Turkey Time!

Well this post has been a while in the making, mostly because of my broken wrist and then forgetting my camera when I went home for the holiday. So I'm posting it now! Because its 3am and I can't sleep so why not blog?

This was a 20 Pound Organic Local Heritage Turkey. This thing was MASSIVE and brown instead of white. It was also wider than a normal turkey with way bigger legs. The boyfriend and I drove about an hour out to a little place called Vernon to Sweet Grass Farms. Got a bit lost but we made it! It's a great little farm and was well worth the drive.

So for this potluck thanksgiving with all my friends I took charge of the turkey and to tofurkey. Now for those who scoff at that word I promise you it's amazing. (At least my version) We had about 5 Vegetarians and Vegans so how could I exclude them!? It looks funny I will admit... REALLY funny but it tasted amazing and thats what counts.

So onto the main course! (See what I did there?) <-- It's past 3 am just let it happen.

Roomate: Rach there a turkey in our room...?

Me: YUP

 It's a big one people.

 That's an extra large pan there. It didn't fit the roaster that my boyfriend's mother lent me, so I used that for the tofurkey and had to buy this. 

Don't use the packet with it! It's a lie! There are WAY better ways to cook this deliciously.  

 I don't recommend the gravy it's flat out terrible. Sorry. I made my own and regret buying this.

 So you can start this part the day before. I made rosemary, maple butter. (OMG IT SMELLED AMAZING.) 

 Just let 2 sticks sit out and use about a 1/4th cup rosemary to to taste and a 1/4th cup REAL maple syrup. Not that aunt jemima crap.

 

 Yes, it came with all the body parts. You can make some seriously yummy giblet gravy with these. Plus turkey liver is yummy. ( I know I'm weird, most people just ignore it.)

 I smother this turkey in the butter, I also took pieces and rubbed it under the skin and put chunks under there so it would be self basting. 

 Don't forget some basic salt and pepper. I also put some chopped sweet potatoes in and around the turkey and some turkey stock in the bottom of the pan. Heritage turkeys bake at higher temperatures for a shorter amount of time. 425 for only a couple of hours. 

Giblet gravy is beyond easy. Pour some turkey ( or chicken) stock into your pot of turkey giblets (photo above) Toss in half an onion, a few smashed pieces of garlic, some salt, pepper and a copped up carrot and a stalk of celery. Let simmer for a couple of hours while the turkey cooks. 

NOW, onto the tofurkey. I told you it looks funny!

I put some wedged butter potatoes, carrots and onions with a few smashed pieces of garlic around it for the baking process. 

Now this is a bit of a strange combo but I swear it's yummy. 

3 simple ingredients. Red wine (SHHHHH), olive oil and apricot jam.

I put the whole jar of apricots in there and eyeballed lets say two cups red wine and maybe half a cup to a cup of olive oil. The key to this is tasting as you go. 

Let simmer for half an hour and then pour over the tofurkey. Bake tofurkey 

It's time to tent the turkey, and use parchment paper with heritage turkeys! Its essential. 

How amazing does that bird look?

It smelled amazing too. Don't worry if it looks dark in those spots, its because I poured some of that yummy NY maple syrup over it to caramelize on the skin. 

I still had a broken wrist so it was up to the boys to take this hefty bird out of the oven!

And this is what happens when you invite 19 people to a potluck. AMAZINGNESS

I got to carve the turkey! Took some time with the broken wrist but it was worth it!

The tofurkey just smelled amazing with the apricot-red wine reduction!

Fresh bread from Wegmans! and Salad cause we are greenies.

There is even a dessert table! See those pies at the end? Made from scratch by the rainbow haired kid you are about to see in a photo below. Phenomenal. 

Omgosh so many people!

A mishmash of plates, cups and silverware erupted to make sure everyone had something. 

o_0 More kept arriving.

And like true hungry college students we ate. 

Just a sample of my plate. 

After the food it was lazy coma hang around time. 

And still people picked because all that food was there. 

