I have to give credit where credit is due and this time that goes to The Chubby Chatterbox who has posted today on the best turkey he ever ate.
It brought to mind a Thanksgiving tale of our own. Back in the 1980's we lived in Mexico for several years. There were many other expatriate Americans living in the area at that time and a bunch of us would gather for parties, probably more frequently than was good for our health. One Thanksgiving, our good friend L decided to have a party at her house. She went to a local market and bought about a 15 pound turkey, paying some exhorbitant fee like $2.00 a pound for it. Only problem: she didn't have an oven. SWMBO volunteered to cook the turkey for the party.
So, came the big day. She put the turkey in the oven and turned it on to 475 degrees. She always does this for the first 15 minutes to sort of sear in the juices. Then the oven temperature goes down to between 325 and 350 for the rest of the cooking. So the turkey goes in. Oven goes on to 475. SWMBO says "I'll just take a quick shower."
I helpfully poured the first Margaritas of the day. SWMBO came out of the shower, took a Margarita, sat down, leaned back, and completely forgot about the oven. Until about an hour later. She suddenly and violently remembered it and ran to the kitchen. Pulling the turkey out, it was appearing completely done, very brown. She tented it with foil and put it back in the oven, now at the much lower temperature. When it was finally done, she covered it with foil and nestled it into a box with newspapers packed around it. And we left to cross town to L's.
When we got there, the crowd was pretty much assembled and everyone was enjoying their drinks. And enjoying their drinks. And enjoying their drinks.
Judy fretted but what could she do? Finally it came time for the meal. The turkey was unwrapped, still plenty warm, and carved. A miracle! It was moist and marvelous. Like the Chubby Chatterbox's memory, probably the best turkey ever.
There's an old expression that says God watches out for fools and drunks.
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
The long cocktail hour may have altered the discernment of the guests. But I was there and it was very good..for turkey, of which I am not a fan. The Margaritas were very good, of which I am a fan.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed my post and were inspired by it. I enjoyed yours as well; it made me want to be back in Mexico. Thanks for your fun stories, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteHappy thanksgiving to you, good story!
ReplyDeleteFriends have a tale of a Brie cheese that was wrapped in a padded jacket and put in the boot of a car, then forgotten about for a month, in summer I believe. When they retrieved it it was at a perfect point of ripeness.
Bruce and SWMBO, a really super story. Hope your turkey day was a grand one.
ReplyDeleteToo late to wish a Happy Thanksgiving but not too late to wish a Happy Day!
ReplyDeleteA great story. I guess to a chef it's all about the cooking, but to me, it's all about the eating. Sounds like a wonderful meal, though it may not make it to The Food Network finals. Haha
ReplyDeleteS
Found you via Chubby Chatterbox. Why, you guys make it sound so easy to cook a turkey, what with all the mistakes you can make and still have it turn out well, that maybe I'll try it next year. Wait ... I think ... maybe I'll just stick to "staying out of the way," which is what I do best. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteSightings - Thanks for stopping by. Actually it is easy to cook a turkey, even easier to cook a turkey breast as I did about a week ago. As an apparently somewhat famous lady chef says in her video on You Tube: "Just put the f---ing turkey in the oven!"
ReplyDelete