Ahhhh Turkey
Time!
Is here at
last!
Many, many
years ago (at least twelve but not more than a thousand) the Pilgrims
had the first thanksgiving. They probably served pumpkin and pecan
pie with Ready Whip, turkey, stuffing, muskrat, collards, smoked fish
for hors d'oeuvres - probably Lake Michigan whitefish, and Jello
salad. Well, maybe not that selection exactly. But maybe?
So
why DID the turkey cross the road? Don't know that, but I do know why
the turkey egg crossed the road?
It was so
inclined!
For
my feast, I will have the largest unsold turkey, sweet potatoes,
collard greens, brussels sprouts, succotash, yukon gold smashed
potatoes, punkin pie (or pumpkin pie, whichever you prefer), jello
salad, and smoked fish. I make my stuffing using dried bread, pork
sausage, peppers, celery, onions, mushrooms, and my secret ingredient
– black olives chopped from the can with the can juice. Sounds odd
maybe, but it is truly wonderful.
Now,
I get asked all the time “how big a turkey do I need for X
many guests. What I tell people is that I do a great job of raising
wonderful birds, but … maybe ask Martha Stewart. And then I tell
them that I recommend they get the biggest bird possible that will
still fit in their oven 'cause you need as much (many?) leftovers as
possible!
I,
even at this late date, still have a quantity of quality turkeys
left. Mostly bigg'ns. The other thing you can do (if they have any
left) is to order a T-day feast from Zingerman's
Deli just down
the road from the market. They use our (Nic's and my) turkeys. AND –
on the first of january, you can get a John H. Turkey Pot
Pie from said establishment down
the road from Market!
Let's
see, what else can I tell you? Got leftovers? Sandwiches both cold
and hot with some nice thick gravy will do. Turkey salad maybe? And
jook, which is a chinese stew or soup made from cooking the carcass
with rice in water until it boils down to a wonderful, basically, a
turkey soup. You can find various recipes online. I just saw one from
the New York Times (which I think is a pretty good rag). And of
course, there is always the “regular” turkey soup method where
you cook the living snot out of the carcass and add veggies and spice
and everything nice to it.
Recently,
someone came up to me (OK, a lot of people) and said they were
thinking of turkeys and thought of me. I wasn't sure if I should be
offended or pleased!
So,
I think I about covered all the bases here. Oh! Wait! I have to share
this with you. Some years back, I got a complaint about one of my
turkeys. She told me it was too moist and had too much flavor. Oh
drat!
Reporting
from the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market, the top turkey, John Harnois
