This "Thanksgiving edition" of the OC column deals with how to select, prepare, and cook the traditional bird, but with a variation; for some of the "basics", e.g., thawing a frozen turkey, to stuff or not to stuff, roasting time tables, handling tips, and cooking variations, I refer readers to the very informative web site of Clemson University Extension, http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC3560.htm I’ll offer some comments - of course! - on a few of the points/recommendations given on this site, plus information that the site doesn’t cover: selecting the turkey, to "brine or not to brine", a few recipes that you might enjoy, and web site suggestions for more "bird" information.

CHOOSING THE BIRD(S)

Selecting the turkey can be confusing - what size to get for how many people? Frozen? "Fresh"? "Basted" and with a pop-up timer? Generally speaking, figure on getting a turkey that weighs the at least the same number of pounds as the number of people you want to feed. If you want leftovers or there are "good feeders" in your bunch, get a bigger turkey(s). Depending on your oven size, whether you have one or two ovens, (and how many drumstick devotees you invite to the table) you may want to consider two smaller turkeys instead of one great big bird that you can hardly haul to the oven, let alone maneuver it inside and get the oven door shut. (I start my turkey breast-down, turning it about 2/3 of the way through the cooking process, and there’s no way I want to try [ever again] to turn a hot, drippy, 25-28 pound "thing" with the wings getting hung up in the rack or the skin sticking and dragging the rack over the side of the pan and slopping grease all over the oven.) Two smaller birds will cook in less time, more evenly, and be easier to handle.

Most supermarkets offer choices of fresh and frozen turkeys; my preference is for a fresh, "natural" bird - one that has nothing "shot" into it or sticking out to pop up - maybe. Pop-up timers are rarely accurate, and I can’t believe that shooting up a turkey with vegetable oil and assorted chemical "broths" is going to make it taste good! "Fresh" turkeys are almost always "super-chilled" to about 28 degrees; the difference between a "fresh" bird and a "frozen" bird is - according to the butcher shop I deal with, anyway - the temperature (0 degrees for "frozen" vs. about 28 degrees for "fresh") and the time the bird is kept at that temperature (longer for frozen birds). If you buy a frozen turkey, make sure it’s still frozen hard when you pick it up; many supermarkets are pretty casual about maintaining proper storage temperatures for poultry - and other things, too. In fact, I would suggest asking the meat clerk to bring your turkey out from the back
rather than taking potluck out of the turkey bin in the store aisle. (If you do buy a frozen turkey, plan to pick it up early enough to allow for in-refrigerator thawing; see the web page for time tables.) Fresh turkeys are almost always a little more expensive per pound than frozen ones, and the "store brand" of frozen is usually cheaper than a brand name. Compare prices if you have local supermarket options; I have found up to a 40 cents difference in per-pound price for the same fresh turkey among three local stores which carry the particular brand I get.

TURKEY-HANDLING COMMENTS.....

Raw poultry can be a great breeding ground for some evil "bugs", and if not handled with care and common sense, can make you - and your guests - pretty sick. I won’t go into the details, but it is important to wash your hands, the drain board, cutting boards, sink(s), and knives or any other utensils that have contacted the turkey with hot water and soap. (I use paper towels to scrub/clean/wipe up when working with poultry; sponges and dish rags are great "incubators".) The turkey itself should be rinsed well, inside and out, with cool water, then dried with paper towels. (Don’t "soap" the turkey; I think I told the "washing the chicken" story in another column.)

"BRINING" THE TURKEY.....

I’ve always brined turkey and chicken, whole or parts; this process "seasons" the bird, makes it juicier, and helps get the skin a deep golden-brown. The brining technique works well and produces a moist, tasty turkey if some basic guidelines are followed: 1) Brining works on fresh or frozen plain/natural turkeys only; don’t try to brine an "injected" - the kind labeled "self-basting" or some such - turkey! 2) The turkey should be thawed, rinsed, and all its cavities empty - don’t leave the packet of innards in the neck cavity! - before brining. 3) If your local water tastes musty, chlorinated, or otherwise nas ty, get a couple gallons - or more, depending on the size of your turkey(s) - of "distilled drinking water". Most any large supermarket carries this in gallon or larger jugs/containers. The turkey will be sitting in this brine for several hous, and will take on the taste of the water; bad-tasting water will ruin a good turkey. 4) The same goes for the salt used in the brine - I use "sea salt" - not the grey stuff, but the "washed" kind - or kosher salt for any brining (and pickling). Regular table salt has additives that can give a metallic taste to the turkey. 5) Use a deep-enough bowl, stock pot, or whatever for the turkey to be at least half-immersed in the brine. Completely under is best, and eliminates the need to turn the bird over every hour or so, but not many folks have that size container around the place. A (very clean) deep sink that’s not in use or a (very clean, preferably new) 5 gallon or larger bucket can be used in a pinch. (This is another "plus" of cooking a smaller turkey - or two, if you have the oven space.) 6) The brine recipe I use is "lighter" than many; some brines are so strong, they’ll almost float the bird! Try 1 cup of sea or kosher salt and 1/4 cup sugar to each 1 gallon of water; two gallons water/2 cups sea salt/1/2 cup sugar will brine a 13-15 pound turkey. I brine a 14 pound bird for about 5 hours, turning it as necessary every hour to make sure that the brine gets to all parts of the turkey. Ideally, the bird should be refrigerated during the brining process, but if you live in a cold climate,
set the container where it’s about 40 degrees or a bit less - and where nothing will get at it! (I lost a ham to a "tall dog" on one occasion and the centers out of pumpkin pies to a pair of opportunistic cats on another.) Cover and remember to turn the bird every hour or so. When the turkey is brined - an hour more won’t hurt if the turkey is a little heavier than 14 pounds - take it out, rinse it well inside and out under running water, pat dry with paper towels, (wash up), and get ready for the next steps.

