Strictly for the birds ....for your Happy Thanksgiving

Your Right Wing Chef | Oct. 29 2001 | Carlo3b

[carlo3b]

Strictly for the birds ....for your Happy Thanksgiving
Every year I get dozens of inquires about what to do to get a moist, delicious turkey, ..well in case you were going to ask...

A Perfectly Roasted Turkey

As Thanksgiving approaches, cooking the traditional turkey dinner gives rise to questions on the best way to roast a turkey and how to tell for sure when its done. Check these answers to serve a "perfectly roasted turkey".

What's the best way to roast a turkey?
This traditional method consistently creates a juicy, tender, golden brown turkey!
Set the oven temperature no lower than 3250F.
Be sure the turkey is completely thawed. Times are based on fresh or completely thawed frozen birds at a refrigerator temperature of about 400F or below.
Place turkey breast side up on a flat wire rack in a shallow roasting pan 2 to 2½ inches deep. In the beginning, a tent of aluminum foil may be placed loosely over the breast of the turkey for the first 1 to 1½ hours, then removed for browning. Or, a tent of foil may be placed over the turkey after the turkey has reached the desired golden brown.
For uniform results, it is recommended to cook stuffing outside the bird. If stuffed, stuff loosely. It requires additional cooking time for the turkey and stuffing to reach a safe internal temperature (turkey, 1800F; and stuffing, 1650F).
For safety and doneness, the internal temperature should be checked with a meat thermometer. Several types of thermometers are available on the market; regular, ovenproof; instant read and digital; pop-up timers; and microwave-safe thermometers.
The temperature must reach a minimum of 1800F in the thigh before removing from the oven. The center of the stuffing should reach 1650F after stand time. (Cook a turkey breast at 1700F).

Juices should be clear. In the absence of a meat thermometer, pierce the turkey with a fork in several places; juices should be clear with not trace of pink.

Where does the meat thermometer go?
Place the tip in the thigh muscle just above and beyond the lower part of the thighbone, but not touching the bone. If using an oven-safe meat thermometer, insert it prior to placing the turkey in the oven and leave in while the turkey is roasting. Turn it so it can be read while the turkey is in the oven. If using an instant-read metal stem thermometer, do not leave it in the turkey during roasting.

My turkey never reaches 1800F in the cooking time recommended on the charts…Why?
Many variables can affect the actual roasting time. Did you use a deep pan, cover the bird with foil throughout most of the cooking time or not completely thaw the turkey prior to roasting? These are a few common things done that can lengthen the total cooking time.
Roasting time charts are based on using a 2-2½" shallow pan, shielding the breast loosely with a tent of foil for first 1 ½ hours or when the turkey is about two-thirds done and using a completely thawed turkey at refrigerator temperature.

Other variables include an oven that heats unevenly, inaccurate oven thermostat, rack position and a turkey or pan too large for the oven.

As you can see, timing’s not everything so use the roasting charts as a general guide and continue to depend on a thermometer properly placed to let you know for sure when the turkey is done.

Approximate cooking times for turkey

Unstuffed

8 to 12 pounds
   2¾ to 3 hours
 
12 to 14 pounds
   3 to 3¾ hours
 
14 to 18 pounds
   3¾ to 4¼ hours
 
18 to 20 pounds
   4¼ to 4½ hours
 
20 to 24 pounds
   4½ to 5 hours

Stuffed

8 to 12 pounds
  3 to 3½ hours
 
12 to 14 pounds
   3½ to 4 hours
 
14 to 18 pounds
   4 to 4¼ hours
 
18 to 20 pounds
   4¼ to 4¾ hours
 
20 to 24 pounds
   4¾ to 5¼ hours

 Let the turkey stand 20 minutes before carving to allow juices to set and enjoy your "perfectly roasted turkey"!

 

[carlo3b]

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND CRANBERRY COOKIES

OHMYGAWD!!....... I died!

EGGNOG COOKIES

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

SKILLET CRANBERRIES

Cut and paste for this Thanksgiving
 

Thank you soooooooo very much!

[carlo3b]

Here's a change for you to try!

 Fresh Gingered Cranberry Sauce

• 1-1/2 C sugar
• 1 navel orange
• 1/2 t grated ginger
• 4 C Fresh Cranberries
• 1/2 C (2 oz.) Toasted Pecans

 Grate the orange peel and add to a pot with the sugar and ginger.
 Add the juice from the orange into the pot and simmer over
 medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.
 Add cranberries and cook until they pop - about 5 minutes.
 Add pecans and cool sauce.
 

