Kosher Crockpot Turkey

Oh, yes. There's a chill in the air and a new Bon Appetit in my mailbox. It must be Christmas. Wait, no, that's not until after Halloween, right? I'm so confused. My local Walgreens has a display with a cheerful green faced witch sitting on Santa's lap.

But here at home, I can dwell on the best fall Holiday of them all - a secular one shared by all Americans (even if I see gobbler turkeys decorated with skull necklaces next to a bed of mistletoe). It's finally time for Thanksgiving.

I literally can't get enough of those seasonal foods - and not just because most of them are delightfully parve. Thanksgiving isn't just a one day event for me. It' s more like eight weeks of hearty fare indigenous to our continent. Try to imagine a world without potatoes, tomatoes, corn, pumpkin or turkey. Okay, you can stop now. If you think about it too long, you'll get the shakes.

I let my Mother-in-law handle the dramatic Presentation Turkey for Thanksgiving itself. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking you must spend ten hours carefully crafting a hand basted golden brown bird every time you want a little turkey. No, no, no. In fact, as long as you don't mind a little judicious slicing before you bring it to the table, no one needs to know how easy this fall-off-the-bone moist turkey really was.

• 1 four to six pound bone-in turkey breast, thawed
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 head garlic (or 3 - 4 tbsp minced from a can)
• 1 tbsp basil
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup water

Make sure you remove any neck, giblets, gravy packets, or other extras that come with your turkey breast. You don't want a greasy surprise later. Now mix the garlic, basil, salt, and olive oil into a thick paste. Loosen the turkey skin and rub the paste between the skin and the breast. Wipe any leftover on your fingers on the outside of the skin. Stuff one bay leaf on each side of the breast.

Roughly chop your onion and carrot. Honestly, if you don't plan on making any gravy or using the juices, you can skip this step. I think it makes the broth taste better. Put the turkey in the crockpot, stuff the chopped vegetables under the bone, and add the water.

Cook the turkey on low for 8 to 9 hours. I put it in before I go to work and come home to a great smelling dinner. The turkey will literally be falling off the bone at this point. Remove the largest chunks you can and let them cool before slicing. Add a couple tablespoons of the juices to keep it extra moist (or just bring a bowl of the drippings to the table and let people add their own.)

NOTE: If you can only get whole turkeys, this recipe works just as well. The only real problem is fitting the whole thing in your crockpot. If you have one of the huge ones, you're all set. If you have a normal sized crockpot, you can always chop off the legs (kids often enjoy helping with this part) and wings, save those for later, and throw the breast in a crockpot.

LAZY GRAVY: Add a cup of the cooked vegetables and two cups of the drippings/broth to a blender. You might want to add a few ice cubes first if your blender doesn't play nicely with hot liquids. Add in a teaspoon each of salt and fresh ground pepper, then blend until smooth. This will be a little thicker than broth, but not really as thick as gravy. If you'd like to thicken it up a little more, add 1 tsp of cornstarch to 1/2 cup cold water and blend until smooth. Once the cornstarch mix is smooth, add it to the gravy. Stir well and wait for it to cool a little more. That should give it some body.