All Things Turkey!

[Aloros]

It''s my first year cooking a Thanksgiving dinner, and I''m so excited! I looooove food, and since my schedule has lightened up in the past year, I''ve been teaching myself to cook all sorts of thing. I have yet to cook a whole bird.

How are you all cooking your turkey? Do you make stuffing as well? What kind?

I''ve been looking up a lot of recipes, and they all sound so tasty. When do you pick up your turkey and is there a certain brand/type you find you like better?

Thanks!

 

[Mara]

I did our first turkey 2 years ago and now we do it every year for just ourselves, though my Mom still does hers for the bigger family party. I get a Diestel from Whole Foods. A 10 lber for us two mostly because we like the white meat vs the legs and dark meat and so we prefer a larger turkey so we get more breast meat. I brine it, so I pick it up on Tues afternoon and brine it for 20 hours and cook it Wed afternoon.

I found great recipes the first year from Williams Sonoma and also The Food Network website has great options as well. I tried out some of the simpler recipes for things like stuffing the first year, but then have been adding things to them and making them more tailored to our tastes since then, which is a lot of fun! My mashed potatoes are famous in our family but really they are quite simple! Each year I do a diff veggie dish or try to do something fairly new, or take an old fave and add something different. This year I am doing braised brussels with bacon. Previously I have done some amazing lemon glazed carrots..my sister wants me to make those again this year so maybe I'll do both.

The one thing I don't do as it's too time consuming and I am so picky is the gravy. I get it at Whole Foods because I like their pre-made gravy and they use fresh, healthier ingredients. Also I don't like cranberry sauce all that much but Greg does, so I tend to get him a premade one too. Though I found a great recipe on the Food Network where you make the cranberry sauce and infuse it with orange which looked tasty!

I'd keep it simple and make a few things and your turkey the first year. I love stuffing so I try to experiment and make it a little diff each year. I buy a bag of the bread and sometimes spices, and add to it. aka I get the Beckmanns butter and herbs package of bread from WF and it says just add onions and celery but I end up adding sausage, sage, apples, onions, celery. I do it to taste. This year I picked up a wild rice and shittake mushroom one as well that I am going to mix with the Beckmanns and just add sausage, onions, celery and maybe nix the sage and apples for this one. I don't cook my stuffing in the bird, I do more dressing which is where you cook it in the pan all together and then bake it for 45 minutes. WS has multiple recipes.

Cooking the turkey was not hard, I used a recipe from the Food Network the first year to just familiarize myself with the process...and it came out great! Def get a thermometer and the right pan and all that. You only have to get it once and then you can use it year after year! Have fun.

 

[FireGoddess]

I brine my turkey and wholeheartedly recommend it - the bird comes out much more juicy and not dry. I''ve been doing it for years. It seems freaky to submerge the bird in liquid that has so much salt in it, but it doesn''t make the bird salty. This year though, I want to try an alternative that''s supposed to do the same thing - which is flavor injecting. However I''m not making the bird for Thanksgiving this year! Maybe I''ll do a turkey for Christmas and try it then. I''ve also gotten great recipes from Food Network and Williams-Sonoma, though I tend to modify the ones from W-S cuz they''re clever in their marketing - all the recipes require you to buy an ingredient from them!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I do a traditional non brined non stuffed turkey that is nearly impossible to mess up. I usually use a 15lb or so bird and after rinsing and drying it, I rub a blend of butter, sage, salt, and pepper on the outisde and under the skin. Then I put quartered apples and onions inside the bird. I truss it up (tying the legs etc together) which allows everything to cook at a consistent pace. I bake it uncovered at 450 for the first 30 minutes and then I tent it and drop the heat to 350 for the remaining 2 hours. I baste it every 20-30 minutes or so using a blend of melted butter and hard apple cider. I remove the tent for the last 20-30 minutes or so if the bird isn''t nicely browned. The trick to my bird is to let it rest after roasting for 20 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to be absorbed into the meat. I remove the apples and onions from the cavity and throw them away.

