A fantastic meal!

I wasn’t sure if we were going to have Friendsgiving this year. I’m super glad we did because not only did I get a chance to stretch my culinary practices, but I also got to spend time with my friends again. Like legitimately hang out. I forgot what it’s like to share a kitchen with the ones I love. Has a way of bringing things back.

Anyway, I did an interesting thing with the turkey this year. I sometimes watch Adam Ragusea and he did a video about deboning an entire Turkey and dry brining while you make a Demi gloss with the bones. It thought “what a perfect opportunity to try something new!" so I went out, bought a 20 Turkey and deboned that sucker! Only took me about 3 hours. I had to pull out the thick tendons (the ones in the drumsticks) with pliers. They came out like porcupine needles, except… fleshy.

I then cooked the bones for about, uhhhh… 24 hours? The whole house smelt like dead Turkey which did not make my vegan mother very happy.

Traditionally Demi Gloss is made with veal bones, next best thing is bovine and chicken wings (the combination tastes something of young cow, I suppose. I don’t really know since I’ve never had veal) but I made it with just poultry bones.

There was so much fat… OH MY GOODNESS, who knew Turkeys were so fatty? In total I finished cooking with a little over 4 cups, and 1 and 1/3 of those cups were just fat solids suspended In gelatin. A tasty treat for my dogs, but really gross to have to skim off the top after solidification.

The finished product came out like one of those jello cakes wives from the 1950s would serve, except made out of pure meat. Meat Jello. Hmmmm. Delicious.

“But Maven, what did it taste like???"

It tasted like the unburnt scrapings of a pan that was cooking meat… 5 hours ago. I know, I know. I’m a genius to describe something in such an elegant way, but really, it tasted just like that.

Not at all worth the trouble, I’ve made far better none-gelatin based gravy’s before and they all tasted better then the one I made with the Turkey Demi gloss, but I’m sure this gravy was far healthier the those gravy’s. High protein, iron, fat… hardly any carbs, (except for the wine I used to brighten up the flavors a bit) it is like cave man gravy.

I’m pretty sure if cave men knew how to make a simple roux, they would make traditional gravy as well. It just tastes better and sits on food better.

Anyway! I’m sure you all are dying to see and hear about Friendsgiving and not me blabbing on and on about Turkey meat jello all day.

You can see the deboned Turkey. I let them sit in a fridge uncovered for about 2 days with a light salt cure to dry the skin out to perfection. Also seasoned with all the basic herbs and spices. Then we have the dinner rolls my sister made (very delicious) and some green beans mixed with sautéed onions and garlic (I love green beans), some very well done carrots that probably should have been taken out of the oven 10 minutes prior and the aforementioned gravy.

The beautiful Turkey, thinly sliced.

Delicious Stuffing made with fresh sage, dill and thyme.

The assembled plate with some cranberry chutney and mashed taters.

The theme this year was White trash so instead of eating at the table we all ate in the living room and watched tv. Honestly a far better way to enjoy a dinner.

We ended up watching the first three episodes of Hawkeye and it was really enjoyable. I recommend for anyone who likes Jeremy Renner’s acting, or who enjoyed the Matt Fraction’s comic book run of Hawkeye. It’s loosely based on that, but obviously made to fit the MCU.

The food was so delicious, probably one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. What’s even better is I get to enjoy it for a second time tomorrow!! We have so many leftovers and that means sabbath dinner prep is totally taken care of. All I have to do tomorrow is throw it back in the oven. Huzzah!

Wouldn’t be a Friendsgiving without a desert, right?

Probably one of the best Apple pies I’ve ever had!

End Note:

If the images look kind of scary looking, just right click on them and open them up. I’m still playing around and working out the kinks with this Hugo theme. They turn the contrast way up to fit the theme of the website.

Also! I fixed size problem so now it shouldn’t take up too much room on the page, and I changed the icon for the website. Now it’s a little computer. So cute!! ^v^

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