I have started my preps for the Thanksgiving Dinner I am sharing with a friend (the Saturday after the date).
I have leftover Greek Yogurt Cake in the freezer. In lieu of a pie, we will have this. I made this the previous weekend to this one. It is light and fluffy and I will add fruit over the top when serving.
I picked up my turkey on Friday. The farmer killed it for me but I took it home and "dressed" it - essentially when you think about it, a bit of "un-dressing" - plucked the feathers and de-gutted it. Saved the feet, gizzard, neck and heart. (Bone broth, gravy, gravy and gravy makings, respectively.) The bone broth will end up in the dressing with some of it in the gravy.
You let the poultry after cleaning sit in the fridge for 24-40 hours, then you freeze it. I cut off the feet yesterday and the rest of her is now frozen. She's only 5 pounds, dressed and cleaned. I will thaw her late Thursday for Saturday cooking.
At the moment, I am making the bone broth. It's chicken and turkey - the turkey contributions are its two cleaned feet. The chicken bones are the rest of it - more feet, wing tips, some necks. And already cooked from other meals - all sorts of bones and cartilage and spare scraps of meat. I only make bone broth out of poultry I raise myself, or that comes from either organic or local farms. If you are leeching stuff out of bones (actually pretty much just the cartilage) I figure I don't want to leech out other components. I found I have a plethora of chicken bones stashed away since I did this last spring. Toss in an onion or two, and a good dollop of vinegar (any regular kind - my hand alighted on the red vinegar), and set to boil, reduce to simmer and yeah, don't forget to add water to cover... You can skim off any scum at the early stages, which I just did.
At the same time, I also got 4 stewing hens from this farmer who sold me the turkey. Three of them so far have been butchered into the fridge --> freezer. I saved their feet and wing tips for the above. Well, except for one of those three - which I mentioned elsewhere today I plan to have for dinner - not happening since I don't have the milk for the dumplings. (My final shopping this week, which will include T-Day shopping things, will be tomorrow morning. I am so NOT running out just for milk!) That will be tomorrow, and any extra bones, wing tips and so forth from her will also end up in the bone broth. Can always make a smaller batch to add to the big batch, before I freeze it.
At any rate, this stock is under way.
Running up my shopping list:
I already have a lot of the stuff, so NOT listed... My goal is to try to recreate as best as I can without having the actual recipes for my Mom's stuffing and gravy!
Saturday's Meal Grocery List:
- Celery, fresh thyme, bread crumbs or a good quality loaf of bread I can allow to go stale, mushrooms, sausage (preferably Jimmy Dean's brand),. Fresh sage just to be safe. Am I low on butter? This is for the dressing/stuffing.
- Nothing more needed for the turkey or the giblet gravy than I already have.
- Some fresh fruit that would top the dessert cake nicely. NOT too sweet, this cake already is... (Thinking kiwi?) (Edit: Hmm, I have fresh cranberries, which I'd have to reduce down to a sauce... excellently appropriate, forget the kiwi!)
- An appropriate wine.
- A roaster pan, probably disposable, alas.
- My friend will supply a starch and a green dish when she comes.
Thursday's Meal Grocery List: This is the one for just me and the cat...
- A package of turkey thighs. Here these come as two thighs. One is sufficient for a meal, the other will be reserved for another dish.
- Delicata squash if I can find? If not I already have a butternut.
I don't need anything else for Thursday. My plan is to make the T-day dish simple - that thigh, roasted (do NOT ask me what I think about turkey breast ...). I will mash some home grown potatoes and have some leafy greens as a side. No dessert needed as I'm not entertaining anybody, and cats should NOT eat sugar.
