11-26-2008, 05:07 AM
Yum! Turkeys are tasty. We started last week by cooking a turkey for leftovers. Now we have turkey broth and turkey bits to add into the stuffing for the official Turkey Day festivities. There's a couple loaves of molasses/whole wheat bread diced in the oven drying out for the stuffing. This year's stuffing will be traditional sage/turkey broth/brown bread stuffing. Diced & dried dark molasses whole wheat bread, onions, some oatmeal tossed in just cuz it's a big turkey and we will need lots of stuffing, celery, an apple, sage, thyme, salt, pepper, maybe a dash of blackstrap molasses since DH likes sweet things better than spicy things. Maybe some mushrooms and olives, too. Couple of eggs. Stuffing uses mostly whatever is at hand, it is a lot like soup.
Brining does seem to be the thing this year, doesn't it? The turkey is thawing in salt water in the big crock and I just took it out of the freezer early this morning so it should be done by late evening. It will go into the oven stuffed really early tomorrow morning, probably around 6:00. This is a twenty pounder so it won't fit in the covered pan so it will go in a big flat pan with aluminum foil over it. I usually put about a half inch of broth in the bottom of the pan and make the dressing/stuffing really wet so the turkey stays nice and moist.
No rack in the cooking pan, I don't think, although maybe one would fit in there. Racks are a pain to clean. Spray the pan with no-stick spray first, though, that helps in keeping things from sticking. If the turkey is inside a pan or bag with moisture already in it, basting isn't really necessary although it wouldn't hurt and you can check on it as it is roasting while you baste it. Once an hour, perhaps? It does let some of the heat out of the oven, though.
Giblets (heart, neck, gizzard) are usually stewed a bit first and then chopped for adding to the stuffing. I like to add herbs and onion to the stewing water. Generally, I fry the liver separate and have it sliced on a bit of bread with mustard, but that might be a personal taste sort of thing. Otherwise, the dogs adore fried turkey liver.
Brining does seem to be the thing this year, doesn't it? The turkey is thawing in salt water in the big crock and I just took it out of the freezer early this morning so it should be done by late evening. It will go into the oven stuffed really early tomorrow morning, probably around 6:00. This is a twenty pounder so it won't fit in the covered pan so it will go in a big flat pan with aluminum foil over it. I usually put about a half inch of broth in the bottom of the pan and make the dressing/stuffing really wet so the turkey stays nice and moist.
No rack in the cooking pan, I don't think, although maybe one would fit in there. Racks are a pain to clean. Spray the pan with no-stick spray first, though, that helps in keeping things from sticking. If the turkey is inside a pan or bag with moisture already in it, basting isn't really necessary although it wouldn't hurt and you can check on it as it is roasting while you baste it. Once an hour, perhaps? It does let some of the heat out of the oven, though.
Giblets (heart, neck, gizzard) are usually stewed a bit first and then chopped for adding to the stuffing. I like to add herbs and onion to the stewing water. Generally, I fry the liver separate and have it sliced on a bit of bread with mustard, but that might be a personal taste sort of thing. Otherwise, the dogs adore fried turkey liver.
Kurt Wilson
] Will spray just for them though.
