Smoked Turkey for Thanksgiving

I found out almost a year ago that Patak Meats, that palace of smoked meats in Austell, smokes turkeys for Thanksgiving. I inquired and learned that I needed to reserve a turkey a month in advance. I bided my time until October, when I ordered my turkey. After all that anticipation, I picked it up a week before Thanksgiving, along with a supply of other meats: smoked sausages, unsmoked sausages, pastrami, and some of their wonderful bacon.

For Thanksgiving, I decided to steam my turkey to keep it moist. I used the large pot I bought for corn on the cob---the basket made a perfect receptacle for steaming something as big as a turkey. The turkey was outstanding. The smoking is very subtle. You don't get a blast of burnt wood flavor but the smoking gives the turkey a meatier taste. And smoking certainly didn't make the turkey any less moist---it was perfect.

I made the bones into a turkey stock. Tonight, I used some of the leftover turkey and some of the stock to make a turkey pot pie. If anything, the smoked turkey with the vegetables and rich gravy was even better than the turkey itself.

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Eating Around Georgia Tech: Ecco

Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course)

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Cava is a DC area chain with light Mediterranean food. Saibal encouraged me to try lunch at their airport location and I was very happy with the experience. I ordered falafel on SuperSalad with assorted other toppings. The falafel was tasty. The SuperSalad was light, flavorful, and very easy to eat. Overall, a healthy and enjoyable lunch, something you can't always say about airport eating.

Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

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