Why the traditional turkey dinner every Thanksgiving is so last century

A generous salad of Red King Crab with diced celery, sweet pepper, onion and carrot -- dressed with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice, cumin and other spices -- was the starter at our non-traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner on Thursday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Numerous news outlets report an estimated 46 million turkeys were killed for Thanksgiving, but no one has explained how Americans could possibly stomach all of that white meat.

The white or breast meat of the domesticated turkey is the least flavorful and the easiest to overcook.

Even before I stopped eating meat or poultry in favor of seafood, I always insisted on getting the drumstick, thigh or wing -- and preferably all three.

On Thursday, I prepared a luscious Red King Crab Salad for an appetizer, and my wife cooked turkey legs and thighs for herself and the other meat eaters in the family.

Like the Red King Crab, our second course came from Costco Wholesale in Teterboro -- Phillips Seafood Restaurants' Maryland-style Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes.

I served them with Costco's Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto.

After a big crab salad and two crab cakes, washed down with prosecco, a sparkling white wine from Italy, I was stuffed.

I didn't have room for sweet potatoes mashed with extra-virgin olive or an organic spring mix salad, as planned.

Later, I did have cheese, fruit, nuts, coffee and tea.

Pumpkin pie? Yuck!

My second course: Two golden crab cakes with pesto.

My wife prepared turkey parts from the Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff in barbecue sauce. She seasoned and roasted other thighs and legs in the oven, and prepared rice with peas.

Three Red King Crab Legs and Claws, on an 18-inch-long cutting board, produced a large bowl of crab meat, below. The joints were easy to cut through with a large chef's knife, as were the soft shells with a seafood scissor, but I missed several small pieces of cartilage.

We forgot to eat the stuffing

It took a cleaver and a mallet to cut through the bones of our 13-pound heritage turkey yesterday, but we managed to finish most of the half  that we roasted with white sweet potatoes, yams and dried apricots. With only one drumstick, though, I ended up eating the white meat, which was juicy and flavorful.

I seasoned the bird with salt, cinnamon, allspice, cumin and Aleppo red pepper. I put the apricots in right away and they burned, so next time they'll go in with the boiled potatoes after an hour or so. And the sausage-apple stuffing, which I bought at Abma's Farm, was on a rack below the big enamelware pot with the turkey, and I completely forgot about it until we finished our meal.

We started the meal with lobster bisque from Costco after I found a container of it in the freezer. It was a delicious meal, with a few glasses of new beaujolais wine, and my wife and son didn't have room for the pumpkin pie. I had a few slices of Spanish fig cake, cheese and almonds a few hours later.

See earlier post: "Our half-turkey Thanksgiving"

Thanksgiving food and wine run

Image via Wikipedia

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.

On a food run down south

A friend and I took a drive yesterday into southern Bergen County and part of  Hudson County, looking for good food. We found a heady ethnic mix of Italian, Portuguese, Peruvian, Scottish, Brazilian and Colombian fare, though we didn't sample all of it.

We started out on Ridge Road in Lyndhurst, where every block seemed to have an Italian trattoria, bakery or deli.

Our destination was the corner retail store in the Pechter's factory, which occupies a full square block in Harrison, suffusing the neighborhood with the comforting smell of fresh-baked bread. We bought and split a sliced, three-pound seeded rye (about 2 feet long) for $3.75, and I grabbed some small onion and large poppy seed rolls. (840 Jersey St., 973-373-1200, cash only.)

On the way back, we stopped at The Thistle Restaurant in Kearny, one of the reliable places for Scottish fish and chips. I took out a dinner serving of battered and fried haddock and french fries (from a bag) for $13.95. My 12-year-old son managed to eat about half of it last night; he liked the fish and didn't complain about the fries. (87 Kearny Ave., 201-998-3443.)

Our final stop was Mazur's Bakery in Lyndhurst, where I picked up a pumpkin pie ($7.98). My friend was delighted with a large raisin bread for only 99 cents, a permanent special, the clerk said. (323 Ridge Road, 201-438-8500.)

One of the places I'd like to return to is Oh! Calamares, a stylish-looking Peruvian restaurant in Kearny. The takeout menu lists dishes I haven't seen in other Peruvian places, such as Pollos El Chevere in Passaic, including rabbit, tripe, potatoes in a black-mint sauce and black-conch ceviche.