Turkey Day 2010....

Well, here it is again. Thanksgiving! Although there are various traditional “food theme” days throughout the year, such as ham on Easter, ribs on the 4th of July, “Thanksgiving” has pretty much a rigid menu: “By God, when I was growing up we had Turkey!!” Hearkening back to our (or at least mine) youth, we remember Mom getting up at some ungodly hour in the morning, wrestling with the now thawed turkey putting it in the oven in that big blue oval roasting pan, eventually with Dad offering (un)welcome suggestions – “I don’t think that’s done!” leading to the occasional fight in the kitchen. After a morning of preparation and grief, we finally all assemble at the table set with the best silver and china, thimble sized flared glasses for the Mogen David, and maybe a kids table jammed in the corner. Somebody stammers out a semblance of a blessing and then we start to pass: the green jello 7 up salad, the canned yams with marshmallows on them, heaping dishes of mashed potatoes, Pepperidge Farm Dressing with gravy (there was always great gravy), the little dish of cranberry sauce still sporting the rings from the can, a dish of (Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup) green bean casserole with the Durkee Fried Onions on top, a cut glass relish tray of mandarin oranges, ripe olives, shriveled gherkin pickles, and maybe pickled onions. Baskets of mealy white parker house rolls were passed with strawberry jam, and at last, the piece de la resistance: the bird. After Dad got through flourishing the battery powered slicing knife, it could be dried out and cool, but on a platter for all to see. Then “I only want white meat!”; “I hate cranberry sauce”. Remember the year Gramma Moody dumped her complete plate in her lap? Ahh, fond memories, but we’ll return to those later.

Over the years, as we have gradually escalated the Chef to Superstar status, Thanksgiving has somehow morphed into this glorious culinary opportunity (nay, necessity!) to show off your cooking skills. Nobody thinks about whether the pilgrims might have served “Soy Sauce and Honey Glazed” or “Pimenton-Brined” Turkey, bathed in a brine of a hundred ingredients (add freshly harvested Juniper Berries…). No, it was to survive. And It is after all, just a bird that somehow snuck into our culture as the paragon of Thanksgiving Dinner.

So in the face of all this, every year your loyal Bottom Feeder dutifully scans the foodie publications to see what this year’s nuances on the menu or the hot procedure is. Most publications still show that bronzed bird on the cover, along with tag lines such as (Food and Wine): “Thanksgiving Made Easy!”, or (Bon Appétit): “How to cook the perfect Turkey”. The same as last year, and probably the same as next. So, I perused over a dozen magazines, looking at some 20 recipes, reading numerous articles, each trying to come up with something new. It gets kind of silly.

For instance, the aforementioned Food & Wine regales me with a story about a well known Boston Chef and her husband who is “legendary” baker and how they prepared a wonderful dinner for their groovy friends. Gimme a break. Martha Stewart also wants me to learn how to prepare that Heritage Bourbon Red Turkey like her extremely vital Farmers at Stone Barn do. Who gives a crap?

Anyway, after reading all this stuff, it appears that cooking techniques have sort of calmed down a bit, like there was no mention of the deep frying frenzy (although I suppose it still exists), only one suggesting that “Start at 500 degrees – after checking the battery in the smoke detector). Generally the bird went into the oven at something like 450 and cooked a bit then reduced to 350 until a “instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest…” reads whatever. There is still some inversion, starting with breast down, then flipping, and maybe tenting. This year there are more recipes that call for either dismembering or butterflying the bird so as to attempt to get all the white and dark meats cooked just right. Not a bad idea. There is still the “bag” approach which appears in Cook’s Country. Of course Cook’s Illustrated (Perfecting Glazed Turkey) has to be somewhat different so they butterfly and cook at 275 degrees for up to 3 hours (internal 155 degrees let it rest, up the temp to 475, then several cycles of 7 minute brushing the glaze operations.. The venerable Joy of Cooking just says stuff the turkey if desired, put in a 475 degree oven reducing immediately to 350 and roast, giving you an idea of how long by how big the bird is. It also has a wonderful treatise on how to pluck and singe, truss, and so forth.

Saveur just listed 5 interesting preparations including a very nice traditional roasted bird with oyster stuffing. If you’re still casting about for ideas, you might check out Bon Appétit, they had several nice recipes.

Wines to accompany the bird similarly were all over the place, mostly matching the wine with the sides and the degree of spice. A lot of them recommended Pinot Noir, but there was also Syrah, Carignon, Shiraz, Malbec, Merlot, and Valpolicella, Chardonnay (of course), Sauvignon Blanc, Temperanillo, and a LOT of sparkling. I like the latter suggestion a lot. You can’t go wrong, but don’t do Tott’s or Cook’s. Spend a little to love a lot…

What it tells me is that there isn’t a single “best” preparation, seasoning, or wine. It’s back to that “do whatever the hell you like”. Turkey is not an easy protein to deal with. Do what you want, it’s pretty much the same. Show your flair with the sides, but remember the initial Thanksgiving was simple food. Maybe that’s the best idea. Leave the froo froo stuff to the wonderful people that run around with Martha, the hoi polloi in boutique places, all the “I love me” folks. Their food is forced and overdone, just for show. Oh, I should mention there was a dearth of “non-poultry” options. No lamb, no beef, pretty much concentration on fowl.

Okay, you know why I so vividly remember the 50 year old days of the 7-up salad and green beans? It’s not the food, it’s because it was a shared time with your family. Who cares if the turkey is overdone or cold, who’s sitting next to you? Do you love them? Do you enjoy being with them? There’s the attraction of Thanksgiving, being together, sharing experiences (even dumping the plate in your lap) and creating memories that you will cherish forever…

But, dear friends, I still admonish you to

DFD

ps tomorrow we leave for a couple of days of relaxation and dining on the Eastern Shore with a return to Easton