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Photograph by George Sakkestad

Thanks to dishes like tofurky, there's no reason why vegans should be left out of Thanksgiving dinners. Whole Foods in Los Gatos is one market that sells tofurky, which can be paired with side dishes such as vegan mashed potatoes, savory herb stuffing, Brussels sprouts with shallots and pecans and vegan mushroom gravy.

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is a day to feast, but not just on turkey

By Jennifer McBride

Thanksgiving is a centuries-old tradition in America. It's a time when loved ones gather around the dining room table to share in a delicious feast and express appreciation of all they are thankful for.

What sets the day apart, of course, is all of that great food--the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce and warm baked bread.

The tradition that started at the first Thanksgiving back in the 17th century still continues in millions of households across the country, but in some cases things have changed. At many dining room tables, the menu is not as traditional as it once was.

Turducken

It's hard to imagine any Thanksgiving table without a lot of meat on it. And out of New Orleans comes a meat-lover's Thanksgiving dream: Turducken.

Turducken is a combination of three different meats--turkey, duck and chicken. To make a turducken, a butcher will hollow out a turkey by removing the bones from everywhere except the legs and wings. Then, the turkey is stuffed with a duck, which is in turn stuffed with a chicken. In between each of the meats is a layer of stuffing. The end result is a three-meat concoction that is then sewn back up, tied around the legs and cooked much like a normal turkey.

John and Brian Chiala run Los Gatos Meats and Smokehouse on University Avenue, and father and son say turducken is fast becoming one of the most popular items they sell.

"We probably sell around 100 each year around Thanksgiving. Some people come from as far as the Brentwood and Sacramento areas," says John. "You can't stuff them more than a day or two ahead of time, so the last few days before Thanksgiving we're slammed. We've got five people here making turduckens non stop."

John says turduckens take about 12 to 13 hours to cook, and the average triple-bird can feed about 20 to 25 people.

"You don't cut it like you do a normal turkey, though," he says, explaining the process: First, cut horizontally in front of the legs and separate and remove that section; make two cuts--one horizontal and one vertical--to divide the rest of the bird into four relatively even cross-sections; from there, slice as usual. "That way, everyone gets a little bit of everything--turkey, duck and chicken," John says.

Although turducken is popular, every once in a while John runs into a customer that is afraid to try the duck. However, he says it's definitely worth it, and it's not as weird as some people fear.

"The duck is so good. It's doesn't come out strong-tasting," he says. "It really blends with the stuffing, everything."

Speaking of stuffing, Los Gatos Meats and Smokehouse is also known for its unique stuffing, to which the Chialas add their own smoked sausage, another of their top-selling products.

A full turducken from Los Gatos Meats and Smokehouse costs $110 and comes ready to cook--they de-bone it and stuff it for their customers, complete with the smoked sausage-rich stuffing, and then sew it back up. Customers loyal to their own recipe, and who aren't afraid to stuff their own bird, can buy a turducken in three pieces, already de-boned, and take it home to piece together and add their own stuffing. The cost is $75.

The Chialas say one of their favorite ways to cook normal turkey and turducken is to barbecue them. John likes the Traeger barbecue, which runs on wood pellets and has a temperature dial.

"When you cook it in a barbecue, it comes out so much more tender," John says.

At his home off Loma Alta Avenue in Los Gatos, John has even hooked up a unique gadget to his Traeger barbecue that signals him with a voice alarm when the bird is almost done cooking. Since turduckens take 12 to 13 hours, this makes it very convenient--he'll often put a turducken on the barbie at around 8 p.m., and wake up to a gorgeous, fully cooked masterpiece.

The Chialas have been operating their store in Los Gatos for 16 years, and last year opened a second location, Willow Glen Meats and Smokehouse.

Turkey substitutes

There's no reason why vegetarians can't enjoy a delicious, home cooked Thanksgiving dinner, too.

The vegetarian way of life is more prevalent in Los Gatos than many may think, which the staff of Whole Foods on Los Gatos Boulevard can attest to.

Whole Foods Market has a few different menu choices that will allow even the strictest vegan to join in on the Thanksgiving fun.

One of the most popular entrée choices is the tofurky, a meat-like loaf made from tofu.

Tofu is made from coagulating soymilk and then pressing the curds into blocks, much as cheese is made from milk. Tofu is known for being able to mimic the flavor of meat when cooked and seasoned with meat-like flavors.

