the feast of fried turkey
it was a holiday of success and failure, of overcoming obstacles and not dwelling on the mishaps, ups and downs.... sort of like life. a well fed life.
the first failure, the turkey injector. I tried to get as much flavor into the bird as possible. we were missing the fitting that connects the needle to the tube. most of it landed outside the bird.
I fired up the turkey frying oil in the afternoon, I was on schedule. but something didn't seem right. the flame was pitiful. it was a new propane cylinder... we all double and tripple checked that the valves were fully open... these two started doing math after timing a 5 degree temperature rise. I didn't need to wait till they arrived at an estimated 375 degree arrival time, I went with my gut feeling; it would never be hot enough in within the allotted time with that flame.
the girls were inside finishing up the cooking and prep work, kids playing.
I made the executive decision to use the indoor burner to get the oil up to temp. I knew we couldn't drop the turkey indoors, but I needed big BTU to heat the oil faster. and while that was heating, Bill kept messing with the propane valves and safety features and whatever had been stuck, became unstuck and the big BTU flame returned. BILL SAVED THE TURKEY! and somehow I lost track of time while all this was going on.
the oil quickly made it to 380 degree, we cut the flame off (don't want to be on youtube as another dumbass thanksgiving day fried turkey disaster) and I slowly lowered the bird... it sizzled and sputtered as it fried away, fry bird, fry away!
and nearly 40 minutes later (12.5 lb bird) the bird was floating. we removed it and let it sit a while.
I think we were supposed to let it continue to fry a bit longer, the skin did not get as crispy as kat usually likes. it was cooked all the way through, nobody went to the ER, but it could've been better
I don't really care for turkey, I had a back up protein. three pork loins with chipotle cream gravy.
I was happy with my leek and cashew soup with sweet potato chip on top. my roasted red pepper soup reduced too much and became thick and salty. I floated basil infused greek yogurt on top to cut the saltiness.
kids ate first. while we ate, they showered us with paper airplanes from the second floor. each had a note on it, "WE WANT PIE". we agreed to serve pie, after, they each made a list of five unique things they are thankful for. they made quick work of assembling thanks.
they did a great job with the lists, I think they enjoyed it.
pie was served.
weather was just cool enough to enjoy a roaring fire.
and then it was done.
everybody went home.
and he came back for a second attack on the cheese plate, the morbier and naxos honey will do that. got to get every bit!
