Cooking: A Drunk Turkey is a Happy Turkey P2

As promised these are the things you will need in order to make a perfectly moist and flavorful turkey each time!

1- Fresh spices of choice (ie thyme, basil, rosemary, sage)

2- Dried spices of choice (ie black pepper, cayenne pepper, marjoram and the above in dried versions)

3- Powder onion and garlic

4- Garlic head and onion (1 each cut in half)

5- 1 stick of unsalted butter

6- 1 package of regular bacon

7- 1 bottle of white wine (I prefer savignon blanc, however, chardonnay or pinot grigio are ok)

8- Kosher salt

9- 1 15lb turkey (thawed)

10- tools (roasting pan, cookie sheet, fork, food thermometer) and a glass of wine for the cook (optional but always great!)

 

 

Step 1- Clean the turkey remove all giblets and neck (located on each cavity)

Step 2- Cut the onion and garlic head in half (no need to remove casings) and insert 1 each per cavity)

Step 3- Insert fresh spices on both cavities as pictured

 Step 4- Insert 2/3 of stick of butter in large cavity and 1/3 in the neck cavity (Don't forget BOTH cavities require all incredients)

Step 5- Poke holes using the fork all over (legs, thighs and especially breast)

Step 6- Pour bottle of wine and turn turkey on the breast side, cover in roasting pan and refrigerate over night.

Step 7- The following day remover your turkey from the refrigerator and preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Step 8- Turn turkey breast side up and flavor using the dry sprices and very little salt (bacon is salted and ypu definately DO NOT want to overdue it)

 

Step 9- Cover turkey with bacon (those Epic Meal time guys would be proud) and add more spices (I LOVE to add freshly craked black pepper)
Step 10- Cook for 2 1/2 hours (baste 1-2 in between - doesnt need much babysitting because the bacon helps keep the breast nice and moist but it's good practice so the bacon does not burn)
Step 11- Lower your oven temperature to 325 degrees and remove turkey from roasting pan and place on a 'deep' cookie sheet (like the one pictured) and place back in oven for another hour - 1 1/2 hours or until the thermometer reads 165 degrees
Step 12- After the turkey is done remove from over, let it sit for no more than 5 minutes and place on your platter (pinch of a strip of bacon as a pre-meal reward-optional but hey why not!)


So here is the finished product ( taken with a cell phone one with flash one without ). Nice color, crisp bacon, moist and the family was delighted! Hope you all had a Wonderful Easter Dinner!

NOTES:
Degrees are listed in ferenheit
Do not cover turkey while in the oven 
Decorate with citrus leaves and lemons or with amything else you have on hand.  Nothing will be wasted, you can still use the lemons and even the leaves (boil them to make tea, trust me!)
SPECIAL NOTE:
There is a reason why I use a roasting pan and then a cookie sheet as opposed to one of those wire racks or the roasting pan for the entire cooking process...and this is why.  Did you see the picture above? The skin begins to stick to the bottom of the pan and also the sides of the turkey will stick to the pan making it diffucult and messy when removing it.  The wire rack makes no differernce other than all the drippings go to the bottom.  Trust me I have tried it and your bird will stick and once you remove it and place it on your platter it wont be pretty.  By placing it on the cookie sheet it is no longer soaking in so much fat and will give it time to crisp the skin making it simple to remove and place on your platter.  This will make for a better looking golden brown bird that will look very nice on your table and is sure to impress your family and dinner guests.  I believe meals should be yummy and eye catchy at the same time.

#turkey   #easter   #bestturkeyrecipe