Turkey Time!

Do not fear the turkey, my friends! It's not as hard as you think. In fact, roasting a turkey is one of the simplest holiday meals to prepare (except for the dishes...ugh). Sure, you've read all about brining versus dry brining, roasting versus frying, stuffing versus...well, not stuffing. But truth be told, you can make your turkey prep as complicated, or as simple as you like. I'm not going to lie to you--I do prefer a dry brined bird. But last Friday, just for kicks, I roasted a turkey the old fashioned way, dotted with butter and sprinkled with (dry) herbs. It was about as plain and simple as you can get. And you know what? It was delicious, and juicy, and wonderful...without all the fuss.

Here is how I did it. You should try it too!

First, toss some onions, carrots and celery in the bottom of your roasting pan and lay the rack on top of them.


Then, remove the ugly bag of gizzards from the neck cavity and the hacked-off neck from the body cavity. To keep my turkey's dignity intact, I refrained from photographing this part. It's not pretty. I personally, save the neck and use it to make the turkey stock, but I toss the bag of goodies away because I think gizzards are nasty, even my dog won't touch them. If you love gizzards, then by all means cook them with the neck in the stock and chop them up for the gravy. Anyway, I had some rice on hand so I stuffed it into the neck cavity to help the breast look fuller and prettier. You don't have to do this step but I learned it from Martha and I think it's a nice, easy touch.


Then pull that extra skin up over the rice (or just over the cavity) and "sew it closed with a skewer.


Flip the turkey onto it's back and turn the wings so that they are up and under the breast like this....




It may crack a bit, but don't worry, you are not hurting the turkey. It's already dead. Then pat it dry with a paper towel.



I like to squeeze a little fresh lemon or orange juice over the top of my bird.



Then I stuff it inside the cavity, along with some more onions and celery (and fresh thyme and sage if I have it...I didn't).



Then I dot the entire surfaced of the turkey with softened butter. For a big turkey, you may need about a stick. This is not health food...it's a holiday turkey. Turkey needs butter.



Then I sprinkled the entire bird, inside and out with dried sage...



And dried thyme...



And salt and pepper....to taste, of course.



This is what it looks like when all is said and done.




Finally I put some stock in the bottom of the pan...about 1 cup. I will add more stock periodically as it roasts to make sure that there is plenty of gravy and plenty of juice to baste the turkey with.


And that's all there is to it. I roasted this bird at 350 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours. Do you have this book? It tells you exactly how long to cook just about anything and it is a fantastic resource to have. Your turkey will be done when the breast reads 165 degrees and the thigh reads 175-180 degrees. I like to baste my turkey about every 30 minutes with the pan juices and I add a little more stock to the bottom of the pan as necessary to keep the veggies from burning and the juices flowing.

Fear not....this is the year you will master the turkey. And if not, well, there's always next year.

Happy cooking!

Latin Leftovers...Ay Caramba!

Believe it or not I really haven't had my fill of turkey yet. It is such a blank slate and can take on the most subtle or flamboyant flavors. And after all that old-fashioned, classic, rib sticking (or is that hip sticking?) food over the weekend I am ready for some heat. I'm needing something to blast my taste buds with a ton of flavor, without a ton of fat, after all, we have a slew of holiday calories coming our way, don't we? The way in which I usually go about achieving a meal that is both intensely satisfying and yet kind to my waistline, is by using herbs and chilis.

Only one of my three charming offspring will enjoy this meal of Chipotle Turkey Tortilla Soup tonight, and so I will also make a big plate of quesadillas, a staple around these parts, and that should appease their picky palates.

The soup, adapted from this month's Gourmet Magazine, contains homemade stock (which I have plenty of from my Turkey), sweet potatoes, black beans, brown rice, a variety of toasted then ground spices, and chipotle peppers (canned in adobo sauce). Topped with crispy tortilla strips, avocado chunks, and grated cheese, this meal will surely satisfy...and hopefully use up the rest of our leftovers....

When toasting the spices in my nifty mini spice toasting skillet, the fragrant smoke wafts into the kitchen air filling my home with its warm, exotic perfume. My oldest saunters into the kitchen and proclaims dully, soup again? I'll bet you can guess that he will not be partaking in this particular portion of the meal.

