How to cook a heritage bird this Thanksgiving

Editor’s note: All 200 heritage breed turkeys raised by local 4H kids and sold via Slow Food Russian River have been sold. Victorian Farmstead Meats still has about 60 heritage breed birds, available for $9.75 a pound. The Sebastopol-based business also has a number of white broad-breasted turkeys, raised organically in Petaluma. To reserve yours, visit vicfarmmeats.com or call owner Adam Parks at 707-332-4605.

Some people start hanging Halloween decorations in late August. A woman I know put up her Christmas tree several weeks ago. And I recently received an email announcing that because we’ve all finished our 2021 holiday shopping, we can start thinking ahead to Christmas 2022.

Then there’s the rest of us.

If you are finding it challenging to focus on the upcoming winter holidays, there is a great opportunity to get started this Saturday at the Santa Rosa Community Farmers Market. The market takes place in the Farmers Lane Plaza at 1501 Farmers Lane from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This Saturday, Slow Food Russian River will join the market, with live heritage breed turkeys and the 4-H kids who have raised them. You’ll be able to learn all you want to know about these beautiful, colorful birds.

Also, you’ll be able to reserve a turkey for your Thanksgiving table and enjoy, on the spot, a turkey sandwich. The Green Grocer is making the sandwiches gratis, so that funds from their sale can go to the project.

If you can’t attend but are interested in a turkey, reserve one online, at slowfoodrr.org/projects/heritage-turkeys.

The Heritage Turkey Project is now in its 16th year, running long enough now that an increasing number of turkeys are from local breeding pairs. This year, 16 young people are raising 200 turkeys. The kids raise the birds at home and take full responsibility for their care and feeding. It gives us a chance to enjoy breeds that have almost vanished, and it also fosters in young people the skills and values needed for sustainable farming and conscientious animal husbandry.

When it comes to how to cook a heritage-breed bird, opinions differ. Some professional chefs insist that even a heritage turkey should be brined. Others, including people who raise these birds, think brining is unnecessary and potentially harmful, as these breeds are naturally succulent, so why alter their flavor?

Brining came about because the ubiquitous American turkeys, bred to have enormous breasts, are bland and typically dry when cooked. Brining them helps, but it is not necessary for a heritage bird.

Cooked properly (see recipe below), a heritage turkey is at its best when it is as close to natural as possible. Maple syrup glaze, brown sugar brine, plunging the turkey into a vat of boiling oil: none of this improves the natural goodness of heritage turkeys. Save your creativity for side dishes.

This farmers market offers more than live gobblers, of course. Santa Rosa Seafood attends, as do Achadinha Cheese Co., Bud’s Meats and Silver Sky Ranch, which raises eggs, chicken, lamb and beef, plus many produce vendors. If you haven’t tried Achadinha’s outstanding butter yet, here’s a great opportunity.

Heritage turkey, like grass-fed beef, is best cooked quickly over high heat.

The most efficient method is to spatchcock the turkey, which is the technique that flattens the turkey by removing its backbone and breaking its breastbone. You’ll need good poultry shears or kitchen shears. If you are a visual learner, check out a video or two on Youtube; “How to Spatchcock a Turkey” from Serious Eats demonstrates the technique efficiently. If you want to prepare your turkey this way but are a tad nervous about it, you can practice by preparing a chicken in the same way.

Roasted Spatchcocked Turkey

Serves 6 to 10

1 small (8 - 11 pounds) heritage-breed turkey, preferably with innards, feet, neck and head

Kosher salt

Black pepper in a mill

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 or 4 garlic cloves

2 or 3 thyme sprigs

2 or 3 Italian parsley sprigs

2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Begin your preparations about three hours before serving the turkey.

Remove the turkey from the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Have a deep roasting pan with a rack at the ready.

Set the turkey, breast side down, on a clean work surface. Use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone, cutting fairly close to the bone at the thinnest part, which you’ll be able to identify with your fingers. Cut on both sides of the bone and then twist it away from the rest of the carcass.

Turn over the turkey, spreading it open with legs pointed out as you turn it. Use the heel of your hand to press firmly on the breast bone until you hear it crack; press another time or two to flatten the bird. Season it all over with salt and pepper.

Spread the vegetables and herbs over the bottom of the roasting pan, season lightly with salt and pepper and add a cup of water. Set the rack on top and set the turkey, skin side up, on the rack.

Put the backbone, innards, neck and, if you have them, the feet and head on a sheet pan and season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the oven racks to accommodate both pans and set them in the oven. Roast the innards for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and transfer to a medium saucepan. Add any pan drippings and enough water to cover everything. Set over high heat, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently.

After the turkey has been cooking for 50 minutes, use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the breast and the thigh meat. Continue cooking until the breast is between 140 and 145 degrees and the thigh is between 155 and 165 degrees. It will take between 60 and 90 minutes total.

Transfer the turkey to a platter and cover it with a double sheet of aluminum foil.

Strain the juices left in the pan (the stock) into a clean saucepan.

Transfer the roasting pan to a medium burner, add about 3 cups water and gently simmer, scraping the pan, and stirring gently a time or do. When the liquid has reduced by half to two-thirds, strain the stock in the saucepan together with the innards stock in the roasting pan. Simmer until about 1 ½ cups remain.

Meanwhile, use a fork to mix together the butter and flour until smooth. When the stock is reduced, add the butter mixture, a dollop at a time, and whisk thoroughly before adding more. Adjust the heat as necessary so it simmers very gently. Remove from the heat, taste, correct for salt and pepper and pour into a gravy boat or small pitcher.

Slice the turkey, arrange on a platter and serve with the gravy and other accompaniments alongside.

Variation: You can make the stock from the innards, etc., before cooking the bird, if you like. This is especially effective if you want to make dressing, which always tastes best with good turkey stock. I make the stock a day in advance, prepare my sourdough dressing and put it in the oven at the same time I put in the turkey.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date. Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com.