I have a little boy home sick today. So I’m introducing him to blogging. It seems like a good way for him to practice writing, while providing a creative outlet for words, photos and videos.
His immediate reaction was to write down an arithmetic equation. I then sent him off to take a photo. There was some fumbling, but he started to take an interest and is now composing a little blurb about his photo.
antonvsblog.tumblr.com
Having blogged my roasting of turkeys on my other general blog, I’m streamlining the process and recording what I did this year on my Tumblr blog.
This year I’m roasting a smaller bird(12lbs/5kg) and my wife is making the stuffing. I’ll walk over to Boucherie Notre-Dame to get the fresh turkey I ordered last week.
To help anybody who comes across this, an update system with photos will document the process. I’m shooting them with the Hipstamatic app, so the colours and depth of field are deliberately bizarre- I’ll post a “true” colour image at the end.
12:20(T- 40)
The Counter is cleared and I can rinse the bird, rub it with salt, savoury and olive oil.This is the first time I have tried this.
It is best to have a helper to assist you. They hand you things but never touch the bird. This helps keep the fluids from the turkey, which can easily spread salmonella, from contaminating your other foods or surfaces.
The stuffing was made this morning by my lovely wife and chilled to room temperature before stuffing in to the bird. She improvised the recipe with prepared breadcrumbs and home-made croutons. The bread was mixed with onion, celery and spicy pepperoni that had been sautéed in butter. Dried cranberries were added during the mixing.
I loosely stuffed the bird. Note how the fancy bird I bought has a fold of skin that keeps the drumsticks in place.
I like to roast the root vegetables under the bird, so they absorb some of the fat.
13:01(T=0) Turkey went in oven, aluminium foil loosely tented over the bird. In one hour, I will remove the turkey for first basting. My bird weighs 15 lbs, so my time estimate is 5 hrs. The label on the bird suggests closer to 4 hours.
14:00(T=59mins) Turkey comes out of the oven for first check and basting. No fluids yet, so no basting.
The edges are already getting a little golden. This great, time to turn down the heat to 325℉. Back in the oven it goes for 1/2 hour.
14:35(T+ 1h34) Second check- no significant change from previous basting check. I added olive oil and about half a cup of white wine, then returned the tented bird to the oven.
14:59 (T+1h58) I’m not hearing any sizzling sounds, indicating a lot of fluids, so I’ll leave the bird in the oven untouched for at least another 30 mins.
15:32 (T+ 2h31) I can begin to smell the turkey, but will let it sit undisturbed for another half hour. Seems like 17:30 will be the earliest the bird will be finished.
15:57 (T+2h56)
Finally, some fluids! I basted, and expect more in half-an-hour. Re-tented and back into the oven.
16:29 (T+3h28) More juices, but still a long way from finished. My original calculation of 20 min/lb seems on the mark- dinner at 18:00.
17:02(T+4h01)
More juices and gently going golden.
After putting the bird back in the oven, I started on the gravy. A spring onion and a clove of garlic, mashed, were added to a small sauce pan of olive oil. After sautéeing I added a cup of white wine and a table spoon of “poultry seasoning”. I waited for the mixture to come to a boil then added the neck that came with the turkey. After cooking for a few minutes I added a cup of hot water. I’ll let that reduce, then add some drippings later, prior to straining and serving.
17:28 (T+ 4h26)
Basting the bird. The gravy is simmering on the stove top. Time to start thinking about steaming some green beans. Figure it is
18:06 (T+ 5h05)
The juices from breast and thigh are running clear, but I’ll put it back in for at least another half hour to crisp the skin and make it golden.
18:40 (T+ 5h39)
19:00 Bird is out of oven.
References:
Australian Turkey Federation, “Perfect Roast Turkey”, http://www.turkeyfed.com.au/Recipes.php?blog_archive=2010-10
Canadian Living, “How to Cook a Turkey”, http://www.canadianliving.com/food/cooking_school/how_to_cook_a_turkey.php
Tennant, Carol. “Roast Turkey with All the Trimmings”. in Good Kitchen Magic, London, UK. MQ Publications 2003 p.25
So I have finished my M.A. in art history. Now what I’m thinking about is is developing a philosophy of digital game aesthetics that reflects and informs ethnographic practices of digital games and the art practice that interacts with those. Some ideas that come about from this arise from Nicholas Bourriad’s Relational Aesthetics, Alfred Gell’s Art and Agency, Edmund Husserl’s Cartesian Meditations, Wafaa Bilal’s Domestic Tensions, Aristotle’s notion of Entelechy discussed in De Anima, Physics 2 and Metaphysics.
Hi- Well, wasn’t that special!
Adamvs joins tumblr…
