Turkey Recipes

[pepper4]

Thanksgiving is upon us. 1 of my favorite holidays. Friends, family, good food and yes foot-ball. Can't get much better. My question is what is your opinion on how to make the best turkey. I do it the old fashion way and roast it in the oven. There's alot of talk about the deep fried method. Looking for input on anyone that has tried this method.

[petalfuzz]

We started doing ours upside down and haven't turned back yet--no pun intended

It's like roasting, except you don't put the bird on a rack in the roasting pan. Put the bird breast side down in the pan and pour in about 2 cups worth of chicken stock. So you're sort of steaming/roasting combo cooking. Follow directions for roasting. You don't have to baste this turkey and the breast meat will be the juiciest and tastiest you've ever devoured. Turkey doesn't look very good, so carve it in the kitchen and bring over a hot plate of cuts to pass. It's the best!

[Marsman]

Carolyn,

That sounds like a great way to prepare the bird. I do it the traditional way with a nice three-meat stuffing (Hamburger, Veal and Sweet Sausage) cooked in the breast cavity. I've never had one deep fried. (I know there are [url=https://themoderatevoice.com/24647/fire-departments-deep-fried-turkey-could-pose-serious-fire-hazard/]all kinds of warnings[/url] not to cook the bird in one of those deep fryers on your nice wooden, flammable deck.)

[SkyKero]

If you fry the turkey correctly it is very delicious, juicy and believe it or not -- not greasy at all.

My brother in law loves frying them -- he marinates it by inject "mojo" cuban spices or lemon/cumin/oregano ---
All I can say is yum!

You have to make sure the oil temperature is at a certain level -- and then of course the temperature of the turkey when you take it out.

I have had it many times made by different people .. and I have not yet had a fried turkey I didn't like.

S.

[pepper4]

Petalfuzz, that sounds interesting and makes sense to cook the bird breast side down if you think about it. I think I might give it a try this year. I'll let you know how it goes.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Get the oil a little hotter than it says to start, as the bird cools it. Cavity side down, and lower slowly and use a glove. Makes a great bird IF you use the thermometer in the breast meat and don't overcook (it keeps cooking for a wee bit after removal as well); injecting is key to moisture management; NO WOOD DECKS. I recommend shutting down the burner and restarting after lowering. And dig a hole before hand to discard of the oil, and dig deep to keep maurauding animals away. By no means should you just huck the oil into a pile of leaves that your friends Wheaton terrier will visit daily for about a week, coming back smelling of roasted turkey everytime, as friend's wife may not speak well of you for some time...

And no, there was no fire on the deck; it was a gravel driveway; no harm no fowl

HG
HG

[Charlie MV]

I just hate trying to catch 'em.

Happy TD all.

[webmaster]

This is going to be my first year roasting a turkey. I only a few clues on how to proceed. Wish I had my mother's recipe, she does it with a tomato based sauce, probably with chicken broth, oregano, onions and garlic. The drippings create a yummo sauce that can be slathered on a bread roll the next day witha few sprigs of cilantro for a great turkey sandwich.

I've done the sauce with a chicken but never with a turkey. Hope I don't screw things up.

[petalfuzz]

This is going to be my first year roasting a turkey. I only a few clues on how to proceed. Wish I had my mother's recipe, she does it with a tomato based sauce, probably with chicken broth, oregano, onions and garlic. The drippings create a yummo sauce that can be slathered on a bread roll the next day witha few sprigs of cilantro for a great turkey sandwich.

I've done the sauce with a chicken but never with a turkey. Hope I don't screw things up.

You'll be fine, I'm sure. I roasted a turkey for the first time last month and it turned out pretty durn good! Good luck, of course.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Stuffing seems to be the trick here; no stuffing or bread stuffings can dry the bird; veggies of an appropriately moist type add both flavor and internal moisture. An old aquaintance used to do the traditional French Canadian thing with mashed potatoes and sausage as stuffing and that always worked (the sausage imparts a great flavor). I have not injected and roasted, but have injected and fried, and it does add both flavor and moisture, and Scotty, our turkey chef of the past five years or so, is brining this year to attain more juices. So lots of ways to get the job done; but I usually rely on veggies and fresh herbs in the cavity to add moisture usually; think [url=https://www.recipezaar.com/Mirepoix-119171]mirepoix[/url] (which occasionally gets flavored with bacon or ham; not a bad thought). Anyway, you add savory flavors AND moisture at the same time, and makes for a traditional looking and tasting bird. Throw in a few branches of rosemary and sage to add more traditional notes (I also make a basting brush from rosemary and sage branches we use every year that imparts massive flavor right where you taste it the most). And Beck adds a punctured lemon to the cavity when she does chickes and THAT works wonders too; fruit can add great flavors to meat. Hey, the trick is to have fun with it...

HG
HG

[webmaster]

Hey Scott,
Stuffing the cavity with veggies in order to keep it moist as well as add flavor sounds like a good idea. I'm going to do exactly that with onions, carrots, and celery.

Boars Head makes a tasty roast chicken called, EverRoast that uses a similar technique of roasting it with veggies. Very tasty.

So I started out with a salt and sage dry rub, but the sage seemed boring to me so I added oregano and black pepper to the mix and threw it in the fridge overnight. Will pull out tomorrow and cook it in a pan, breast side down with either some chicken stock or apple cider. The recipe I have recommends apple cider so I'll probably go with that.

The other concern I have is the fresh sage and butter rub that the recipe calls for just prior to roasting. I'm wondering whether I can get away with simply using olive oil, which would be healthier. My wife says to stick with butter because she thinks it might help with the browning. Not sure.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Post turkey notes seem in order, as the results have been enlightening...

