A.T. Turkeys 2020
Field Trip Friday. September 25, 2020
Darrell and I made the 55 minute drive from Corti Brothers to PT Ranch just outside of the town of Ione, CA to have our first look at the flock of 6 week old A.T. Turkeys. This is the first time in 25 years that Corti Brothers will offer this very special turkey for Thanksgiving.
What is an A.T. Turkey you ask? You will find the answer in the link to our Fall Newsletter below. You can also see for yourself in the video below.
Molly Taylor graciously toured us around the property and filled us in on all that they do at PT Ranch.
After looking at the turkeys, Molly took us to see the hogs they raise.
Next up was a look at a few more ranch animals being tended there.
If you would like to learn more about PT Ranch, please visit their website below.
PT Ranch sells at the W X Street Certified Farmers' Market on Sundays. They
have frozen meat available.
Here are cooking instructions and serving suggestions for our A T Turkey.
This bird should be cooked simply roasted and not stuffed. It can be trussed or not. It can be seasoned inside with Vignalta Sale alle Erbe (Herbed Salt) and some aromatics: a peeled onion quartered, a stalk of celery, and some fresh rosemary and sage. The simpler, the better.
Your oven should be preheated to 425 degrees and the bird washed inside and out and thoroughly dried with paper towels. The bird should be at room temperature before cooking. This allows for faster heating of the bird.
This is a bird that was fed to be eaten either as a room temperature bird, or cold or luke warm, but not hot out of the oven. If you are dining in the evening, cooking it that morning should be fine. If dining mid-day, cooking earlier in the morning would be fine. Or it could be roasted the evening before and then cooled.
A suggestion would be to present the bird at table already carved. Thus it can be presented nicely without the hassle of carving at table. Also, a breast side could be removed, and the breast sliced across the grain not with the grain if the breast is carved on the bird. Both the leg and thigh can also be cut to present both white and dark meat. The thigh and leg can be cut parallel to the bone.
A pan gravy can be made with the pan drippings after removing some of the fat from pan. A couple of tablespoons of flour, added to the drippings and the roasting pan heated on a burner while scraping up the brown bits in the roasting pan, a half a cup of white wine or sherry added and left to evaporate, and then some hot stock added to this mixture and stirred to combine, will make a delicious gravy. Or the gravy could be made without the addition of flour, making a thinner, but also perfumed gravy.
If wanting stuffing, my suggestion would be to make your favorite stuffing and baking it separately from the turkey. You can take some of the roasting pan drippings, basting the stuffing with them for that roasted flavor. It can be put in the oven with the turkey or cooked at another time. Cover if the stuffing is getting too dry. Add warm stock or even hot water if getting too dry.
Wild Rice, especially Ball Club Chippawa, would be a delicious accompaniment. Roast potatoes, both white and sweet, are another option. These can all be cooked the day of Thanksgiving and your kitchen will make the entire house smell like the holiday. The A.T. turkey cooked beforehand is a portion of the meal already done and all you have to do is enjoy it.
Cooking wild rice, Ball Club wild rice is easily done. Since it has not been parched “black,” its color is a light gray tone, Simply wash the rice in a sieve in cold water. Drain. In a pot large enough to hold the wild rice, saute a small piece of finely cubed celery and one or two scallions or green onions, thinly sliced. Heat a bit of olive oil in the pot and add the finely diced/sliced veggies. Let soften and not brown. Add the washed wild rice and stir to coat with oil and veggies. Then add enough chicken stock to cover the rice by an inch. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover and let simmer until the rice is tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Check often. You do not want the rice over-cooked with its ends split. This is overcooked rice. It can be cooked until tender and then taken off the heat and let rest. It can then be reheated in a double boiler. It could also be done the day before and reheated.
Some approximate weight and time for roasting your turkey. If possible, roast your bird on a rack, breast side down. The fatty part of the turkey is its back and this way the bird is almost self basting. When the back is brown, turn over and let the breast brown. Cover if browning too quickly.
We strongly recommend using an instant read meat thermometer to check breast temperature. Start checking the temperature about 60 minutes before the time suggested in our chart below. Re-check every 15 minutes. Your turkey is done when the thigh and leg become soft to the touch and clear or lightly pink juice runs out when the thigh is pricked. The rate of cooking varies with the shape of the bird and/or the style of your oven.
Darrell Corti
Approx. Roasting time,
Pounds Oven Temp. Unstuffed Stuffed
Pre-heat oven to 425°
Then reduce to
8-10 325 1 ¼ to 2 hours Add 3-5 minutes
12 325 1 ½ to 2 ¼ hours per pound
14-20 325 2 ½ to 3 hours to roasting times
22 325 3 to 3 ½ hours
Click here for printable copy