The drippings from the pan go into a gravy separator which allows the oil from the turkey and butter to rise to the top and not go into the gravy. I usually do a cornstarch gravy so I take a tablespoonful or so of CS and whisk it with some cold chickenstock. I pour the good liquid from the separator back into the pan and then I add the cornstarch/stock to the pan and add more chicken stock if needed. Bring to a simmer and it''ll thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For stuffing I go basic. I buy artisan bread (think roasted garlic or rosemary) and I slice and dry it a few days in advance. On the day of I sautee some carrots, onions, and celery in butter and oil and then I add sage and parsley along with the bread. I add hot chicken stock slowly until the stuffing is at the texture I like. I also add 2 beaten eggs. I then bake this in a casserole dish or in muffin tins.

Good Luck!!!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Oh, I get a plain old ButterBall and I buy it at Shaws, Market Basket, Stop and Shop etc... I picked it up on Sunday (it was frozen) and I'm letting it thaw in the fridge until Thursday.

 

[Mara]

This link might be helpful! This is what I used my first year for cooking the turkey. Also I used this sage, apple, sausage stuffing recipe and adapted it. Recipes at the bottom of this page.

Starter Thanksgiving: Tips/Techniques:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_bw/episode/0,1976,FOOD_10227_27056,00.html

Also on the foodnetwork homepage they have a huge Thanskgiving banner, click and there are a ton of recipes for all diff types of things. Enjoy!

 

[asscherisme]

Good luck! I usually cook but this year we are going to some else''s house so I''m bringing some sides.

One piece advice:

Don''t make the same mistake I made my first year cooking a turkey. My first ever turkey I ruined because I forgot to take out the plastic bag of gizzards, neck etc.

AND if that was not bad enough, the second year I ruined the turkey again because I learned the hard way there are TWO bags. One on each end. At least with butterball turkeys.

LOL, a good lesson to learn and my husband and I laught about it every year.

So make sure to check everr orifice for plastic bags of yukky stuff

 

[ljmorgan]

I love making turkeys. The past few years I have made the same one, Maple Roasted Turkey with Sage Butter.

Fresh sage and butter and crushed together and rubbed liberally under the turkey skin. Then maple syrup, a bit of hot water, and butter are glazed over the turkey every 30 minutes throughout the roasting. The glaze gives it that gorgeous brown color, and a slightly sweet rich taste. And of course the sage butter is fabulous

 

[Ellen]

Date: 11/19/2007 3:03:19 PM
Author: asscherisme
Good luck! I usually cook but this year we are going to some else''s house so I''m bringing some sides.

One piece advice:

Don''t make the same mistake I made my first year cooking a turkey. My first ever turkey I ruined because I forgot to take out the plastic bag of gizzards, neck etc.

AND if that was not bad enough, the second year I ruined the turkey again because I learned the hard way there are TWO bags. One on each end. At least with butterball turkeys.

LOL, a good lesson to learn and my husband and I laught about it every year.

So make sure to check everr orifice for plastic bags of yukky stuff

My sister would love to hear this, as she did the exact same thing.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 11/19/2007 5:25:37 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 11/19/2007 3:03:19 PM
Author: asscherisme
Good luck! I usually cook but this year we are going to some else's house so I'm bringing some sides.

One piece advice:

Don't make the same mistake I made my first year cooking a turkey. My first ever turkey I ruined because I forgot to take out the plastic bag of gizzards, neck etc.

AND if that was not bad enough, the second year I ruined the turkey again because I learned the hard way there are TWO bags. One on each end. At least with butterball turkeys.

LOL, a good lesson to learn and my husband and I laught about it every year.

So make sure to check everr orifice for plastic bags of yukky stuff

My sister would love to hear this, as she did the exact same thing.

Gosh, the first time I made a turkey I almost left thoses bags in the turkey too. Hubby said wash the turkey and take the bags out. I was like "what bags?"

He said the ones in the bird. I pulled them out and thought that was my least favorite part. I asked him why do they put them in there and he said some people like to eat them.

 

[CdnBlingGal]

I just wanted to highly recommend a deep fried turkey! I use to prep my turkey with sage, rosemary, and thyme and smeared butter all over it and cook it. It sure made the kitchen smell delicious. Loved the aromas! But then I found this fryer. OMG! A fried turkey is to die for. Moist and juicy and best of all it takes less than an hour to cook a 14lb turkey.

 

[eks6426]

My husband likes to cook our turkey on his Weber Grill. It''s nothing like the deep fried version but still really moist inside. My mom says it is the ONLY turkey she wants to eat now. It imparts a nice flavor to it too. It also cooks really fast on the Weber...maybe 2 hours tops. I like it because it gets the turkey out of my oven so I can use it for other things.

