If you’re thinking of cooking a turkey for the first time this weekend, take my advice and don’t do it.
Oh, it’s not that I don’t get sentimental every decade or so and make the great holiday meal for families and friends. But I forget the hours of trussing and stuffing and basting and carving and making gravy with the giblets before turning the leftovers into sandwiches and the carcass into tetrazzini that make me swear to never do it again. By the time that damned Butterball’s ready, you’ll be sick of it, too.
The easiest way I’ve found to enjoy the holidays is to let someone else do all the work.
Edward Levesque’s Kitchen and its namesake.
Over in Leslieville, that nice Edward Levesque (1290 Queen E, at Hastings, 416-465-3600) is offering a full Thanksgiving feast with multiple options – starters like Muscat-poached pears and Danish blue cheese with wildflower honey over endive, sides like sweet potatoes with pecans or spicy sausage brioche stuffing, pumpkin pie with maple syrup reduction for dessert – for $38 a head. Two seatings, Sunday and Monday night, reservations only. Singles welcome!
Up on the Danforth, the Globe (124 Danforth, at Broadview, 416-466-2000) gives the season some needed glitz with its Saturday and Sunday evening-only Thanksgiving prix fixe. $35 gets you three courses including squash soup, pumpkin pie and turkey with all the trimmings. Reservations recommended.
If those two are a bit out of your price range, you can always get an in-house roasted turkey sandwich on white bread with fries ‘n’ gravy and a whack of frozen peas for all of $3.75 (tax inclusive!) at Gale’s Snack Bar (539 Eastern, at Carlaw) every day of the year except Sundays and holidays like Thanksgiving.
Herbivores won’t suffer any holiday anxiety at Green Earth (385 Broadview, at Gerrard, 416-778-9199) where $17.95 them a $17.95 all-vegetarian spread of faux turkey with cranberry sauce, veggie “ham,” mashed potatoes with gravy, autumnal veggies, chocolate pumpkin cheesecake and apple cider.
The DIY set will want to head to Ying Yang Soy (93 Front E, at Jarvis, 905-847-5592) in the lower level of St. Lawrence Market South for tofurkey. You’ll also find the Ying Yang folks at the Green Barn farmers’ market (barn #5, 601 Christie, at Benson, 416-651-7867) in the Artscape Wychwood project just south of St. Clair on Saturday from 8 am to 1 pm.
Those who insist on cooking a real turkey themselves shouldn’t bother heading to The Healthy Butcher or Cumbrae for a premium bird. Theirs had to pre-ordered weeks ago. But you can still pick up utility grade turkeys missing the odd wing for 99 cents a pound at No Frills through the weekend. ‘Course you’ll need to get the thing into a bathtub full of cold water sharpish if you expect it to be ready to cook for dinner by Thanksgiving Monday.
And anyone looking for turducken – that weird Cajun dish that finds a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey – will have to wait until American Thanksgiving (Thursday November 26th) to buy it at Southern Accent (595 Markham, at Bloor, 416-536-3211) for 25 bucks a pop, or for $33 as part of a three-course prix fixe.[rssbreak]