TURKEY DRESSING/STUFFING

If you decide not to stuff your turkey - or don’t want dressing/stuffing at all - try putting a coarsely chopped onion, 2-3 bay leaves/sprigs of rosemary/fresh thyme, several springs of parsley, and the juice and rinds
(wash these before cutting and squeezing) of a couple of lemons into the body cavity of the turkey before roasting. An unstuffed turkey takes about 10% less time to cook than a stuffed turkey; see the roasting timetables on the referenced web site. If you want to "dress" the turkey, plan on about 2/3 cup of dressing for each pound of turkey weight; a 14-pound bird would take about 10 cups, more or less, of dressing. Spoon the dressing into the body and neck cavities; don’t pack it in, as the dressing needs room to expand and heat through - the suggested safe temperature is 165 degrees, and an "instant read" thermometer is very helpful in judging "doneness" of both turkey and dressing. Put any extra dressing into a covered casserole dish and bake until hot through; uncover the last 10 or so minutes of baking if you like a crisp top. (Or refrigerate and bake the next day.) (Note: Always remove all the dressing from the turkey before carving - don’t forget the neck cavity - even if you don’t carve the whole bird.)

This wild rice dressing is traditional in my family, and is a good complement to the flavor of the turkey. "Wild rice" isn’t rice at all, but a grain from a type of marsh grass native to the northern Great Lakes areas
of the U.S. and Canada. Wild rice is still cultivated - not too much "wild harvesting" any more - in these areas, and now is also commercially grown in California and a few other states. It’s a lot less expensive now than it used to be, and much more widely available. One cup of raw wild rice will yield about 2 1/2 - 3 cups of cooked.

Wild Rice Dressing for Turkey or Chicken (makes enough to stuff a 14-pound turkey with some left over to bake on the side.)

1 cup raw wild rice
4 cups bread* cubes
1 medium onion - about 1 cup - a little more is fine.
3 ribs celery - same amount as onion
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 pound brown (or white) mushrooms
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons or so; use the whole lemon if 1/2
doesn’t give enough juice)
3/4 stick butter
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (or more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

To prepare wild rice: Put one cup of wild rice in a bowl and cover with water. Swish rice around, then drain in a colander or large strainer. Pick out anything that floats to the top. Repeat the process, then drain the rice and put into a pot with 3 cups of water and a 1/4 tsp. of salt. (Don’t follow the cooking instructions on some wild rice packages that advise using 4 or more cups of water for each cup of raw wild rice. This much water gives a mushy and soggy result. The wild rice has to be able to absorb turkey juices, so you want to start with it somewhat "chewy".) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to very low /simmer and cook, covered, for about 40 minutes. Stir halfway through the cooking process and check to make sure that rice isn’t cooking too fast or drying out/sticking/burning from too-high heat. Add a little water if necessary. When water is absorbed, remove from heat and leave covered. (Note: some of the grains will have "popped" and some will still look like they’re not "done". This all straightens itself out when the dressing is inside the turkey.)

Bread: I use sourdough bread cut in small cubes of about 1/2" or less. If you don’t have access to good sourdough bread, use a heavy-textured, "home made" type of white bread or "French" bread with some substance. The "pillowy" supermarket sandwich bread won’t do the job. Toast/dry the cubes until very light brown in a 300 degree oven for about 15 minutes; watch carefully to see they don’t get dark.

Put dressing together: "Toss" toasted bread cubes and wild rice together in a large bowl. Wash mushrooms, trim stems, dry well on paper towels. Slice thickly or cut in halves or quarters, depending on size of mushrooms. Set aside. Peel onion and chop coarsely. Trim celery ribs and slice diagonally into pieces. Wash and chop parsley. Melt half the butter in a heavy skillet, add onion, parsley, and celery and saute over medium-high heat until both are just "limp" - about 5-7 minutes (or a little more) depending on the heat. Put onion/celery/parsley mixture into the bowl with the bread/wild rice. Melt the rest of the butter in the same skillet, throw in the mushrooms, and saute until mushrooms are very light brown - about 10 minutes or so. Add these to the stuff in the bowl. Put the wine, chicken stock and lemon juice into the skillet and "cook down" over medium heat for about 15 minutes; you should end up with about/more or less 2 cups liquid. Pour this over the bowl contents, add the poultry seasoning (and salt and pepper to taste; start with about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Don’t over-salt.) Mix all ingredients well. The dressing can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, or made - and put into the turkey - just before you cook the turkey. Be sure to take the dressing out of the refrigerator early enough to allow the dressing to come to cool room temperature before stuffing the bird. NEVER STUFF THE TURKEY UNTIL JUST BEFORE IT’S READY TO GO INTO THE OVEN!

