Inside our Thanksgiving dinner

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I had the tool, but zesting two oranges was the hardest part of the recipe.

If I had a larger stock pot, I would have ruined the healthy carrot-fennel soup I prepared for Thanksgiving and been stuck with a lot of watery stuff that I could never serve my guests. The recipe I included in my last post must be in error on the huge amount of water called for.


I started sauteeing sliced onion, garlic and fennel in olive oil Thursday morning. Meanwhile, I sliced the 5 pounds of organic carrots I had peeled the night before, and when the other ingredients were translucent, added the carrots and water.


The recipe, from the Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack, calls for two and a half gallons of water, but I couldn't find a pitcher that was marked with its volume. A Brita pitcher we use for home-purified water was marked in cups, but only two-thirds up the side, ending at "10c." The Brita Web site gave the volume in 8-ounce glasses. (A gallon has 16 cups).

So, I poured nearly a full Brita pitcher of water into the pot, probably a gallon in total, and that was all that would fit. There wasn't even room for the optional two cups of milk, so I saved that step for later.


I boiled the mixture until the carrots were soft, about 40 minutes, and added zest from two oranges. Then, I started transferring the solids and some liquid into a blender to puree them. I should have poured the low-fat milk into the blender, not the pot, because when all the solids were removed, there was still a lot of milky liquid left, and I was forced to discard it.


I was left with a pleasantly thick and grainy carrot soup that tasted neither of fennel nor orange zest, but once I seasoned it with salt and white pepper, it was bursting with flavor. It went over big at dinner.


The rest of the menu was easy to prepare: 

Ravioli with beef for my guests, my son and my wife; lobster ravioli for me, both from Costco and both drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and a shower of black pepper from a mill; seasoned turkey thighs, drumsticks and wings from the Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff that took on a beautiful color during simple roasting; baked sweet potatoes and yams; jellied and whole cranberries, and a big salad.


My reward for not eating meat was several glasses of delicious wine from La Familia Bujanda in Spain (made from the tempranillo grape), and a mid-afternoon nap.

Back to the Wyckoff turkey farm

It took two phone calls and an 18-mile round trip to exchange the bird that was standing in for the heritage turkey I had reserved for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

The Narragansett turkey I brought home today from Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff  (a cooked one is shown in the photo)  weighs 13 pounds and cost $90.50 -- about $40 less than if  I had mail-ordered it from Heritage Foods USA, but its bigger than the 8-10 pound bird I asked for in a conversation with the owner yesterday afternoon.

It turns out the original order taker didn't hear me say "heritage turkey" and put me down in the computer for one of the farm's broad-breasted white turkeys, which are raised on vegetarian feed and without antibiotics. That's the one I picked up Tuesday.

I heard an employee refer to the heritage turkey as a "wild turkey" with a gamier taste, and in fact, my turkey is labeled "wild turkey," but it's farm raised and not one of the really wild turkeys I have seen near the Palisades. The label also says it's free range and raised without steroids, antibiotics or animal by-products.

Still, that's a lot of turkey for our family of three. Just this week, we argued over why my wife wanted to prepare another dinner, rather than eat leftover whole fried whiting and parts from a 5.6 pound chicken we roasted with fingerling potatoes and dried apricots. Stay tuned.

See earlier post, "Thanksgiving food and wine run."

Thanksgiving food and wine run

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I made three stops this afternoon, gathering ingredients, prepared dishes and wine for our Thanksgiving dinner at home.

First, I went to Total Wine & More in River Edge to replenish my supply of red wine. The most expensive bottle I bought was $9.99 -- a malbec from Argentina. I also brought home shiraz, bordeaux, pinot noir and some Italian bubbly, nine bottles in all for a total for $70.53, including tax and a $5-off coupon on the purchase of $50 or more. I'm no expert; all I want is drinkable wine. (135 Kinderkamack Road, River Edge; 201-968-1777)

My second stop was the store at Abma's Farm in Wyckoff, where I picked up prepared sausage-and-apple stuffing ($9.99), cranberry relish (cranberries, sugar and oranges, $6.49), yams and sweet white potatoes. We already have a pumpkin pie. (700 Lawlins Road, Wyckoff; 201-891-0278)

Finally, I drove to the Goffle Road Poultry Farm, also in Wyckoff, to pick up the sleek heritage turkey I had reserved. It was a 12 -pounder for $32.25, which seems low. When I got home, I called and was told they charge $2.29 a pound live weight, before the bird is killed, cleaned and so forth.  (549 Goffle Road, Wyckoff; 201-444-3238)

I'm still not sure I got the right turkey. This is what I wrote Oct. 8 after calling the poultry farm:

This year, we plan to buy a heritage turkey, which was developed in the United States and Europe over hundreds of years. The Narragansett variety sold in Wyckoff will be going for $5.95 a pound (live weight) and the bird we get will weigh 8-10 pounds after gutting and cleaning. Compared to the ungainly, tasteless, broad-breasted white turkey, the Narragansett is an athlete with flavorful meat.

It was pretty busy today and tomorrow will be a zoo. I'm not sure what I will do. If the bird I have is not one of the heritage breeds, at least I know it was raised  on a vegetarian feed and without antibiotics. Last year, I wanted a heritage bird, but the Web site didn't mention the farm had them and we settled for turkey parts.