The Thanksgiving turkey rush is in high gear as that fateful day looms like some lubricious turkey trot led by a film-struck typist clucking like a celluloid Julia Child.
The stores are packed. Hannaford looked like a mass convening on Tuesday afternoon. Trader Joe’s parking lot was more maddening than ever. And as for the inimitable Portland Whole Foods, they were the epitome of organization as people waited on line to pick up their turkeys listed on a computer roster. The Portland Whole Foods will probably surpass their legendary $1 million-plus proceeds in a day.
And each year the hyperbolic do’s and don’ts of how to roast a turkey and manage the entire kerfuffle gets so much air time, print time and cyber space as though it were a how-to on brain surgery. But really what are we doing differently? If you approach it as just another piece of poultry that’s somewhat bigger than the average chicken (OK, it’s a lot bigger) then you won’t get so stressed out.
Long-pie pumpkins
Still, hotlines have been set up, food shops are out of instant-read thermometers and appearances by the likes of Martha Stewart have assured us all that her Thanksgiving feast for 35 will come off perfectly (you can bet she has a little bit of help in the kitchen).
I don’t have many tips except for one. How to keep the breast meat moist. Here’s what I do. I soak a large piece of cheesecloth in about one stick of melted butter and drape it over the turkey breast, which along with the rest of the bird I’ve rubbed softened butter all over. Over the cheesecloth I lay strips of fatty bacon. Baste the top as you would the rest of the turkey carcass. About 45 minutes before the turkey is done, remove the cheesecloth and bacon carefully, baste the bird and continue to roast until the breast skin is browned and the turkey has reached the right temperature (about 165 degrees for breast meat).
As for my recipe contribution try my favorite pumpkin pie, a recipe that was given to me by the late Keith Boyle ( a fixture at the Portland farmer’s market) who used to share many family recipes, derived from the women in his family–granny, great granny and his mother Patty Boyle–who were fabulous cooks. This is Patty Boyle’s recipe. I’ve made a few minor changes.
Ingredients
- 1 single crust 9-inch pastry dough, unbaked
- 16 ounces of fresh pumpkin, pureed or equivalent of canned pumpkin
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/8 cup molasses (or sorghum molasses)
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk or 6 ounces milk and 6 ounces heavy cream, mixed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Prepare the pastry and line a 9-inch pie dish with it. Chill until needed.
- Into a large bowl sift the sugar, salt, cornstarch and spices, whisking together to mix. Add the pureed pumpkin, eggs, melted butter, molasses (or sorghum) and either the evaporated milk or fresh milk-cream mixture. Stir thoroughly to blend. Pour into the prepared pastry shell and bake for 15 minutes; lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for about 50 minutes or until the filling is nicely set.
- Put on a rack to cool and serve at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream.
- Note: the best pumpkin variety for pies is the long-pie pumpkin available at the farmer’s market and Rosemont Market. To cook, cut in half (do not remove seeds) and put cut side down on a baking sheet lined with a silpat and bake in a 375-degree oven until soft, about 1 hour. Remove seeds and scoop out flesh.