Here’s a classic cranberry "jelly". I know that a lot of folks won’t have anything to do with cranberry sauce unless they can see the can’s indentations on that dark red cylinder, but this old-fashioned jelly is pretty good stuff!

Cranberry "Jelly"

1 12 oz. (3 cups) package cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water*
1/8 tsp salt

Lightly oil - use a tasteless vegetable oil - a "jelly mold" or bowl with about a 4-cup capacity. Fill a(nother) bowl with water, pour the berries in, swish around, and pick over; discard any spoiled or soft ones. Drain the berries and put them into a pot with the water*. (Water gives a slightly more clear jelly, but I often use either apple juice or orange juice [fresh is best, frozen is OK] instead. Your choice. ) Heat (bring to a boil) just until the berries’ skins pop; about 5 minutes or less. Pour berries into a big strainer over a bowl and press out pulp, scraping bottom of strainer a few times. Discard skins and seeds. Put pulp back into the pot, add the sugar, stir to combine, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 8 minutes (no more than 10) until a few drops "jell" on a cold saucer. Cool for about 5 minutes, then pour into the mold/bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly jelled. To un-mold, set mold/bowl in a pan of hot water about halfway up the mold, put a plate over the top of the mold/bowl, then invert. (It helps to run a knife blade around the top edge of the mold before doing the hot water thing.)

Grammie’s "Light Rolls"

3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp. soda
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. dry yeast* (dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water)
3 tbls. soft butter
2 1/2 - 2 3/4 unbleached flour

Mix dough. Turn out on a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic - little "blisters" come up just under the dough surface. Shape** into rolls, put into well-buttered pan, cover with a clean dish towel and and let rise in a warm place until double - about 45 - 60 minutes. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Makes 12-18 rolls, depending on shape/size.

* - The recipe originally called for a cake of yeast, but this is hard to find nowadays. If you do find and use fresh cake yeast, use 1 cup buttermilk instead of 3/4 cup.** - I butter a couple of round cake pans, shape dough pieces into balls about the size of golf balls, and set them to rise - with sides touching - in the pans. If you want "crusty" rolls, butter muffin tins, shape into balls or whatever, and give each roll its own "space"!

"Winter Pear" Salad with Gorgonzola and Walnuts

2-3 Anjou variety pears
2 heads butter lettuce* (or "limestone" lettuce)
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Gorgonzola dressing

Chop walnuts coarsely and toast lightly on a baking sheet at 300 for about 5 minutes. Rinse and dry butter lettuce well in "salad spinner" or in paper towels in plastic bags over night in the refrigerator. (* Get the greenest butter lettuce available; the "yellow" heads are often bitter.) Wash, peel, and slice pears into 1/8 " vertical slices JUST before assembling the salads on individual plates or they’ll discolor. Prepare individual salads by tearing lettuce into pieces (make sure the pieces are of a size that "eat" without having to be cut or stuffed into one’s mouth in stages!) on salad plates, laying 6 slices of pear on top, then adding a dollop of Gorgonzola dressing and sprinkling about 2 tablespoons of toasted walnuts over the top. Serve immediately.

Gorgonzola Dressing

4 oz. Gorgonzola* cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup sour cream (to taste)
1 clove garlic, pressed
juice of 1/2 small lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
2-3 tbls. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. each salt, pepper

This goes together fast in the Cuisinart, but it can also be easily made by hand. Put cheese on a plate and bring to room temperature. Mash cheese with a fork. Add the other ingredients, and mash/stir together well; it’s OK if it’s a little lumpy. Put in a glass or stainless steel bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight. A couple hours before serving, taste and adjust "seasonings". Leave out of the refrigerator; the dressing firms up when it’s chilled.

* If you can’t find Gorgonzola, use another "blue" cheese.

MORE SITES FOR TURKEY AND TRIMMINGS INFORMATION.....

www.fsis.usda.gov The USDA Meat and Poultry hotline.

www.eatturkey.com The National Turkey Federation’s site. ( I could do something with this sentence, but I’ll resist.)

www.fosterfarms.com Also offers an 800 number for "live" answers through 27 November. (800-255-7227)

www.turkeyhelp.com Cook’s Illustrated magazine’s site.

HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY!

[Editor's note: Our thanks to Joan Taylor, our "Opinionated Cook" for her outstanding contribution to the culinary enjoyment of RVers everywhere!]

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