2011 Thanksgiving Turkey Wings

This Thanksgiving I'm on my own, away from family and friends, doing work and chilling out. And that`s OK because I`m not a huge lover of turkey etc anymore. But around lunch time I thought about doing something wing related, and something T-Day related. I thought, why not make turkey wings?

So I marched down to St Lawrence Market (which was easy because it was simply beautiful out) and toured the stands for turkey wings. Witteveens (witteveens.com) was one of the few stands that did (there were lots of turkeys for sale everywhere though!). I asked for one turkey wing, and the young guy at the counter looked at me like "seriously?". I confirmed just one. One turkey wing was just under a pound. Crazy.

That is a monster wing. Seriously, look how big it is. That's a big wing.

Here's what I did with the turkey wing:

1. Put the wing in a brine: vinegar, water, pepper, spice mix. - it was in for about an hour.
2. After drying the wings, I rubbed them down with garlic powder, pepper, salt, Hungarian Paprika, and a small vial of spice I made for some unknown rub.
3. Bake the wings at about 400. 20 minutes, then flip and bake for another 20 minutes.

After that, I basted the wings in a hot/bbq sauce mix I made, flipping 2 or 3 times every 5 minutes.

With my wings I needed to have something. A vegetables. I walked around the market, looking at all the vegetables. I don't like a lot of vegetables. I was like "I know I won't eat this or that." Then I saw this green cauliflower. I thought, that looks funky, and maybe I can do something with this.

Here's what I did with the cauliflower:

1. Chopped up into florettes, boil for about 5-10 minutes, then drained them.
2. Dusted with flour, seasoned with Cajun seasoning and Hungarian Paprika.
3. Toss.

While the Turkey was in the oven at 400 degrees, I popped these in for about 20 minutes. I love the colours!

To go with the cauliflower I whipped up a quick dip: a little sour cream, cream cheese, mayo and dill popcorn seasoning.

While at the market I walked by the cheese mongers and saw "Red Hot Chili Cheddar Cheese" and "Smoked Gouda with Pepper." I kind of feel bad about how much I spent on these cheeses, because I feel that's decadently expensive. But I'm weak.

I also went over to a chain grocery store and picked up some stuffing. Yes, Stove Top. No matter how 'good' you say homemade stuffing is good, I've yet to try one that I would take over Stove Top. I'm a foodie, but not a gourmand foodie.

Oh, and they had Egg Nog. In early October. Egg Nog. Normally I hate X-mas stuff that is out this time of year, but for Egg Nog, I will make an exception.

And then I brought it all together for a nice little Thanksgiving for one.

I just had the wingette of the turkey wing. It turned out really well. Visually anyway.

Actually taste too. The skin was nice and crispy. I could have just eaten the skin.

 The meat was relatively tender - more than I expected but less than I would prefer. The brine helped for sure.

The best part was dipping the turkey. It was simple, margarine, vinegar, sriracha, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce. Sweet with a little heat.

The cauliflower was actually good. I mean, for someone who hates veggies, this was something I would have in the future. The dip also made an excellent accompaniment. Creamy and dilly. I want to make this dish again, and I might consider frying them to make it crispier.

The cheese was good. The Gouda was smokey. The cheddar spicy. And no, I didn't eat that entire mound.

And the stuffing was good too. I went with "Cornbread" because I had never seen that variety. And it had a hint of cornbread flavour, but not so much that it overpowered the stuffing taste. I made it a little too moist, but it was good. I love stuffing.

Overall, very good meal, complete with leftovers. I am both stuffed and satisfied.

I am thankful for family
I am thankful for friends
I am thankful for my job and my coworkers
I am thankful for my health
I am thankful for chicken wings
I am thankful for the wing nation and for those of you that read the blog.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!