I LOVE making the Thanksgiving meal! The whole day is about eating good food, and anyone who loves to cook also loves to be appreciated!! For years now, I have done our turkey an "unconventional" way, but no one is ever disappointed, and I honestly have very few leftovers! What follows is a recipe similar to the technique I have used, and once you stuff your bird this way, you will never go back! It is an extraordinary way to roast turkey that produces a bird of incomparable moistness, with skin as crackly as a potato chip.
You should never rub a turkey's skin with anything but salt. The salt seals the pores and keeps the juices in the flesh. People make a mistake in rubbing turkey with fat, in basting it with drippings, and in roasting it at a low temperature, all of which make the juices run out.
What also distinguishes this method is where the stuffing goes -- a savory sausage paste — directly underneath the skin and leaves the body cavity empty. Roasting the turkey for 2-1/2 hours at 400°F produces a fine, juicy, most flavorful bird. The fatty meat cooks atop the turkey flesh, dripping down and moistening the skin throughout the baking time. What follows is my own adaptation of a timeless Portuguese recipe from Maria Eugénia Cerqueira da Mota.
Ingredients:
A fresh turkey weighing about 15 pounds
2 pounds salt (that's right, 2 pounds)
For the Stuffing:
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
You should never rub a turkey's skin with anything but salt. The salt seals the pores and keeps the juices in the flesh. People make a mistake in rubbing turkey with fat, in basting it with drippings, and in roasting it at a low temperature, all of which make the juices run out.
What also distinguishes this method is where the stuffing goes -- a savory sausage paste — directly underneath the skin and leaves the body cavity empty. Roasting the turkey for 2-1/2 hours at 400°F produces a fine, juicy, most flavorful bird. The fatty meat cooks atop the turkey flesh, dripping down and moistening the skin throughout the baking time. What follows is my own adaptation of a timeless Portuguese recipe from Maria Eugénia Cerqueira da Mota.
Ingredients:
A fresh turkey weighing about 15 pounds
2 pounds salt (that's right, 2 pounds)
For the Stuffing:
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 small loaves crusty French or Italian bread, diced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3-1/2 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 lbs. italian sausage
3 T minced onion
1 t. cayenne pepper powder
1 T lemon pepper
2 bags Pepperidge Farm seasoned croutons
Instructions:
Remove the giblets from the turkey and chop them finely to add to your stufing, or discard if you just can't bear the thought of cooking them. Fill the neck and body cavities of the turkey with salt, then rub the skin well all over with salt. Place the turkey and remaining salt in a very large deep kettle, add enough cold water just to cover the bird, and set in a very cool spot for 3 to 4 hours. (Maria Eugénia soaks her turkey a full 24 hours, but in America's superheated houses, that would be unwise.)
Toward the end of the soaking period, prepare the stuffing: In a large heavy kettle set over moderate heat, sauté the garlic in the butter and olive oil about 5 minutes until limp. Add the bread, salt, and pepper, and toss well; now add the chicken broth and beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pastelike; turn the heat to its lowest point, cover the kettle, and steam 15 to 20 minutes, until the bread has absorbed all the liquid. Add the egg yolks and beat hard until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the onion and sausage. Set all aside. Preheat the oven to hot (400°F; 205°C). Drain the turkey and rinse very well, removing every bit of salt from the neck and body cavities. It's important to rinse the bird several times in cool water, so that all traces of salt are gone. Place the bird on the counter with the neck cavity facing you. With your hands, begin working the skin free from the breast. Proceed gently, taking care not to tear the skin. It's slow going at first, but once you begin to free the skin, the job goes quickly. Loosen it all the way down the bird to within about 1 inch of the tail end, down both sides. Now, with your hands, push the stuffing bit by bit far down under the skin and continue, packing it in lightly, until the breast is covered with about a 1-inch layer. Now fill the neck cavity, skewer the neck skin flat against the back to enclose, and truss the bird.
Place the turkey breast-side up in a large shallow roasting pan (no rack needed) and roast uncovered for about 2-1/2 hours or until the bird is richly browned and a leg moves easily in the hip joint; do not baste. Remove from the oven and let stand 20 minutes.
Remove as much of the stuffing from the bird as possible, and put into a large stock pot. Ladle in 1/2 - 1 cup of the juices and bits from your roasting pan, breaking up the cooked stuffing, blend well. Add in the croutons, continue stirring and adding more of the turkey juices until your stuffing is the moistness you prefer.
Slice the turkey, make a smooth gravy from the remaining juices, and serve it all hot.
This should easily serve 20 guests, with a bit of left over meat, but don't count on much!
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3-1/2 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 lbs. italian sausage
3 T minced onion
1 t. cayenne pepper powder
1 T lemon pepper
2 bags Pepperidge Farm seasoned croutons
Instructions:
Remove the giblets from the turkey and chop them finely to add to your stufing, or discard if you just can't bear the thought of cooking them. Fill the neck and body cavities of the turkey with salt, then rub the skin well all over with salt. Place the turkey and remaining salt in a very large deep kettle, add enough cold water just to cover the bird, and set in a very cool spot for 3 to 4 hours. (Maria Eugénia soaks her turkey a full 24 hours, but in America's superheated houses, that would be unwise.)
Toward the end of the soaking period, prepare the stuffing: In a large heavy kettle set over moderate heat, sauté the garlic in the butter and olive oil about 5 minutes until limp. Add the bread, salt, and pepper, and toss well; now add the chicken broth and beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pastelike; turn the heat to its lowest point, cover the kettle, and steam 15 to 20 minutes, until the bread has absorbed all the liquid. Add the egg yolks and beat hard until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the onion and sausage. Set all aside. Preheat the oven to hot (400°F; 205°C). Drain the turkey and rinse very well, removing every bit of salt from the neck and body cavities. It's important to rinse the bird several times in cool water, so that all traces of salt are gone. Place the bird on the counter with the neck cavity facing you. With your hands, begin working the skin free from the breast. Proceed gently, taking care not to tear the skin. It's slow going at first, but once you begin to free the skin, the job goes quickly. Loosen it all the way down the bird to within about 1 inch of the tail end, down both sides. Now, with your hands, push the stuffing bit by bit far down under the skin and continue, packing it in lightly, until the breast is covered with about a 1-inch layer. Now fill the neck cavity, skewer the neck skin flat against the back to enclose, and truss the bird.
Place the turkey breast-side up in a large shallow roasting pan (no rack needed) and roast uncovered for about 2-1/2 hours or until the bird is richly browned and a leg moves easily in the hip joint; do not baste. Remove from the oven and let stand 20 minutes.
Remove as much of the stuffing from the bird as possible, and put into a large stock pot. Ladle in 1/2 - 1 cup of the juices and bits from your roasting pan, breaking up the cooked stuffing, blend well. Add in the croutons, continue stirring and adding more of the turkey juices until your stuffing is the moistness you prefer.
Slice the turkey, make a smooth gravy from the remaining juices, and serve it all hot.
This should easily serve 20 guests, with a bit of left over meat, but don't count on much!
2 comments:
Happy Thanksgiving Jodie!!! How did it go?
It was great, thanks! the most relaxing thanksgiving I have ever had...i will post about it so, but have a few weeks to catch up on first! how was yours??
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