How to Carve a Turkey Without Cutting Off Your Fingers!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner (next Thursday). What better way to enjoy your feast than without any missing fingers?

The Food Education Project at Montefiore Medical Center held an hour-long workshop session today on how to carve a turkey the correct way. With a carving knife, a curved meat fork, a cutting board, a serving platter, and last but not least the turkey, Eduardo Perez from the Market Access Culinary Group demonstrated how to smoothly and safely carve your bird.

Here are his step-by-step instructions:
1. Choose a sharp, thin-bladed carving knife. Running your knife along the bottom of the turkey, find the place where the thighbones meet the body.
2. Slip your knife into the joint to separate thigh from body on each side.
3. Separate the drumstick from the thigh using the same technique (cut through the joint, not the bone, wiggling the drumstick to locate the joint).
4. Running your knife along the bone, separate the meat from the thigh and drumstick; try to get as much as possible in one piece.
5. Cut thigh and leg meat into thin slices.
6. Use your knife in the joint to separate wings from body on each side.
8. Carve thin slices off one side of the breast, cutting parallel.
9. Repeat with the other side of the breast

Perez gave the audience this recipe to a Peruvian quinoa salad to go alongside your turkey. Something to add to your Thanksgiving feast!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

2 cups Roland Red Quinoa, prewashed
2 cus Roland Artichoke Quarters
4 cups Hot Water
2 cups Roland Capers
1 cup Roasted Red Pepper, Sliced
0.5 cups Pland pitted Ripe Olives, Sliced
1 cup Roland Garbanzo Beans
0.25 cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped
0.5 Vinaigrette dressing

In a large saucepan bring hot water and quinoa to a boil. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and chill.

When quinoa is cool, add all remaining ingredients. Add dressing and toss until all ingredients are evenly distributed and well-coated.

Garnish with whole artichokes. Serve and enjoy!

Have a safe and fun Thanksgiving everyone.

Construction Workers Escape Accident with Minor Injuries

Two construction workers narrowly avoided death after a large panel of bricks unexpectedly ripped off the side of a Montefiore Medical Center research building earlier this morning, knocking them off their scaffolding rig.

Both workers were taken to the nearby emergency room, but they sustained only minor injuries.

After being knocked from their scaffolding rig, the workers were dangling by their safety harnesses 10 stories above ground for five or six minutes, witnesses said, as fellow construction workers reeled them back to safety.

Read the rest of the story here.

News Roundup for July 12

On the City Room blog yesterday, NYT reporter Jonathan Hicks looks at Joel Rivera and Ruben Diaz Jr., close friends who he says could become rivals if they both run for Bronx Borough President.

In other political gossip, the Politicker reports on Haile Rivera's dinner with Barack Obama. He was one of 4 small donors (Rivera gave $5) who were selected to have dinner with Obama in D.C. Rivera has said he's interested in running for City Council in district 14 (currently represented by Maria Baez).

The NY Sun reports that a civil rights organization is criticizing Mayor Bloomberg and schools chancellor Joel Klein for not taking a stance on the recent Supreme Court decision on school segregation.

And the Daily News's Bronx Boro section this week has 2 stories on Montefiore Medical Center, on its plan to buy Mercy Medical Center and on a $12 million gift to the Children's Hospital.

News Roundup for July 11

The New York Times reported on a plan to put up an office buildings on Fordham Road, a traditionally commercial strip, across from the Metro North station in the space where the Sears building is currently covered in scaffolding. We wrote a story on this exact subject in February. Unfortunately, the link isn't working, but believe us, we were all over this.

In today’s Daily News, it was reported that Montefiore Medical Center can now move ahead and buy Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center. The north Bronx hospital would be taking over Mercy as well as responsibility for its debt.

There was yet another power outage in the Bronx this morning, this time affecting East Tremont and Hunts Point areas. According to 1010Wins, 650 customers were still without power by 9.a.m, down from the 1,250 without power by 6 a.m. The cause is still unknown.

A NY1 article mentioned yesterday the city’s plan to build a 911 call center in the Bronx.

The area, however, has been recognized by the Office of Emergency Management as likely to flood in hurricanes, so there is a question of the location’s reliability in times of need.