Tuesday, April 27, 2010

TESTING A TURKEY RECIPE

Last night Marty and I tested a turkey recipe for Cook's Illustrated. It called for a whole turkey breast and 4 pounds of turkey thighs and drumsticks. Or 2 whole breasts. We did one breast, that is still a lot of meat for 2 people. It was cooked most of the time at 275 degrees, at nearly twice the normal time. Supper was late last night. We didn't read the directions thoroughly before we began. We thought everything would be out in a couple of hours, wrong. Low and slow was the rule. So supper was around 9:20 last night.

When I took the above picture, I was hungry and cranky. I was standing in the refrigerator and grazing.
I forgot to take pictures until after the turkey went into the oven. Above Marty is working on the glaze. It was apple cider, cranberries, molasses, cider vinegar, fresh ginger and butter. This was cooked down and then brushed on the turkey.
And he is brushing on the glaze. The turkey breast looks beautiful.
During the last 21 minutes you brush the glaze on every 7 minutes.
Slicing the turkey. The skin was like candy from the glaze. As long as it was hot. When it cooled down, it was just turkey skin.
Little pieces for the kitchen help to nibble. It was really good, yet a little salty.
Our meal: fresh green bean cooked low and slow; soft dressing; hard dressing in the foil; gravy; green onions and tomatoes to cut up into the beans; cold milk.
View 2 of our meal. It was tasty. Not sure if we would make the glaze again. It was gorgeous, but really did not add to the turkey's flavor.