Rami's Recipe Book

Thanksgiving Turkey

—

by

panda
in

Ingredients

  • 1 Turkey
  • 2 onions, roughly chopped
  • 3 ribs celery, roughly chopped
  • 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
  • 8 cloves of garlic
  • 8tbsp+ salted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 bunch each of rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano.
  • kosher salt, pepper
  • 3-4c stock

Instructions

The day before:

  1. Brine the turkey, if desired. Shoot for 18 hours in the brine, but no more than 24.
    1. 1/2c salt per gallon of water.  (1c per gallon if you’re brining for <6 hours.)
    2. 1c cider per galllon
    3. Handful of herbs and some chopped garlic
    4. Bring above to a boil then let cool before using.
    5. Use zip-loc XL bags (10 gallon), which are literally perfect for brining and cost less than half as much.
  2. Prepare the compound butter: 1 tbsp each of finely chopped rosemary, thyme, and sage.  You will use the remaining herbs whole tomorrow.
  3. Prepare the vegetables: Cut the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic into large pieces.  Aim for about 1 cup of each.  This saves some time tomorrow when you’ll likely want to get the bird started early.
  4. Prepare the turkey:
    1. Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold water.  Dry thoroughly with paper towels.
    2. Season the entire cavity liberally with kosher salt and pepper.  Add a handful of the chopped aromatic vegetables, and about a third of the whole herbs.
    3. Push under the skin to separate it from the breast.  This can be a little tough, but push your fingertips as far as they can go and wave back and forth, breaking the fascia that binds the skin.  With a little effort you will slowly work your way across the breast.  Do this from the head and tail.
    4. Using about half the butter, spread it around under the skin of the breast, including down the sides.
    5. Flip the bird and repeat. Reserve enough of the butter to baste once near the end of cooking. (Don’t flip it back – you will start off baking breast side down.)
  5. Prepare the pan:
    1. Add the remaining aromatic vegetables to the pan.
    2. Add the remaining herbs to the pan.
    3. Add stock until it is half an inch or so deep.  This helps moisten the turkey during roasting and also will help make an awesome gravy.
    4. Place the turkey onto the rack breast side down, then tent with foil.
    5. Place in the fridge until tomorrow morning!

Roast

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
  2. Insert probe into the deepest part of the turkey breast, without touching bone.  This is worth getting right, so watch a video to be sure.  Note starting temperature and time.
  3. Roast for approximately 1/2 the time expected, then remove the foil tent, flip the turkey, and retent.
  4. About an hour before the turkey is done (calculate using your starting temp and time):
    1. Remove the foil to let the skin brown.
    2. Melt the remaining compound butter in the microwave, and baste the skin with a pastry brush.
  5. Continue to cook at 325F until internal temperature of the deep breast is 165.  This will take approx. 20m per pound.
  6. Allow the cooked turkey to rest at least 30m before carving to let juices be pulled back into the meat, or you risk leaving a lot of juiciness on the cutting board.
  7. While the turkey rests, make the gravy.
  8. Get a sharp knife and carve the turkey.

Make the gravy

  1. Pour the pan drippings into a bowl.  Let sit for a few minutes, then skim the fat off the top with a spoon.  There will be a lot of it.
  2. Add this to an equal amount of stock.
  3. Bring to a simmer until turkey is finished resting.
  4. If necessary, you might want to thicken the gravy with a slurry.

NOTES:

  • I do not baste, except at the very end.  Uncovering the turkey repeatedly outweighs any good that basting might do, not to mention opening the oven several times.
  • I do not tie the legs of the turkey together.  It’s not necessary, and may even block some of the heat circulating into the cavity.