Turkey Recipes
Slice of Life By Eileen Goltz
We are, by turkey preference, a dark meat family. The legs and thighs are the first thing to be gobbled up (couldn't resist the pun) when the platter hits the table. Yes, the rest of the bird gets eaten but those of us that savor the moist, tender thigh and leg meat are always looking for more. In my quest to discover more about the bird of choice for Thanksgiving I discovered that the color of the turkey's meat is determined by whether the animal actually uses the muscle or not. White muscles are not used as much as the darker muscles. Turkey legs are dark because the animal uses them a great deal, while the wings of captive or commercially raised birds are not used. Wild turkeys are practically all dark meet.
White meat is generally preferred to dark meat in the United States. A turkey typically has about 65 to 70 percent white meat and 30 to 35 percent dark meat. The two types of meat differ nutritionally and texturally. White meat has fewer calories and less fat than dark meat. Dark meat has a richer flavor and adds a more robust flavor than white meat when used to make soups and stews.
As for the origin of the Thanksgiving feast, some historians believe that the first Thanksgiving dinner was served by the Pilgrims in 1621. Others credit the settlers of Virginia's Jamestown with celebrating the first Thanksgiving as their version of England's ancient Harvest Home Festival. Either way, we're all grateful for another day to celebrate how lucky we are to be together with family and friends (and the extra bonus of having a day or two off of work). The following recipes are all for dark meat and you can substitute chicken for the turkey. The work perfectly when the crowd you're serving will be small or you want to make something different to accompany the bird you've roasted for the rest of the clan. One final turkey note before I give you all the dark meat recipes I've collected. Did you know that hen turkeys make a clicking noise and only tom turkeys gobble? I'm sure there's a joke here somewhere but in honor of the holiday I'll refrain.