Time to Give Thanks

November marks the beginning of the holiday season and it’s when my thoughts turn to home, friends, family and of course…turkey! This Thanksgiving, we wanted a bird raised somewhere that was close to NY (in efforts to support “local”) and found Applecheek Farm, in Hyde Park, Vermont (with a name like “Applecheek” how could we resist?). Our 21 lb. heritage turkey arrived fresh and right on schedule: slaughtered on Monday and delivered on Tuesday. It arrived with a copy of the recipe from LocalHarvest (which we followed for the most part) and worked out well for us. We made a slight modification by skipping the maple butter and instead, seasoning the turkey with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. We also used an electric thermometer so we could capture an accurate temperature read. We looked online and couldn’t find any estimates on exactly how long it would take to finish–all we knew was that the cook time is shorter for heritage turkeys than conventional birds and that we were to roast it until the thigh temperature reached 140F-150F.

And so we set the thermometer and waited by the oven. Sure enough, the temperature started to rise, and the number ticked up at an amazing pace. Turns out, the average roasting time for a 21 lb. turkey is 5 hours. We could hardly believe it, but our turkey was fully cooked in a mere 1.5 hours. As LocalHarvest explains:

Heritage Turkeys are also much more leaner and smaller than sedentary commercial birds. This means that fast cooking at high temperatures is a better method than slow roasting.

The result was a beautiful, moist, delicious bird with crisp golden skin. The best way I can describe the flavor of a heritage turkey is that it tastes…more like turkey. So basically, a little goes a long way in satisfying the taste buds. No gravy needed. The turkey was great by itself. So if you’ve ever considered trying a heritage turkey, I say, go for it. For me, there’s no going back.

Before

After

Our Thanksgiving feast ended on a high note with five fine homemade desserts (as is the annual tradition, they are made completely from scratch). Our selection included a cherry pie and apple, pear, apricot and kiwi/berry tarts. Though I admit I had nothing to do with the dessert preparation, I include these images which bring back happy memories of the time spent with my family and us sharing a fantastic meals together.

Kiwi and Berry Tart

Pear Tart

Happy Holidays to you and yours! Gobble, gobble.