I would love it if you shared your Thanksgiving Turkey recipe. Seems like there are many ways of cooking a turkey. I'd like to hear your favorite recipe!
I've only cooked turkey a couple times and could use some good recipes. Mine is fairly simple, follows the trajectory of an Italian roast type recipe. Involves chicken broth (usually vegetarian), a cup or two of tomato puree, oregano, a piece of salted anchovy, salt, pepper, potatoes, onions, garlic, capers, carrots and then let it all roast for several hours at around 300 - 350 degrees.
Actually, I find turkey a bit tough and dry especially if it is a bigger bird. Since there is only the two of us, we usually do chicken instead.
However, my cousin has a roasting spit that can do 5 turkeys at one time. As long as you get there early and get the bird on the inside it is nice and juicy, but there isn't any pan drippings to make gravy.
Brine the turkey in a cooler with ice over nite. Put the 5 turkeys on a spit and baste with huli huli sauce until it is done.
Huli Huli Sauce.
Makes. Enough for 2 whole chickens cut into quarters
Takes. 30 minutes
Keeps. Because it has a high acid, salt, and sugar content, it can keep for months in the refrigerator.
Ingredient
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup or red barbecue sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
4 tablespoons fresh ginger, skinned and grated fine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dark Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons Sriracha Sauce
4 medium cloves of garlic, pressed or finely minced
We also have made Kalua turkey.
Thaw Turkey; revove neck and giblets. Rub inside and out with salt and pepper. Make a garlic, parsley, basil butter and stuff it under the skin of the turkey where ever you can. Put a halved onion and celery or a quartered orange in the bird cavity. Put the bird in a roasting pan with on a layer of washed ti leaves and cover with more ti leaves, and cover tightly with tin foil and write your name on top. Then it goes into the imu overnight.
P.S I like the aromatics in the cavity and herbed butter, but most people just use butter, salt and pepper.
Unwrap, remove ti and shred turkey meat.
However, unless someone has a fundraiser or you know someone who is going to have one in their yard, most people go the oven route.
1 Remove neck and organs from turkey cavity. Rinse well and pat with paper towel. Melt 1 stick of butter and add liquid smoke. Pour some inside turkey cavities and the rest all over outside of turkey. Use 2 handfuls of Hawaiian Salt(or sea salt) and 3 T of black pepper and mix together. Season inside and outside of turkey well with mix.
2 In a large roasting pan, take a 3-4 ft section of aluminum foil and lay in pan lengthwise. Take another 3-4 section and lay in opposite direction (see pic). Take 4-5 of Ti Leafs that have been washed and lay in bottom of roasting pan. Insert turkey into pan. Lay remaining Ti Leafs on top of turkey.
3 Take lengthwise ends of tinfoil to meet together and roll downwards toward the turkey. Now take other two ends of tinfoil and do same.
4 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When heated, place turkey in oven. Cook for 2 hours at 350 degrees, then turn oven down to 250 degrees for the remaining 4 hours. Remove Turkey. Remove aluminum foil and allow steam to release. Remove Ti leafs.
5 Take 2 large bowls and start to shred meat from Turkey with Forks. Use one bowl for bones and other for shredded meat. Pour pan juices in a gravy bowl. Serve with white rice.