[eyebeme]

Hate to admit this but I will. If I had to eat what I've bagged on my big game hunts so far this year I'm eating bark stew and limb chops on Thanksgiving. Hoping luck will change when I set down the bow and pick up the shotgun for opening day of deer season.Sorry no recipes for the stew or the chops.

[stanz]

Wow, this looks great. My daughter is in charge of cranberries every year. I'm going to give her this so we can use it as a subtitute for the usual cranberry sauce.

[stanz]

Carlo, you have outdone yourself again. This Thanksgiving dinner will be dedicated to you since we are using your Tofurky and gravy recipes. Will toast you, my friend!!!!

[Centaur]

Will be doing the traditional turkey baste of Kahlua

1 cup Kahlua
small jar apricot preserves
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (or to taste)
heat ingredients in saucepan and use to glaze turkey. Mmmmmm

[stanz]

A little Thanksgiving ditty

There was a Texas turkey
who worried day and night
He fretted in the barnyard
a sad and dismal sight
He pulled out all his feathers
refused to drink or eat
he looked so thin and scrawny
from his head down to his feet
his plan was to look sickly
Farmer Carlo sure would see
this frail and puny turkey on his table would not be
"We want no skinny birds here"
Farmer Carlo did proclaim
"I'll fatten you up somehow
for it's a rotten shame
to celebrate Thanksgiving
without a tasty squab
He'll ruin my reputation
he'll jeopardize my job
For I am Carlo3b
the Chef of all FR
My book's due any day now
How anxious we all are!
I'll find a way to trick him
How chubby he will be
I'll ply him with some tidbits from "The Clinton Legacy"
and then I'll stuff and roast him
and serve him up with spice
he'll compliment my table
with stuffing he'll taste nice."
But this turkey was no idiot
He saw right through the ruse
He did resist temptation
All food he did refuse
So Carlo, with frustration,
did what he had to do
He gave up on Tom Turkey
with that bird he was through
He turned to that great cookbook
and thumbed through every page
some recipes with parsley,
some with thyme,rosemary and sage
and then he did discover
Chapter four, page 103
a way to make Tofurky
that would please his family
so this has a happy ending
Everyone has been appeased
Tom the Turkey has a job now
He pickets in DC
He used to be lurker
But he gave it up you see
He was saved by Free Republic
and "The Clinton Legacy."

[Ol' Sox]

You don't have to peel all of those little onions - do this instead. Cut a small X into the base of each of the onions and then cook as the recipe calls for. When the onions are tender, pinch at the other end from the X and the good part of the onion will squeeze right out! Easy as pie...

[Angelique]

BRAVO STANZ

Hey, what a woman is that Stanz,
Tom Turkey is one of her fans,
The Tofu Turkey a delight,
And Tom struts away from his plight.

[jellybean]

That's wonderful stanz!! Take your bows...

[carlo3b]

A little Thanksgiving ditty

Outstanding ....What a neat poem, and so appropriate, timely, newsworthy, and accurate   LOLOLOLOL

[carlo3b]

I'm thinking about trying to make a version of my Gram's creamed onions this year, too. Gram used to peel all the tiny onions herself.

Ol' Sox,  beat me to it, and said so elequently as well. What a glorious recipe, and one I will try soon...Happy Thanksgiving
 

[carlo3b]

Where in the heck have you been?????? Welcome aboard the gravy train...it's with great pleasure we beg you for some recipes...LOLOLOL

[Cinnamon Girl]

Thank you!

[stanz]

Hey, thanks for the ditty!

[Ol' Sox]

Okay, try these!

Horseradish Creamed Vegetables

1 head Cauliflower cut bitesized
1 head Broccoli cut bitesized
1 jar pearl onions or 1 cup fresh
2 potatoes cut to 1" cubes
1/4 cup pimentos chopped
3 carrots chopped to 1" pieces
2 tbs flour
2 tbs butter
1 cup cream
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
3 tbs prepared horseradish (or to taste)
1 cup breadcrumbs

Make a roux of the butter and flour - melt the butter and mix the flour into it, cooking and stirring constantly over a med-low heat until nutty colored.

Make a veloute by whisking in first the cream, a bit at a time, and then the stock. Make sure there are no lumps. Add the horseradish.
Steam the veggies to your preferred texture. (I like mine still a little crisp).

