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Thanksgiving is not just for the bird

I understand the whole Thanksgiving turkey thing. For most of life I have had nothing but turkey for Thanksgiving, however I have learned to explore some new ideas.

We live in a time where different cultures intermingle; I have friends from many different countries. Some of my friends are vegetarians, some vegans, some ovo-lacto and some.. sometimes. I like to offer those folks an option at our Thanksgiving table for them…Tofurkey*. I have tried a couple of Tofurkeys in my life and can tell you none have lived up to the great American bird. The flavor is sometimes smokey, the texture ranges from mushy to dry, and the appearance from tube-like or look like they were  molded using a play dough food molder. Each manufacture has tried to simulate the golden color but I have yet to find one that you can peel off the crunchy skin and eat it. Never the less my friends seem to enjoy it so I am happy. 

 

Let’s explore Turducken. While the name implies that man has gone too far in genetically alerting our food, the simple fact is that Turducken is a Cajun fusion of Turkey and Duck. Debone a Duck then partially debone a turkey, stuff the turkey with the deboned duck, you now have Turducken. Some say that Paul Proudomme came up with this dish in the early 80’s at one of my favorite festivals in Duvall, WA called The Duvall days(the first weekend in June). I have also heard that it has been around in Cajun cooking for 30 or 40 years. Ether way I like the crazy thing. Turduken does takes a little longer to cook. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees, bake it breast meat up for 20 minutes then turn down the heat to 300 degrees flip the bird over (breast side down) and bake until the interior temperature reaches 165 degrees. The fatty duck does wondrous things to the turkey’s breast meat. Turducken is truly one of my favorite Thanksgiving choices. Yum.

 

In my family we reserve Christmas for Prime rib so Ham is normally served during Easter. I had a Thanksgiving meal with a friend that served Ham, she saved Turkey for Christmas. Shake it up! I love change. I dig the whole Pilgrim thing but I would be willing to bet ham was on their menu too.

Living in the great Northwest we have the ability to acquire some wonderful seafood. How about Halibut, Salmon, Dungeness crab, King Crab or the hard to get Smoked Black Cod. Oh man Black Cod, if you have never tried it you are truly missing one of gods greatest gifts to man.

 

Maybe there is something to the traditional? Yes my family has reserved the Prime Rib for Christmas, but why not Thanksgiving? The king of primal cuts. Purchase Prime rib with the rack removed and then tied back on, commercially we call this cut the Golden Lion. I bake the whole lion in a large roasting pan (Buy a full size hotel pan 6inches deep stainless steel, this will last you a life time and you can use it for many other things, around $20.00 at Cash and Carry). Pour 1 inch of rock salt arcoss the bottom, place the roast bone side down on top of the salt. Now completely cover the roast with rock salt. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees put the roast in the oven and flash bake for 30 minutes. Flash baking will close the pores of the meat sealing in the moisture. Then turn down the heat to 300 degrees. You will bake the roast until the internal temp reaches 110 degrees. Use a bi-thermal or digital thermometer to get an instant reading, I don’t suggest the big probes you leave in the roast while baking. Once you take the roast from the oven let it sit for 20 minutes and the temp will rise another 10 degrees or so. Some folks like their prime rib very bloody, if this is the case pull the roast at 105 degrees it will almost crawl across your plate. For those well done folks, pull the roast at 125-30 degrees you will be very happy.

 

I challenge you to explore food, break from tradition and every now and then get a little wild. Thanks for reading.