Green Akeys Family Farm

Let me start by saying I'm not a fan of turkey. Just don't like it much. I've spent years buying and trying something different to make it more palatable. First it was the Capon. Capons are very good but not when you're feeding more than 6 people. They're bigger than chickens but about half the size of a "small" turkey. Next we tried a turkey fryer. Wow! Yummy but there's nothing fun about standing outside in the snow boiling a turkey in hot oil for a few hours. It's messy and needs constant attention. I'd do it every year if 1. I lived in a warmer climate and 2. I knew what to do with 5 gallons of leftover peanut oil... Next we tried Turducken. TurYUCKen was more like it. It was mailordered from Louisana. The butcher used too much salt and too much cajun seasoning. We did this before Turducken was popular which is why we had to mail order it. Now I'd like to try one again since pretty much every butcher will make one for you...for a price. Two years ago I drove 2 hours to Northwestern Illinois and spent $62 on a 12lb Organic Heritage Turkey. We watched it slaughtered and plucked and then put into a plastic garbage bag. We didn't like it. Way too much dark meat. Very gamey tasting. I wasn't happy about the money and time spent on this bird.

Mike and Annette Akey are long time family friends. We've been to their farm and worked it for two days. They work hard and they have amazing products. We've eaten their chickens, eggs, lamb and produce. I wasn't even remotely reluctant to try a turkey. Mike gave me a lot of info about turkey processing and cooking. First, freezing the turkey helps tenderize it. So after he processed it he froze it and that's how it was delivered to us. According to Mike's explicit directions I threw a handful of aromatics inside the bird (apple, carrot, celery, onion) and then tossed the rest in the bottom of the pan. I rubbed the bird with butter and olive oil salt and pepper. At 325 degreed I roasted breast side down for two hours. Then leg side up for 15 minutes and other leg up for 15 minutes. Finally breast up for the remaining 2.5 hours. Our 21 pound bird cooked in 5 hours. We let it rest for an hour actually because our sides weren't ready. It carved beautifully. The breast meat was darker than normal and very very moist. The dark meat was darker than normal and very very flavorful. The bird is so moist there aren't a lot of drippings so I had to add a cup of water halfway through cooking so we could make gravy from the butter/fat drippinsg plus the veg in the pan. From the carcass I've made a soup and from the leftovers our family favorite...turkey tetrazzini!!

I believe my quest for the perfect turkey has officially ended. We look forward to more GreenAkey Turkeys for many Thanksgivings to come...