This morning I woke up early and went to Meijer for a rack for the roasting pan. Yes, I am embarrassed to admit that even though I have two roasting pans (who knows, I might even have some more stashed away in the basement) I do not own a roasting rack.
I left the house while Sheri was still in bed. I was positive Meijer would have a simple roasting rack. They didn't. They had a roasting pan that came with a rack, but I wasn't going to spend $20 just to get the rack.
There is a Jewel grocery store on the way home, and I didn't expect to find one there, but I wanted to check. The turkey was on the expensive side and I didn't want to risk ruining the bottom half of the turkey by having it absorb too much of the drippings and get soggy. I thought the turkey would be fine roasting directly on the bottom of the roaster, but I didn't want to take any chances.
As I was pulling out of the Meijer parking lot I saw the Bed Bath & Beyond that was recently built on the other side of the road. The place was dead at 10:00 AM and someone jumped on me almost as soon as I walked in the door and directed me to the roasting rack department. It is non-stick and made by Farberware. Only $7.
I got home and preheated the oven to 325º, washed the rack, and washed the roasting pan. It was a little dusty from storage.
After putting the turkey in the rack I drizzled some olive oil on it and smeared it evenly on the bird with my hands. I generously ground fresh black pepper on it and then sprinkled Lawry's seasoned salt and garlic powder. I inserted the thermometer and had it in the oven by 10:50 AM.
It started filling the house with wonderful smells almost immediately. It was a 5.25 roast (I will explain later) and from everything I found on-line I expected it to take between 2 and 2.5 hours. It ended up taking over 3 hours to get to 170º. I think it was because the center was still near freezing when I put it in the oven.
It was a boneless roast, not a regular turkey. Somehow they remove all of the meat from the turkey and truss it up tightly in string and flash freeze it. It came out to about $5 a pound, but for a number of reasons I think it is totally worth it, and I don't think I will ever buy another kind of turkey.
First it wasn't as expensive as you might think because it was all meat. We didn't pay for bones, skin (just a little bit to protect the meat during cooking), fat, grizzle, giblets, gizzards, etc.
Secondly it was worth the little extra not to deal with the bones afterwards. It was also much easier to slice from a roast than off the bone.
Finally the meat itself was absolutely the best turkey I think I have ever had. (Even better than deep fried ones, albeit only by a little bit!) It was very moist and juicy which for a lot of people that is good enough. But this turkey had a delicate flavor I don't think I have tasted before. Buttery and nutty are adjectives that come to mind, but I am not sure that is entirely accurate. It was fantastic though.
I think it was better than just a breast because the dark meat adds extra flavor and moisture to the white meat. The texture of the meat was excellent as well. Kind of like the difference between how a piece of fresh fish and frozen fish flake apart.
The HoKa Turkey Farm is maybe a 45 minute drive west from our house. They buy all of their poults when they are one day old in the spring. At the end of season they start dressing them and flash freezing them to sell through the rest of the year. During this time you can go out and get a freshly dressed bird that has not been frozen. A coworker said you can even pick your own live bird and have them dress it while you wait. I definitely want to try that. The taste of fish caught the same day is so much better than frozen fish; I would have to think turkey would be the same way.
We had a little cabin fever from being in the house all day, so after we ate we decided to go to the café/restaurant we tried last weekend that serves my favorite coffee in the world, Intelligentsia. It is blended and roasted in small batches right in downtown Chicago. You can order their coffee from their website. Be warned though, if you try it once it will be difficult for you to go back to ordinary coffee.
Anyway, Sheri brought her book and I brought the laptop to catch up on some posts. We walked in and walked down to the lower level where the big comfy lounge chairs are. The main dining room is also downstairs. All of the tables where set with white linen. Some of the diners that were there had neckties on, and the wait-staff all were wearing black formal uniforms. This was definitely not the vibe when we where here last Saturday morning.
We both had on jeans. I had a t-shirt on and Sheri just had a sweatshirt. But with big gracious smiles that took us to the same seats we had last time. Then the owner stopped by and said they had two big parties booked for the evening that was going to swamp the kitchen. She apologized and said because of this they were not taking dinner orders from any other customers this evening, but they were going to bring out free hot and cold appetizers for us!
I was not going to order anything besides coffee anyway. I was still full from turkey. Sheri was planning on ordering an iced coffee and a small appetizer, like spinach dip. It worked out perfectly.
As I am writing this the one party is starting to stream in. Sheri thinks they are high school kids. They are all in tuxedos and strapless dresses and high heals. Sheri thinks they are precious and that it is their Valentines dance.
We have been here for about an hour, and will probably stay for at least another hour. After that we might go to Meijer for a few things, but mostly just to walk around, and then go home and watch some more Olympics, maybe a movie, and then Mad TV and Saturday Night Live.
A group of older people came in a little bit ago, and when they explained the kitchen situation they threw a stink, so they are serving them dinner.
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