Scotty's brined bird was EXTRAORDINARY; simply perfect in aesthetic presentation (a perfectly uniform mahogany brown despite NO BASTING; the brush went unused this year), flavor (not exceptionally salty as one might expect; Scott was very judicious, actually cutting some from the already lowered recipe and using low sodium stuff as well) and moistness (there was not a bite I took, from breast to wing to drumstick, that was not succulent in every meaning of the word, and the gravy thus rendered was also superlative). I can not ever foresee a time we will not do this again, and discussion indicated it may cause us to revisit some other experiments (free range birds, deep-frying) in search of new results. But I can inequivocally recommend brining (I include [url=https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html]the recipe Scotty used[/url]). Good eats indeed...

Rog, how'd you do? Keep in mind it has taken Scott five years to reach his perfect bird, and there were bumps along the way to be sure... But be it known here that WM is an excellent cook so I suspect things went better on this maiden voyage than in the average first timer's kitchen...

HG

[applestar]

I haven't actually hosted in a few years, so I'm out of practice, but I remember brining seems to be by far, the best prep for any roast (I.e. large cut of meat including, of course whole birds). The favorite Turkey recipe I've used in the past starts off with a higher temp oven and upside-down bird resting on chunks of carrots, celery, onions, (and any other roasting veg's like fennel, rutabaga, parsnip -- you get the idea). After the first 30 min or so, the bird is turned over, and the roasting pan is filled with broth/white wine mixture and is kept wet (never allowed to dry out), and garlic pieces are added (this keeps the garlic from burning in the higher temp dry oven). Because the bird is turned back over, you end with nicely colored bird in the end.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

[webmaster]

My turkey came out delicious! I stuffed the cavity as mentioned with veggies and a lemon, did periodic basting and filled the pan with two cups of apple cider. Turkey was cooked breast down and the breast came out not visually pleasing (as expected from sitting in the liquids) however it was moist and tender. I debated turning it over for the final half hour so the other side could brown but decided it was too risky, drying out the turkey is too easy to do.

This was an organic free range bird that a guy at the store was raving was the best he ever tasted. So it's possible that I could have gotten away with salt and peppering it overnight and as long as it wasn't overcooked, would have turned out fine regardless.

Other standouts were a butternut squash pudding, and a brocollini with almonds and garlic. My wife created the ultimate pumpkin pie, her best ever, improving on her family recipe by adding a fine layer of crushed walnuts to the top. Irresistable, especially with fresh whipped cream.

[applestar]

YUMM!! Sounds delicious!

RE - turning the turkey over for the last 30 min -- I tried that once. If you wait too long, the turkey joints are already too tender to survive the turning over process and fall apart... into the hot roasting liquid. I remember the situation was accompanied by loud screams for help and followed by some major screaming and crying....

[rainbowgardener]

Vegetarian here and not suffering a bit! Roasted nutmeat pate en brioche was wonderful main dish, savory herbed nut filling, in flaky golden crispy bread wrapping, vegetarian gravy for it and vegetarian "stuffing." Green salad with lettuce, swiss chard, parsley, nasturtiums from my garden, windowsill ripened garden tomatoes, and lots of store bought stuff added (almonds, feta, rasperries, dried cranberries, mushrooms) and raspberry vinagrette dressing with whole rasperries and homemade rasperry preserves added. Yams AND mashed white potatoes AND green bean casserole, rolls, three kinds of pie for desert.

And best of all seven good friends to share it all with and lots of left overs to come home with!

[webmaster]

Sounds yummy, Rainbow. My younger brother and his daughter are vegetarians so that's why I did the butternut squash pudding. But I also heated up an apple stuffed fieldroast thingy, braising it with olive oil to ensure it stayed moist, then drizzled a whole foods shitake gravy over it. Tasted great, it's good stuff. I might keep some around the house for lunchies during the week.

[Charlie MV]

I came.

I ate.

I hurt.


I'm glad it's over.

[The Helpful Gardener]

I'm with AS on the turning thing; early or never. I too have had the disintegrating turkey syndrome on the late turn.

Glad to hear it all turned out, Rog. That pumpkin pie recipe is so solid that tweaking is readily and happily accepted (tell Jen I have added a quarter TSP of allspice and a quarter TSP chai masala to excellent effect as well, and you can add a good deal more of Grandma's secret ingredient than it calls for, also to excellent effect. And no, I won't tell. This is as close to a secret family recipe as we have in this family, and I won't be the one...)

HG

[WinglessAngel]

LOL a little late on the turkey thread but I am a turkey lover and left over roast turkey is one of my favorites for sammies....

Thick Slices of Sourdough (or your other second fav crusty bread, as sourdough is not always available nor good if it is) buttered on one side of each slice.
Thick Slices of Left Over Roast Turkey
A Generous Spoonful of Mashed Left Over Sweet or Regular Potatos Spread Over The Turkey
A Small Fist Full of Left Over Stuffing (squashed down into a patty about the size of your bread slices) Laid On Top of the Potatos
A Good Slathering of Your Favorite Cranberry Relish or Jelly)

Place Butter Side Down into a medium heated pan (it's ready when a drop of water dances on it) and place the entire sammie in the pan, top with the second slice of bread Butter Side Up and fry until dark golden brown on one side....Turn the sammie over carefully so as not to let everything fall out and do the same to the other side, it helps to mash it down a little so the other side gets even browning....when it's done, slice in half and eat with a friend or eat the whole thing yourself...makes an excellent filling sammie and uses up a little of everything on your leftover holiday meals