« Turkey Trot 2004 | Main | Photos Section Minor Update »

November 17, 2004

Does it Gobble in the box?

I really enjoyed this blog entry "Talking Turkey" by friend Lisa Donovan regarding their endeavor to do more than purchase a supermarket turkey for Thanksgiving. An excerpt:

...Once we committed to not buying a supermarket bird, the options began to open up for even more exploration. "Organic", we found, was only the tip of the iceberg. It is possible to have an organic Broad-breasted White industrial turkey. Which, because of breeding, would probably not be the best choice from a gastronomical perspective, when you consider how they are primarily prepared for cooking (see above). This is about the time we discovered “Heritage” breeds. Heritage breeds of turkey are natural, old-fashioned varieties whose ancestors roamed the American Farm Belt centuries before anyone heard of Butterball or Jennie-O. These breeds include names like Narragansett, Jersey Buff, Standard Bronze, Royal Palm, Bourbon Red, White Midget, and the Beltsville Small White. The Narragansett is apparently the oldest turkey breed in North America. If you want to eat as the Pilgrims did, this is the closest you’ll get...

Read the rest of the post for the hilarity of it all...

We've experimented in recent years with cooking methodologies of the celebratory fowl - that is to say we now enjoy dunking it in 400 degree oil and frying it to a crisp. Hey, if you're going to celebrate and take on some additional calories, you might as well go all the way right?

I hadn't thought much about the "type" of bird beyond the basic splurge at the grocery store for the "Butterball".

I wonder if a heritage turkey is somewhat "gamey" in taste, or "tough". I don't imagine the deep fryer results would vary at all.

Regardless of how you cook it, you'll have leftovers for a bit, so here are some endless recipes for the meals to come:

• Barbecue Turkey Burgers
• Grilled Turkey Filets with Mixed Mushroom Sauce
• Turkey Pizza Quesadilla
• Couscous Salad With Turkey, Apricots and Almonds
• Curried Turkey Couscous Salad
• Grilled Turkey Cobb Salad with Blue Cheese Buttermilk Dressing
• Mozzarella Basil Stuffed Turkey Tenderloins with Smoky Tomato
• Vinaigrette
• Grilled Turkey with Cilantro Salsa
• Caribbean Turkey
• Artichoke Turkey Pizza
• Barbecue Turkey Pita Sandwich
• Chopped Turkey Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Pumpkin Black Bean Turkey Chili
• NEW! Roasted Turkey with Mushroom Herb Sauce
• Turkey and Artichoke Antipasto Salad

And MUCH MUCH More... have a good turkey day - regardless of whether you put down your own turkey with a cross bow or not. Read the post - it's funny!

Posted by gcrgcr at November 17, 2004 2:32 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.tombartel.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/23

Comments

Post a comment