Dammit! Max wrote a nice big post about my Thanksgiving plans, but thanks to some insensitive bastards, he’s turned off his comments and I can’t thank him for the shout-out. Thanks, Max! I was also going to tell him that we deep-fry turkeys in Indiana, too. (At least, my Mom says she’s done it.) I found a recipe and showed it to the Snook yesterday, to which he immediately replied: “Where in the world do we get 20 liters of lard?” Good question. We’ll stick with roasting.
rdh
November 15, 2002 — 11:59 pm
Lard??? Nooooo Trust me on this ya use peanut oil. To be honest I have never had one but I have seen it on the cooking shows many times, I believe it was on “Cooking with Cajun Phil”
brigita
November 16, 2002 — 1:38 am
do you remember katie w. at all (weasel, ’96)? she and her husband, paul, are living and working in the bend and hold a tailgater at just about every homegame. anyhow, paul tried to deep fry a turkey off the back of his tailgate—don’t even ask me how or why he chose that venue for his first try—and managed to splash a hell of a lot of hot oil/lard on the ground and the very nice alumni car next to him. i guess there was a big scene with the owner of the car and a bunch of ND police…not pretty.
some friends of mine attended the game the following week and said that there was still a huge dark spot on the pavement from the grease spill. 😉
Max
November 16, 2002 — 2:21 am
I’m glad we’re not alone in our turkey-frying habits, Kris. I swear, once people try it, they’ll never go back to baked or roasted. And maybe I’m wrong, but it sounds like it would be perfect for an Atkins person.
I’m sure I’ll cave in and turn the comments back on soon. 🙂
Kris
November 16, 2002 — 10:11 am
Everyone says it makes the best turkey they’ve ever tasted, but quite frankly I think it sounds too dangerous for me to attempt. My dad knows how clumsy I am. Putting me in the vicinity of lots of very hot oil is a disaster waiting to happen (especially since you then have to lower a big carcass into it). No, the deep-fried turkey will join the mythical turducken on my list of “foods I’d like for Thanksgiving but have neither the time nor skills to prepare safely”. Too bad.
My mom says some guy at her office swears by roasting your turkey in a paper bag. She and I both think that would make your turkey taste like, well, paper bag.
rdh
November 16, 2002 — 11:35 am
Remember when I roasted the turkey at Christmas a couple of years ago and you guys were watching the “A Christmas Story” marathon on TV, (I had enough Ralphie to last a lifetime) well I missed that little packet of “stuff” (what the hell is that anyway) they place inside the turkey and roasted it with it still in there, as i remember it was in paper, guess you can say I roasted a paper bag in my turkey. 🙂
Kris
November 16, 2002 — 2:11 pm
Eww, the giblets? I don’t remember that! I must’ve blocked it out. (Mom says she boils them up and uses the resulting stock in her stuffing. I might try that this year.)
Tricia
November 17, 2002 — 7:19 am
My family has started brining the turkey for ultimate juicy bird, and I tried it last year on my own with great success. It took forever to cook, and was a little on the pink side when we finally ran out of patience and ate, but that was just because of our cool oven. I think we’re going to try brining and then grilling the turkey this year.
I boil the giblets and use the stock and the chopped up bits in the gravy. Maybe I’ll put some of the stock in the stuffing this year, too, though. Great idea!
I had deep fried turkey at a “turkey fry” in VA a couple years ago (the hosts were from Alabama, I think, or Louisiana) and wasn’t that impressed. I thought it was a little dry, but perhaps it was overcooked. I’ve read, however, that deep fried turkeys really aren’t that unhealthy; they absorb very little of the oil. The real reason I don’t think that I could ever fry a turkey is that I don’t need another appliance/kitchen tool (yes, you need to buy a special turkey frier) that is only used once and left to gather dust in the back of a closet somewhere.
Mia
November 17, 2002 — 3:53 pm
Hey, Kris…a little tip since the Snook likes Bourbon… (my dad’s BIG into the stuff, that’s why i have these recipes 🙂 ) After you cook the turkey and it’s right out of the oven, cut shallow diagonal lines over the whole thing, then the opposite way (you know, / and then \ so they make X all over). Tear that layer off (should be about a 1/4 inch thick and way crusty). Brush mustard (any kind- i use honey dijon) all over. Then pat brown sugar over the mustard. Spritz with a mister bottle of Bourbon and then take crushed cookies (i used ginger snaps, but dad uses graham crackers) and pat then all over. Bake the turkey for one hour at 175 degrees and there you have a Cajun Turkey from myself and WWBSD? to you and the folks who read Web-Goddess. Enjoy!!:)
Mia
November 17, 2002 — 3:55 pm
I asked dad, and he said you could possibly FRY the turkey with the bourbon and stuff on it. God, that sounds good!
Max
November 18, 2002 — 9:03 am
Tricia definitely got an overcooked bird (notice how the Alabama guy leaps to the defense of fried turkey 🙂 ). She’s officially invited to Alabama this year to see it done right: the turkey hits the hot oil, and immediately crisps up on the outside (so it will look really dark, maybe even black, when it’s done) but the inside cooks and holds all of its own juices and it’s more moist (ewww–awful word) than the best roasted turkey. She is right about the extra equipment, though–my brother does ours and he drags his cooker out only for Thanksgiving and fish fries, though he’s busted it out for some chicken wings, too. This year, my mom says he’s frying one “normal” bird and one “cajun style” (we’re an extra-spicy kind of family). I can’t wait! Hmm…maybe I can take some pictures…