Thanksgiving is the only time I eat turkey, so has to be the best it can be!
Here are some points before moving to the recipe.
I found frozen, young, smallest(12-14 pounds) turkeys are the best and practical. Defrost the turkey 3 day ahead in fridge
Brining turkey makes it juicer of course. Night before the Thanksgiving day put the turkey in brine - no longer than 18 hours otherwise texture will be mushy
I cook the turkey breast side down first 2 hours on a V-Rack. Gravity pulls the juices to the breast.
Plus I use bacon under the skin to protect from the heat, you can also add herbs, garlic etc along with bacon
Inside is stuffed with mirapoix (a mix of 1 part onion, 1/2 celery, 1/2 carrot in weight)
Gravy is made with drippings + chicken stock, sherry and brown-roux - or golden roux (roux is equal weight-amount of flour and butter slowly cooked, until it smells like shortbread cookies)
The gravy will be silky, very smooth if you follow the technique. That's why I make it a lot - you will have almost half a gallon gravy
Good idea to make the roux day ahead to save time and a burner, it will take half an hour. Also prep the ingredient for every component ahead, before start cooking
Ingredients for turkey
12-15 pound young turkey, not brined/not salted/not processed. no giblets, neck OK
2 cups chicken stock
6-8 strips of raw bacon - if too thick, cook for 5 min before
Any vegetable oil for drizzling/spraying over turkey
Ingredients for brine
1 pound table salt
1 pound brown sugar
Optionally I add few star anise, bay leaves, cloves, but not significant difference in the outcome
2 gallons of cold water - or hot but make sure mix is cold before you put the turkey in
Ingredients for the cavity(mirapoix)
1 small onion, peeled cut into 1 inch chunks
1 carrot, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 celery stock, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tablespoon dried oregano or thyme
1 tablespoon dried/fresh sage
Optionally you can add chunks of an orange with the peel
Ingredients for gravy(roux)
8 oz onions, cut into 1 inch chunks
4 oz carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks
4 oz celery, cut into 1 inch chunks
3 oz butter
3 oz flour
6 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoon sherry
Directions for first 2 hours - breast side down
Mix the brine ingredient in a very large container/stock pot, let it cool. Place the defrosted turkey in it and let it soak in the brine overnight in fridge
Preheat the oven to 325, place a rack at the lowest level
Have the ingredients for cavity ready
Remove the turkey from the brine
Carefully loosen the skin over the breast (move your fingers under the skin from the cavity toward neck – use gloves if you have), and insert uncooked bacon to cover all breast, use a toothpick to secure the skin
Fill the cavity with the cavity ingredients
Perform a simple truss if you can – otherwise simply tie the legs together and fold the wings under the bird
Place a V-rack in a roasting pan and arrange the turkey breast side down and the neck. If you don’t have a V-rack, support the turkey with balls of aluminum foil, so that stays straight
Pour 2 cups of chicken stock into the roasting pan,
Drizzle/spray some vegetable oil and roast for 2 hours
Directions for the second half - 1 to 2.5 hours depends on the size of the turkey
Using kitchen mitts/wooden spoons etc hold the turkey from the both ends move the turkey to a large plate.
Chop the onions, carrot, celery listed in the ingredients for gravy and add to the bottom of the pan
Change the V-rack to a flat rack, and put the turkey back breast side up.
Drizzle some oil and cook for 1 more hour, set the timer.
At this point, you may start making the roux if you haven't cooked a day ahead-see below
Once the timer goes off, take the turkey out and check the temperature. The thickest part of the thigh away from the bone, should register 165F. I expect you will be close to 155. However if you reach this temperature, stop cooking. If not, start checking every half an hour
Remove the turkey to a big plate, cover with an aluminum foil and let it stand for 20 to 40 minutes, while you’re making the perfect gravy!
Directions for the third half -lol :) 1 more hour for resting and making gravy and roux
Set the roasting pan with the cooked mirepoix, drippings, and neck on a medium burner, you can turn on 2 rings at medium if your pan is large
Pour 6 cups chicken stock, use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Start making the roux if you haven't done it already
Strain the liquid into a 10+ cups sauce pan
Use a fat separator to get rid of the fat
To make a brown roux (“roo”), you need 3 oz flour, 3 oz butter and another large sauce pan that can hold all the gravy.
Melt the butter until it is frothy. Sprinkle in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir frequently until you have a golden-cookie color mixture, will take about 20-30 min.
Now you have the liquid ready, and roux ready in 2 different sauce pans. This is the part you need help from someone for 2 minutes.
Bring the strained sauce to a heavy boil, and let someone pour that over the roux slowly while whisking constantly - it will try to boil over but no worry. By doing this you’ll have very smooth, silky gravy.
Simmer it for 6-8 minutes and whisk constantly
Remove it from the heat add 3 tablespoons of dry sherry and stir thoroughly.
Taste and season with freshly cracked white pepper!
Carving the turkey
You can wear food graded gloves if you have.
For legs and thighs, cut the skin between breast and legs, and use your hand to pop the leg out. Cut between the joints(not bones/meat), should be very easy. Have to be some videos about how to do that in Youtube. Rest them under an aluminum foil to keep them warm
For breasts, turn the turkey neck cavity facing you now. Cut along the breast bone until you reach the rib cage, then start turning the knife under the breast, using one hand gently pulling the breast away from the turkey. Slice the breast into a 3/4 inch pieces
For wings, cut the wings between wing joint and the carcass use your hand to pop the joint
Oysters; at this point, you have bare carcass with the best meat of any bird; the oysters. They are at back of the bird, one at in each side, dark meat, pop them out and sprinkle some salt and enjoy - that's the chef's treat to herself/himself, not served to clients, ha ha!
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