Posted on 11/18/2007 5:38:00 AM PST by PJ-Comix
Okay, we are just a few days away from Thanksgiving so let this thread be the Official Thanksgiving Turkey Guide. Tips on preparing turkeys and the trimmings. I am really posting this thread out of ulterior motives. I just bought two Thanksgiving turkeys and assured my wife I know everything about how to cook them. She doesn't since she is from Venezuela. Problem is that I fibbed a bit. My main experience in cooking Thanksgiving turkeys before was merely heating up pre-cooked turkeys. This time I will be doing it almost from scratch.
Okay, I do have one small tip. I was originally intending to buy the turkey either today or tomorrow. However, while I was looking at the Butterball turkeys in Winn Dixie, one of the guys from the meat department called me over and informed me he was about to bring out a bunch of Honeysuckle White all natural you turkeys and that the cost would only be 69 cents per pound!!! I decided right then and there to buy the Thanksgiving IMMEDIATELY since that turkey supply at that price might not last. The only problem is that I wanted at least a 20 pound turkey and the Honeysuckle White young turkeys came in smaller sizes so I bought TWO turkeys. One about 13 pounds and the other 12 pounds. Total cost under 18 bucks. Then when I bought them, the Winn Dixie self serve machine popped out a $10 off coupon towards an purchase of $50 or more which I will use on Wednesday to buy LOTS of trimmings, wine, etc.. I don't know if there are Winn Dixie stores in your area but you might want to check this out. (Note: I am not associated in any way with Winn Dixie).
Okay, I could use a few tips myself. Should I cook the two turkeys together estimating the total time based on 25 pounds? Also I would like info on preparing the trimmings, especially the stuffing, etc.. My idea is to take the meat tidbits that come with the turkey and chop them up and then fry them to mix with the stuffing. What else can I mix with the stuffing? Also we have a big supply of olive oil here so I would like to use that to baste the turkey. How often do I need to baste? Since I am a garlic person, what is the best way to incorporate garlic with the turkey?
On the side there will be white wine, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce. What else would be good side dishes?
All info about turkey and trimmings preparation from you Freeper chefs would be appreciated by myself and others.
You crack me up! Great advice on the sitting, stewing in its own juices part...
Dang, cook a turkey that way, take about 5 minutes? A bit too crispy...
That's one of the funniest things I've seen in my life.
All you need is love butter.
That is the classic french method of roasting fowl. The fat renders and drains down into rather than out of the meat - internal basting. Can be a pain with anything over 20 pounds though. Some do a quarter turn at some point, ending breast up, so every side gets the same treatment.
Another classic note: turkey is considered game, and game is properly accompanied by red wine. Today's turkeys are somewhat lighter than wild turkeys or even those of 30 years ago. A syrah works for me. Save the Egri Bikaver for another day.
P.S. Don't forget the papaya pills.
OMG, there are two of us in the world? Yes, butter in everything, too much is not enough. Sour cream and coconut milk too, makes a sauce something to remember, forever.
For the brine: dissolve 1 cup each packed brown sugar & kosher salt in a pitcher of water
Pour that into an ice chest (we used a HUGE stock-pot) and add one bottle of REAL maple syrup (I think it's about 10 or 12 ounces? It's little.) Add water to about half-way up the ice chest (stock-pot) and stir well.
Add the turkey, breast side down and add water and ice if you're using an ice chest too large for your fridge, or top off with just water if this can fit in your fridge. You can start brining a few days in advance as long as you keep it cold. We did it for about 24 hours.
We used an electric smoker. If you have one, turn your smoker on to 210 degrees. We put our probe thermometer with an external reading in the smoker to get a more accurate reading than our smoker gives us. Depending on conditions, you'll probably have to turn the heat up to maintain the inside temp at 210. If you're using coals, it'll be more difficult to maintain.
If you have a smoker that uses a water pan (a wet smoker), you can pour some of the brine into that pan. If you have a dry smoker, and you have room, you can put some of the brine in a metal bowl or casserole dish... nothing you don't mind NOT getting back in usable condition, and place the brine-filled container onto the bottom shelf of your smoker. This helps keep the turkey moist.
Put the turkey on the top rack in smoker for about 2 hours with no smoke yet. After that, place 2 pieces of Hickory wood chunks (about 3 by 3 inch - that have been soaked in water), directly onto the heating coil at the bottom of the smoker. We added 2 more chunks about every 3-4 hours.
Give yourself at least 1 hour per pound to cook, but I would give 2-3 extra hours for the "just in case" scenario. About 6 hours from the end of the cooking time, insert a probe thermometer into the thigh. Done temps are 165 in the thigh, and 160 in the breast. (we check both).
Give the turkey 15 to 30 minutes to rest in a tin foil tent after removing it from the smoker before you carve it. This lets the juices flow back out to the meat. If it gets done early, you can either put it in the oven at 150, or turn the smoker down to 150 and keep it in there to keep it warm.
The main tricks, of course, are 1) baking each layer separately until well set, and 2) getting (close to, at any rate) a decent colour for each layer. Given the pale yellow colour of condensed milk, it takes a surprising amount of food colouring to produced desirable colours. Think 'red velvet cake', and you've got the idea, although nothing I know wants quite as much food colouring as red velvet cake does.
You're more than welcome to the recipe, if you wish. Just let me know. Likely enough, a skillful cook like you can work it out for yourself, but I'd be delighted to save you some time.
