the unit on. As an after thought, because there was so much room in the roaster, I grabbed a bag of frozen veggies that I'd bought at Costco some time ago. In about 3 hours (probably less than that), the turkey was ready-- far sooner than I had anticipated, and I had anticipated it being ready about the time of my mom's arrival for her visit.

The house smelled delicious, even from the porch! I have two cats, and though I try very hard to keep the cat box cleaned out (as in, usually I clean it several times a day), it's obvious I have pets. The turkey, however, overpowered that and started the Boy and Girl drooling and begging to know when we were going to eat it. We got the table set in a hurry, and I sliced some artisan bread and put fresh minced garlic on a plate with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The turkey. . . was like nothing I've ever made or had before. It was delicious! Somehow, and this is the truly amazing part that stunned both my mom and I, the white meat was more tender than the dark meat! The turkey was thoroughly cooked, looked dry, but with a little of the juice poured on it was easy to chew. Well, I like white meat, so it was easy for me to chew, even with all my crowns! My mom, who prefers dark meat, had a little bit harder time. . . and also a harder time in stopping eating because of the tastiness of the food. The veggies weren't overcooked, which amazed me. I threw them in there for flavor, not necessarily to eat-- turned out that both were accomplished! Both Boy and Girl had several helpings of the meat and veggies.

After dinner, my mom separated the meat from the bones (I HATE having my hands dirty or greasy, as some may know, so I was particularly grateful to not have to do this chore) so that I could boil down the bones to make an homemade broth. I boiled down the bones w/ the juice (which I normally don't do, because I make the juice with wine) and veggies, adding about 16 quarts of water initially-- a little later, before I went to bed, I added two more quarts of water. After 24-hours of boiling down the carcass, I turned off the stove, but left it to cool while we ran errands. When we got home, it was still smelling good in the house! I put some of the broth into another pan, and to Boy's delight, I made turkey noodle soup and caprese for dinner. After dinner, we poured the broth into jars and stuck them into the fridge for later use. The Boy is very keen on broth, and begs to have chicken noodle soup (homemade, not canned) for breakfast, and sometimes lunch and dinner! He'd eat that all day long, even when he's not sick! Very much a comfort food, I guess. Anyway, the soup turned out delicious, too, and I'm really not a huge soup fan (or turkey fan, for that matter).

Now on to what I did. In my basic chicken recipe, I use fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, fresh onions, fresh garlic and shove all that into the cavity. I also put garlic and onion slices between the meat and skin. I make up a "juice" using white table wine, olive oil, spices, lemon juice, and a vinegar. I sprinkle typical 'red' spices on top to add color and flavor and cook it up in the crock pot/slow cooker.

This time, I had to use the electric (borrowed, but will soon purchase my own) roaster. I still used the fresh herbs named above. To the typical spice mixture I use (also homemade), I added a little more of the peppery spices (cayenne, chili powder, smoked paprika, etc) and some tumeric and garlic powder (we loves garlic in this house), and who knows what else. To the juice mixture, well, this is where the main changes were made, and why I think the flavor was so light but undeniable. I used about a cup+ of white table wine, 1 fresh squeezed lemon & some zest, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar. . . and thinking it all might be a bit too tart, decided upon adding a bit of molasses.

I should probably take a moment here to make a point-- I never "taste test" my food while cooking. If I taste test my food while cooking, I am guaranteed to screw it up and make it inedible! I cook by smell!

I didn't add a whole lot of molasses, less than a tablespoon I'd guess (um, one other point-- I don't measure anything!). It was just enough to tame the tart/bitterness of all the acids I'd put into the juice. All of that combine made for some extremely tender poultry! I can't wait to try it again!

Of course, the question is, can I remember what I did last time? Probably not, but I'm pretty sure my kids are up for me experimenting with that again! Now I just need to go buy a roaster!

May your shirt now be wet with drool, and your mind inspired to try something new in the kitchen!

~Cedeham~
p.s.
I felt the need to post something very positive after two 'negative' entries in a row. Please pardon any hint of "bragging," as that's not my intention. I just wanted to share something we found mouth-watering and something positive.