"The Christmas Turkey, '08"

This 19 pounder waited patiently in the freezer for about three weeks for its turn. During that three weeks I worried and stewed about my promise to the family to "smoke a turkey" for them for Christmas. I knew I was in deep trouble when I learned my sister and her husband had spent more than a hour or two researching the "best" wine for smoked turkey at a local winery, Fidelitas, where they are members. Trouble? The temperatures had dropped into the single digits, and it is no secret that the times needed for smoking meat in a Traeger escalate with lowering temps. I had no idea if it would take 4 hours, 8 hours, or 3 days to cook this sucker.

I researched the issue on google; at Traeger's website; with Konrad Haskins, my instructor at a recent class on smoking/bbqing; my buddy, Joe from Oly, who kinda got me started with the long, slow smoke style cooking and knows tons of stuff about cooking. No one could really answer my questions about whether or not to even give it a try. I even joined an online forum, "pelletheads," and found some pretty strange comments there.

On the morning of the smoke, out of desperation, I called the 800 number Traeger puts up on their website (I found it the night before, too late to call).

Bruce's first question was, "do you have either a 100% cotton, or 100% wool, blanket?" I folded the blanket and lay it over the lid of the smoker for insulation. (Note: Careful with this - that blanket ended up scorched like a fragile pair of laced silk panties smothered beneath a forgotten iron! But it worked.)

Then Bruce told me to get a remote thermometer ($17 at Target), stick it in the breast, put the bird on when the smoker's temp is 300 degrees. Keep it there until the breast hits 100 degrees on the remote, then turn the smoker down to "smoke" and keep it there until the breast hits 170 degrees when it will be done. Note: for all you Traeger users out there - when you turn the temperature down, especially to "smoke," you need to open the lid for about five minutes and keep a close eye on your smoker's temp.

Once the temp hit 170, I took the bird inside and let it rest for about 15 minutes before carving it. Also brought in the drippings and made the gravy from them while the bird rested.

The turkey was delicious! Succulent, tender, moist, and smoked with cherry wood pellets, fabulously flavorful. The Gang raved about how good it was. Phew.

Note: So, here it is 11 months later and I'm reviewing this for preparation for next week's turkey and I see I didn't mention the time frame. Seems like it took about 9 hours. I'm thinking about smoking it the day before, then heating it up in the oven on Thanksgiving Day.

Note 2:  So, here it is - November, 2011, and I'm reviewing this for Thanksgiving.  The bird this year is a 22 pounder, a bit large for the smoker.  I won't be able to put the bird on a very high rack inside the roasting pan, so I think I'll just make the gravy in the kitchen oven, and when ready, pour the drippings from the roasting pan into it, mix, and then spoon off any grease as mentioned below.    

Turkey Preparation:

Brine for 12 - 24 hours, then wash thoroughly inside and out, pat dry with paper towels.

Separate skin from meat and spread the rub between these two layers.

Pour Italian Dressing over the exterior, mostly as an adherent for the rub, and spread the rub in all the nooks and crannies.

Brine*
1 gallon water
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Rub*
Equal parts of each of the following -

Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
White granulated cane sugar
Dark chili powder
Canadian, or Montreal Steak SeasoningPinch of Cayenne or Chipotle for heat, to taste (optional).

Gravy**
Put sliced yellow onions (about 2 to 3 cups), a cup of chopped celery, and a cup of chopped carrots along with 4 or 5 tblspns of olive oil in roasting pan, heat in oven at 425 degrees for one hour, or until the onions turn a nice golden brown. 

Place the bird on a roasting rack and set it in the roasting pan with the onions, carrots, etc. Place bird breast UP. Add 3, or 4, cups of chicken broth (not organic!), and optinally, chopped innards from the bird, and put it in the oven/smoker. Replenish liquid with chicken broth as needed throughout the cooking process.

Once done, pour into a bowl and spoon off the grease on top, then put into the blender and puree to a gravy consistency.  At that point, as my friend from Oly says, "Toss in some salt and pepper to taste, then start praising God that he put Joe on earth to be your friend."

Bring the gravy to a boil to reduce and thicken, if needed.  It is rich enough that you can add more stock, or broth, to make more. 

It is THAT good!


* recipe provided by Konrad Haskins.
** recipe provided by Joe from Oly.

Chicken Enchiladas with Red Chili Sauce

A long, long, time ago, in a far away time and place (40 years ago and 3 or 4 miles from here) my father would throw together some of the best Mexican food ever eaten. At least that's the way I felt about his enchiladas. I don't know where he bought his tortillas for we had no Mexican influence here then, but I do know he deep fried them, probably in Crisco oil. I don't know how he made the sauce, but I'm reasonably sure he fried the hamburger in a skillet. We had never had food like this before and it was wonderful. I remember eating seventeen of them once. I was a teenager then and my stomach went down into each leg.

So, thanks to my good friend, Joe's, recommendation for this recipe, found at Cooks Illustrated online, I had to give it a try. My wife and I worked most of the afternoon making the tortillas from "scratch," bbq'ing the chicken; and cooking the sauce, also from "scratch." We agreed that we didn't think this would be as good my dad's enchiladas were; but we were wrong. These babies were scrumtious and we'll definitely have them again.