I find it hilarious that I of all people came up with the plan to cook Turkey for Shabbos dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I like turkey (I did not say love), but I was craving something else when all everyone was talking about and cooking was bloody turkey since it being Thanksgiving. Here in South Africa, I do not recall ever celebrating Thanksgiving, it’s not a traditional holiday for us. The only time we might of attempted cooking Turkey for any occasion, was for Christmas, however if I remember correctly, my mother only attempted this once in her life.
I cannot say that it is something I have ever craved, and since it is not the easiest to cook , in my opinion, to hopefully enjoy somewhat moist turkey meat.
There is not a chance I would come home with a whole turkey either, unless I wanted to eat turkey everyday for the next month by making every variation of the leftover turkey! Not really my thing... That is why I was happy to find a turkey drumstick, which I thought to be perfect for a meal for 2. My let me just put the record straight, I have never attempted to cook turkey, I also failed to see that it was a smoked turkey drumstick – not our favourite! But I was going to make the best out of it.
I figured that turkey cannot be that different from cooking a regular bird, since it being a drumstick only and not the entire bird I decided to have it in the oven for approximately 1 hour and a bit and wish for the best. Well I was lucky this time! Although I need to find a full proof method next time!
I added a few halved baby potatoes with the drumstick to the roasting dish.
For the sides, Mediterranean roasting vegetables, Ptitim, and some of the usual salads. For those not sure what I am talking about, here is how Wikipedia describes it: Ptitim (Hebrew: פתיתים) is an Israeli toasted pasta shaped like rice or little balls. Outside of Israel it is known as Israeli couscous or Jerusalem couscous.
We are very lucky to get our Ptitim from Efi’s parents in Israel, who sends us a couple of boxes of Isreali foods ever few months which e are unable to find in South African! I remember when we got our first pack of Ptitim, I found it to be the strangest thing ever, however I came to love it very quickly. I even tried the other evening, a Asian style fried Ptitim, similar to fried rice with the egg too! And it can be prepared the same as you would prepare fried rice! It turned out to be great and something different.
My Shabbos dinner was a success, although I am going to admit that any kind of meat smoked is not really my thing. I find it made the turkey very rich and I could only eat a very little piece and it was more than enough for me. So next time, I am going to exam the fridges more carefully to ensure I do not pick up a smoked piece of meat again!
Good Shabbos and Shabat Shalom al’!
Sasha’s Ptitim
1 onion chopped, 2 cups of Ptitim, Tblsp olive oil, 1 carrot peeled and chopped, 2 cups chicken soup.
Fry the onion gently before adding the Ptitim.
Stir around for approximately 2 minutes before adding the chicken soup and carrots and let it simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. All done!
You can put whatever vegetables by the way. I enjoy it a lot with peas too, but really it's your choice.
Enjoy!