Good luck with your turkey cooking.

 

[Aloros]

Thanks for all the tips! I''m picking my turkey up this afternoon. I''ll definitely try brining it, and I''m probably going to go the butter/sage/thyme route.

I found a delicious-sounding recipe for apple cranberry sausage stuffing, so we''ll see how that goes.

And I WILL remember to remove those bags! Hah! Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Ellen]

I was reminded of a couple things yesterday watching Sandra Lee on the Food Network.


1. Besides stuffing the cavity (and always stuff lightly, don't pack it in too hard, as it will expand), you can also stuff a small bit in the other end. It's not a must, but it fills the bird out nicely, instead of leaving a V shaped indentation in it. Besides, the stuffing in the bird is always best.

For any leftover stuffing you might have that gets cooked in the oven, I always add 1 beaten egg and a bit of chicken broth (actually, I use half water/half broth in my stuffing and gravy, gives better flavor) to help keep it moist.


2. I have found that when basting the bird, if you squirt the sides of the roaster all the way around, it helps the bird brown more evenly all over, especially the bottom half.


3. If you're making homemade gravy, besides using chicken stock, make giblet stock to use. Take the neck, gizzard, heart, rinse well, and put in med. sized pot with celery, onion and carrot. Add a bit of pepper, hold the salt til seasoning gravy. Cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 45 min. Take everything out. Then if you're really into it, you can take the meat off the neck and add back into the gravy.


HTH!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/21/2007 7:10:41 AM
Author: Ellen
I was reminded of a couple things yesterday watching Sandra Lee on the Food Network.


1. Besides stuffing the cavity (and always stuff lightly, don''t pack it in too hard, as it will expand), you can also stuff a small bit in the other end. It''s not a must, but it fills the bird out nicely, instead of leaving a V shaped indentation in it. Besides, the stuffing in the bird is always best.

For any leftover stuffing you might have that gets cooked in the oven, I always add 1 beaten egg and a bit of chicken broth (actually, I use half water/half broth in my stuffing and gravy, gives better flavor) to help keep it moist.


2. I have found that when basting the bird, if you squirt the sides of the roaster all the way around, it helps the bird brown more evenly all over, especially the bottom half.


3. If you''re making homemade gravy, besides using chicken stock, make giblet stock to use. Take the neck, gizzard, heart, rinse well, and put in med. sized pot with celery, onion and carrot. Add a bit of pepper, hold the salt til seasoning gravy. Cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 45 min. Take everything out. Then if you''re really into it, you can take the meat off the neck and add back into the gravy.


HTH!

I make my giblet stock for the gravy in the exact same way!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 11/21/2007 7:29:32 AM
Author: Lorelei

I make my giblet stock for the gravy in the exact same way!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/21/2007 7:38:01 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 11/21/2007 7:29:32 AM
Author: Lorelei

I make my giblet stock for the gravy in the exact same way!

Had''st thou been saving thy high 5 emoties????

 

[Ellen]

Date: 11/21/2007 7:51:00 AM
Author: Lorelei

Had''st thou been saving thy high 5 emoties????

Not on purpose! I keep finding ones I didn''t put in the main thread. I don''t know how I missed them.

I''ll add them to it, along with some others I just "borrowed". Got a couple xmas ones too.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/21/2007 8:05:20 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 11/21/2007 7:51:00 AM
Author: Lorelei

Had''st thou been saving thy high 5 emoties????

Not on purpose! I keep finding ones I didn''t put in the main thread. I don''t know how I missed them.

I''ll add them to it, along with some others I just ''borrowed''. Got a couple xmas ones too.

Goody gum drops!

 

[lyra]

Date: 11/19/2007 3:03:19 PM
Author: asscherisme
Good luck! I usually cook but this year we are going to some else''s house so I''m bringing some sides.

One piece advice:

Don''t make the same mistake I made my first year cooking a turkey. My first ever turkey I ruined because I forgot to take out the plastic bag of gizzards, neck etc.

AND if that was not bad enough, the second year I ruined the turkey again because I learned the hard way there are TWO bags. One on each end. At least with butterball turkeys.

LOL, a good lesson to learn and my husband and I laught about it every year.

