I trust everyone survived Thanksgiving. I started my day out at 5:00 a.m. I was tried a new recipe for preparing and cooking my turkey. I did have an early morning adventure. When I purchased my turkey, it was pretty much thawed out, so I stuck it in the drink fridge out in the garage until Thursday morning. I thought about checking it once or twice, but what was the need, I thought to myself. Wednesday night, I even grabbed a can beverage from the same fridge, and no, I did not check or touch the turkey. I get up at 5 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning and first put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher. Wednesday night I had placed the printed recipe on the stove top in order to be more efficient on my preparations. The recipe I had decided to try included brining the turkey in water with salt and sugar. The turkey was to brine for 3-6 hours. The recipe called for the turkey to be cut in a few pieces. The wings and legs were to be separated from the torso. I have never done this, even to a chicken, so that in itself was going to be interesting. Okay, I proceed to the garage to bring the turkey. When I opened the fridge and grabbed the turkey, much to my dismay, it was frozen. Ohhhh Noooo! I don't understand why. The drink I enjoyed the night before, which was right beside the turkey, was not frozen. Crap! I brought the turkey into the house and proceeded to run hot water over it. I grabbed a hold of each wing and pulled in opposite direction. I finally was able to move the wings slightly. I finally had the wings pulled far enough away from the body and I then proceeded to take a knife and try to cut through the skin, meat and bones. Yeah, right. It was not working. I put a large cutting board on the stove top, placed the turkey on the board and pulled out one wing. I started chopping with my huge knife. I am sure this is not what you would see on cooking shows. It was successful. I accomplished removing the wings. The legs were still frozen and stuck in that plastic holder thingy. I put the turkey back in the sink and ran more hot water over it. I waited a few minutes and then was able to get the legs out of the plastic thingy. I then grabbed each leg and begin to strive to pull them a part. If I was in better shape, I think I would have braced my legs against the cupboard. It would have given me more leverage. All I accomplished was getting the legs pulled away from the body. The poor bird looked deformed. I made an executive decision to not cut the legs off. I prepared by brine, placed the container in the sink and added the bird. I snapped the lid on and proceeded to clean up the mess. I have never had a turkey such as this.
After 3 1/2 hours of brining, I placed the turkey on a bed of chopped onion, celery, carrots, crushed garlic, bay leaves, parsley, tyme and porchino mushrooms. I covered the turkey with a mixture of chicken broth and dry white wine. The turkey was then covered with foil and placed in the oven to braise. I did make the mistake of placing the red and white "popper" thing that pops up when the turkey is done, on the bottom, so I was unable to see it popped up. Fortunately, I did not over cook the turkey too long.
I strained the juice from the vegetables, added some cornstarch to the juice and made a delicious sauce. The turkey was also scrumptious.
We had a fantastic Thanksgiving Day. Ajay and Jesscica, I believe had a great day with her family. The only thing missing was Gary's physical presence. He was there in spirit, though.
My heart is not as heavy as it has been. I am staying true to my resolve and embracing positive energy and light. This helps me feel Gary in my heart and brings me closer to God.
It has been a fabulous week. My shoulders do not feel so bogged down with stress and anxiety. I am going to a dear friends house tonight for her son's engagement party. Last night, I went to the James Bond movie with Zach, Jaime, Rachel and Josh, then out for a bite to eat.
I wish everyone a joyous rest of November. Embrace each day with positive energy. Rejoice in the blessings of life and all that it includes, warts and all. Pass a smile to all who you meet.
In Thanksgiving to God, Love and Blessings,
Sue
No comments:
Post a Comment