Wild Rice

wild rice

So I may have slagged off the Canadian side of my family regarding the turkey in my last post.  I can only offer this as evidence that holidays were not a pure culinary disaster.  This is in fact the king of holiday sides.  No matter the dish, no matter the holiday, this is a requirement.  In fact it was once remarked by an 73 year old woman, “this tastes like winning the Nobel prize for chemistry while at the apex of an orgasm.”  I’m pretty sure that old lady never had an orgasm, but it’s certainly not an inaccurate description.
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Smoked, Brined Turkey

big turk

Growing up half Canadian and half Italian lent itself well to exposing turkey for the sham that it is.  Half of the holidays were spent eating the bird with all the variety of being served ‘cold’ or ‘warm’, while the rest of the holidays were spent eating things that generally had flavour.  It is only fair that I went on to marry an English girl who simply demands that thanksgiving revolve around a bird too lazy to fly.  A bird so lazy it makes you sleep after you eat it.  A bird so lazy you can use it’s name to express discontent with other people, you turkeys!  My point is that it barely seems fair.  So for several years I’ve used all manner of techniques to attempt to make this bird as great as people make it out to be.  This year, I think I have.
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