Whole Foods in Los Gatos carries many meatless products.

A frozen tofurky needs only to be heated up for 30 to 45 minutes and then sliced and served. Its center is filled with whole wheat and brown rice stuffing, and the tofurky is seasoned with potatoes, carrots, onions, olive oil, ground sage and soy sauce to give it flavor.

"It may not be turkey, but it's got that carmely vegetable taste to it," explains Jimmy Monaco, associated prepared foods team leader for Whole Foods in the Bay Area.

Those looking to prepare a vegetarian Thanksgiving feast can purchase the tofurky separately and make their own side dishes, or they can purchase the "Tofurky Feast," which comes with the tofurky, eight cranberry-apple potato dumplings, a tofurky and mushroom gravy and "Tofurky Wishstix." Monaco says the company that makes tofurky recently added the wheat-soy jerky wishstix to the package because customers were remarking that they missed the meat-eater tradition of making a wish and pulling apart a turkey's wishbone.

Another similar product to tofurky, which Whole Foods Los Gatos carries, is the Unturkey, which Monaco says is also a wheat-soy combination product that is purposefully shaped to look more like a traditional turkey.

Whole Foods is introducing a brand- new vegan alternative for the first time this year, wild rice and cranberry-stuffed meatless turkey cutlets, made by Gardein.

The cutlets have a breaded outside and are stuffed with the wild rice and cranberry blend. Monaco and Windy Tomlinson, the prepared-foods team leader for the Los Gatos store, say the cutlets are winning rave reviews from customers so far.

"When we sampled it, everyone loved it, even the meat eaters," says Tomlinson.

Whole Foods Los Gatos offers the Gardein cutlets separately or as part of a fully prepared Thanksgiving menu, complete with side dishes such as vegetables, stuffed acorn squash, gravy, dinner rolls and pears. The menu serves up to four people for $59.99. Tomlinson says the Los Gatos store sells more than 200 of these fully prepared menus in the five days leading up to Thanksgiving alone.

Monaco and Tomlinson say meatless Thanksgiving alternatives are more popular than many may think--last year, more than 330 tofurkys and Tofurky Feasts were sold at the Los Gatos store during the month of November, and they expect the Gardein cutlets will eventually do just as well.

"I think it's something meat eaters can share with their vegan guests, without sacrificing the flavor and texture meat eaters are accustomed to," says Monaco.

Deep-fried turkey

Few can forget the insurance commercials that state the staggering statistics of how many homes burn down each Thanksgiving as folks attempt to deep-fry their own turkeys. However, Garrick Chang of Saratoga says it's not all that tricky--he's been doing it for three years, and his home is still standing.

"I really think [the secret] is just not frying it near anything that can burn. I do it out in front of my house on the concrete, at least 5 feet away from the house, so I'm sure nothing's going to catch fire," he says. "So that's the most important thing--just knowing what's around, because when you put the turkey in the fryer, you can spill some oil out of the pot. And if oil lands on something, well, it's roughly 350 degrees, so it could potentially set something on fire."

Chang says his sister gave him a deep fryer as a Christmas gift three years ago, and he's never looked back. Finding new foods to fry is almost like a game.

"I just like frying things," he says. "I've tried chicken--anything anyone asks me to, really. We did Twinkies one time, mashed potato balls. I'll throw anything in there."

Chang says when it comes to turkey, there's nothing better than deep-frying it.

"It's quicker. From start to finish, it takes maybe two hours," he explains, "and for taste, I think it's more moist. Everyone likes my deep-fried turkey."

Chang says a normal turkey from the store is sufficient.

"It's a little easier if it's fresh, because you don't have to defrost it," he says. "About 24 hours before I'm going to start, I inject this marinade into the turkey and prep it by getting everything out of it, like the gizzard and the neck. Then I rub it down with steak seasoning, put it in a bag and let it sit overnight."

The next day, he fires up the fryer and gets the oil up to around 350 degrees.

"I put the turkey in and check on the temperature from time to time, making sure it doesn't drop too far below 325," he says. All in all, it takes about three to four minutes per pound, Chang says.

"Then I just take it out, carve it and serve it," he says.

Whether it's the old, traditional menu, or some new-fangled concoction like turducken or tofurky, it's obvious that Thanksgiving is no longer just meat and potatoes.