Over the last few months I’ve been sampling some of the Medium Rare fare I don’t usually pay much attention to. Namely, the turkey stuff. I’ve always thought of turkey as that thing you have once a year (and then live off the leftovers for the next week) and never think about until it’s turkey time again. The good folks at Medium Rare, however, have other plans for the narcolepsy-inducing bird.

TURKEY CHILLI

When you’re young all you want is find stuff to do on the weekends, somewhere to go. When you’re…ahem…my age, all you want is for everyone to go away and leave you alone at home so you don’t have to go anywhere, do anything, or see anyone. Well, I got my wish and my wife and daughter went out for the evening and left me alone at home.

Heaven!

My first thought was what the heck am I going to have for dinner? As it was snowy and cold that day what I really wanted was something warming and comfortable. Hunting through the fridge—and realizing we hadn’t shopped in a while—I found a jar of turkey chilli. What followed was a flashback to my youth when my Mom would make chilli in a huge cast-iron pot on the woodstove. Yeah, I grew up on a farm in the boonies and snowshoed the half-mile driveway each day to catch the school bus. Anyway, I remembered eating chilli with a several slices of toasted and buttered bread cut into inch-thick strips. I’d dip the toast strips into the chilli using it like a spoon and probably devour half a loaf of bread in the time it took to finish a bowl of chilli. We had some rye bread on hand and when toasted it made the perfect partner for this excellent chilli. If the label hadn’t said Turkey Chilli, I probably wouldn’t have know.

My second thought, was what shall I have to drink while I watch the kind of loud explodey movies that put my wife to sleep? Now this has nothing to do with Medium Rare or meat, but if you like whiskey, this combination is absolutely amazing and not to be missed.

TURKEY PIES

Medium Rare carries two turkey pies and they’re very different from each other. The first, the Turkey Pot Pie is a classic pot pie. Loaded with chunks of shredded turkey, peas, and carrots, it’s a delicious and hearty meal. The second, the Savoury Turkey Pie, is jammed full of ground turkey and a similar mixture of veggies, but comes with a surprising heat. I’m torn as to which I prefer, but the spice and zing of the savoury pie made it a winner for me.

TURKEY LASAGNA AND CANNELLONI

The final sampling of all this turkey madness was the Turkey Lasagna. I had a play-date planned with a friend (our daughters are the same age) and brought along the lasagna to feed the kids for lunch. What a hit! The little {CENSORED} devoured it in moments and demanded seconds! I managed to get a single fork-full and once again was surprised at how good it was. The pasta was excellent, and the turkey a surprisingly good match.