Perfect Turkey! Well Okay, Almost!

Good Day Everyone.....It is Thanksgiving and what better thing to post on Thanksgiving than a Turkey Recipe?

Actually...since it is Thanksgiving and all...You should have started this already...but if you're like me at times..a Johnny come lately...Here is the near perfect Turkey recipe for you-

INGREDIENTS:


Chopped vegetables, take about half an onion, a carrot, and a half celery rib and combine them with about 1 tsp. thyme and a tablespoon of melted butter. Mix them until evenly distributed.

Oh yeah...and of course you'll need a Turkey!


DIRECTIONS:

The term "classic" is often associated to a minimally seasoned roast turkey. Many people have developed roast turkey recipes that involve cajun spices, honey glazing, lemon infusions, and other techniques that produces a turkey that sets them apart from the classic roast. Since this is our first Thanksgiving together, I thought I would start with the basics and reveal how I roast a turkey.

This recipe is for a 10 to 14 pound turkey. I will update for larger turkeys later. (I rushed this recipe out after roasting a turkey in the wee hours of the morning, so everyone could get a head start on planning for their turkey dinner. I'll correct any mistakes I may have made after the weekend.)

Before you even think about roasting the turkey, you'll need to budget enough time to thaw, brine, and dry the turkey. If you're purchasing a frozen turkey, allow at least 5 hours per pound of thawing time in the refrigerator. After the turkey has thawed, treat it as if it were fresh (for the purposes of this recipe). Remove the giblets and the neck (found inside the chest cavity). Prepare a brining solution of 1 cup table salt to 1 gallon water in a nonreactive container and soak the turkey in the solution in the refrigerator for four hours. (If your turkey has been infused with a solution, then reduce the salt content in your brine or soak it in a container filled with water.) Pour out the brining solution and rinse the turkey. One convenient way to do this is to position a rack in the sink and place the turkey on the rack to rinse. After the turkey has been rinsed, let it dry by placing it on a rack on a sheet pan in the refrigerator overnight (or for eight hours). Alternatively, use a blow drier on cool setting (no heat) to blow over the skin of the turkey until dry. This is why I said that you should have already been past this part....Think of this as advice for next year!

Now that the turkey is ready to go, preheat your oven to 400°F. Chop up two medium onions, five carrots, and two celery ribs. Also melt 3 tablespoons butter and set aside 2 tablespoons dried thyme (or two sprigs of fresh thyme). Quantity and even chopping is not that important for this recipe, so feel free to prepare these steps quickly to save time.

From the chopped vegetables, take about half an onion, a carrot, and a half celery rib and combine them with about 1 tsp. thyme and a tablespoon of melted butter. Mix them until evenly distributed.

Throw the prepared vegetables (from the previous step) inside the turkey. Now, tie up the turkey's wings and legs so they will cook evenly. Take a 5 foot (1.5 m) long piece of kitchen twine and tie the drumsticks together. Loop the twine around the turkey and over the wings. At the head of the turkey, tie a knot over the flap of skin to hold everything in place.

Place the rest of vegetables and thyme in a roasting pan. If you don't have a roasting pan, you can use a disposable aluminum foil roasting pan from the supermarket. Pour one cup water into the pan and place a V Rack into the pan. Brush breast side of the turkey with butter. Place the turkey on the V rack with the breast side facing down. Brush the back with butter. Place in a 400°F oven.

We're roasting this turkey upside down (usually turkeys are roasted breast up) to cook the breasts at a slower rate. Starting breast side down, gives the legs a head start on cooking. This is desirable because drumsticks and thighs need to be cooked to a higher temperature (about 170°F) in order to remove any trace of pink flesh. The breasts would become very dry and unpalatable if cooked to temperatures as high as the legs.

After 45 minutes, remove the turkey from the oven and baste it with the juices from the roasting pan. I've tried to come up with an easy way to do this without a turkey baster, but I was unable to. Use a turkey baster to reach in between the rungs of the rack and suck up some juices and squirt it over the turkey. Then rotate the turkey onto its side (with a leg sticking up) and brush some more butter on. Return to oven for fifteen more minutes, then baste again and rotate onto other side. Roast for fifteen minutes. Roasting the turkey on its sides lets the sides brown (for better presentation). If you don't care about even browning, you can skip these two rotations and just prolong the breast down roasting by thirty minutes. (You may want to baste once after the 45 minute mark, though.)

Now, rotate the turkey so it is breast side up. Baste again and brush on the remaining butter. Roast for thirty more minutes and then start to check the temperature every ten minutes. The turkey is done when an instant read thermometer thrust into the breast reads 165°F. The deepest part of the thigh should read between 170°F to 175°F. Remove the turkey and allow it to rest for twenty or thirty minutes.

You know...As I write this in the wee hours of the morning...You may still have time to do all of this....If not...Pour yourself a glass of wine and call Boston Market...They cater an entire Thanksgiving Dinner!

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!