I've never had turkey outside of a Thanksgiving meal (I know, I'm so
sheltered), so this menu was an eye-opener. I'd prolonged making it as long as
possible before the turkey legs were going to spoil since I'm not a big fan of
raisins, and especially not a fan of prunes. Yeah, yeah, they're called dried
plums now, but only because they had such a bad reputation as prunes that they
had to do something drastic. They're still the things old ladies eat.
The turkey legs were easy enough to find at Central Market, but they come
prepackaged in sets of three. So I had to make 1.5 times the recipe. But that
also meant 1.5 times the yummy goodness. Plus, I don't think 2 legs is enough
for 2 people, especially if one of those people is a large male. The risotto
rice came from the bulk bins at Central Market, and the saffron was in a little
plastic box on the spice aisle. I got shiitake mushrooms for the top of the
risotto since the locust hordes apparently bought all the cremini mushrooms
before I got to the grocery store, and the produce crew was still recovering
from the onslaught. Never seen vino rancio anywhere, so I took the suggestion
of substituting sherry. Plus, I don't use anything that probably shares the
same Latin root with the word
rancid.
The risotto made me suspicious at first since the instructions said to
basically dump all of the broth in at once, but I did as I was told. And it
turned out magnificently. I can honestly say that this is the first time I've
eaten a risotto where I could taste all of the individual ingredients. I could
taste the Parmesan cheese, the lemon juice, the saffron... Of course, this may
just be a byproduct of my culinary genius in balancing flavors, but I have to
give Chef Adria some credit.
The turkey was probably one of the best things I've made out of this
cookbook so far. I let the raisins and prunes have a boozy soak in some sherry
while I was at work, and then they made their way into a fabulous braise, all fat
and happy. The flavors in this dish just click. It's savory and sweet at the
same time. And even though I hate raisins and distrust prunes, they cook up
into this silky sauce that is just fabulous. I seriously considered licking my
plate and stealing the whole extra turkey leg.
For the strawberry dessert, I didn't have a fancy-pants whipped cream siphon
with nitrogen canisters, so I had to make do with my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer.
And with begging my parents to buy me a fancy-pants whipped cream siphon with
nitrogen canisters. I'm such a food nerd. But back to the strawberries. The
only strawberries I could find in the middle of winter were imported from
Mexico, and not organic. These means that I probably just ingested a pound of
synthetic pesticides and who knows what else. Strawberries are on the red list
you know! That means only buy organic. Unless you're desperate, and it's
January. I whipped up the cream and tossed in the yogurt with some powdered
sugar, and it made a pretty refreshing dessert after the richness of the turkey
legs. I still want a siphon, though.
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