BTW, Stoplight Pie is not particularly a diet-buster, if that's of concern to you. That is, unless someone scarfs down the whole pie at once, which has happened on occasion...
;^)
I stuff the turkey with a lemon and an onion both cut in half and fresh rosemary and thyme. I cook the dressing separately in a pan. The lemon/onion/herbs creates a wonderful aroma and the flavor gets into the juices to be used for the gravy. If your turkey is not completely thawed when you are ready to cook it, you can rinse under cold water to finish thawing it out. Happy Thanksgiving!
Mark
Also, the neck end is a great place for just a little bit more stuffing to cook inside the bird. Hope you are having fun!
Sounds like Key Lime pie with different fruits.
Sure, pass it on, FReepamil if you wish.
HA! I learned that one the hard way my first Thanksgiving....
8-)
It gets real ugly when they are in a plastic bag!
2. I don’t stuff my birds anymore. Todays temp of cooked bird is lower than years past. I think the internal temp in the thickest part of the thigh meat is now 165 F, but check at Butterball.com.
3. Gravy, gravy, gravy. Use a good roasting pan and prepare the gravy in this pan. After removing the bird for its mandatory rest, drain out all the drippings into a stock defatting container and let the fat float to the top. Meanwhile melt some butter (or some of the turkey fat that was removed) on low-medium heat. Loosen all of the tasty brown bits up from the pan and add some all purpose flour in equal proportion to the fat. Stir this and brown it so that the flour cooks, smell good and nutty, and turns a nice brown. Next add some of the stock, and whisk until smooth. Repeat. Add the defatted drippings and additional stock until you attain your desired thickness. It will not thicken until the gravy comes up to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Brussel sprouts
mashed taters
stuffing
candied yams
corn pudding
Stoplight Pie --
Ingredients:
9 inch graham cracker crumb pie shell
1 can condensed milk, 14 oz. (28 tbsp)
5 eggs
1 oz fresh squeezed key lime juice
.5 tsp key lime zest
2.5 oz puree of bananas (or, reduction of banana liqueur) banana extract
4 oz puree of raspberries
raspberry extract (or, reduction of raspberry brandy or Chambord)
red, yellow and green food colouring
cocoa powder
confectioner's sugar
cream of tartar
Base:
Whisk together the condensed milk, **THREE** eggs, and the yolks of the other two eggs, reserving the last two eggs' whites for meringue. This makes approximately 42 tbsps of base.
Note:
Please understand that I am red-green colour-blind. Therefore, I cannot recommend the ''right'' amounts of red and green food colouring. Always have to have someone advise me. Since (presumably) you are not inconvenienced in this fashion, if you do make the pie, please advise as to the precise amount of food colouring you do use in each layer. TIA!!
Note 2:
If you decide to make reductions of liqueurs or brandies, the flavour will be about as intense as the extract, and probably less extract will be required. I prefer using fruit purees, because they are very consistent as to flavour (and amount to use).
Procedure:
Set oven on 325 degrees.
Divide the base into 3 bowls, putting 16 tbsps into one, 14 tbsps into the second, and the remaining 12 tbsps into the third. Begin with the third bowl.
Add lime juice and lime zest to third bowl, along with sufficient green food colouring to make a rich (as opposed to pastel) green. A drop or two of blue food colouring will aid here (the standard US stoplight's green light is about 60% blue, in any case). Whisk well and pour into the shell. Bake **about** 10 minutes, or until the green layer is well set. The only method I've ever seen for determining ''well set'' that works all the time is to remove the shell from the oven and tilt to a 30 degree angle. If the layer shifts only a tiny bit, it's well set.
Remove shell and set on counter or pie rack. This lets the first layer firm up a bit more, while you make the second layer.
To the second bowl, add puree of bananas, banana extract and yellow food colouring (about 5 drops seems to work well), then whisk together. The amount of extract to use, as I've found out by rather bitter experience, is highly subjective. Start with 1/4 tsp. and taste. Adjust as needed to your taste.
Add banana mixture to the shell and bake as for the lime layer. Remove to counter/pie rack when well set. The banana puree **should** lessen the baking time a little bit.
To the first bowl, add puree of raspberries, raspberry extract or reduction and **quite** a bit of red food colouring. Whisk well, until colour is a brightish red (may require more food colouring), Comments above about extract and food colouring usage apply with extra force here. Add the raspberry layer to the shell and bake as for previous layers, until well set.
Remove to counter/pie rack until pie reaches room temperature. Do NOT top the pie until it is room temp.
It might seem at first blush that the bottom layer (at least) will turn out overcooked after 3 separate bakings. In practice, it never has, so have no concerns on this point.
Topping:
Make a simple meringue using the retained egg whites, confectioner's sugar and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar. I like to add cocoa powder to make it a chocolaty meringue.
As I say, it's a bit of work but the recipe yields a very nice 'showpiece' pie.
Any/all suggestions for improvement will be appreciated, I assure you.
Enjoy, and FReegards!
SAJ
Thank you. I may not try it for Thanksgiving Day but I do not plan on going shopping Fri or Sat so I’ll have time to catch up on baking and other food prep for the following week. I have the ingredients so it won’t be an issue finding them.
I bought a 20 lb frozen butterball turkey last Friday. I put it in the refrigerator (no room in freezer). Today (11/20) it is completely thawed. Will it be okay to cook on Thursday, being unthawed today and tomorow in the frig? Thanks.
Are you going to start a thread on Friday about what to do with the Turkey leftovers? ; )
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