Saturday, November 29, 2014

dispatch the cock



So the turkey and I were just hanging out in the kitchen, glass of riesling, comparing necks.


The usual.

I’ve butterflied chickens for the grill before, 
so I decided to try it on our turkey.


The old-school term is “spatchcocking.”  
It’s very popular this year.



Place the bird breast down, take a very sharp knife and draw lines down both sides of the spine.


Then cut the ribs along the backbone.


Heavy kitchen shears are typical, but I used sheet metal snips. 

Because of course I did. 

Use a knife to pop the thigh bone from its socket.


And then cut along the the other side.
And pop the other thigh.

The backbone comes right out.


I also took the ribcage out, which is optional.

But I pulled it for the stock pot.


At this point he doesn’t look much like a turkey anymore.


Until you flip him over. 
He was exhausted. You can imagine. 

From here it’s just salt and pepper.

Olive oil for crispy skin.

And a quick vogue for the camera.

The skin is all on top this way, so it crisps wonderfully.


30 minutes at about 450〫 then 40 more at about 350, basting every 20 minutes or so.

The roast is so quick!

And no tan lines.

Friday, November 28, 2014

November 29, 1900




still going, still growing


We started at the very bottom 
of about 25 and one half million webpages.
In 4 years 
ClockTowerTenants has climbed above about a third of them.


Thanks for helping and have a great holiday weekend!


Thursday, November 27, 2014

in addition


be thankful this

+
this


this.


Happy Thanksgiving!

and only in da Bronx



See it outside.


Then go inside.


And see it inside!


The surreal and wonderful Botanical Garden Train Show.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

from our upstate correspondent

I'm getting hungry

for tomorrow. 

2013

thanks a lot


foodista.com 

The Yankee version of the first Thanksgiving in 1620 paints the Native American “Indian” as a guest, fed by the intrepid Pilgrims.


Nothing could be further from the truth.

mayflowerhistory.com

Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket formed the home of the Wampanoag, a people with a sophisticated society who had proudly occupied this region for 12 thousand years. 

britannica.com

According to the National Museum of the American Indian: 

“They had their own government, 
their own religious and philosophical beliefs, 
their own knowledge system, 
and their own culture.”

britannica.com

They knew the rain, the dry spells, the migration of animals and the cycles of water, plant life and the seasons. 

Giving thanks was a daily part of their lives.

Giovanni da Verrazano, the Italian explorer for whom our bridge is named noted that the Wampanoag were "very charitable towards their neighbors".

thesestonewalls.com

So here are the facts: the Wampanoag taught the Pilgrims to plant corn, and the corn saved the English that first winter because their European seeds didn’t thrive.


And while the Pilgrims did go “fowling” with muskets and brought home a few field birds for the feast, the Indians arrived with baskets of greens and squash and corn and five freshly killed deer, which were roasted.

sensualanimist.com

The Pilgrims did produce a very robust ale, made from the one successful English crop of barley. 

But the party didn’t last.

rustycans.com

Within a few years, by 1675, the Wampanoag were decimated by European diseases and defeated in War.

images.tribe.net/

Tuesday, November 25, 2014