Time to get real, people, and own up to Thanksgiving's dirty little secret.
That 20-pound bird you spend so much time fretting over and slave to get in the oven? Um, nobody loves it.
Your family might like it well enough to eat it at your holiday dinner, so long as there's a boat full of gravy within reaching distance or a big jar of mayo in the fridge for the next day's sandwiches.
Well, maybe not everyone hates it. There's always a weirdo or two at the table willing to eat anything simply because it's set in front of him.
But do your dinner guests love turkey in the same way they adore stuffing, which never makes it to leftover status? Does it rival Grandma's candied sweet potatoes? Elicit the same excitement as the homemade corn pudding, or green bean casserole with its irresistible crunchy French's fried onion topping?
Or are your dinner guests simply being polite about this turkey of an entree so that they won't feel guilty scarfing down the pumpkin pie served for dessert?
Turkey isn't necessarily hard to cook (just stuff, grease it up and roast it), but it does take a deft touch to assure the white and dark meat finish cooking at the same time. And what about the headaches that go with figuring out how to thaw the frozen bird?
This year, why not flout tradition and instead make your Thanksgiving centerpiece something your guests will really enjoy _ a fat, juicy chicken. It's just as impressive on a platter, and tasty, but takes a lot less time to make. Whereas turkey so often cooks up dry and flavorless, a good roast chicken will never let you down.
Spend extra money on a good-quality bird for the holiday.
How delicious can a good chicken be? Good enough to prompt an offer of marriage, if 2011's "100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know: Engagement Chicken and 99 Other Fabulous Dishes to Get You Everything You Want in Life" is to be believed.
This recipe from Kevin Dundon's "The Raglan Road Cookbook," which calls for cooking the bird with an initial blast of high heat, followed by roasting at a lower temperature, doesn't make such elaborate claims. But it could. Wonderfully aromatic and a breeze to prepare, the dish delivers everything you expected from a good roast chicken _ crispy skin, tender breast meat and dense, flavorful dark meat.
In short, it's glorious and a great way to kick off a new Thanksgiving tradition.
