Posted on 11/18/2007 5:38:00 AM PST by PJ-Comix
Oops...that’s “turkey”, not “turnkey”...80=
I suggest putting onion, red bell pepper, and celery in the stuffing. This is a good time to include garlic, too!
If you want your turkey to be garlic-flavored, you could rub the inside cavity with garlic powder or roasted garlic. You don’t want to cook your stuffing in the turkey - salmonella is no fun - but in a casserole dish.
My family likes sweet potato pie with turkey. Boil and mash the sweet potatoes. Add butter, honey, and cinnamon. Bake in graham-cracker pie crusts, covered with mini-marshmallows.
One important point - get your turkeys on *early*, and don’t get into the wine too much before you have food ready!
Garlic and turkey don’t do well together in the flavor dept in my opine. Try the savory herbs, Rosemary, thyme, things for poultry etc.
You can quite safely stuff your bird, just assure the stuffing temp reaches 165F or so. The stuffing can absorb more juices too, so leave it a bit dry...I don’t generally stuff the bird any more these days, it’s just too much trouble to scoop it all out!!
Olive oil? Nah, BUTTER!! One trick I use is...put a 1/4 stick of butter into the cavity and let it melt and mix with the juices while cooking. Use your baster/brush to suck the juices out and baste every 30 45 mins...a perfect brown bird!!
SNOWY MASHED POTATOES
Potatoes - enough to feed the whole gang
Sour Cream - a tub of it
Philly Cream Cheeze - a package
CHIVES
Garlic
Cream or milk and BUTTAH!!
Peel and Boil taters, smash whip or otherwise mash them up.
Mix in enough sour cream, PhillyCheeze, Chives etc to suit your taste...
Put all back into a casserole dish with some fancy swirls on top, more buttah and some sprinkle cheddar cheeze on top, bake for 15 mins until top is all browned and bubbly cheeze ...
Serve, make sure YOU get some first.
I’ve used those oven bags for turkeys with great success. Very simple.
Though if you’re feeling daring, try this: (bacon wrapped turkey) http://www.chow.com/recipes/11130
And I prefer a pinot noir with my turkey...
What else would be good side dishes?
STUFFED MUSHROOMS
SWEET POTATO PIE
STUFFED ARTICHOKES
Boil the turkey innards to make broth then dice them up to put in the stuffing, (I give ours to the dog, he LOVES it.)
A few years back I made stuffing as above, but added minced walnuts and a touch of cinnamon, the guests loved it, the family did not, that was the last time for that.
Some experts suggest cooking the turkey upside down so the juices run into the meaty part of the bird, not out through the bony part. It doesn't make for the classic golden brown thanksgiving picture though.
Rub the cavity and under the skin with a mixture of softened butter, garlic, and chive (my mother used to do this)
That ought to help.
I agree with Tax-chick to cook the stuffing separately, it is safer. My mother-in-law does it in the crockpot and it is marvelous. Back in the days when my hubby shot wild turkeys, I put them in a roaster with a little chicken broth, an onion, bay leaf, an apple, and wrapped the ends of the drumsticks with bacon slices (and discarded all except the turkey when it was done). You can also “inject” the turkeys with an herbed garlic seasoning to get a good flavor throughout. My mom often inserted small dabs of garlic butter between the skin and the meat, especially on the smaller areas.
Since I don’t cook meat anymore, someone else does the turkey, and I do the sides: sweet potato fries, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (with sauteed mushrooms, sliced almonds, and soy bacon bits), a corn and pepper salad, cheesy garlic toast, and a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert (everyone else is bringing pies).
I got an email (hilarious!) about putting a little tinfoil “bikini” on the bird, arranging the upper legs to look like a sunbather, baking it nice and brown, and then watching your guests faces as they see the roasted sunbather, LOL!
Although I think I've been overruled as to who cooks the bird this year. Which means cornbread stuffing...blecchhh!
Grandmas Stuffing
pound of each
ground beef
chorico sausage ground or finely diced
2 medium onion
garlic cloves
2 tbls oregano
4 stalks of celery finely sliced
14oz. bag of Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix
2 cans Swanson chicken broth
saute all meats and veggies together
prepare stuffing according to directions using broth in place of water
mix all together
stuff in turkey
cook turkey as directed
Earlier this week, some folks in Plymouth were duplicating the first Thanksgiving feast and those stalwarts wre encasing the turkey in clay and then putting it in the fire.
It looked like they were potters who rolled out the clay on potters tables, but I’m sure you could find something suitable in the back yard. Just don’t get it too wet.
Also, probably not a good idea to build the fire indoors.....also a back yard endeavor.
When I make my stuffing I take the giblets, and the neck boil them into a broth (using chicken stock, or bullion cubes) and use that as my moisture with the bread crumbs.
You are also right on with the herbs. I am a garlic freak, but I save that for the side dishes, and a little to my stuffing.
I am saving this recipe. My family has always wanted the same old stuffing, but I wanted to try it with sausage this year. I have gotten a few strange looks, so I may just make two, one with, and one without, and since this one looks so close to my original recipe, it would be the gradual change needed to finally get my way!!!
Everyone always looks forward to it. Hope they like it.
But wouldn't I miss out on a lot of that great turkey juice flavor in the stuffing?
Why is butter better than olive oil?
I guess it depends on whether you’ve had salmonella. The stuffing inside tends to prevent the inside of the turkey from fully cooking.
Obviously, people wouldn’t have survived years of stuffing their turkeys if everyone got sick. It’s just a matter of your personal cost-benefit calculation.
With two turkeys in the oven, don’t know if I would have room to cook stuffing separately. Also, how do I calculate the cooking time with two turkeys cooking at the same time?
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