Joey's Roast Turkey Recipe
Thanksgiving, 2007, still trussed
Ingredients:
Big honkin' turkey (Debbie-recommended minimum, 18 lbs.)
celery, bunch
onions, many, in assorted sizes
garlic, head
bay leaf
salt
whole peppercorns
cheesecloth
butter, 1 lb.
16 oz. herb stuffing (Pepperidge Farm)
16 oz. cornbread stuffing (Pepperidge Farm)
sage
thyme
Lemon & Herb Mrs. Dash or similar seasoning
poultry seaoning, optional (or substitute for other herbs)
dry white wine
cotton string + needle and cotton thread for trussing
water
3-5 gallon bucket for brining - optional
salt and brown sugar for brining - optional
Sunday:
Buy frozen turkey and place in refrigerator to thaw.
Wednesday night:
Take alarmingly still-frozen turkey out of refrigerator. Soak in water until it is not quite so frozen and you can get the bag of neck and giblets out. Return turkey to refrigerator.
Cook neck, giblets (but not liver), 1 stalk celery with leaves, 1 small onion, 1/2 tsp. salt, few peppercorns, few cloves garlic, and bay leaf in 2-3 quarts water. Simmer for 2 hours.
Strain through cheesecloth. Save giblets if you want them for stuffing. Refrigerate broth and giblets. Discard rest.
Brine Turkey - Optional
Brining helps the turkey retain moisture and adds flavor, but is strictly optional. I've only done it a few times, so amounts are not well-defined.
After removing parts from turkey and getting broth simmering, put 2-3 quarts hot water in a bucket. A 3-gallon bucket fit a 17-lb. turkey just right, albeit with a small part of the back and the ends of the drumsticks sticking up. A 5-gal. should be used for larger birds.
Add about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cups salt, and about 3/4-1c. brown sugar to water and stir until dissolved.
Add another 2 qts cold water to cool down brine before adding turkey.
Put turkey in brine, holding by drumsticks so breast goes in first. Turn so that back is facing up.
Add more water until turkey is covered, except possibly for back and drumstick ends as it floats.
Thinly slice a small onion and add to brine.
Put bucket in refrigerator until Thursday morning.
Thursday morning
Stuffing:
(Doubled recipe.)
Mix dry stuffing ingredients in large bowl with dash to 1 tsp each--sage, thyme, ground pepper, Lemon & Herb Mrs. Dash, and/or poultry seasoning.
Finely chop 8 stalks celery and 2 medium onions. In two batches, saute onion and celery until soft/translucent in 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter per batch.
Above steps can also be done Wednesday night. However, do not mix the vegetables or the broth with the dry stuffing until morning.
Once dry ingredients are mixed, add sauteed celery and onions in butter and mix well. Finely chop giblets and add them, if desired.
Add 2 cups of the broth from Wednesday night and mix. Use this mixture to stuff turkey.
With turkey stuffed, add 1 cup more broth and stir (Assuming approximately half of stuffing is left; add additional broth proportional to amount of stuffing left so that it has twice as much liquid per ounce as what goes in bird). If not stuffing bird, just add 1 cup more broth and stir. Place remaining dressing in casserole and bake for 45 minutes at 350° F. Cook uncovered for last 20 minutes for crunchier dressing; leave covered for more moist dressing.
Prize-winning turkey*
Thanksgiving, 2001
The Bird:
Rinse turkey and pat dry with paper towels.
Stuff turkey lightly, neck and body cavities. If not stuffing, put in main cavity: 1-2 stalks celery, cut to fit; 1 onion, quartered; 2-3 cloves garlic; 1 quarter lemon (optional).
Sew neck cavity shut with cotton thread. For body cavity, sew shut or cover with slice of bread. Tuck wings under body. Truss turkey, if desired (see Fanny Farmer cookbook for directions, or look it up on Google).
Adjust racks in oven to fit the turkey and heat oven to 325° F.
Melt 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, and pour/brush as needed over turkey (at least 1/2 cup); reserve rest for basting. Sprinkle turkey liberally with salt; pepper more lightly. Sprinkle with thyme, if desired.
Place turkey, breast side up, on rack in roasting pan, atop few stalks celery and pieces of onion. Pour 1/2 cup white wine into pan.
With large piece of aluminum foil, form tent over turkey. Place turkey in 325° F oven.
Baste turkey every 30 minutes, first using rest of butter, then with pan juices as they form. Rotate the pan with each basting.
Remove tent for last 90 minutes of cooking. Add liver to pan for last 60 minutes or so.
Keep bottom of pan from getting too dry, adding water if necessary.
Recommended times are 5 to 6-1/2 hours for a 16-24 lb. bird, subtracting 30-45 minutes for unstuffed birds. Meat thermometer in meaty part of thigh, but not touching bone, should register 180° F, and juices from thigh should run clear. Cooking times vary dramatically with stuffing, size, shape, basting frequency, oven efficiency, and number of relatives starving in next room.
Cook until done. With all the basting, it may be an hour or more longer than the recommended times. Cover breast and top of legs with small pieces of aluminum foil if they get nicely brown before bird is done.
Let turkey sit (rest) for 15-30 minutes after removing from oven. Transfer turkey to platter.
Gravy
Remove rack and vegetables from pan.
Heat pan on stove burner(s), and deglaze by adding 1/2 to 1 cup of broth, water, white wine, or combination, then scaping gunk up with wooden spoon or spatula.
Pour pan drippings through strainer into 2-qt. saucepan. Boil down if there is a lot of water added. Add 1/2 c. cold water or broth to 1/4 c. flour and mix thoroughly.
Add to hot liquid in pan while stirring with whisk or fork. If gravy does not thicken enough, add more flour/water mixture. Can use cornstarch (3 tbsp:1 cup liquid) for clearer gravy.
With all that butter, the gravy should be a nice, dark brown, as should the turkey.
If not, repeat in following Decembers and Novembers for several years. Practice on chickens in the off-season.
*Joey Hand Award of Turkey Excellence: conceived, cooked, judged, and granted by Joey Hand.
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