Fry Me A River (Or A Turkey)

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday--I know I did! As a matter of fact, you'll be seeing how my southern fried holiday went in today's post. I promised you a deep fried turkey and here it is, step by step. I did not make the turkey myself, but in the Cuadra household, where I have been spending Thanksgiving for the last few years, the Mama of the house prepares it, the Papa fries it, and then Mama carves it (it's all a very diplomatic affair, excluding the tempura green bean debacle of '04). We have a very casual meal with a small group, and all of us pitch in by making at least one dish.

Deep fried turkey is a messy and potentially dangerous sport, so it should always be done with care and precaution, and--more importantly--in the outdoors. Because you'll be dunking a genuinely large piece of fowl into extremely hot oil, you don't want to go too crazy with your turkey rub or brine. Honestly, the simpler the better. Ours was just salt, pepper and garlic powder (fresh garlic would burn). It was particularly dark and cold out this year, but we can't really complain since last year it rained and the year before it snowed. Except for a few dastardly winds, it wasn't all that bad out for fried turkey this year. Here's a very dark photo of the turkey walking the plank:

Weather permitting, this preparation takes less than an hour, usually around 45 minutes. Although it involves keeping an eye out on the turkey during the entire cooking process and possibly burning your house down, deep frying the turkey can really save you a lot of time. While the rest of us made green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, stuffing, corn, cornbread, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes (I made those!) and gravy, Papa Cuadra quietly crept out, began heating the oil and made the turkey. This preparation is also a great way to get the men involved in your Thanksgiving meal prep if they usually prefer to sit it out. And without further ado, here is the finished product in all its succulent, crispy glory:

So that's it! It's not so scary, right? And believe me, that skin is crispier and surprisingly less greasy than that of any turkey you've ever had. And I'm not embarrassed to say that I ate the majority of that skin all on my own. And just to bring this whole entry around, here's a lovely shot of my plate by the end of the night:


That's about it for my Thanksgiving dinner. How did you spend yours? How did you make your turkey (or other main protein)? I hope it was as good as mine!

-Laura