I've never used any sort of "accelerant" (read: gasoline? ), but I do cook the turkey part way under a "tent" of aluminum foil. Can't imagine what sort of product people might use to artificially speed up the skin's browning.




Never, but never feed me a straight line like that!

Signor V.

As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, just thought I would resurrect this thread. Anybody planning anything unusual this year? Anyone deep frying their turkey?

We're doing two turkeys this year, one frozen (purchased last night) and one fresh (to be purchased today or tomorrow) with a double recipe of stuffing, sweet potato pie with marshmallows, baked white potatoes, broccoli and fresh bread from the local bakery (challah and rye). We'll start with a nice salami board, some cheeses and my husband's delightful turkey pate.

We are putting off thanksgiving dinner till next weekend when my hub and my son come down to Becky's house to see the baby.

our turkey is almost done defrosting, and its taking a bath in the brine later today. the brine consists of cold ice water, enough to cover the bird, equal parts sugar and salt, some bay leaves, and whole peppercorns. i usaully go by taste, but around 3/4-1 cup each of the salt and sugar. 24-48 hours in the brine makes all the difference in the world, it adds a nice subtle flavor, but more importantly leads to a much moister bird. just remember to thouroughly dry the turkey before roasting.

forget those stupid pop up indicators that "tell" you when the turkey is done. if they even work at all, that bird will be history by that time. spend a few bucks on an instant read therometer. around 165 in the deepest part of the thigh is about what your looking for, and remember let it rest tented with foil for at least a good hour before you go slicing into it, otherwise all your hard work will be for nothing. i take the whole breasts off, seperate the drumsticks and thighs, and do the same with the wings. i take a few minutes and pull the leftover meat off the body, not much as i'm pretty good. i throw it in a stock pot, add onion, celery, and carrots, and cover with cold water. bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for around an hour and boom, homemade turkey stock. perfect for gravy/soup.

for the gravy, i pour all the juices out of the roasting pan into a cup, allow to seperate, and remove most of the fat. i heat the pan up, and deglaze with white wine, scraping up all the brown bits. i add the stock, as well as the original juices from the pan, and let it bubble away for a while. check the seasonings, add more salt/pepper. near the end, i add a whole lot of fresh chopped sage, thicken with a roux, strain and done.

i always make this drink on thanksgiving, not really traditional by thanksgiving standards, but its my tradition. add ice, around a shot or so of vodka(maybe half that if pizzaboy is there, as i'm sure we have all had to deal with drunken relatives that screw up the whole meal before ) top with a few splashes of pineapple, shake,strain, and serve over more crushed(not cubed, very important) ice. add a twist of lime, and top with sprite/7up, or even seltzer if you like things less sweet. goes down easy, livens up the day!

You have quite a bit more to be thankful for this year, Mig. Enjoy.

Sounds like a great dinner, SB.

I'll have the traditional turkey dinner at my mother-in-law's around 1 pm. There'll be twelve of us there, eating roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes,corn and green beans, topped off with pumpkin pie, nut bread, pecan pie and pumpkin roll.

Around 5 pm my family will go to my pare nts', which is 15 minutes from my MIL. They will have already finished dinner as they eat early with my sister and her family , my uncle aunt and grandmother. But it will be time to dig into the leftovers. I'll have turkey sandwiches, stuffing, haluski and more desserts.

Late at night we'll return to my MIL's where I'll make another plate and start eating again.

Use some leftover veggies and make some "bubble and squeak" Kly....

Start a new Thanksgiving family tradition

I think I'm doing the Paul McCartney thing this year,
but God I'm gonna miss it.



https://twitter.com/PaulMcCartney/status/270894890739720192/photo/1

I love McCartney, but I can't give up my butterball.

That's right. Let it be!

Still some time away but you're gonna get dumped on with snow the following Thursday, klyd. You read it here, first.

Your butterball must be a crystal ball. But enough about your balls.

If I may expand the Thanksgiving topic a bit, one of my great memories of Thanksgiving was 2007 when I took my daughter, who was 10 at the time, to Lake Scranton, a rustic 4-mile path around a lake. We had time before dinner, so we walked, collected leaves, skipped stones, marched across a fallen tree, and had a squirrel follow us.

The stuff that great memories are made of.

Having a small Thanksgiving this year just me, my brother and my parents due to their health issues. Won't be traveling to the in-laws Thanksgiving extravaganza.

I wish you and your family well. May you all enjoy the day.

Got my sausage for the stuffing and the second turkey is in the fridge. A total of 37 lbs. of bird this year. My brother calls me every day and asks if I've caved yet and started making the lasagna. I told him no more pasta!

Only 37 lbs?!? What if Frankie & Delores drop in and they bring Cousin Tony and Uncle Sal?!?

I did have an Uncle Sal, and believe me, he could have eaten at least 30 pounds of the turkey!

Sounds like you better get working on that lasagna, Babe!

My niece was a vegetarian but she ate turkey. She said anything that was so stupid that it didn't know enough to lower it's head to keep from drowning in the rain deserved to be eaten.

NO PASTA! I did a pasta station a few years ago - 3 lbs. of penne with a choice of four cheese, vodka or marinara sauce. Never again.

I always cut a couple of oranges in half and put them in the cavity of the poor bird. Citrus ensures moist and tender meat if cooked properly. We rarely do in the cavity stuffing. I also put carrots, celery and onions in the pan while roasting - all natural flavors can't be beat! I would like to hear any other "tricks" youse guys use...

Since I do cook my stuffing in the cavity, I won't be able to try that orange thing. I do take my neck and put it in water with celery and onion to make turkey stock. I add that to my drippings to make sure we have a TON of brown gravy. You can never have enough!

Has anyone tried placing bacon on the turkey when they bake it? I heard that adds a nice flavor.

That must be something to see. Do you keep your hair dry?

I'm quite the contortionist am I.

YUMMY

We did, years ago, but not with turkey. We laid strips of bacon over the breasts and legs of Cornish game hens (secured with toothpicks, IIRC). I think the process is called "barding" and it actually did impart a nice flavor to the birds.

I would imagine that it would take quite a lot of bacon to do justice to a turkey, but the resulting flavor would be very interesting.


Signor V.

We put bacon on our turkey at Christmas. Delicious!!

All this turkey talk is making me crave Christmas......

We used to do this quite a bit when I cooked in the Navy. We draped bacon over pork roasts, roast beef and just about any kind of poultry cooked low & slow. It is definitely a game changer and boosts flavors to the next level. Add carrots, celery & onions for natural great flavor as well.

BTW - I heard stories on the radio today about Turkey cooking nightmares. A gal called in and said that her sister-in-law's turkey is terrible year after year. Later, she elaborated by saying she soaks the bird in a salt water brine for 12 hours... no kidding the bird is terrible - salt naturally extracts moisture thus causing the turkey to be dried out and have an overly salty taste!

Mmmmmmmm.... bacon!

Now that is a true work of art!

Don't forget Kramer's advice... "You've got to baste!"