cooking a perfect turkey at the last minute

It has been quite a month. I went on a trip with my mother on the river boat Odyssey through Austria and Germany. We had a truly wonderful time. (I will devote an entire blog to the trip soon). As a result, I of course cleared out the fridge before I left with no plans for cooking, instead planning on having a small Thanksgiving dinner with friends.

Well my dear friend came down with a cold, so I decided to cook a little dinner for myself. I got the last slot on Tuesday for a 7:00 pm Safeway delivery. Since I don't own a car, Safeway delivery is a very convenient way to shop and usually orders are accurate and complete. Well not this time. In addition to no vegetables, lemons, nuts, milk and pancetta, the turkey was m.i.a. So off to the store on Wednesday. By the way I did get my delivery fee credited with no hassle.

I kept it simple. Cream of broccoli soup, roast turkey with a wild rice side dish with pancetta, a mixed green salad with dried cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette and a crisp chardonnay. I skipped dessert. I had enough Bavarian cream and apple strudel recently to last awhile.

Everyone has their favorite way to cook turkey and I have mine. Cover with soft butter and rub with salt and pepper. Heat oven to 450 degrees, place bird breast side down on rack in roasting pan (keeps breast meat moist as juices from leg run into it). After 15 minutes, turn down heat to 350 degrees. Turkey is now sealed. Baste with hot chicken stock every 20-30 minutes.

Know your approximate cooking time—rule of thumb is 20 minutes for every pound. Turn the turkey breast side up during the last hour to evenly brown and check the meat thermometer.

When it reaches 170 degrees, remove the bird even if it is under time—the thermometer rules.

Tent the bird and let it rest 20 minutes before cutting. Perfect every time.

By the way, this is for an unstuffed bird. I don't like moist stuffing and this is where cooking times can vary. Cook your stuffing in a casserole next to the bird the last 45 minutes.

The crispy top and tender middle is worth it.

historic requa inn and dining at steelhead lodge in klamath, ca.

Ah, June 21st, a day that has always been the best birthday, clear, sunny and the longest of the year, a day to stretch out as long as you can . . .So this year it's Father's Day too, and we decide to take a drive from Crescent City to Klamath up the scenic Requa Road to the mouth of the Klamath River. First stop on the bluff overlooking the river sits the Requa Inn, 451 Requa Road, a quaint, rustic bed and breakfast first built in 1914 as a 22 room hotel. Now with 10 unique rooms with spectacular views, this inn is included in National Geographic Traveler magazine's 2009 stay list of 129 "hotels we love" in North America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The inn features a hot tub, custom made breakfast and a carbon neutral footprint adding a little modernity to this historic property. Check out their web site at http://www.requainn.com/ .
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So, back down the hill, across the highway and into the Klamath Glen. Winding through the redwoods with houses tucked in the trees, you reach the Steelhead Lodge. Located at 330 Terwer Riffle Road, this a favorite of locals with good reason. I love things that remain traditional--old school--I've mentioned that before in the search for classic Mexican. Steelhead Lodge certainly does that.

You start with a great all wood bar with captain chairs and fishbowl size classic cocktails. The dinners are all inclusive of the generous kind, with an alderwood burning grill and grill master right outside the door! A salad of iceberg lettuce, shredded carrot and red cabbage served family style begins the meal. You know the one--the classic American salad. The dressing is a creamy house made ranch blended with blue cheese. It can't get any better. Lovely, soft, flaky rolls top it off.

We selected the 26oz. rib eye for 2 (but enough for 3) 39.00, an absolutely perfectly medium rare, smoky, tender steak with little bits of caramelized fat at the edges. You could choose a side of rice pilaf or chili, but the standout is the potato cooked in it's skin at the grill and rubbed lightly with oil and sea salt. Really divine. Steelhead Lodge does fresh cod, snapper and lobster, but a real show stopper that flew by me was a rack of pork ribs stacked with a half of a grilled chicken. A large bowl of steaming mushrooms in wine and butter was right behind. It's a simple menu done very well. Visit their website at http://www.steelheadlodgeklamath.com/ .

It was very satisfying on this longest day of summer to know that little gems in pristine settings still exist in this world.