Holiday
The third Monday in October established as a holiday in 1957.
In turkey we trust
Fall 2011 |
Most Canadians know the American story of Thanksgiving with the pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, and the Indians, but few know the history of Canada's Thanksgiving. In 1578, English explorer Martin Frobischer, who had unsuccessfully been trying to find a northern passage to the orient, settled in Newfoundland and held a formal ceremony to give thanks for surviving his long wandering journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. He was later knighted and commemorated with the naming of Frobisher Bay. At the same time, Frenchman, Samuel de Champlain commemorated his world travels with a huge feast of thanks. In a show of generosity that has come to be seen as truly Canadian, Champlain formed "The Order of Good Cheer" to share his harvest with the less fortunate. (NC)—Here are a few ways Thanksgiving cooks can make this year's meal even better: • Thawing with Ease: Thawing in the refrigerator is the recommended method. Allow at least one day of thawing for every four pounds of turkey. However, if your turkey is still frozen and you're short on time, submerge the turkey in its' unopened wrapper in cold water allowing 30 minutes of thaw time per pound. • Food Safety 101: Practice good food safety procedures: wash hands often; keep raw turkey and ready-to-eat foods separated; cook foods to proper temperatures – the turkey should reach minimums of 180° F (82°C) deep in the thigh, and 165° F (74°C) in the center of the stuffing; also, refrigerate cooked turkey after two hours at room temperature. • It's All About How You Cook It: The Butterball turkey talk-line experts recommend the open pan roasting method using a flat rack in a shallow pan so the turkey cooks evenly. If you don't have a flat rack, take a long piece of aluminum foil and roll it, then wrap in a circle and place at the bottom of the pan – the turkey is elevated for even cooking and clean up is easy. • Bites of Wisdom: Recipesdon't have to be trendy or complicated to impress guests. Butterball's master chef, Tony Seta, suggests taking traditional mashed potatoes and adding simple ingredients like bacon and asiago cheese – that will create a little extra flavour. P.S. Don't anticipate any leftovers. • Ask for Help: If you need more help,ask for advice from the turkey talk-line experts at 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372). The talk-line experts are there to answer all your turkey questions and help you make this the best Thanksgiving feast ever. From Sudbury Living Fall 2009 Most Canadians reserve a place for a stuffed turkey at their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner tables. Our tradition is a little bit American, a little bit English.Top five “make it better” turkey tips
Eating turkey at Thanksgiving is a custom we borrowed from our American cousins. The Pilgrims didn't serve turkey at the first celebration, but it gradually became linked to the holiday. It was not only plentiful but Benjamin Franklin throught the native wild turkey courageous and wanted it named the national bird.
Norman Rockwell's famous illustration Freedom from Want, a quintessential Thanksgiving turkey feast, was published in 1943 at the height of the Second World War. The golden roasted turkey represented abundance, prosperity and freedom...all the things the troops were fighting for "over there."
The turkey is seen as so American that the Apollo astronauts enjoyed turkey for their first meal on the moon.
Across the pond, Henry VIII and his wives enjoyed eating turkey at Christmas, and it is still served to royalty with all the trimmings Dec. 25.
In his 1843 classic, A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens created visions of a perfect festival turkey dinner fit for a king in his readers' imagination.
By the 1950s, with a little help from turkey producers' marketing campaigns, and new-fangled refrigerators and freezers that made turkey convenient to store, the stuffed bird became the official holiday main dish in Canadian homes.
Turkey is low in fat and high in protein, and in recent years it has become a popular alternative to beef, pork or chicken any time of the year. But according to The Turkey Farmers of Canada, while Canadians consumed about 9.6 million whole turkeys in 2008, most of them were eaten at Thanksgiving, Christmas or other holidays such as Easter.
Heather Nahatchewitz of Turkey Farmers of Ontario advises on how to select the right size of bird. "Buy a suitably sized turkey by counting on one pound of turkey per adult, or one and a half pounds if you want leftovers," she says.
If the turkey requires thawing, calculate when it needs to be started by planning on five hours per pound using the refrigerator method (place turkey in a leak-proof pan on your fridge's bottom shelf) or one hour per pound if soaking it completely submerged in cold water that's changed every hour, advises Nahatchewitz. The turkey needs to be roasted within 48 hours of being thawed.
Calculate 15 minutes per pound at 325 F for roasting, understanding that ovens differ in temperature. To determine when the turkey is cooked, insert a meat thermometer deep into the meat without touching bone and roast until its reached the proper temperature: 170 F (77 C) in the breast and 180 F (82 C) in the thigh. It's best to let the bird stand for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.
Turkey leftovers are as anticipated as holiday dinners. Sandwiches are among the favourites, and so are the soups and pot pies, but ,"turkey is extremely versatile and can be substituted for virtually any meat in any recipe," says Nahatchewitz. "It's great in stir fries, salads, pastas, casseroles, chili...the list goes on and on."
Leftover turkey can be used to make a delicious recipes. For more ideas, visit www.turkeyrecipes.ca or www.turkeyfordinner.ca.
Health Canada recommends storing cooked turkey in a covered container, plastic bag or aluminum foil for up to four days in the refrigerator or up to three months in the freezer. Nahatchewitz suggests freezing cooked, boned turkey in portions, then thawing and chopping as needed.
"Just remember," she continues, "don't leave turkey at room temperature for more than two hours after cooking; keep it hot, or get it into the fridge or freezer as soon as possible."
Stuffing
Tips:
One slice of bread yields 1/2 cup (125 mL) coarse bread crumbs or 1 cup (250 mL) loosely packed 1/2 inch (1 cm) cubes.
Allow 1/2 to 3/4 cup (125 to 175 mL) of stuffing per 1 lb of turkey.
Avoid packing the stuffing since it expands while cooking.
Stuff the turkey just before roasting. Do not stuff the day before. Moistened stuffing does not keep well. If desired, ingredients may be prepared the day before and combined just before the turkey is to be stuffed.
Do not stuff a fresh turkey before freezing and do not freeze a cooked turkey with stuffing still inside.
Remove leftover stuffing from turkey immediately and keep covered in the refrigerator. Use within three days. Reheat just enough stuffing for one meal.
Cooked stuffing can be frozen up to four weeks. Heat without thawing (or thaw in the refrigerator first): use at once.
Save cooking time...Place stuffing in covered baking dish; cook during last half hour of the turkey roasting time.
For an easy way to remove stuffing from the cavity...prepare the turkey for the oven, line the cavity with cheesecloth leaving excess at the opening, and stuff the turkey as usual. After roasting, simply pull the cheesecloth out of the turkey to remove the stuffing!
Source: Turkey Farmers of Ontario
