I’m going to start with this recipe in an effort to eschew the fear and dread people are generally consumed with Thanksgiving day. The ubiquitous turkey; blamed for family feuds, ruined ovens, even has crisis hot-lines dedicated solely to the art of not delivering something dry, shriveled and tasteless to what are probably, or feel like, your first ever house guests for the biggest meal of the year when the weight of perfection lies squarely upon your shoulders. Take a deep breath, pour yourself a tequila and relax. It’s all about preparation. Make sure your turkey is thawed, all of your equipment and ingredients are in order and give yourself enough time. Bear in mind, a twenty-five pound frozen turkey can take over six days to thaw in the refrigerator, or twelve hours in a cold water plunge, will feed approximately twelve adults with some leftovers and take five and a half to six and a half hours to cook. We’ll work with something about half that size. Although, if you’re a procrastinator like me you may be stuck with that twenty-five pounder whether you like it or not and you’ll be serving turkey paninis well into December.
Equipment: A good sized roasting pan, roasting rack (you can make one with tinfoil), a big BIG box of tinfoil, a reliable meat thermometer, a large cooler or utility sink.
Ingredients:
1 12 lb turkey- thawed
1 stick butter, room temperature
olive oil
3 cloves garlic
3 onions, cut into wedges
2 large celery stalks cut in half
2 large carrots cut in half
1 sprig fresh oregano
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 lemons sliced into thin rounds
1 can chile chipotle in adobo sauce (see ‘A What?’ tab)
salt and pepper
Thaw the turkey! There is nothing worse than cutting into a turkey that has been in the oven for 4 hours only to hit ice three inches in. You can thaw a turkey in the refrigerator which is the safest method as far as food borne illnesses go, 12 lbs will take at least 3 full days, or you can thaw it in a cold water bath for 6 hours (that’s what the large cooler or utility sink is for). Make sure you change out the water every 30 minutes and check to make sure the bird is completely wrapped up and no water can leak in. It’s a good idea to also completely disinfect your cooler or sink when finished regardless.
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. **I will forewarn here, it’s going to smoke up the house about 10 minutes after you put the bird in. Go ahead and dismantle the smoke alarm in the kitchen and open the doors and windows when I tell you. You can’t put that much butter in a hot oven and not expect it to smoke like a Cheech and Chong movie. This is the only thing I don’t know how to get around and I think I really scared the bejebus out of my Mom the first year I cooked the turkey at her house.
Prepare the roasting pan and rack. To make a rack, take a large piece of foil and crunch up into an ‘s’ shape to set the turkey on top of. The key is to get as much of the turkey up out of the juices as it’s roasting. You will also want to fashion a breast plate. Shape a large piece of foil, doubled over, shiny side up to fit the breast. Spray the inside with Pam and set aside. (see picture above)
Remove neck and innards from the turkey cavity. Set aside the giblets to use in the gravy if you’re the giblet eatin’ type. Rinse the bird inside and out really well. Finagle your fingers in between the skin and the meat and pull the skin away from the turkey but don’t pull it off. Now it’s time to play masseuse and give the bird a butter rub down. Using 1/3 of the stick of butter and a little olive oil, rub generously under the skin. Using the rest of the butter and some more olive oil, rub down the outside of the bird making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. Give that bird his moneys worth and give it a real good massage.
Place inside the cavity: garlic cloves, one of the onions, celery, carrots, herbs, 3 chipotles and 3 lemon rounds all loosely packed.
Place under the skin: rub in the adobo sauce almost as enthusiastically as you did the butter and place one chipotle under the skin of each breast. Rub a little adobo sauce over the legs and thighs. Place lemon rounds under skin as evenly as possible.
Salt and pepper generously.
Place remaining onion in the bottom of the roasting pan.
Open the doors and windows and place the bird in the oven on the lowest rack for 30 minutes to brown the skin. If you can’t handle the smoke, try to hold out as long as you can or reduce the heat a little. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, place breast plate on the turkey (this will keep the breast meat from overcooking) and cook for 2 1/2 – 3 hours or so or until your meat thermometer, which you have placed in the thigh meat close to the bone but not touching it, reads 180 degrees. ** Do not open the oven while the bird is cooking unless you absolutely have to. Basting does not make it any juicier. That is a myth. Remove the turkey from the oven and tent with aluminum foil. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, tented, before carving. May you be blessed with a juicy, moderately spicy and succulent turkey. Oh and how’d that tequila work out for you? I usually reserve that for when the smoke is clearing and your elders are freaking out.
Leave a comment