I blend the spices with the onions, garlic and chipotle chilis and open the blender and inhale. The smell is so strong that I feel the vagus nerve in my neck pinch suddenly, and I am thankful that I don't pass out and hit my head on the granite. Hmmmm....I'm sure a long, slow simmer will mellow out those strong flavors (it will). And the tender sweet potatoes will help to temper the heat in the chilis (it does). The soup it thick, almost like a stew, and I just can't wait to dig in.

Chipotle Turkey Tortilla Soup

1 pound of chopped left over turkey meat (skinned)

2 quarts of left over turkey stock (or from a box is fine)

1/2 t allspice

1 whole clove

1/2 t cumin seeds

5 peppercorns

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2-2 T chipotles in adobo, finely chopped

1 T adobo sauce

1 C medium or short grain brown rice

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 can of black beans, rinsed

12 corn tortillas

cooking spray

2 avocados

2 limes

grated cheese

1/2 c finely chopped cilantro

Heat stock in large stockpot. Toast spices in dry skillet until they are fragrant and slightly darker, shaking occasionally, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a blender along with onion, garlic, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, 2 t salt and 1 C stock. Blend until spices are finely ground, about 2 minutes. Add puree to stock in the pan, along with rice and sweet potatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Meanwhile, slice corn tortillas into strips and place on baking sheet. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray strips with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake until crisp, stirring every so often, about 15 minutes. Remove to a paper towel to cool.

When rice and potatoes are tender, add chopped turkey meat and beans and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated cheese, hunks of avocado, lime wedges and tortilla strips.

This recipe can also be made with a whole rotisserie chicken (or one you poach yourself).

Dry Brining

In the past I have tried many different kinds of turkeys and many different ways of preparing it; free-range, organic, super market turkeys, brining, roasting breast up, roasting breast down, stuffing it, not stuffing it, covering it with cheese cloth...and the list goes on. It is really hard to determine, outside of having multiple birds in a line up for simultaneous tasting, which turkey tasted the best, but I do believe that brining, of all the things I have tried, helps to create a juicy bird (although my mother swears it is roasting it breast down for awhile). But brining a turkey can be a tricky, space-eating proposition because the turkey needs to be soaked in a large quantity of brine (my preference is salt, spices, and apple cider) for more than a day. If you are like me, refrigerator space is at a premium, especially around the holidays.

So this year I will try a "new" technique, that has actually been around for a few years. Based on a chicken roasting technique by chef Judy Rogers, of Zuni Cafe, the turkey is simply salted a bit heavily (1 T per every 5 pounds of bird), and bagged up and refrigerated for 3 days (ideally, but less is fine too). Each day the turkey is massaged and turned, and finally uncovered and placed on a plate and back into the fridge for at least 8 hours to dry out the skin, so it becomes beautifully crisp when roasted. The Los Angeles Times ran a story about this last week, and according to them, people have gone crazy for this technique and swear that it was their best turkey ever.

So today I will go to pick up my 18 pounder (update...it actually turned out to be 19.5 pounds)...hopefully it will be big enough (we just have 8 adults and 6 kids this year)...and give it a go. I also plan on making the dough for my dinner rolls. Tomorrow I will prepare maple butternut squash (it is very easy to reheat) and begin to dry my bread for the stuffing (whole wheat and sourdough). Wednesday I will bake the pumpkin pie, make the New England Rum Pie and prepare the stuffing to be refrigerated overnight. Preparing food in advance helps Thanksgiving day run more smoothly and helps me to not feel overwhelmed. I will be sharing the recipes with you as I go!

Dry Brined Turkey

1 16-20 pound bird

1 T salt per every five pounds

1 t dried sage

1 t dried rosemary

1 t dried thyme

grated zest from one lemon

Rinse turkey and remove giblet bag (usually in the neck cavity) and neck (usually in the main cavity). Pat dry. Mix salt with herbs and zest and rub liberally on breast, then flip turkey and rub salt over thighs and back. Save some to sprinkle inside the turkey too. Place turkey in a large turkey-sized roasting bag and tie shut. Must be done at least 24 hours in advance, and up to 3 days in advance. Every 12 hours or so massage salt into skin.

When you remove turkey from bag, the salt and seasonings should be absorbed into the flesh. If you have time, let turkey air dry in your fridge for 8 hours, then let sit at room temp for at least an hour before roasting. Pat turkey dry and roast according to directions in Los Angeles Times story (link above).

I prefer not to stuff my turkey because it roasts faster which helps to prevent the meat from drying out.