Add the veggies to a casserole dish, pour the veloute over them.

Bake, covered, in whatever temp the oven happens to be at until bubbly.

Take the lid off, top with breadcrumbs and dot the top with butter and bake another 10 minutes to let the top get crispy.

Enjoy!!

[Angelique]

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG TURKEY, NEW TO THE COOP,
MY BIG BROTHER MIKE TOOK ME OUT ON THE STOOP,

THEN HE SAT ME DOWN, AND HE SPOKE REAL SLOW,
AND HE TOLD ME THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT I HAD TO KNOW;

HIS LOOK AND HIS TONE I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER,
WHEN HE TOLD ME OF THE HORRORS OF.... BLACK NOVEMBER;

"COME ABOUT AUGUST, NOW LISTEN TO ME,
EACH DAY YOU'LL GET SIX MEALS INSTEAD OF JUST THREE "

AND SOON YOU'LL BE THICK WHERE ONCE YOU WERE THIN,
AND YOU'LL GROW A BIG RUBBERY THING UNDER YOUR CHIN;

"AND THEN ONE MORNING, WHEN YOU'RE WARM IN YOUR BED,
IN'LL BURST THE FARMER'S WIFE, AND HACK OFF YOUR HEAD;

"THEN SHE'LL PLUCK OUT ALL YOUR FEATHERS SO YOU'RE BALD 'N PINK,
AND SCOOP OUT ALL YOUR INSIDES AND LEAVE YA LYIN' IN THE SINK;

"AND THEN COMES THE WORST PART" HE SAID NOT BLUFFING,
"SHE'LL SPREAD YOUR CHEEKS AND PACK YOUR REAR WITH STUFFING"

WELL, THE REST OF HIS WORDS WERE TOO GRIM TO REPEAT,
I SAT ON THE STOOP LIKE A WINGED PIECE OF MEAT,

AND DECIDED ON THE SPOT THAT TO AVOID BEING COOKED,
I'D HAVE TO LAY LOW AND REMAIN OVERLOOKED;

I BEGAN A NEW DIET OF NUTS AND GRANOLA,
HIGH-ROUGHAGE SALADS, JUICE AND DIET COLA;

AND AS THEY ATE PASTRIES, CHOCOLATES AND CREPES,
I STAYED IN MY ROOM DOING JANE FONDA TAPES;

I MAINTAINED MY WEIGHT OF TWO POUNDS AND A HALF,
AND TRIED NOT TO NOTICE WHEN THE BIGGER BIRDS LAUGHED;

BUT 'TWAS I WHO WAS LAUGHING, UNDER MY BREATH,
AS THEY CHOMPED AND THEY CHEWED, EVER CLOSE TO DEATH;

AND SURE ENOUGH WHEN BLACK NOVEMBER ROLLED AROUND,
I WAS THE LAST TURKEY LEFT IN THE ENTIRE COMPOUND;

SO NOW I'M A PET IN THE FARMER'S WIFE'S LAP;
I HAVEN'T A WORRY SO I EAT AND I NAP;

SHE HELD ME TODAY, WHILE SEWING AND HUMMING,
AND SMILED AT ME AND SAID: "CHRISTMAS IS COMING..."
--Author unknown

P.S. Christie, do NOT let Blue Boy read this!

[Angelique]

Hey! For anyone going camping for Thanksgiving Turkey in a Garbage Can

[carlo3b]

Garlic Clams Recipe

	24 Littleneck Clams 2 Slices of bacon 1 chicken bouilion cube 6 cloves of garlic, chopped 4 tbsp., light olive oil 1/8 cup white wine 1 tbsp. Parmesian Cheese 1/2 cup clam juice 1/2 cup bread crumbs Paprika, to tatse

1. Shuck littleneck clams, reserve juice, and leave clams on the half shell. Place clams on a broiler pan. Dissolve chicken bouillon in a cup of hot water; set aside. 2. Cut bacon into small peices and brown in a frying pan, drain fat. Add oil and garlic, cook for 2 min. Add wine, Parmesian cheese, clam juice and breadcrumbs, Stir until mixed. Slowly stir in chicken broth to throughly moisten the mixture making it almost a soupy consistency. 3. Place a tsp. of the mixture onto opened clams and sprinke with paparika. Place under broiler for 5 min. or until nicely browned. Remove and serve with lemon wedges as garnish.

[TwoStep]

Adorable post! **Bumpity Bump**