When I was first married, my visiting teacher and I were discussing the upcoming holidays. I mentioned to her that I had never cooked a turkey before. At her next visit, she gave me an article from the local newspaper with instructions on cooking a turkey.
I used it that year and it turned out so juicy and tender. Since then it has been the only turkey recipe I've ever used.
I've included the article word for word because it's such valuable information!
*The only thing I do different is I buy frozen turkeys.
Thanksgiving Turkey
Las Vegas Review Journal
A Caesars
Palace chef shows the way to a juicy, roast Thanksgiving Turkey
Here are his tips for cooking the perfect Thanksgiving turkey
1.
Buy a fresh turkey instead of a frozen one. To pick the right size, estimate two
pounds of turkey per person. This
will allow for shrinkage and the weight of the bone, and still have leftovers.
2. Pre-heat the
oven to 375 degrees. Put the
stuffed turkey in an uncovered roasting pan on a base of vegetables--a raw,
halved or quartered white onion; a washed, scrubbed carrot (whole or peeled);
washed celery stakes with no leaves; ½ clove of garlic; three sprigs of fresh
thyme and one bay leave. If you
don’t’ use a base of vegetables use a rack to lift the turkey off the bottom of
the pan.
3. Before
roasting, brush the turkey skin with one stick of melted butter mixed with
three tablespoons olive oil one table spoon salt and ¼ teaspoon of fresh ground
pepper. Tie the turkey legs
together with chives or string.
4. Place the
turkey in the oven, uncovered for ½ hour, or until it has nicely browned. Then, reduce the temperature to 275
degrees and finish roasting the turkey.
Baste the turkey one every ½ hour with pan juices. Reducing the temperature to 275 is
important. Boyce says most people
cook their turkey too quickly in an oven that’s too hot.
5. To tell when
it’s done, estimate 20 minutes per pound, or use a meat thermometer. The turkey is done when it reaches 160
degrees internal temperature.
GOBBLE GOBBLE!
OTHER TIPS:
It’s best to stuff the turkey, even if you don’t eat the
stuffing, because it keeps the turkey most. Be sure the stuffing itself is moist or it will act like a
sponge and a dry turkey will result.
You should be able to push the raw stuffing down with a fork and still
see the impression of the fork.
Never use caned gravy. Packaged mixes are better than canned,
but the best gravy comes from your own stock make a day ahead of time. Buy chicken bones or turkey bones from
the butcher. Brown the bones in
the oven. Boil the browned bone in
water and reduce to make stock.
Cool it to room temperature, remove the bones, strain and chill in the
refrigerator. If it doesn’t
thicken somewhat like gelatin, it needs to be boiled longer. Skim off any extra
fat that may have formed on the top of the chilled stock. When the turkey comes out of the oven,
remove the turkey and vegetables from the pan, skim off excess fat form the
juices in the pan and make gravy adding the stock. Thicken with a little flour.
To serve a beautiful turkey add, garnishes of different colored
kale and radicchio leaves. Or buy
oak or maple leaves from a florist.
Wash them and put them on the tray around the turkey.
