By Tim A. Rutherford
Coastal Parent

Fresh from the fryer, this fried turkey is cooked to perfection. University of Georgia photo

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It is the month of the All-American meal - turkey, dressing, some kind of cranberry concoction and enough side dishes to feed a small army. And then there's dessert.

But Bubba's gonna take on two basics to add some flavor and variety to your holiday table - fried turkey and cornbread dressing.

I've fried a turkey or two with excellent results. In many ways, if you follow directions, it's a foolproof way to impress family and guests.

But I called in a hired gun, or hired fryer in this case, to share some expertise.

Jamie Carver is executive chef at Savannah's Johnny Harris restaurant - and he's fried turkeys, as well as geese, chickens and cornish hens, plenty of times. Carver learned to cook as a child and his life has been a genuine culinary journey.

He'll tell you that story if you ask him, but today, we wanna pick his brain about frying turkeys.

First, of course, get a turkey fryer. Discount stores have stacks of them, hardware stores sell 'em and I even saw some at a truckstop two weeks ago in east Tennessee.

While you're buying the fryer, buy enough oil to fry your bird. Carver says he prefers peanut oil.

See, he does have a streak of Georgian running through him.

"It's real important to get enough oil in the fryer," Carver says. "But not too much. It'll run over when you put the turkey in and cause quite a big fire."

OK, you've been warned.

Carver suggest wrapping your bird in two plastic trash bags, sealing the package really well, then putting it into the fryer. Fill the fryer with enough water to cover the bird. Remove your turkey and measure how much water it took to fill the fryer.

That's how much oil you'll need.

Why wrap the turkey in trash bags? Too keep it from getting really wet - water and hot oil don't mix as well as Chardonnay and turkey.

After you've filled the fryer with oil, unwrap the bird, pat it dry and, Carver says, spice it up.

"Cut some slits in its back and insert fresh rosemary, garlic cloves and rub the whole thing down, inside and out, with black pepper," Chef Jamie says.

"I like mine spicy, so I use an injector to add more flavor. Inject the mixture just under the skin all over the turkey," he explains.

The rest is the easy part.

After your oil is heated to 425o, lower the bird into the hot oil for about five minutes, Carver says that gives it the nice crispy skin that's the trademark of a well-fried turkey. Cook at 425o for five minutes, then lower the oil temperature to 375o-400o. Total cook time is three minutes per pound. You have a 14-pounder to feed those hungry in-laws? Then total cook time for your bird is 42 minutes.

Remove it from the oil and let it sit, draining, on a thick stack of newspaper for about 10 minutes. Do not cover it, Carver says, of that crispy skin you worked so hard to achieve, will go soggy.

Why fry at all?

The quick heat sears in juices and produces a crispy skin that turns a beautiful golden brown.

The social aspect is as important to the process as using enough oil. What a great time to swap stories, have a spot of holiday libation and gloat to the slow brother-in-law about your new-found turkey frying skills.

My brother-in-law fries turkey legs to carry on hunting trips. They are easily transportable, eat as good cold as hot and are filling.

Plus, it brings out the cave man in us when we're gnawing on one of those big old legs.

Now, on to the dressing.

I don't stuff turkeys, never have, probably never will. Maybe it's the horror stories of whole families being stricken with illness because the stuffing didn't cook through. Plus, I don't think I could pack enough stuffing into a bird to satisfy me or my guests.

Besides, Granny White cooked hers in a big old Pyrex casserole dish - if it was good enough for her, it's good enough for me.

As a youngster, I once noticed my grandmother's cornbread dressing sitting, waiting to go in the oven, and realized it would make excellent terrain for my little green soldiers.

I placed 'em around in a fine battle scene, then, being distracted, walked away. I came back, but they were gone - I assumed she had removed them. Later, at dinner, family members began pulling the little combatants out of their mouths. Seems they had sank into the dressing and been baked in - something I'm guessing Martha Stewart would have never considered "a good thing."

The best to you and yours this Thanksgiving season - may your journeys be safe and your holiday filled with happiness.

Want a sweet potato pie flavored with whiskey recipe? E-mail bubbaletseat@yahoo.com with "sweet potato" in the subject line.