turkey update, day 2.

the turkey, i think is a success. here is a picture of it just after it came out of the oven yesterday. the pan, as you can see, is too small. those strange dark/red dots on the skin are dried cranberries that simmered in the pan drippings, since i didn't have any dry sherry or madeira to flavour the gravy with. the green clumps are herbs that i mixed with melted butter to pour over the turkey while the skin was browning, since i was not about to stick my hands under the skin of a raw turkey and smear butter over the flesh. ew.

the orange thing is the pop-up thermometer that was included with the turkey, which, although counsidered by many to be cheating worked just as well for me since i don't have a meat thermometer. since i am still here and not suffering food poisoning, i think we did ok. the breast meat is possibly a little dry, even. i overcooked it just a tad. if i ever do this for real people, i will have to invest in a meat thermometer. this was totally unplanned; i had already given away my free turkey certificates from the supermarket to a local food cupboard when he came home with... a free turkey. it was a gift from one of his clients, and it seemed a shame to waste a fresh turkey by putting it in the freezer. so i did the best with what i had in the house *grin*

the bird has since been carved up and is wrapped in foil packets in the fridge. for those of delicate constitution, i will here omit a description of carving the turkey, but let it suffice to say that it is a singularily primeval act.

what is left of the carcase is currently in the stockpot being simmered. i don't get to make a homemade stock that often, so i wasn't going to pass this opportunity up. it will be good when i inevitably come down with the flu this winter.