Tomas (toe-MAHS) arrived this morning, about 11am. Ugh!
Of course, we hadn’t been asleep but about 2 hours. Never fails.
HE’S HUGE. But gorgeous. This is what he looked like, squashed in the fridge.
Here he is in profile. We both said that we had never seen a turkey that wasn’t “unnaturally” yellowish white. (Batterball™ turkeys). Tomas is without anything natural, and doesn’t appear to have more than a few grams of fat on him. Plus, just look at that thigh. It’s actual dark meat; you can see it.
We are anxious to get him thawed, cooked, eaten, and stored. Will it happen Thursday, as we hope? Don’t know; don’t care. We have so many plans for this big guy that it really doesn’t matter.
Why living on the edge, you ask?
We are going to leave him on the stove top, covered nicely, for the night, and see how his is in the morning. Right now, it’s 11:37pm, and he is solid as a rock. As it is 56ºF here, I doubt salmonella will set in overnight. I’ll let you know if we get sick.
Plans are to cut off the leg, and thigh portions, and, the wings, leave the breasts, and back intact, brine everything in this wonderful sounding recipe we downloaded, then roast everything, at 350ºF for 13” per pound, according to the weight of each piece.
Figure it this way, if left whole, Tomas would take almost 5 hours to cook to completion. This way, however, when it’s time for the wings to come out, they come out properly cooked, not dry, and hard as rocks. Same with the thighs, the legs, and the breasts. The back/carcass will go into a vacuum sealed bag, the freezer, and then, to a stewing pot, or will be used for bone broth; to be decided at a later date.
Something to note; we have 4 different flavors of mole sauces, (really, do I have to do this? MO-ley), in the freezer, ready to be eaten with any leftover turkey pieces.
After it’s inception, moles were used, almost exclusively, with turkey as the meat source, for a meal of special importance. To make a mole sauce with turkey was not only time consuming, (the sauce), but expensive, (the turkey).
In the more recent past, however, mole has become more available to the masses in a paste form, which is used, more frequently, with chicken, (pollo- POY-jo) for any excuse available. This mass production of mole sauce has taken all of the 35+ ingredients, and the 2-3 day cooking/simmering time necessary to make a real mole sauce, out of the hands of the everyday home cook. If you find a good mole paste, it is hard not to want it more than once, or twice a year.
Mexican white rice, (arroz Mexicana- ah-ROS me-he-CAH-na), black beans, (frijoles negros- free-HO-les NE-grows), guacamole, and corn tortillas are the usual accompaniments to mole, especially when made with pollo.
We have decided that, for us, leaving Tomas on the stove tonight may frighten him, but, after cooking him at 350ºF for a few hours, it ought to kill any bacteria he may be harboring. We’ll let you know
One way, or the other. Hahahaha.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving in whatever way is good for you, and your families. But, please,
Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect yourselves.
Post script: Tomas went into the fridge, forceably, about 5:30 this morning. He put up quite the fuss, struggled for about 3 minutes, and then succumbed. Ivan could move the wings; there was about a cm of skin depth felt, but nothing else moved. Looks like Thanksgiving for us will be on Saturday. Stay tuned.