January 16, 2012

A perfect turkey, everytime

Whats better than a perfectly roasted turkey hot out of the oven? A fried turkey. Fried turkey's are awesome...but, alas, we don't have a fryer. So, I ask again, whats better than a perfectly roasted turkey hot out of the oven that isn't fried??

A free turkey, silly. :)

Every year at Christmas, J gets a free turkey. Do you know how many meals I can make out of a free 15 pound turkey? Like, a lot. Duh.

After the madness that is the Christmas rush, its kind of nice to sit down on a cold January day to a hot roasted gigantic bird. Here's how I make a yummy turkey:

Defrost your bird however you like. I give mine a nice spa bath in a sink full of cold water for 36-48 hours. That usually does the trick :) You can also defrost yours in the fridge for about 5-7 days. I dont generally like to do this because I almost always end up with turkey goo all over my fridge.

Next, free the turkey from its plastic and remove the neck and bag of unmentionables from its rear and neck. Rinse with cool water, inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels. Put the freshly washed bird into a large roasting pan. Now comes the fun part.

In a small bowl, mix one stick of softened butter with your herbs of choice. I like sage, thyme and oregano with some garlic, salt and pepper.  Blend the mixture well and prepare to get up close and personal with Mr. Turkey.

Give the turkey a massage with the butter mixture. Very carefully, lift the turkey's skin away from its breast meat and shove some butter goodness up under there. It can be lumpy, no worries. Drizzle the outside of the butter covered turkey with just a smidgeon of olive oil. Pop into a preheated 400 degree oven, uncovered. After 20 minutes at this temperature, turn it down to 325 and cover the turkey lightly with foil. Continue to cook the turkey at 325 until done (I average about 15-17 mins a pound...but read the label on your turkey for a guideline). To get the skin extra crispy, take to foil off about 25 minutes before you take it out of the oven. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Here are my before and afters, but please note that I did not use butter on this one because I forgot to  set the butter out to get to room temperature. In the interest of time, I slathered that baby up with a lot of olive oil and herbs :) But, if you want a moist and wonderful turkey, don't skimp on that butter, folks.


1 comment:

J said...

And it was good!!!!