5th time is the charm for Turkey tasting

GrannyX4

We have been trying various cooking methods and spices for our turkey day on the BGE and I'm happy to say that tonight we have a winner. Boy I am so glad that we found a good combination that we like. We have eaten so much turkey and chicken that I thought we were going to start clucking. The spice combination is from Ina Garten and this is my revised recipe tweaked to our taste.

Herb poultry butter

Ingredients

1 teaspoon garlic powder 
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/3 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 stick of butter 

Combine all to make a compound butter. Rub the butter over and under the skin. We spatchcocked the bird between 375 and 400, indirect until it was cooked. The higher temp gave a nicer color and crisper skin. Combine the spices again and set aside for the gravy.

The gravy was the best I have ever made. Since I haven't made much gravy it may not be saying too much but I'm pleased. I browned the backs necks, onions, celery, giblets and carrots in butter until they had a nice brown color. Then they went into the pressure cooker with 6 cups of chicken broth. Pressure cooked for 35 minutes. Poured all into a pan with 1 bay leaf and simmered until it reduced to 4 cups. Removed the vegetables and giblets, added the spices 1 teaspoon at a time until they tickled my taste buds. Then I mixed 1/2 cup of flour in a shaker jar with some water until it was the consistency of milk. Brought the broth to a boil and slowly whisked in the flour until the broth had a consistency that I wanted.

Now the only thing left to try on the bird is duck fat and William-Sonoma won't have it until the 16th.

It sure is tough for this OLD girl to learn new tricks!

Gato

Sounds good! So you used the plate setter for the whole cook? When you spatchcock a chicken do you cook it direct?

GrannyX4

I do it both ways. For the turkey with so much butter on it I felt I should do indirect. Also on THE day I will be filling up the egg with boneless breasts too and I was afraid that there would be too much fat dripping down on the lump.

Squeezy

It's better to make a roux with the flour and add your stock to it ... more flavor, better color and no lumps.