Turkey Day at the PIT!

Hi all, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm a bit late to the party, I know, but hey, it's still November! (Until it's actually December, we won't even mention that other holiday my kids are strangely obsessing about :)

If you've been around the blog a long time, you know that I am a total foodie. And also that we believe very strongly in sourcing our own proteins, through hunting and fishing. And what would Thanksgiving be without turkey? Wild turkey, that would be, just like the first Thanksgiving.

Yours truly, with Eagle Eye and a wild turkey, destined for the dinner table. (I know my attire is so fashionable, isn't it? But it was warm!)

Wild turkeys all cleaned up for dinner. They look just like a big chicken or domestic turkey, but without the giant over-sized breast. The drumsticks are a bit tougher and gamier than domestic, but the white meat is virtually indistinguishable. These turkeys spent their whole lives roaming the woods and foraging for food- no hormones, antibiotics or industrial farms. They can run and fly and I always give thanks for the opportunity to take one of these birds for the table. It is not a simple thing to harvest one, in any sense of the word,  but it is the best way to eat a turkey, IMHO.

My mom taking the stuffing out of the bird (in a vintage apron!) She was getting ready to make the gravy. I do everything else for the meal, but no one makes better gravy than Mom. Sometimes it's best to just leave that to the professionals! As I type this post, I have the turkey carcass simmering in a stock pot for soup.

I set the table with the best dishes, crystal and silver; it's just about the only time I ever use that stuff. I also used my "new" autumn tablecloth. It's not the greatest picture of me, but I wore a salmon-colored knit set. Plenty of stretch in that fabric for turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, Cope's corn, broccoli, cranberries, pumpkin and apple pie!

Happy Holidays from the gang at Chez QT!

Halloween 2011

Wha....?????

You might have heard about the freak snowstorm we had on October 29th. I think we probably got about 6-8 inches of snow, obviously not a normal occurrence for this time of year. I can remember seeing flurries in late October but nothing like this:

Yes, my kids went sledding on Saturday and trick-or-treating on Monday.

Sunday we went to a kids' pumpkin carving event .

 It was held at my sister-in-law's club, which featured this cool original 1940s dartboard.

Then it was on to Grandma's for more pumpkin carving. Jayson grew these pumpkins in his garden all by himslef, so it was special to turn it into a jack-o-lantern.

Tinkerbelle and Davy Crockett ready to go out trick-or-treating. The Davy Crockett costume is deadstock 1950s, picked up for a few bucks at a thrift store. It's still plenty big for my son, but in a few years it will make its way to my Etsy store. He was a big hit with all the older neighbors- they both cleaned up on the candy!

And looking forward to the next holiday on the calendar, yours truly bagged a wild turkey last week. I love the idea of providing Thanksgiving dinner for my family. It kind of makes me laugh when I hear all this talk about "heritage birds" vs. supermarket birds. Really, wild turkeys (and venison) are what the Pilgrims ate at the original Thanksgiving. That is our real "heritage", and wild turkeys should be more celebrated than they are. 

Make-it-from-scratch Monday: Roast Wild Duck with Cherry-Juniper gravy

This week's recipe is cribbed from this one at epicurious.com, but modified to use the ingredients I had on hand. It uses one of my favorite ingredients in wild game cooking, juniper berries, so I had to try it. If you can't find juniper berries, try a specialty store or bulk foods retailer online- they are worth seeking out!  

Instead of a 5 lb. domestic duck, I used a 2 1/2 lb wild duck (so I had to cut the cooking time in half), and used dried cherries instead of the prunes, which I probably would have done anyway, even had I had prunes. I also always read the reviews attached to an online recipe (some good advice from real people there!), and one of the reviewers mentioned that it would be a waste to stick the giblets, heart and liver in the cavity of the bird to roast and then simply discard- why not use them for gravy? And I always make it a point to use every usable bit of an animal that we hunt, so I wanted to incorporate those parts into the gravy

Ingredients:

1 whole duck; gizzard, heart, liver reserved

2 cups water

20 juniper berries, slightly crushed

1-2 oz dried cherries or prunes

1 lemon or orange, quartered

3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

1 oz dry sherry

1 oz brandy (I used some plum brandy)

salt and pepper to taste

First, macerate the dried fruit in the brandy to soften.

Then make the juniper broth by boiling 15 of the juniper berries in 2 c. water.

Prepare the duck.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Season inside and out with salt, pepper, thyme. Place about 5 juniper berries in cavity of duck, and all but one of the lemon slices.

Put duck in oven for 30 mins.

Add one lemon slice and macerated fruit to broth and steep. Reserve brandy for later!

Place giblets and heart (I cooked the liver separately- a special treat just fo me) in the broth and boil. When cooked through, remove and dice finely.

After 30 mins, remove duck from oven and pour half of the broth over top. Try to reserve as much fruit as possible.

Turn duck over so breast side is down.

Bake for another 30 mins, then remove and pour remaining liquid broth over top (still reserving fruit).

Turn duck again so breast side is up.

Lower heat to 350.

Bake for 30 mins until done.

Remove duck from oven to rest and pour off pan juices (separate as much duck fat as possible- keep that for some other use!).  Combine juices with reserved fruit, brandy, and diced giblets. Add water if necessary. Bring to a boil and add sherry. Turn heat to medium-low.

Make a slurry with a couple tablespoons of flour and water in a separate dish. Add slowly to juices to thicken. Keep stirring or your gravy will burn or get lumpy.

Meanwhile, summon the house butcher to carve the bird.

Plate and serve with gravy. I added herb-roasted redskin potatoes and broccoli. Roasted brussel sprouts would be great with this also.



Make-it-from-scratch Monday: Hunter-style rabbit

In honor of Valentine's Day, show the man in your life how to cook the game he bags (or buys, in this modern age!)

This is another of my favorite wild game recipes. You can find domestic rabbit at specialty supermarkets or, better yet, your neighborhood butcher shop, or you can use chicken thighs in this recipe. For the vegetarians, you could certainly use eggplant or white beans; but the cooking time would be much less! I used a dutch oven and cooked it on the stove, but you could also use a slow cooker- just brown the veggies and meat first and then add everything to the slow cooker for 4-6 hours.

Ingredients:

1 whole rabbit, cut-up, or 2-3 pounds skinless chicken thighs
1/4 pound diced ham or uncooked bacon
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped medium
1/2 c. celery, chopped
8 oz whole baby carrots or 1 c. sliced carrots
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 c. good red wine
herbs, such as parsley, rosemary, oregano and thyme, about 2 Tbs total
salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat dutch oven, large saucepan or skillet on stovetop.
Add cubed ham or bacon and cook until it becomes browned.
Add rabbit or chicken pieces and brown on all sides. You may need to add a little olive oil if the ham/bacon is very lean.

Add garlic, onions, celery and carrots and cook until translucent.

Add the tomatoes and the wine- I used 2 pints of my home-canned crushed tomatoes, but a 28-oz can of store-bought is fine. Just make sure you taste before adding any additional salt later!

At this point, you can transfer to a slow cooker for 4-6 hours, or you can continue to simmer it, covered, on the stovetop for about 2 hours. When meat is tender and falling off the bone, remove it to a dish and separate it from the bones. Return the meat to the veggie mixture in the pot.

Heat through, and add herb mixture, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with wide noodles, rotini or penne.