There. I said it. I hate turkey, at least the traditional method of serving it on Thanksgiving day. Fortunately for me, Dave hates it that way, too. We’re so bad (and our family so forgiving), we’ve actually served ham, pork roast and grilled cheese sandwiches on different Thanksgivings. (The grilled cheese sandwiches were the most fun. Everyone brought a really fancy cheese, an artisan bread and some kind of gourmet salsa or chutney. With several Foreman grills going, we did a conga line of sandwich-making and had some really delicious results!) So you know we’re serious about not liking turkey.
One year I tried brining a turkey. I had to start thinking about it three days in advance. It was a big bird, so I had to find a pot big enough in which to brine it. I didn’t enjoy the additional set of tasks all centered on a meat I don’t like. It didn’t turn out much better than the usual fare. Maybe I should have tried dry brining. I think the following year was the grilled cheese sandwiches.
Last year I was thinking how much nicer turkey would be if it had no bones. I love the dark meat and I found only one place that taught one how to de-bone turkey legs. Danged if I know where it was. But I did create a method mostly based on this recipe. OMG! It was so good, so flavorful and moist, I’m going to do it again this year. The nice thing is, with de-boned legs, all the roasting pieces are done at the same time.
Start with a quality turkey. if you aren’t going to splurge on a heritage turkey, at least get a natural one. The next most important ingredient is the smoked paprika (pimentón). I first tasted this great paprika in Spain a couple decades ago, but now can buy it easily from La Tienda where you can peruse some of the most delectable foodstuffs Europe has to offer. I suggest getting the 3-pack of smoked pimentón so you have some choices to play with. When I made my turkey last year, I used a combination of all three in the amounts I thought my family would like.
If you try this recipe, let me know if you like it!
Turkey a La Chinata
Serves 10 to 12
1 heritage or other quality turkey, about 20 pounds
6 tablespoons sweet, bittersweet and/or hot wood-smoked Spanish pimentón
3 tablespoons coarse salt, such as Kosher salt
3 ½ teaspoons anise or fennel seeds, finely ground
1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Day before meal:
1. Using a sharp knife, remove the thigh and legs in one piece. Remove back and set aside.
2. Bone the thighs and legs.*
3. In a small bowl, combine the pimentón, salt, ground anise or fennel, dried thyme, cumin, coriander, sugar, and pepper.
4. Rub spice mixture evenly over the breast, legs, and thighs.
5. Wrap the breast, legs, and thighs in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
6. Add all extra pieces (back, neck, gizzards) to a large stockpot with enough water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and skim any foam that rises to the surface. Let cook slowly for a couple hours, save for later use.
Day of meal:
1. Two hours before serving, remove turkey breast, legs and thighs from refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place turkey breast, legs and thighs in a roasting pan on rack. Do not cover.
3. Roast, basting with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
4. Remove from oven, and let rest for 30 minutes.
5. Slice turkey and arrange on a platter.
*To bone out your turkey leg and thigh portion:
1. Start at the exposed thigh bone and carefully cut around the thigh bone while scraping down the meat off the bone. As you do so, start to turn the meat inside out, something like turning a sock inside out. Scrape down to the top of the leg bone, making sure not to cut through the outer skin of the turkey.
2. Cut, scrape and pull and continue to pull the meat and skin inside out down to the end of the drumstick. Pull it completely off the bone and cut the end off the bottom of the drumstick.
3. While meat is still inside out, remove the hard sinews from the leg, keeping as much meat as possible intact.
4. Turn the leg and thigh back outside in so that the skin is on the outside.
¡Buen provecho! and bon appetite!
We didn’t do turkey this year. Mainly because with a small family it makes no sense. Instead this year I tried my hands at making Saurbraten. Works really well.
Next year I think we will do the grilled cheese. That looks like fun.
I’m not a huge turkey fan. I’m a huge renaissance festival fan, but I always pass on the giant turkey leg. But we do have it on Thanksgiving. There’s just something about the tradition of stuffing yourself and drifting off to sleep while watching football.
Unfortunately, we have too many people who actually like to talk to each other – for hours! – so getting sleep is an impossibility. It’s funny, I miss the traditional sage-and-turkey-juice-infused stuffing but do not miss that boring meat at all. I should probably just roast a cheap turkey for the stuffing, use the roast turkey for soups and sandwiches, and eat the stuffing along with the pimenton-based turkey. Now if that isn’t a silly idea, I don’t know what is.