November 25, 2011

Maker's Mark, maple syrup and duck fat - oh joy!


Yesterday, I went from roasting a chicken for 4 people to making an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner for 8, for which I purchased the turkey at around 5 pm (luckily we eat late in Spain). There is something about eating Thanksgiving on the actual day that gets me every year. Of course it is more of a challenge than you might think given that we don't have the day off from work. Actually, the main event is tonight at my friend Sarah's house and her turkey promises to be absolutely stellar. One of the few fortunate people to have a real barbeque in the Madrid city center, she brined her organic turkey in apple cider and spices overnight and is going to plunk the whole thing on the charcoal grill this afternoon to roast.

In any case, my nearly 8 pound bird was so cute and easy to handle that I really went to town doing all sorts of fun things to it (I normally have to sit on the ground in front of the oven with plastic bags over my shoes and literally kick the large turkey into the oven to make it fit). After slathering it with butter and fresh herbs, I decided to try the injector bottle that my ex-intern/chef Cassie gave me years ago. I filled the bottle with a mixture of Maker's Mark bourbon, maple syrup and the duck fat left over from a magret that I made earlier in the week, and then injected this deliciousness into the turkey's breast and thighs. This was supposed to make the turkey juicy, but what I really wanted to do was inject this mixture directly into my mouth. Anyway, my digital thermometer broke halfway through the cooking process, so I think I overcooked the whole thing to be safe,  but it still came out juice-tastic so I'm figuring that this injector bottle may be the nectar of the gods. Now off to make the pies for tonight!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It sounds delicious,and so it was. I can prove it!

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