Sunday morning I set out to make this turkey. I read a lot about brining a turkey but after discussing it with my mom and her telling me she never brined one, I decided not to bother. My mom's turkeys always tasted great! I washed the turkey, pulled out all of the neck and internal organs and set it in my Pampered Chef stoneware pan. It barely fit, so I'll have to get a bigger pan with a rack in it for the Thanksgiving Day bird. I slathered the turkey with olive oil and butter. I even did so under the skin. On the inside of the bird I put in a cut up onion, some carrots, and an apple. I mixed the following spices and then sprinkled them all over and inside the bird - thyme, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, celery salt, regular salt, and pepper. I didn't have any rosemary so I'll get that soon. I roasted the bird for 2 hours covered, then for 1 hour uncovered to brown the skin. I tried to baste it periodically, but I didn't have a baster - one more thing to get.
Well the bird came out of the oven and was delicious. Very moist and juicy, not dry at all! Yeah my practice turkey was a success. I did massacre the carving process, so I'll watch some videos on YouTube on how to properly carve a turkey. I got all of the nice meat off of the bird, then used some of the little pieces to make Turkey Noodle Soup. Tarzan loved it!! My cat Claudio was also in heaven because he had a turkey feast complete with the heart and giblets.
I'm excited to host Thanksgiving. I'll be using my 99 year old Grandma's Johnson Brother's Wild Turkey China. It's about 50 years old. I have 12 dinner plates and the platter. I tried bidding on eBay last week for 4 cups and saucers, but I was outbid. It's very pretty and I'm thankful that my father gave it to me. The pictures below look different - the dinner plate looks darker than the platter, but those are just pictures I took off the internet. In person they match. I bought a shiny, bronze colored tablecloth to match. I love color coordinating all of the table linens and decorations!
If anyone has any Turkey suggestions, I'm all ears. Do you brine your turkeys? I saw a video on YouTube where the chef put bacon over the turkey for the first few hours it was cooking. That looked yummy. My goal this year will be to have everything hot at once, that's what was difficult when I hosted Christmas last year.
5 comments:
We're doing a practice Thanksgiving this year too. I think that Real Simple (realsimple.com) has instructions on how to carve a turkey! Glad to hear everything turned out well! Good luck with the real thing...
I've made turkey once and I brined (is that a word?) it. It was wonderful BUT it was a huge hassle. This is the recipe I used http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Turkey-Brine/Detail.aspx. It's a lot of work and since I've only made one, I can't really make a reasonable comparison. I say if the practice turkey turned out well, go with it!
Oh, and if you manage to get everything ready and/or kept warm until it's served SHARE YOUR TIPS!!
Oh man, I am so hungry after reading about your turkey...
And that china is georgeous! I bet your table and spread will be a huge hit.
I can't wait for Turkey Day. It's my favorite holiday of the year.
I've done Thanksgiving for my family for the last three years. I admit my first Thanksgiving was my FIRST STAB at cooking a turkey. Good idea to practice. I should have thought of that considering that I was terrified of it not working out that first year.
I used a brine 2 of the 3 years. Both years I did the brine, it tasted better. But I wouldn't say that the year I didn't it tasted bad.
I've also heard it suggested to put some other stuff inside including an apple (which you did), orange, lemon, onion and garlic. They say it helps to baste the turkey from the inside out with tasty goodness! Ha Ha! I think this year I will brine and then put that stuff inside while cooking.
But I admit, it IS a pain to brine. I ended up overflowing the bag one year, the other year the bag leaked all over the place...grrr! I think maybe I should just invest in a food-safe tub/bag to do it in from now on since it looks like I will always be doing Thanksgiving now!
I can't believe it's only a few weeks away...geez. I need to get cracking.
By the way, I have always bought my turkeys from Whole Foods. I get a free range turkey. I don't order the organic kind but it is still free range. It's a bit more expensive than a regular grocery store kind but then you don't have to worry about thawing it which is a definite plus! Just another tip of mine!
I also use a free range bird - organic if possible.
Last time I roasted a turkey, I remember soaking muslin in butter and covering the turkey with it to keep it moist. I think it was a Delia Smith tip. It worked really well..,
My mouth watered at your post. xx
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