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T-Day 2005: The Turkey
For the month of November, CarldeCook will share his tips, tricks and tasty recipes for Thanksgiving preparation so we can all have a relaxing and wonderful day.
From www.carldecook.com
I would LOVE to be able to share the "best turkey roasting instructions" with you, but there aren't any. Around the country it seems like there are as many different ways to do a turkey as there are ways to do ribs or chocolate chip cookies.
Kay’s Betty Crocker cookbook has a nice set of instructions as does the Good Housekeeping cookbook. Cuisine at Home magazine had an awesome roast turkey section in their December 2004 issue.
I was looking through the Holiday 2005 catalog of seasonings from Penzeys Spices (see note below) and they have what looks like a very good set of instructions. And they have some great spices to go along with it.
You can also go to AOL Cooks, click on Search (at the top), type in Roast Turkey, and it will take you to an AOL page with lots of information from people sharing recipes.
As for me, I'm going to get a nice bird from the local store and make sure it has one of those little pop-up timers in it and that's it. Kay wants to start it upside down to get juices to flow down to the breast and then turn it over about two thirds of the way through. When it’s right side up, I'll baste it a few times. But that’s about it.
A good rule of thumb seems to be about 15 minutes a pound at 325 degrees. But ovens vary and 325 isn't always exactly 325. Almost all the recipes and instructions tell us to let the bird rest 15 to 30 minutes after being removed from the oven, so that’s good to remember.
Last year our son, Marc, deep fried the turkey and it was wonderful. Evidently deep frying has been around a while and has just become more popular over the past few years. If you haven't tried it you might think seriously about it, and here are two sites to help. It looks like fun -- it is -- and the flavor is amazing.
BBQ 4 U
Scroll down to Deep Frying and then look for tips and instructions. I like 'How to Fry Turkey' with pictures.
Cash and Carry Warehouse
Scroll down to and click on deep fried turkey. You'll see Larry, in all his glory, frying away.
If you are within 30 or 40 miles of Concord, Calif., try to come over to the demonstration on Nov. 12th. It'll make a believer out of you and you can buy everything you need right there at the Cash and Carry Warehouse Store. You'll enjoy meeting Larry and watching him cook.
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I am disappointed because I don't get to cook for Thanksgiving this year. We are travelling to be with my wife's extended family, so if anything I'll get to help out in the kitchen.
I just might smoke a turkey (Southern Living had a great bourbon brine two years ago) and make a feast just for the 4 of us in a week or so:)
Chris
http://journals.aol.com/swibirun/Inanethoughtsandinsaneramb lings
http://www.bigoven.com/~swibirun
10/31/05 6:21 PM
Bet yourself a big fridge if you don't have one (don't all americans have big refrigerators). And cook the whole works the day before. Everything. As long as you're careful about reaching core temperature, and keeping cooling to as fast as possible everything's fine. Turkey is so much easier to slice cold, and you get more out of it! Have vegetables blanched, ready to re-heat, even the roast potatoes you can have par-boiled ready to roast on the day, or if you want to go full out, even roast them a week or more in advance, freeze them, and blast them through the oven 1/2 hour before you want them (just discovered this latest trick). And as you've roasted and sliced the day before you've got all those wonderful bones to crush up, plus the roasting juices to make the best gravy your family will ever have tasted (especially as you're so relaxed on the day you can wanderout into the garden and pick a few winter herbs to liven it up). Man alive - this is the easiest way to cook at Christmas. It was a revelation. Forget the Christmas day panic. You can chill. Relax, church in the morning, film in the afternoon and throw together dinner really fast and people think you're amazing making it look so easy, when really it's about working smarter, not harder!
This way YOU can enjoy christmas dinner as the cook - something that rarely happens.....