In these days leading up to Thanksgiving, most of us can use a refresher course in how to cook this American feast’s traditional centerpiece, the turkey. Few of us buy and roast a whole 12- to 20-pound bird at any other time of the year, and it’s easy to get rusty.
Last year after I ruined another big bird due to lack of practice, I researched some of the best tips for doing a good turkey dinner and wrote them up in a how-to article for The Roanoke Times, that includes tips on how to choose the best turkey for your table, how to ensure it’s juicy and fully cooked, and how best to carve it.
The “Simply Recipes” blog also has a great section on how to roast turkey and what to do with leftovers. The photo above is from that blog.
Find locally-grown and organic products for your Thanksgiving dinner at Local Harvest.
Feel free to post your own turkey tips and travesties in the comments section. Meanwhile, here are some turkey facts to get you in the mood:
-Americans eat 22 million turkeys each Christmas and 45 million each Thanksgiving.
-United States turkey growers will produce an estimated 266.5 million turkeys in 2006. Most will be the industrialized broad-breasted white breed.
-Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and California were the leading turkey-producing states in 2005.
-American Indians hunted wild turkeys as early as 1000 A.D. and used the feathers to make arrows and adorn their ceremonial dress.
-The most popular ways to serve leftover turkey are as a sandwich or in stew, chili, soup or casseroles.
-In the United Kingdom, 87 percent of people eat roast turkey for Christmas. But Israelis eat the most turkeys — 28 pounds per person.
SOURCES: University of Illinois Agricultural Extension Web site and the Heritage Turkey Foundation
Tags: organic, Thanksgiving, turkey
Recent Comments