by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
It was a beautiful Thanksgiving morning; the cook preheated the oven, chopped the veggies, opened the refrigerator and experienced a moment of unmitigated panic. The bird was not in the fridge, it was in the freezer. It was so solid that it could kill a horse at a hundred paces. The unfortunate cook contemplated suicide, considering the gas oven and her very expensive knives (Japanese) but decided that dying would be marginally more humiliating than serving a late bird to her guests.
If you should find yourself in the same situation as our fictional chef, it might be good to know that there is a way out: cook the bird frozen. The idea isn’t as radical as you might think, and it results in a moister breast. The method is approved by the FDA. For a 12-13 pound chicken or turkey, you’ll want to get started 5-6 hours before, with the oven at 325. Don’t place the turkey in a pan with high sides; either put it on a rack to elevate it or use a very shallow pan for even cooking. You’ll also want a meat thermometer so you can monitor the heat. In about 4 ½-5 hours your bird should be done. Temperature of the thighs and drumsticks should be between 175 to 185 degrees. The breast, which will take longer to thaw and cook, will be at 160 to 170 degrees.
The benefits of not thawing a turkey include less time spent on prep, less of a likelihood that raw turkey juices will contaminate kitchen surfaces and a moister breast.
One drawback is that you aren’t able to stuff the turkey while it’s frozen. Instead you must wait until the turkey has thawed enough in the oven (at about 3 ½ hours) so that you can remove the bag of heart, liver and neck and stuff the turkey. The bird will be hot, so you’ll have wear silicone gloves to remove parts and stuff the bird.
If you want to go traditional and thaw your turkey, you can place it in the refrigerator to be thawed. Consider one day of fridge time per 5 pounds of bird. For a quicker thaw but one that requires more supervision, you can thaw your turkey under cold running water, changing the water every 30 minutes. You’ll be doing 30 minutes per pound (6 hours for a 12 pounder) and you have to be there to change the water. Don’t make the mistake of trying to speed up the process by using warm water; you’ll just end up with a partially cooked bird. Of course you can dodge the question of thawing or not by getting a fresh turkey or just buying a pre-cooked bird that simply needs re-heating.
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter or stick margarine
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
2 teaspoons grated lime rind
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pomegranate seeds (or seeds from 1 large pomegranate)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. Beat sugar and butter at medium-high speed until well-blended (about 7 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine buttermilk, rind, vanilla and baking soda. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Combine flour and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture. Fold in pomegranate seeds. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack.
Yield: 1 cake
---Kellie Abrahamson
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lowfat buttermilk
1½ cup pureed pumpkin (canned or fresh)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the bottom of an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. Stir together flour, soda and salt in mixing bowl. Add sugar, eggs, oil and buttermilk; stir to blend. Stir in pumpkin. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Yield: 1 loaf
---Kellie Abrahamson
1 1/2 pints vanilla ice cream, softened
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie shells
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place ice cream near the warm oven to soften. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin puree, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix in soft ice cream until smooth. Pour filling into two 9 inch pie shells. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes, or until filling is set.
Yield: 2 pies
---Kellie Abrahamson
For the past 58 years, the President has “pardoned” one turkey at an annual ceremony, saving the fortunate bird from the chopping block. This year is no exception. The process of choosing which turkeys are to be pardoned starts by separating about 30 turkeys from regular commercial stock. Those 30 are then taken to a family farm where they are fed a diet of corn, soybean and fresh water. While on the farm, they are socialized through constant handling. From those 30, two are chosen to make the trip to the White House: one for the ceremony and an alternate in case the first turkey is unable to be in the ceremony due to illness. Although only one of the turkeys will attend the pardoning ceremony, both turkeys will get to live out their natural lives in relative luxury. For the past several years the two turkeys were named via internet voting. Last year’s turkeys were christened Marshmallow and Yam before the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation. A 1930s-era replica farm operated by the Fairfax County Parks Department (called the Frying Pan Park) has been the traditional home for the pardoned turkeys after Thanksgiving. In 2005, the two lucky turkeys were instead taken to the Disneyland Resort and Theme Park in Anaheim, California, where they will stay for the rest of their lives. Both the turkeys were honorary Grand Marshals for Disneyland’s annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.
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