Its Getting Turkey Time, How are you doing yours?

haywyre · October 2003

Well the time has come to decide on another recipe for the family turkey. Any good sugestions?

mad max beyond eggdome · October 2003

haywyre,
while i plan to do mine in the egg, i still plan on being fairly conventional. .. i've been doing the turkey for over 20 years now and i think i've got it pretty down pat, keeping in mind the two most important things. . .1. don't let the breast dry out and be crumbly, and 2. the gravy is key. . . keeping that in mind, here's what i do. . .[p]1. when i prep the turkey, i take the neck/giblets/heart/liver/and that big chunk of fat from the cavity, through it in a large stock pot on the stove with a garnish of herbs, a whole onion (peeled), and a stalk of celery, filled to the top with water, and let it simmer all day long making my own stock for the gravy. . .[p]2. i set the bird in a roasting pan direct (no v rack). . .sprinkle the cavity with kosher salt and pepper, stuff it with a big garnish of fresh herbs (rosemary/thyme/sage), a quartered onion, and a quartered apple. . .i take a couple of sticks of butter, mix it with more finely chopped herbs and set up a paste. . .[p]3. KEY POINT HERE. . . i have read many, many ways to insure that the breast gets done at the same time as thigh, but the one foolproof method i've found and swear by (i've done it now for almost 10 years), is to take a gallon zip lock bag full of ice and lay it accross the breasts for about 20 minutes prior to cooking. . .this gets the breast temps significantly colder than the legs, and during a long (5 -6 hour) roast, they will be done perfectly at about the same time. . .20 minutes under the ice is key here. . .[p]4. just before putting it in the oven/egg in this case. . .smear the butter/herb paste all over the bird. .set it in the roasting pan, throw another quarter apple in the pan around the bird, and for a finishing touch, take about a half a bottle of white wine (it doesn't matter what kind), and dowse the bird inside and out). ..[p]5. now roast at 325 degrees until done, basting regularly, cover the breast with aluminuminum foil for a while if it looks to be browning too quickly. . .[p]you will have an excellent moist bird, guaranteed. . .[p]now for the really important part, the GRAVY. ..[p]while the bird is roasting, keep the stock pot cooking, adding water as necessary to raise the level. . .[p]when the bird is done, remove it from the roaster pan (along with the apples). . .take all the liquid/crud from the pan, put it in a bowl and let the fat separate and rise to the top. . .remove the fat with a ladle. . .in the meantime, put the roaster pan directly on your stove top, turn the heat up high, add a couple of sticks of butter and about 2/3 cup of flower, and start that all bubbling up and using a whisk, stir it good, get out the lumps of flower and scrape up all the crud on the bottom of the pan. . .keep working it until it is nice and creamy. . .. remember that bottle of wine (hope you didn't drink the rest of it). . .throw that into the pan now. .. keep wisking briskly until it has reduced and mixed in nicely with the butter flower mixture. . .now take the rest of drippings from that bowl you saved after removing the fat, and throw that into the mix. ..keep whisking. ...now start ladling in the turkey stock you spent all day making, unil it all reaches a nice boiling consistency that you like. . .too thin, take some flower, mix it in a separate cup with some of your stock and add it as a thickening agent. . .too thick, add more stock. .and for a final touch. .take the neck, remove all the meat from the bones, chop it up finely with the gizzards, heart, and liver, and add that to the gravy. .. salt and pepper to taste... .[p]you asked for it, you got it. . all in my most humble of opinions of course. . .

mad max beyond eggdome · October 2003

before anyone goes HUH??. . i meant flour. . .not 'flower'. .. and when you take the meat off the neckbones, its the meat you chop up and add to the gravy, not the bones. ..[p]hey, its been a long day. ...

RibEye · October 2003

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Must be a long day....I didnt even catch it. I read thru it and didnt even "think a thought"
Bob

Cornfed · October 2003

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Thanks for posting this. I'm thinking of doing a practice turkey or two between now and Thanksgiving. The past few years, I've been doing the Julia Childs "decontructed turkey" recipe from her book Cooking at Home with Jacques Peppin. She solves the breast/thigh doneness issue in this recipe by cutting off the leg/thighs and cooking them next to the breast. This way, if things get done out of sequence, you can remove them in parts to ensure proper doneness for each. One disadvantage is presentation. She advises to put it back together before serving, but I've never actually done that.[p]I've been doing these turkeys in the oven but I want to do one outdoors this year. I'm not sure if I want to go traditional and adapt it for outdoors (traditional type preparation cooked without much smoke at 350ish temps) or if I should go for more of a BBQ approach and do it lower and slower with Q type seasonings. Maybe I'll do one of each![p]Later,
Cornfed

mad max beyond eggdome · October 2003

Cornfed,
regardless of method, give the bag of ice on the breast a try. . .i'll bet you find it works out really well. . .

Unknown · October 2003

mad max beyond eggdome,
didn't you forget the worchestershire sauce???? LOL

mad max beyond eggdome · October 2003

your wyoming connection,
dang, forgot all about it. .. .to anyone who reads this, my mom always insists on a good splash of worchestershire in the gravy. . .i don't like it personnaly. ..so when mom comes, i have the bottle sitting out next to the gravy pot, and when she asks, i tell her its already in there. . .then she tastes the gravy and says 'see how much better it tastes!'. . .and i heartely agree with her. . ..HHEEEEEE hope she doesn't start reading the forum. .. .

Its Getting Turkey Time, How are you doing yours?

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