So make sure to check everr orifice for plastic bags of yukky stuff

Why I do declare, those are called giblets, and that''s what we make our famous gravy from. Might sound icky to the novice chefs, but they do make the most wonderfully tasteful gravy. We are known for our gravy, although it is quite a process to make.

We also serve a wild rice casserole which is a recipe from my side of the family. Finding good wild rice is a problem. We make our own cranberry sauce, it is ridiculously easy.

For a smaller turkey, to keep it moist, we will cook it upside down, that is breast side down in the pan. Sigh. Our Thanksgiving was last month though.

 

[Aloros]

You guys are awesome! I''ll try that giblet gravy, too.

I actually had a nightmare last night that when I unwrapped the turkey and took the giblets out, it was tiny - smaller than a chicken. And then, of course, two other people invited themselves over for Thanksgiving dinner! Horror of horrors!

Quick question: Is the liver included in those cavity bags?

 

[lyra]

Yes, the liver is included. Turkey pate?

 

[Aloros]

It''s one of the ingredients for the stuffing I''m making. Yay! Thank you!

 

[Ellen]

Aloros, I forgot to mention the liver and cooking. Just drop it in the giblet water 10 min. before they''re done, they don''t take long.

 

[Aloros]

Ellen, THANK YOU! I will be sure to do that!

 

[brgirl]

I know I''m a little late, but I have made the turkey for three years now, and I use a paper bag recipe from a morning DJ in the Dallas/Fort Worth area named Kidd Kraddick...the turkey is so moist and this is is SO easy to do! Here is the recipe from the website: (kiddlive.com)

No, this turkey recipe won''t burn your house down because you''re using a brown paper bag...but it will taste great!
First, take everything out of the inside of the turkey. There will be a giblet bag and some other stuff. You don''t want to leave that in there.
Next, add vegetables to the inside of the turkey. This is easy because the veggies are just for flavor...you''re going to throw them away later.

You don''t even have to peel anything. Take an onion and cut it into quarters. Roughly chop a nice long carrot. Do the same to a couple of stalks of celery. Add several cloves of garlic that you mash between a broad kitchen knife and the counter. Throw it all inside the turkey.

Then rub the turkey all over with olive oil. . . not butter because butter usually has salt in it and that will dry out the turkey. Salt is the enemy of a moist turkey! Make sure the whole bird is covered!

Put the turkey in a roasting pan and cover it with a large brown paper bag.

Staple shut. If you have a huge turkey, use two bags, sliding one end of the turkey into one bag and the other end of the turkey into the second bag. It won''t stick to the bird because of the olive oil. Sprinkle the bag all over with water. Place into pre-heated 375 F oven, ON THE MIDDLE RACK.

The bag won''t burn because paper burns at 451 and we''re at 375 degrees. The advantage of the brown paper bag over the Reynolds''s cooking bag is that the paper breathes so the turkey roasts. In the Reynolds bag the turkey steams, giving it a different taste. Also the brown paper bag retains the same advantage of the plastic cooking bag...no splatters all over the oven.

Roast for 13-15 minutes per pound. When you think it''s ready, shove a meat thermometer through the bag and into the turkey and give it a minute to register. Make sure it doesn''t touch the bone. The thermometer should register between 163-170 degrees.

Remove from oven, cut away the bag and remove from basting pan. Don?t throw out the drippings! To make the gravy, strain the pan juices into a really big pot. Any juices that accumulate on the turkey platter get poured into the pot.

Add six oz. of boiling chicken broth and 1/8 cup of corn starch to the gravy to thicken it up. Cook at low heat and stir and cook and stir. If it seems like it isn''t going to be thick enough, add a little more corn starch.

Question: Can I use one of those disposable foil basting pans?

Kidd: Yes. It doesn''t matter.

Question: What about the talk that brown paper bags are unsafe for cooking?

Kidd: If you mean unsafe because of fire, it is important that the bag doesn''t make contact with the heating element of the oven. If you mean because of the recycled paper bag releasing toxins into the turkey, all we can say is that this recipe has been around for over thirty years. We''ve been posting this recipe for over ten years and never had a single complaint that anyone got sick. We''ve had hundreds and hundreds of emails that it''s the best turkey they''ve ever tasted and the perfect recipe for first-time chefs!

Enjoy!
-Kidd

 

[Ellen]

Aloros, how did things go?