What will they come up with next?

This morning a co-worker of mine passed along a link to Season Shot. He said, “You won’t believe this.”

I opened the link to find a man had developed ammunition for birds that was seasoned. This is from the website:

Season Shot is made of tightly packed seasoning bound by a fully biodegradable food product. The seasoning is actually injected into the bird on impact, seasoning the meat from the inside out. When the bird is cooked the seasoning pellets melt into the meat spreading the flavor to the entire bird. Forget worrying about shot breaking your teeth and start wondering about which flavor shot to use!

I was amazed and very intrigued with this type of invention. I began to think about all the cooks everywhere. Would they think this is a way to bring dinner to the table quicker? Could this actually be safe and taste good? How much would something like this cost? Doesn’t this take the fun away from cooking?

Cooking isn’t supposed to be easy and what I’ve found is if the meal is too easy you miss out on that home cooked taste. Now, saying that, I will admit that there are some meals that are easier than others and still have that home cooked taste. But when it comes to cooking poultry I believe that time and care must be spent to achieve great taste. I’m not saying that I won’t try this new seasoned ammunition when it comes out on the market, but I do have my doubts about the taste of the meat with such an easy cooking procedure.

Unfortunately, Season Shot will not be available in time for Thanksgiving, according to the website. Too bad. That would have been an excellent time to release this product and use some really inventive marketing schemes.

I have to say, though, I highly doubt that this seasoned shot will EVER taste as good as grandma’s Thanksgiving roast turkey. I’m a believer that it takes patience and time to create that perfect balance of seasonings that make that special Thanksgiving feast so perfect. I don’t think that one shot of seasonings from a shot gun can do the same thing as two loving and caring cooking hands can do.

Speaking of birds, I’ve got a recipe for a roasted turkey to share today that is as close to my grandmother’s recipe that I can find. My Grandmother Pat passed away quite awhile ago. Her roasted turkey at Thanksgiving is just one of her recipes that I wish I could recreate. I’ve tried and this recipe from Fine Cooking is the closet one that I’ve came across. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Until next time, keep your hands floured and your ovens hot!

Simple Butter Rubbed Roast Turkey
From Fine Cooking, with some changes to the original recipe

1 turkey (about 14 lb.), preferably fresh, completely thawed if frozen
3 tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium yellow onions, quartered
9 cloves garlic
2 Golden Delicious apples (unpeeled), cored and quartered
6 sprigs fresh thyme
6 leaves fresh sage
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 cups apple cider
2 cups homemade or low-salt chicken broth; more if needed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Rinse the turkey well and pat it dry with paper towels. Season the chest cavity with some of the salt and a few grinds of pepper. Put four of the onion quarters, the garlic, the apples, four of the thyme sprigs, and four of the sage leaves in the chest cavity. Secure the legs under the flap of tail skin or tie them together. Bend the wingtips back behind the turkey, securing any loose neck skin underneath the wingtips.

Brush the turkey with the butter. Season the turkey with the rest of the salt and more pepper. Put the turkey, breast side down, on the roasting rack. Scatter the remaining onion quarters and herbs in the roasting pan. Add the neck, tail, gizzard, and heart to the pan, along with 1-1/2 cups of the apple cider and 1 cup of the broth (you’ll use the remaining cider for basting and the remaining chicken broth for the gravy). Roast for 30 minutes. Baste the turkey with the pan juices, and roast another 30 minutes.

Remove the turkey from the oven, turn the turkey breast side up. (The turkey won’t be very hot at this point.) Baste with the pan juices, return the turkey to the oven with the breast facing the opposite direction from the way it was (you will have flipped and rotated it). Roast for another 1 hour, basting occasionally.

After the turkey has roasted for 2 hours total, begin basting with the remaining apple cider every 30 minutes, rotating the position of the pan to brown the bird evenly. The turkey is done when an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. (When the internal temperature of a thigh is 155° to 160°F, the turkey is about 30 minutes away from being done; a 14-pound unstuffed turkey takes about 3 hours.) When the turkey is done, tilt it over the roasting pan to let the juices in the main cavity run into the pan. Transfer the turkey to a carving board or serving platter and tent it loosely with foil. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.