The turkey of my dreams…

Behold…my magnificent turkey!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving or a nice day for those who don’t celebrate it. Yes, I have a friend that is adamant about not “doing” Thanksgiving, but he did take his mom out to brunch.

I ended up throwing the wings in the stock since no one eats them.

As you know, I tried a different method for cooking my turkey this year, and it came out fantastic! Not only was it easy and fast, but this method produced the most tender and juicy turkey I have ever made. It was the best turkey we ever had, hands down!

The turkey stock also came out better, flavorful, and clear. Again, it made a fantastic gravy, better than my usual turkey gravy. There was zero waste on the turkey since it was carved before cooking, just requiring slicing the breast before serving. So simple! 

The breasts resting while the thigh & leg pieces were still in the oven cooking, which always takes longer, usually drying out the breasts in the meantime.

The carcass I used for the stock was transformed into “dog food.” I mixed the turkey, rice, carrots, and leftover green bean ends with some stock. I removed the fat from the stock, and even though I always season everything well with salt, I didn’t this time, knowing it would be ok for the dogs. 

The trick of putting gravy on the platter before placing the turkey on it kept everything moist.

Otto had an upset belly while we were away last week. He had diarrhea multiple times every night we were gone. He wasn’t eating much, but he was drinking plenty of water. At first, we thought it was separation anxiety, but we’ve gone away before. Then I thought maybe he ate something disgusting in the yard or was getting old and sliding downhill.

Last night, I mixed some turkey and rice with his dry food, and he devoured it. He did at breakfast time and dinner tonight. He seems like he is feeling better; fingers crossed. 

My kitchen hack to cut the ends off of green beans and have uniform-sized beans; the ends went into the dog food.

He hasn’t needed to go out in the middle of the night for the last two nights, so who knows? We have an appointment at the vet in December, but we could bring him in sooner if he didn’t get better. 

The rest of the clear stock will be my “food” on Sunday. I have to consume only liquids for a colonoscopy on Monday morning at Dartmouth Hitchcock. 

I’ve had so many colonoscopies over the years for my ulcerative colitis I’ve lost track. The procedure is a snap; drinking that nasty shit is the most challenging part I hate; the rest of it, I don’t mind.

Happy Friday! The week has flown by since we went away; I can’t believe it’s our farmers market day again already tomorrow. Have a great weekend! I’ll check in with you on Sunday.

3 Replies to “The turkey of my dreams…”

  1. I was at Dartmouth on Monday. Will you stay Sunday night or do you get up early and leave? Turkey looks so yummy!

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