This guy is the pie guy! (Thats how I will refer to him) And he is in a food coma. 

I think I woke the boy up?!

The boyfriend and the pie guy have a bromance nap.

Boyfriend deciding if he should/is physically able to eat more.

Told you the Tofurkey was a hit. Demolished. I'll make this again for sure. 

Most of the food was eaten.

Look it's the girl! 

Photo shy shenanigans. 

Who wants to move after all that food, Not this girl!

The sad and triumphed remains of a once amazing 20 pound turkey.

So all in all this was a complete success. Everyone brought food, took food and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I'm glad I was able to create this whole event. Because the truth is that being around all of your friends while eating a ton of good food and having a loud fun time is priceless. 

By the way we had SO many people that we had to do this whole thing in the downstairs conference room and still we had to push some tables together! Good times!

Songs of this meal: Camouflage, By: Bran Paisley & Rain Is A Good Thing, By: Luke Bryan

On a few side notes: The cast is off! Hello right hand! I missed you so! Today is 1 month+N with my boyfriend. N being the month we dated before hand. Our anniversary is a math equation... Only at ESF. 

Ha ha anyway its almost 4:30am so let me say I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day/ Holiday and a fun NOT MACED black friday! (I did! Got all my holiday shopping done!)

A big project is coming up soon so stay tuned, fight off the zombie horde and read my blog!

Sorry about the spelling >.< Its late! 

PEACE OUT

A Mostly Veggie Meal

Well this whole meal started out because I really wanted some veggies, to be more specific I really wanted some of the cauliflower and broccoli bake I make with roasted garlic and olive oil. (It's to DIE for)

But the friends wanted some meat to so I decided to improvise some chicken with whatever we had lying around. 

This is all my organic vegetables by the way from the farmers market and they were absolutely wonderful!

Chop up your cauliflower!

And chop your broccoli!

I roughly diced an entire bulb of german garlic. You want the pieces big, it tastes better I swear!

Mix it all together in a shallow pan so it bakes even, try not to have too much of one vegetable in one area. Add a generous amount of olive oil while you mix.

Defrost boneless, skinless chicken breast ( :P I know it looks weird)

Made the guy take a few photos of me cooking today, I wasn't quite sure where I was going with the chicken yet so I cut it into medallion sized pieces. 

Extra virgin olive oil, black pepper corn, garlic powder and some dried oregano were my arsenal of seasonings. 

And doesn't it look as yummy all mixed up!

Toss the vegetable medley into the over at around 400 degrees and wait until everything is golden brown and to taste. (I like mine a bit crispy and the garlic roasted.) Every 10 minutes or so turn the veggies to make sure there is optimal cooking on every side 

Tossed the chicken in my cast iron and decided why not put some fresh basil leaves in as well. Those plants might as well not go to waste. (Just picking basil smells AMAZING) 

I kept the heat low so the chicken wouldn't burn. I wanted it to cook slowly as I added some more spices onto it. 

Golden brown is the color we are looking for! Make sure most of the liquid is cooked out of the cast iron. 

This is how I like it, soft and golden brown with the garlic and broccoli tops crispy!

This is all i really wanted, I don't need the chicken. Just give me a bowl of this and I'm SET. (It became by lunch the next day too)

Table set for three tonight, and see! Definitely mostly vegetables! 

I really love this meal and it was a big hit. I've made the cauliflower & broccoli mix a few times before and it's a great way to get people to eat their vegetables. Plus the fact they are all organic from the farmers market is kudos points. The garlic gets sweet and everything just tastes very light. 

I admit, the chicken was really good too. It's such a simple meal that I threw together in less than an hour. 

Baking time on the vegetables will vary due to how shallow your pan is. Sometimes it can take 30 min or sometimes 40. Just remember to turn them! 

The consensus was that this one was to be made again, and that the fresh basil leaves were a must!

What I would change:

I'm not sure I even would have made the chicken at all.

Music of the meal: 

The General, By: Dispatch 

Bake on people, bake on!