If your expecting this to be a regularly timed blog event then you're going to be a little disappointed! When was the last blog, 2-3 weeks ago? Well time flies when your having fun in South Florida..... The flu bug hit on of my colleagues at work, and thus I spent some extra time on the job. Also had a conference to attend, a daughter who dinged her car, a wife whose business just got a lot busier and on,and on and on.....
Still, this is a fun blog to do and with the help of my computer-dsavvy daughter Katie, I can now include pictures with the blog. Should make it a little more fun to review the blog. I also have a birthday coming up and if you notice, I am delaying the post - game wrap up of the Turkey Throwdown.
October 16th was a fun day for all. I want to thank the wives, girlfriends, moms and all who contributed all the sides that went with the turkeys. My cousin Gina was gracious enough to donate her house for the event. Jeff, her husband was a great host and I brought some wine from the cellar( should have gotten a few more votes just for that, but ..)
My turkey was a sublime amalgam of spices, brined in salt water, for 18 hours. Presenting myself to Gina's house, I took out my bird, dried and rinsed it out. Salthering the bird in virgin olive oil, I pre-heated the oven to 500 degrees, placed the bird in for 1/2 hour, before turning down the temp to 325. Cooked my 12lb turkey for about 2 hours total, with a beautiful color, moist meat and clear juices . The complexity and timing of this magnificent preparation was a sight to see ( this is my blog and if I want to wax on poetically, so be it)
Eddie (my cousin) deep-fried his turkey. heat up the oil( once he confirmed that he had propane), drop in the bird, have a beer, take out the bird. Took about a 1/2 hour. Remember kids, never deep-fry your turkey in-doors
Jeff ( my cousin Gina's husband), smoked his Turkey. In truth, this is closer to the Bobby Flay vision of BBQ. With the use of an electronic-temp-controlled smoker, Jeff's bird cooked over 6 hours and smelled great. Feeding in wood chips, on a regular basis, Jeff was able to enjoy the Miami Hurricane football game, O.K. maybe he agonized over the game!
Here are the final three birds, from left to right; deep-fried, smoked, brined.
We got to carving up the birds as seen above, and each of the guests were able to sample the bird, place a vote and it was essentially a tie between the smoked and deep fried, with the smoked turkey having 1-2 more votes. The brined turkey was a distant third.
Now, there was some thought that the guest population was a little skewed in that they like the taste and flavor of their meat more on the strong side, but, as I have learned that the key to the throwdown is to accept the verdict of your audience. There are no losers.... well there was... me... but that's O.K. I got Jeff's mom to vote for my turkey, as well as my daughter Katie.
I was proud of my effort, and would recommend to all who cannot smoke or deep fry a turkey because of the lack of equipment, that brining a turkey is the way to go for Thanksgiving. After all,everyone has an oven, and all you need is a turkey, large bag, salt water and spices. I would recommend the Williams-Sonoma for a commercial brined spice product, but you can make your own and save a few bucks. Easy to find on the internet are home made brine recipes.
A couple of points; using the juice of a brined turkey is very salty, and so a poor gravy source( off course the turkey is so moist you don't need gravy!!). Cook your stuffing in a separate dish as stuffing the bird with over-salt your stuffing. Most folks would have you cook your stuffing separate anyway.
In the next couple of weeks, I will be getting back to the cookbook ( Bobby Flay's "Boy gets Grill"). I have gone through most of the appetizers and may take a crack at the party section of the book. The Chicago Bears are playing the Miami Dolphins Nov 18 here in Miami and may do a little tailgating.
For those who wish to comment, feel free here, on facebook or just give me a shout.
Until later,
David
