Hello folks! Since Thanksgiving is coming up (not for Sharon since Canada already had theirs....and notice how she didn't share her recipes....). For those of us in the US that are preparing for one of the most stressful holidays for some I thought I would take a moment to talk about how I have struggled through the years with the turkey.
My first take at trying to cook a turkey? I called my mom to make sure I had it all right and the bird was already in the oven. She was so proud and then she asked me if I was going to use the giblets for gravy. Pfft MY turkey did not come with any I informed her....and then she told me to take the turkey back out and check BOTH ends for the baggy. Good thing it had only been in the oven for 10 minutes at that point cause yeah my turkey sure did come with those.
The next turkey took several hours longer than it was "supposed" to and I had been struggling to get the skin golden brown and so yeah....the bird was dry and although it wasn't "National Lampoons" dry no amount of gravy brought it back....
How about we skip ahead a few years. Now some years the turkey was better than others and finally I was able to make a consistently okay turkey. Nothing to call my mama about but okay and good for sandwiches the next couple of days....that is until last year when my mama came to Thanksgiving. I had gotten a brand new electric roaster. Oh it is a beautiful thing! So I tenderly separated the skin from the breast and slathered herb butter all along the flesh before covering the skin back and then the skin? More herb butter! Also....make sure you dry 'ol Tom with paper towels cause you want the skin to be nice and dry before you butter him up for browning. Anyhow....so I put the turkey in the roasting pan at 350. And went about cooking all the sides to go with.
No one told me that a roasting pan will cook faster but it makes sense really since the heat is in a smaller contained area than an oven. So instead of everything being done at the same time the bird was done...and I started to panic. I turned the roaster down to almost off enough left just to keep things warm in there and didn't touch the lid. I left it on to keep the heat in there....in another two hours or so when it was time to eat? The turkey had two hours to rest just on warm and I kid you not that was the BEST turkey I have ever eaten.
I am a dark meat type person. I like the thighs and all that under meat that is sopping in juices. But when the breast was so moist that each bite released juice? I couldn't help but want to take the entire bird for myself and eat my way into a turkey induced coma. So this year? I am doing the same thing. Cooking it to perfection and then letting it sit in the juices until dinner is ready.
I have to say that the the butter makes all the difference and sometimes what might seem like another crappy turkey story can end up being really good.
And.....unlike my mom I have never set a turkey on fire. Most everything that I have learned about cooking started with my mom. Turkey is not fire friendly. Just an little FYI from me to you :)
I hope all of your dishes come out to be damn good if not perfection!
~Charity
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