Eating an old tom turkey
Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:53 pm
We had 'old tom' for holiday dinner yesterday. 3 years old when he hit the chopping block last summer. Father was a Royal Palm and mother was mixed Bourbon Red/Narragansett/Blue slate. I didn't weigh him but would guess dressed weight between 16 and 20 lbs. He was short but very meaty with a really nice fat layer He rested in the fridge for 3 days before being freezered, and again for 3 days to thaw a bit before roasting. Little bit of water, onion and garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper on the skin. Lid on the whole time, 350 degrees for about 4 hours then left in the oven for about an hour with the heat off as I had set cook time before I went to bed. His drumsticks and wing ends dried out a bit since I didn't truss at all, but apart from that I have never had a turkey as tender and juicy, and holy crap SO flavourful as that guy. So much flavour! Only comparison is another old bird I did up a couple years ago. I've got two more old Tom's out in the coop awaiting their turn. I can't wait, yum!
and had to work evening so was in a rush to stuff in as much as I could) with enough left over for stirfry tonight and a stockpot of soup tomorrow. Bert, I wolfed down the bird. Really crammed it down there. It was SO good. Nudge nudge, wink wink, knowhatimean?