Towel-wrapped turkey

Noting that the turkey breast that our friend Lita was carving looked juicier and more tender than the usual, we asked what her secret was. Since she is not in the food business, she gladly shared her secret with us. And this we really need to do as well, since there is a whole turkey ready for roasting in our freezer.

After cleaning the turkey, season, set aside and prepare the stuffing as you pre-heat the oven to 375oF. At one time we shared our recipe for roast stuffed turkey, but you can use any preferred stuffing; this had the usual bread stuffing. Before putting the turkey in the oven, wet a white face towel without wringing it totally dry. Place the turkey on a slightly greased roasting pan then cover the breast with the wet towel. You must constantly check the towel during roasting; when it becomes dry, re-wet it. In the course of cooking, which can take up to four hours, depending on the size, prick the turkey when the legs start becoming brown. When no pinkish juice comes out, it is done. You might get scared putting a wet towel inside your oven, but Lita has done this many, many times and she has come out unscathed–and with the tenderest and juiciest roast turkey. Try this technique; we certainly will.

We did not realize that quite a few of our friends have gone into the food business, selling at weekend markets, taking orders for their respective specialties, even cooking and providing excellent professional service in private homes for casual or formal parties. One such lady is Evelyn, once a corporate lady. She has the best sauerkraut which she serves with her baked American leg of ham (P280 a kilo). She has yet to put a tag on the sauerkraut. The day we saw her at a weekend market, she made ham sandwiches (bun at P60 and pan de sal at P50) which went very fast. She also makes good lean roast pork, again a versatile item as this can also be a sandwich filling (P70). There is this other lady called Shami who sells her baby back barbecue flavored roast pork for P60 a slice of 100 gms. She offers two sauces, one rather spicy. As a take-home food for Saturday lunch or dinner, this is ideal.

Two other ladies who are starting to create a niche in food and beverages, although still on a small scale, are Mercy and Corinne. Mercy’s Sinaing products include the popular tulingan from Batangas, at P100 for a pack of 10. She is based in Las Piñas. Corinne Sonido, on the other hand, has a collection of juice drinks under the label Pick Fresh. Her main office is in Quezon City.

We take our hat off to these ladies, who are resourceful enough and willing to get their hands dirty to earn honest, precious additional bucks, using only their basic culinary know-how and some creativity.

On the second level of Shangri-La Plaza fronting Mercury Drug store is a Mrs. Field’s Cookies shop. Like many other bakery shops, this one now serves more than cookies, offering ice cream, called Super Precious, for P79 a scoop. They have Cappuchill, either caramel or mocha, at P120 and milk shakes for P150. You can get an ice cream fizz for P100 or make your own sundae, single at P100 and double at P170. The parfait is priced at P175. That day we ordered a specially big chocolate chip cookie with white chocolate and macademia nuts. Sad to say, inspite of having kept the left over in the refrigerator, it went rancid. This must have been one of those "lemons", so to speak.

Our market research brought us to two wet markets. In one of them, red, big, firm tomatoes cost P8 a kilo while in the second the price was P20 a kilo. Saba bananas, the cheapest dessert you can make (fried) go for P2 each while avocados are sold at P60 a kilo. Buy the ones that are tender to the touch; they’re usually sweet and soft. The price of pork varies from place to place, from P130 to P140. Eggplants go between P29 to P37 a kilo.

Bring a list of what you need to buy to the market, lest you go over budget.