classy but trashy

There is some debate as to by whom and under which circumstances the first T.V. dinner was invented. Some say the frozen turkey meal was retired Swanson executive Gerry Thomas’ solution to a stock freezer full of leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat. Others maintain that the concept of the T.V. Dinner was entirely the brain child of the Swanson Brothers themselves. Either way, “roasted carved turkey breast smothered in gravy with stuffing, whipped potatoes and a side of corn,” was indisputably the first frozen meal mass marketed to the television generation back in ’54. With that in mind, I introduce the first

Classhy Prince n’ Pauper T.V. Dinner:

 Lurkin' Turk’n

For the first part of my challenge, I popped the tray into the microwave and set the timer. As the smell of sodium rich, plastic wrapped food filled my studio, my friend Katie and I were both very curious to see what would emerge from the microwave after those 8 long minutes. Once the timer dinged and the cellophane was pulled back, I was confronted with this as my plating palette:

To start, I carefully separated the mashed potatoes from the mess of stuffing and gravy and then whipped them to a finer consistency. These I spread in a circle in the center of the plate. Next, I used one of my garnish cheats and sprinkled some lavender salt over the potatoes and rest of the plate. I then placed the two top pieces of gravy soaked sliced turkey on top of the potato circle. After fluffing up some of what most closely resembled stuffing, I piled it carefully on top of the turkey. For this particular plate I was definitely going for height, so atop the stuffing I piled micro greens as my last garnish cheat. I stirred up the syrupy sugary cranberry and apple concoction which I then smeared on either side of my turkey pile. To finish, a light dusting of corn kernels!

Katie cracked up when she saw the plate I had created. Of course that got me going and we giggled uncontrollably as we marveled at the ease with which that gnarly looking tray of mush had transformed into a very presentable composition. As our fit of laughter died down, I could tell we were both thinking the same thing… I grabbed two forks and we each created bites that were inclusive of all the dish’s elements. Our eyes met as we chewed. Katie swallowed and set her fork down. I pulled a piece of chewy gristly meat from my mouth. Turkey dinner went in the trash and I started to prep for the real cooking. Looks can be deceiving!