For the Love of Food

So, as I promised in my mega post from Sunday with 22 Thanksgiving recipes, I am posting them each individually again with more photos per recipe and more comment.  And, just in time for you to plan your Christmas meal.

Today I am starting with the turkey.

To be honest, I am not a big fan of turkey. It’s usually dry and flavorless. So, I decided to try something new and take my favorite chicken recipe, multiply it my 5 and use it for my turkey.

I also decided to not roast the turkey in a bag this year, but rather in the roasting pan covered in aluminum foil. It not only tasted way way better, it looked prettier.

My mom tried brining this year along with a new roasting pan and she said she had such rave reviews of her turkey that she will do it again next year. So, next year I will try my mom’s recipe. I am really curious!

Some pluses and minuses to the marinade I chose for this year:
pluses: more succulent (lemon is a tenderizer), delicious flavor, flavorful gravy, deliciously crusted skin
minuses: the lemony flavor seeping into the stuffing (which my husband was less than thrilled about)…otherwise, I can’t see any other minuses.

I received the biggest complement that evening during dinner from a colleague: “How did you learn to cook so well when you are so young?” That just made my evening. Yes, I’m 27 and I can whip-up a meal for a crowd, in an organized fashion, and not even have beads of sweat on my brow. As many of you other foodies, it is the love of food that drives us to cook and learn from each other. And, without the wonders of the internet and Google Image Search (I’m a visual cook/eater), my ideas may have been limited.

So…on to the turkey:

Ingredients:
1 (whole) 7 kg Turkey
10 Tablespoons Olive Oil
10 large garlic cloves, crushed
6 Tablespoon of black Pepper
the peel from 5 untreated Lemons, finely grated
the juice of 5 Lemon
5 teaspoon of dry Thyme leaves
1 1/4 teaspoon of dry Rosemary powder
5 teaspoon of dry Oregano leaves
5 teaspoon of Salt
10 fresh Rosemary twigs (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 163°C (325°F).

Remove giblets from turkey, rinse turkey, pat dry, and then set aside. Combine all other ingredients (except for the rosemary twigs and turkey) in a bowl.

Place turkey breast-side-up in a large high-lipped casserole or baking dish. Pull up at much of the breast skin as possible without tearing it and rub* the lemon marinade under the skin as much as possible. Stuff the turkey with homemade bread stuffing (see recipe here). With what’s left, pour over the turkey making sure to completely coat the it. Place the rosemary twigs along the edges of the casserole dish.

Cover the turkey with a loose tent of aluminum foil and roast for 3 hours. Then, remove the foil, baste the turkey quickly in its with its own juices, and continue to roast the turkey for 1 1/2 hours longer (or until the internal temperature has reached 74°C/165°F), basting with pan drippings every 15 minutes.

Carefully remove the turkey from the dish or pan it’s baking in and place it on the serving platter. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Remove the juices from the pan and use as gravy. It should be slightly thickened with all the herbs, so there is no need to add thickener.

Makes 14-20 servings.

*The marinating of the turkey can even be done the day before (before stuffing the turkey) for more tender results.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS