Patient Wait Farms * Gail and Mike Cooley * Piedmont, SC * www.patientwait.com
Thank you for purchasing a Heritage Turkey from our family farm. As an AWI approved farm, we take
great pride in producing a healthy product with the utmost respect for the animal and environment. We
encourage you to visit our website and schedule a farm visit if you would like to see our sustainable
system first hand.
We would love to hear from you and get feedback regarding dinner guest comments and your opinion
regarding the taste and texture of our pasture-raised birds. Please let us know if you would like to
reserve a bird for 2010 and take advantage of our “repeat customer” special. Below you will find some
helpful hints and a special recipe for Heritage Turkey, compliments of www.LocalHarvest.org
Heritage Turkeys
Making A Comeback: Heritage Breeds:
Before supermarkets and distributors made the Broad Breasted White turkey the dominant bird on the market
and the turkey most Americans are familiar with, diverse breeds such as the Narragansett and Jersey Buffs
offered families a turkey with greater flavor and texture. Now such turkeys, known as Heritage Breeds or
"standard" turkeys are making a move to be on your table this Thanksgiving.
Prized for their rich flavor and beautiful plumage, Heritage Turkeys are the ancestors of the common Broadbreasted White industrial breed of turkey that comprises 99.99% of the supermarket turkeys sold today. But
the Heritage Breeds still exist and are making a comeback. Most breeds of heritage turkey were developed in
the United States and Europe over hundreds of years, and were identified in the American Poultry
Association's turkey Standard of Perfection of 1874. These breeds include the Standard BronzeBourbon Red,
Jersey Buff, Slate, Black Spanish, Narragansett and White Holland."
With rich tasting meats more moist and flavorful than the mass produced large-breasted turkeys of today,
Heritage Breeds owe their taste to diverse diets and extended life-spans. Dining on fresh grass and insects,
these birds exercise and even help control farmer's pest problems. And while large corporations have
dominated turkey production and breeding since the 1960's, choosing the Broad Breasted Whites because of
high breast meat production in a short period, Heritage Breeds have been quietly gaining a renewed market
and respect due to their flavor and superior biological diversity.
Raising Heritage Breeds is more costly and time consuming than raising White Breasted Toms. While
supermarket turkeys grow to an average of 32 pounds over 18 weeks, Heritage birds take anywhere from 2430 to reach their market weight. But those who have tasted Heritage Breeds say the cost-and the wait-are well
worth it.
Recipe for Roasted Heritage Turkey
By Sandra Kay Miller
Besides the fact that most old fashion Heritage turkeys are also
raised the old fashioned way -- with plenty of grass and sunshine -they need to be cooked quite differently than their modern, factory-
A word about basting
farmed counterparts. This tried and true recipe (which serves 10-12
Quick roasting at high temperatures means the oven temperature
people) will make the best of your Heritage bird this year.
needs to be maintained and frequent basting defeats that
purpose. By adding butter under the skin, the bird is self-basted.
Ingredients:
Baste the bird when you remove the parchment tent. If there is not
- 15-pound fresh heritage turkey at room temperature
enough liquid for basting, add either more water or wine.
- Kosher or sea salt & fresh ground pepper
- 4 cups giblet broth (see recipe below)
- Rosemary Maple Butter (see recipe below)
Giblet Broth
- Oiled parchment paper
- 2 cups white wine (a deep, oaky chardonnay lends a wonder
taste)
Directions:
- 2 cups water
- Giblets & neck
1.
Rub turkey inside and out with salt and pepper.
2.
Loosen the skin around the breast with your fingers and
insert Rosemary Maple Butter between the meat and
the skin as well as on the inside of the bird's cavity.
- Bay leaf
Simmer everything in a small saucepan for 15 minutes. Discard
bay leaf and neck. Giblets can be discarded if they aren't your
type of thing or they can be finely chopped and added to the
3.
Set bird in deep roasting pan. Use a wire rack to lift the
broth.
bird off the bottom of the pan.
4.
Add the giblet broth to the bottom of the pan. Using a
sheet of oiled parchment paper, tent the roasting pan
with the oiled parchment paper. Any type of cooking oil
can be used. Brush it on both sides with a pastry brush.
The parchment paper is easily affixed to the roasting
Rosemary Maple Butter
- 1/2� pound butter
- 1/2� cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary
pan with a strip of foil on each end or you can use
clean, oiled wooden clothespins. Remove parchment
Bring butter to room temperature and whip all ingredients
paper and the last 30 minutes of cooking to develop a
together.
crispy, golden skin.
5.
Pre-heat oven to 425F-450F. Roast the bird until the
thigh temperature reaches 140F-150F. Let the bird rest
10-15 minutes before carving to let the juices settle.
Sandra Kay Miller raises pastured heritage turkeys on her farm in
Pennsylvania. She owned a catering business, a deli and was a
chef for a historic hot springs restaurant in southern California.
Sandra has contributed to several cookbooks and frequently wrote
for the Los Angeles Times Food Section. Her goal is to now raise
the quality of food she has had the fortunate opportunity to be
exposed to over the last 25 years. Sandra is listed at
LocalHarvest.org under Painted Hand Farm in Newburg, PA.