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Saturday, November 22, 2014

Cooking Turkey for Small Gatherings


I've cooked whole turkeys when developing recipes for clients, but a Thanksgiving feast? I’m most thankful that I can spend the holiday at my parents house and let them take care of cooking the bird.

Some years I return home with leftover turkey, other years I buy a turkey at the store and ask the butcher to cut it into either halves or quarters so I am not overwhelmed with too much turkey for my household of two. 

Here are some more great ways to enjoy turkey without buying a whole bird:

William Wilkinson

Dark meat
Legs and thighs are great for lovers of dark meat. They can be roasted or braised. 





RosieTulips

Light meat 
Turkey breast is a good option for roasting, if you like light meat only.   If you are only cooking the breast, it will be much easier to cook since the breast meat tends to cook faster and become dry more quickly than other cuts. 


Dark & Light meat
This year I got a chance to try the Diestel light and dark roast. They are fully cooked, from boneless breasts, legs, and thighs with skin and are hand-netted. Size wise they are around  2 1/2 to 3 pounds (more than enough for 4 people) and cost $34.99. Each slice has both dark and light meat. The instructions recommend coating the roast with paprika but I used an herb and spice mix. These roasts are available at Whole Foods market




Disclaimer: My thanks to Whole Foods for providing a Diestel roast for me to try.