cajun and thai fried whole turkey of 2012, and it was good
last year we had a fried turkey for thanksgiving, and it wasn't the best. I wasn't sure I wanted to make effort again this year. but kat really wanted one... she was certain about it.
this year I tested the fryer before the fry day to ensure there were no surprises. I bought a new/better injector as well.
I injected half the bird with the traditional cajun flavor (mostly butter, cayene and garlic powder). the other side... I figured I'd try something new. I opened a can of coconut milk (not the lowfat variety) and scooped the layer of white coconut fat from the top and mixed that with thai red curry paste. I also added a bunch of thai red chili flakes and let it all sit overnight. I put it through a sieve before forcing it through the needle, and into the bird.
looks like a bit gruesome.
kat made a tree from mixed fruits.
#1 son made his cheesy garlic and herb drop biscuits.
he also helped fill the fryer to the correct level for our 15.7 lb turkey.
the men watched the oil temp as we got it up to about 390 (385 was our goal)
#1 rule for attempting to fry a whole turkey, ALWAYS TURN THE FLAME OFF BEFORE DROPPING THE BIRD AND ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE BIRD IS COMPLETLEY THAWED WITH NO EXCESSIVE MOISTURE ON THE SKIN.
we tended the oil temp for an hour, kept the temp between 275 and 290.
and it came out crispy!
I made a thai khao tod-ish shrimp salad, inspired from our summer vacation trip to DC and our meal at little serow. the trick for working with fish sauce is NEVER smell it, it stinks all on its own. I mixed some with sugar, lime garlic and cilantro. the shrimps were SPICY from thai red chili flake and the crispy fried rice cakes also had red curry paste mixed in. even the non shrimp eating among us raved about how good it was.
also made a mediterranian shrimp salad with apricot dressing and greek feta.
as well as, califlower and cashew soup with parsley butter.
kat did the carving, after watching a quick youtube carving instruction video from her culinary hero (alton brown)
that bird was GOOD! the breast was juicy! and the cajun side was spiced so it was obvious right away, but the thai side was flavorful but the spiciness didn't hit you till later.
and of course there was strawberry rhubarb pie...
kat had stored her fruit tree in the freezer till serving time.
and in other news...
we'd told the kids all about those big pretzels at easy tiger. they were excited. #2 son was so looking forward to a "pretzel as big as my head!"
and he was satisfied with the pretzel.
pic above is from another trip to botticelli's beer garden and their all night sunday happy hour. we enjoyed apricots stuffed with goat cheese along with mussells, shrimp, and clams.
kat's persimmon tree is burdened with a heavy load of fruit this year.
