Food Notes: 11/26, Turkey Edition
Deep fried turkey, turkey facts, turkey sandwiches, puff pastry turkey, and lasagna.
We cook two turkeys. That might sound extreme, but there are a lot of reasons we do it. It was’t always this way.
My parents have hosted Thanksgiving for as far back as I can remember. The menu took inspiration mainly from my father’s side of the family. Side dishes included pearl onions in cream, mashed white potatoes, and white bread stuffing. Notice a theme? Its the Irishy-Scottishy-Englishy side.
During these years we would get big old fat turkeys and the stuffing cooked inside the bird. It had to cook for hours and inevitably the meat was dry.
Now we do things differently.
The changes began when my brother and sister-in-law moved to Netherlands, made some friends, and hosted an American-style Thanksgiving. It’s not easy hosting Thanksgiving in Europe. The biggest challenge was the Dutch ovens. The house my brother lived in had a modern stove and oven, but it was way too small to cook a whole turkey.
The très américain solution was to simply buy a deep fryer kit from, set it up on a farm just outside of town, fry the bird, and bring it back to the house for the meal.
Meanwhile, back in New Jersey, I had been lobbying to modernize my mother’s Thanksgiving menu. The white bread stuffing, apparently a family recipe passed down from my father’s mother, was an immutable part of the tradition. The problem: I don’t really like it. Cooked in the bird, it comes out soggy. There’s also no way to safely bring the stuffing to temperature without over cooking the meat.
I tried to change things by introducing a chorizo and corn bread stuffing about two decades ago. Baked in a pan, the top is crusty, the interior soft and crumbly. The flavor is sweet and spicy. Unfortunately, only once was I able to convince my mother to leave the white bread stuffing outside of the bird. My father was disappointed, and it went right back in the following year.
My mother started buying smaller turkeys too. Our guest list had shrunk from the highs of the early 1990s. She began sourcing birds that were less top heavy and built more like real turkeys. Now we usually get turkeys from Bone-In, a New Jersey based farm-to-table delivery.
Then the Prodigal Son returned: My brother and sister-in-law moved back to the States. My parents now host both our in-laws, meaning we have a lot more people. (Chair management is a yearly crisis that my father spends most of October worrying about.) But you know what they say: mo’ people, mo’ turkey.
The combination of more guests and smaller turkeys lead to a natural solution: two turkeys, one table. When we first proposed it, my parents were skeptical. How would we cook two birds? The grill was already occupied with a lasagna. Luckily my brother was now a turkey-frying expert.
My mother still makes her turkey with the white bread stuffing. The smaller turkey cooks a bit faster now, though the stuffing is still mushy.
My brother sets up the hot oil in the middle of the yard. The last few years, weather on Thanksgiving has been warm and dry. The frying of the turkey is a kind of mid-meal entertainment and we all watch as he lowers the bird into the oil. (Pro-tip: turn off the gas when you put the bird into the oil. Even if you splash oil, there’s no open flame to ignite).
A few minutes later we have two turkeys ready to go.
The hot oil is also great cooking side dishes. In this case, we make deep fried Brussel sprouts. The vegetables cook quickly and its a great way to get extra mileage out of both the gas and oil. At last, its something green to add to the table. This year the weather report predicts rain with a chance of ice and snow. We’ll have to see how it goes.
The Latest
The Puff Pastry Turkey
Netflix dropped a Martha Stewart documentary, Martha, that looks back at the housekeeping maven’s rise, fall, and renaissance. Early on in the program, Martha discusses her puff pastry-wrapped Thanksgiving turkey. My first thought was: I want this. I’ve spent days trying to track down the recipe. There are plenty of “Turkey Wellington” recipes that use a de-boned breast, but that’s not very Martha. The original footage is from Holiday Feast, according to a 1992 LA Times article. But apparently despite being the star of the show, there isn’t actually a recipe. YouTuber Stillwater Kitchen was just as intrigued and set out recreating the absurdity. Her conclusion? Probably bot worth the effort.
How to Cook Your Turkey in More Traditional Ways
Bon Appétit has a guide on how long to cook your turkey. Food and Wine distills some hot tips: brine, lift and separate, confit the legs, baste with butter. Alison Roman has thoughts too for seasoning, roasting, and crispy skin. Because of the algorithm, even technology site CNET has tips for your turkey. My hot tip: let your brother deep fry the turkey outside while you drink a beer.
Deep-Fried Turkey Sandwich
At Mass Live, Nick O’Malley taste tested Arby’s deep-fried turkey sandwich, describing as if “you asked an AI program to make you a Thanksgiving sandwich.” That sounds damning, but also he calls it tasty, so maybe not?
Why the Turkey Anyway?
Gastro Obscura takes a look at the significance of the historic symbolism surrounding the turkey.
Who Cares about Turkey when you Have Side Dishes?
Side dishes are fan favorites, with a majority of Americans preferring sides to turkey. That’s the latest from Campbell’s Third Annual State of the Sides. Other takeaways include: Gen Z loves Mac and cheese (they’re literal children, people!), stuffing is the number one side (No it’s not), and 11% of the northeast households include Italian-inspired dishes. Campbell’s Info Graphics are worth a peek too.
What’s the Best Green Bean Casserole?
Eater explores four recipes, from the original concoction designed to sell canned soup to Alison Roman’s gentrified version. I’ve made upscale green bean casserole and eaten the traditional recipe using canned soup, and I’ll be honest, I much preferred broccoli, cheese, and Ritz cracker casserole.
Lasagna Is The Best Thanksgiving Side Dish
The controversy started with Chef Tom Colicchio. During a Top Chef competition, contestants were tasked with making a Thanksgiving meal and he questioned whether the team would cook a lasagna. Apparently, not everyone does? The Thanksgiving Lasagna has long been part of the Italian American tradition (especially in New Jersey). But according to Khushbu Shah at the New York Times, it’s not just Italians who make an American lasagna anymore.
Celebrity Side Dishes
Martha Stewart is making a comeback, so maybe you want to eat her mashed potatoes; the New York Times rounds up some celebrity side dishes. If you prefer taking food advice from people who know how to cook, there’s a 2023 roundup of celebrity chef’s favorite side dishes. And whether you think of him as a chef or a celebrity or a celebrity chef or just that guy who looks like he sings in Smash Mouth, Guy Fieri’s secret stuffing ingredient is *spoilers* King’s sweet Hawaiian dinner rolls.
Turkey Facts
Need something other than politics to talk about with your family this week? Try these turkey facts:
Minnesota leads turkey production, with 38.5 million birds in 2023.
Turkey consumption has doubled since 1970 to 15.3 pounds per capita.
Estimate 1 to 1.5 pounds of turkey per person on average.
A turkey has between 5,000 and 6,000 feathers.
Wild turkeys average 18 to 20 pounds and 9 to 12 pounds for hens.
Farmed turkeys average 41 pounds, and hens average 17 pounds.
American’s throw away 200 million pounds of turkey each year.
