Remember
last year when, for the first time, I had the butcher spatchcock the turkey? As
a refresher, spatchcocking is just another word for butterflying poultry. The
backbone is removed so that the turkey (or chicken) lays flat in the roasting
pan. Well, this year I took that concept a step further and basically had the
entire bird boned. The legs and thighs were removed, boned, and used to make a
leg-and-turkey roulade. The breast was separated
and slow-cooked. The balance of the bird, including the bones, was used to make
turkey stock and gravy. All done a day early.
Let’s
begin with the roulade, defined as “a dish of filled rolled meat or pastry.” The
length of the leg and thigh together was about 8” and the width around 6”. When
I do this again (and I definitely will do it again next year), I will probably
pound the meat with a tenderizer to not only thin it, but enlarge it a bit. I
used a filling of sauteed leeks and herbs, rolled the meat lengthwise, and tied
with kitchen string. I then poached the two roulades in wine and chicken broth
until the internal temperature was 165 degrees. After cooling, I wrapped the
roulades in foil and placed them in the refrigerator. The following day, I
brought them to room temperature and then roasted them for about 30 minutes in
a very hot oven until the roulade was warmed and the skin crisped. After
resting a few minutes (the roulades, not me), I cut them in 1” rounds for
serving. They were beautiful and appealed to even the anti-turkey eaters and
anti-dark meat eaters at the table.
I decided
to slow cook the breast, even after reading Martha Stewart’s new book, Slow
Cooker, that warned against using lean cuts of meat in a slow cooker. I placed
chunks of onions, garlic cloves, and several sprigs of thyme in the bottom of
my 6-quart slow cooker and carefully placed the two breasts on top of the
vegetables keeping them elevated from the bottom of the pan and away from the
sides. I generously sprinkled the breasts with a poultry seasoning I’d bought
at Penzey’s (one of my Happy Places), and slow cooked the breasts on low for
about 5 hours until the internal temperature was 165 degrees. Same as the
roulades, I let them cool, wrapped them in foil and refrigerated until the
following day when I reheated them for about 30 minutes along with the
roulades. I honestly don’t think I have ever had a more succulent piece of turkey
breast. For once Martha was wrong!
At this
point we had all the makings for our gravy. Verne cooked the bones, balance of
the turkey parts, and poaching liquid to make a delicious, rich stock. Combined
with a roux (flour and butter), we had 2 quarts of gravy for our Thanksgiving
dinner the following day. There was still plenty to do on Thursday, but with
the turkey and gravy pre-made the rest of the dinner was easy-peasy.
I’ve
always hated the commercialism of the holidays. However, Black Friday has
become a “thing” for us. Many years ago it involved getting onto the computer
at midnight and shopping for Amazon sales. I left that to the girls. Then one
Black Friday we actually went to the mall at midnight along with half of
Portland and suffered the limited parking, crazy crowds, and hour-long lines to
check out. Believe me, it wasn’t worth it. Black Friday has now become Black
Friday week and it’s followed by
Cyber Monday week. There are some incredible sales during that time, like 50%
off everything at the Lucky Brand store in Portland, or 30% everything at Stash
Tea or 40% off all furniture at La-Z-Boy. I mention each of those, because
that’s where we shopped on Friday. It’s Lauren’s favorite time of year to
replenish her Lucky jeans, which is a big part of her standard work attire
(they are very, very casual at Nike). Of course Stash Tea is one of our
favorite places in Portland as we’ve all become avid tea drinkers and Stash is
a good quality everyday tea. As for La-Z-Boy, Lauren’s Christmas and birthday
gift for the next two years was a beautiful La-Z-Boy chair for her bedroom.
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| Black Friday at La-Z-Boy sale |
As
for internet shopping, I’d planned to give Jana a subscription to Master Class.
She’s been studying Spanish on-line and I figured she would enjoy Master Class,
also online education. There are about 35 or 40 classes offered including six
cooking classes. I’d had the gift idea for several weeks but had dragged my
feet and waited to order it the day before the girls’ birthday celebration on
Saturday. You can imagine my delight when I received a notice from Master Class
that they were offering a Black Friday deal -- a free subscription for every
one purchased. That meant I could also take classes from the masters! I wasted
no time and started my first class on the way home from Portland. Cooking
classes are offered by Thomas Keller, one of our favorite chefs, Gordon Ramsay,
Wolfgang Puck, and Alice Waters. There is a class on wine appreciation,
photography classes, and writing. I plan to take them all. What fun!
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| Laurelhurst Birthday/Christmas celebration |
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| Laurelhurst Birthday/Christmas celebration |
Another
great holiday/birthday celebration and we were on our way home to prepare for
our trip to Oaxaca, Mexico with Scott and Lauren.
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| Ready for Christmas and a long winter's nap |
