smoke that turkey

Seeing as it is Christmas Eve, I wanted to throw out a bit of Christmas cheer, and a little bit of time-saving advice for the holidays to come.

This Thanksgiving, we were invited to a friend's house where we experienced our first smoked turkey. If you have never had smoked turkey before, you are missing out. The meat (both dark and white) is tender and juicy, the flavor is delicious and it is so much easier than cooking your own. It actually has something of a ham-turkey crossbred flavor to it. On Thanksgiving, our friend's brother brought up a smoked turkey from a meat shop in Oklahoma.

Since we enjoyed it so much, we decided to reserve one from our local grocery store, which has its own smoke hut in the parking lot. Although the turkey didn't come pre-sliced like the one from Oklahoma, the taste was just as good. We simply threw it into the oven for a couple of hours at 325 degrees, to heat it through, and served it. We'll be eating leftovers tomorrow (and probably for the rest of the week). All in all, the cost wasn't too bad, either - just $1.99 per pound, which included the turkey and smoking service.

If you can find a grocer or local meat shop that offers this service during the holidays (or any time of the year, for that matter), I highly recommend it. Save yourself the trouble and try something new for your family and holiday guests. They won't be disappointed.

Happy Holidays!