Ness' Outpost

What is a Canadian with a cheap frozen turkey purchased on sale after our own Thanksgiving to do on American Thanksgiving? Why fry up a turkey in the backyard of course!

We invited as many people over as we could find to help us eat up a 16 pound turkey. It was my first turkey fry so I didn’t really know what I was in for. Worst case we could order in pizza with chicken on top.

We defrosted the turkey in the fridge for 3 days before the weekend. On the day of the fry I measured how much oil we needed by putting the bird on the rack drumsticks up. Cut some slits in the skin underneath each drumstick to allow the oil to drain out. Then put the bird in the pot and filled it with water to the top of the turkey. Remove everything but the water and mark the height with tape or something. You now know how much oil you’ll need for this bird. You can be a little over or under and I wouldn’t do this with another 16 pound turkey, I’d just put in 15L of oil next time based on experience.

Since the volume of the pot is constant the more turkey you can fit in your pot the less oil you’ll need – it’s the best of both worlds. But there is a maximum of course. The turkey can touch the sides, but shouldn’t crowd the pot.
(more…)

Sunday we went down to a little restaurant called the stockyards and had brunch, apparently they haven’t done brunch very often but are starting it up on the weekends.

I had a smoked green chili burger with cheese. It was really good.
I need to try smoking some chilies this year in my smoker for use on my own burgers and in my chili recipe. I recently watched a Bobby Flay green chili cheeseburger throwdown which gave me some ideas. Apparently refrying the green chili mixture on a griddle is a must.

Then we were off to the Wychwood seed exchange to try and find some heirloom tomatoes to sprout into seedlings and then transplant into the garden in late May. The place was packed! Probably because they made the Posted Toronto’s things to do this weekend list. There were all kinds of “crunchy” and “granola” types and then us. Grant and Chantelle would be proud! ;)
(more…)

We had in a contractor to install the outdoor BBQ natural gas lines needed to fire up the new BBQ. I had assembled the BBQ two weeks ago — yes, I got excited. Lauren tells everyone I’ve been sneaking out of bed at night to give it hugs and kisses. I cannot confirm or deny that accusation.

When we first tried to start the new BBQ I had some problems getting the BBQ to ignite with the electric starter so I used a match and she gave a big poof and we were cooking in no time. A quick half hour on high to burn in the new burners and grill was all she got last night. It’s also a good idea to heat everything up to sterilize the firebox and to allow the oil I put on the cast iron grills and smoker box to impregnate the metals and burn off the excess.

Tonight after refereeing the first meat hits the grill. I’m thinking something with lots of grease like hot Italian sausages is a good “seasoning” meat to get the flavorizers and grills up to speed quickly. The smoker box needs another coating in oil as it is raw cast iron unlike the grills which are porcelain coated.

I’m excited. This weekend I’m going to try out the rotisserie.