A Poem for Turkey by Elizabeth Gravy Browning
Turkey, oh turkey - how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the very depth of your golden oven roasted skin, with carrots, turnip, potato, green peas, stuffing, all smothered in perfect lump-free gravy, with whole berry cranberry sauce on the side. I love thee simmering with vegetables and pearl barley in homade soup, warm and comforting.
I love thee on white or whole wheat bread, with mayonnaise and perhaps some leftover stuffing and cranberry sauce, as the perfect sandwich. I love thee as a hot sandwich, covered in rich, but low fat, gravy with homefries, made in my T-Fal Actifry, on the side.
But most of all, dear turkey, I love thee in my version of pot pie, mingled with carrots and cauliflower, snuggled in a celery/onion/thyme sauce, topped with a lattice of puff pastry, baked until golden brown.
How do I love thee turkey? More than mere words can say and in more ways than my culinary creativity can note in one simple ode. What other protein can produce a minimum of five meals from one simple deal, with every part being utilized, as our ancestors would have done, at a cost of approximately $15 for 12 pounds when on sale?
Turkey, oh turkey, you are low in fat and high in protein. You are an inexpensive source of iron, zinc, phosphorous, potassium and B vitamins. 100 grams of you, about the size of a new deck of cards, breast meat without the skin, is approximately 161 calories, 4 grams of fat and 30 grams of protein. Dark meat without the skin? 192 calories, 8 grams of fat and 28 grams of protein. (Source: USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory - Turkey/Young Hen). Given that teenage girls and women need about 46 grams of protein a day, and teenage boys and men need 52-56 grams of protein, two portions of you meets the daily protein needs for us all!
Turkey, oh turkey, you art more lovely and delicious every time our paths cross and I very much look forward to eating you again. My family and I have already enjoyed four different meals from you and I have saved the best for last. Tonight we dine on turkey pot pie, as I bid you farewell for now. Until we meet again, dear turkey, memories of you roasting in my oven, filling my home with the most wonderful aroma, shall linger.
(For my turkey pot pie recipe, click on 'Poultry' from the recipe section in the navigation bar. For my recipe for lump free, low fat gravy, click 'Everything Else' from the navigation bar).
