Home > Relish Austin > Archives > 2008 > November > 17 > Entry
Giving turkey a second (or third or fourth) chance
Ham has always won in my book, but who can serve a Thanksgiving dinner without Mr. Gobble Gobble himself?
But it is not as if turkeys cook themselves. (You’ll remember my run-in with turkey in Spain a few years back.) They are large, once-a-year traditions that, like most fowl, are unremarkable in flavor without some effort on the cook’s part.
But the class, led by Texas Culinary Academy instructor Stephen Cash, opened my eyes to how delicious a turkey can be — if cooked properly. The roasted turkey, which had been brined, was moist and tender enough to fall apart even when cut into fat slices. The fried turkey, which cooked in less than an hour, wasn’t quite a delectable, but it was still better than any turkey I’ve ever served or been served on Thanksgiving.
Cash, who indeed marks his coffee travel mugs with a dollar sign, will tell us exactly how you cook that perfect turkey in a live chat here on Relish Austin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
As if the turkey wasn’t enough, TCA had an awesome mulled cider for us to drink, served with a scoop of butter and a dash of spiced rum. The recipe, which will be the only thing I actually make for the family T-day dinner next week, is after the jump…
Mulled cider
1 gallon apple cider
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
2 star anise
10 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
zest of one lemon
1 cup sugar
Put everything into a pot. Bring to a simmer, but do not boil. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, strain and serve. Optional: Add a teaspoon of butter and a dash of spiced rum.
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By saucymomma
November 17, 2008 6:29 PM | Link to this
No optional about the butter and rum here. I’m going to make it as a toddy for our Thanksgiving TX vs. A&M game pre-party. Great recipe….I can smell it already!
By Bubbalicious
November 17, 2008 6:44 PM | Link to this
mmmmm…fried turkey…mmmmm What’s also great about fried turkey is you can serve 3-4 of these to a larger crowd at a Thanksgiving party. Do one an hour before the party starts and this give you some time to cool the bird for serving to the early-birds. Then you have another turkey coming every 50-60 minutes. Best turkeys I’ve ever had were 10-12# organic hens, skin injected with a sage-pepper-lemon mix and fried. Mmmmmm…