Thanksgiving Turkey?

Question

I am having about 12 people over for Thanksgiving this year...I have never made a turkey! Help anyone????

Answer 1

Aawww, I feel your pain sweety! The first time I made Thanksgiving dinner I was only 16 years old and it was for my whole family. I used this recipe and it turned out amazing. You could try out making it before hand, just to practice. You'll probably get sick of eating turkey, so you could chop it up and use it in other dishes (pot pie, sandwiches, quiches). That way you could be comfortable with making the dish. Here's the recipe:)

Bacon Turkey

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 bunch fresh sage, leaves finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 loaf cornbread, cubed (about 6 cups)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 cups chicken stock
1 (12 to 14 pound) fresh turkey
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup hot water
8 strips smoked bacon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 lemon, juiced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and remove the top rack.
Combine the butter and sage in a mixing bowl, mash with a fork or spoon until the sage is well incorporated and the butter has flecks of green in it; season with salt and pepper.

In a saute pan, melt 4 tablespoons of the sage butter, add the onions, cook and stir for 15 minutes until soft and golden. Remove from heat. Put the cornbread in a large mixing bowl and scrape the sauteed onion mixture on top. Add the egg, heavy cream, and just enough chicken stock to moisten the stuffing without making it soggy (about 1/2 cup.) Toss well to combine, season with salt and pepper.

Remove the neck and gizzards from the inside of the turkey and discard. Rinse the bird thoroughly inside and out with cold water, pat dry. Sprinkle the cavity and skin liberally with salt and pepper. Using your fingers, gently lift the skin from the breast and legs, and slip pieces of the sage butter underneath; massaging it in as you go. Fill the bird with the cornbread stuffing without packing too tightly; cook the remaining stuffing separately in a buttered baking dish. Truss the turkey; place it on a rack in a large roasting pan, and put into the oven.

Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and hot water to thin the glaze out a bit; use this to baste the turkey every 30 minutes. The turkey should take about 3 hours to cook (i.e. 15 to 20 minutes per pound.) If the legs or breast brown too quickly, cover with foil.

About 2 hours into cooking, shingle the strips of bacon oven the turkey breast to cover; continue to roast and baste for another hour or so. The turkey is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meatiest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F (the thigh juices will also run clear when pricked with a knife.) Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before carving, so the juices can settle back into the meat.

Skim off the excess fat from the pan drippings with a spoon and place the roasting pan over 2 burners set on medium-high heat. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up brown bits stuck to bottom of pan. Whisk the flour into the drippings, stirring as it thickens to prevent lumps. Add the remaining chicken stock and bring to a simmer; season with salt and pepper and hit it with a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. Simmer for 5 minutes and then strain to remove any particles. Serve the gravy with the maple-roasted turkey and cornbread stuffing.

Answer 2

Use a turkey cooking bag. They are so easy, and your turkey will come out perfect. Only takes half the time to cook it, too. The directions are on the box. You can find them in your grocery store, near the saran wrap area. Just thaw the turkey for a couple days in the fridge (if you buy a frozen one.) Rinse the inside out, removing the giblets. Stuff it if you want stuffing. Then follow the cooking bag instructions. There are all kinds of stuffing recipes online.

Answer 3

Oh, it is not difficult. I think you cook it at 350, 20 minutes per pound. So, if you have a 10 pound bird, that's 200 minutes, or 3 hours 20 minutes. That is for an unstuffed turkey. If you want to stuff it (!) it will need to be cooked longer.

Baste it with chicken broth a couple of times and if any parts of it start to get too brown, put some foil over those parts.

Look on foodtv.com or recipezaar.com

Answer 4

you will need about a 25 pound turkey, depending on how much they eat....just thaw in the fridge for 3 days BEFORE you need to cook it! Follow the instructions on the back of the turkey package and you will be fine! On the INSIDE of the turkey, there is a package of giblets, (heart, gizzard, liver).....MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THAT BEFORE YOU COOK THE BIRD!!! My sister still leaves the thing in about 1/2 the time!!! The way I do it is thaw, and the DAY BEFORE Thanksgiving, I stuff the bird early in the morning, put it in the fridge and at MIDNIGHT, the bird goes into a PREHEATED 170 degree oven.......let the bird cook slowly until about noon, turn up the heat to about 375 and brown the skin!

Answer 5

You have to make Jamie Oliver's turkey. I made it the last time I hosted Thanksgiving dinner and it was a hit! I pulled the recipe from the Today show website for you.

Roast Turkey
Serves 6 to 8

The big problem with cooking turkey is that the legs take longer to cook than the breasts. This means the breasts dry out in the oven waiting for the legs to catch up. In this recipe, I push sage and apricot stuffing up under the turkey breast skin, increasing the thickness of the breasts so they take the same time to cook as the legs. The result? Juicy turkey all round!

Some people brine the turkey, some people don't. Personally, I like to rub the turkey with table salt inside and out and put it in a clean plastic bag and refrigerate it overnight (12 to 24 hours). This removes all the excess moisture and allows it to cook beautifully.

12 small fresh rosemary sprigs, plus few extra
At least 8 cloves of garlic, 2 peeled
6 strips pancetta (smoked bacon)
9- to 10-pound organic free-range turkey
4 shallots, roughly chopped
2 carrots
1 big orange
Olive oil
1 teaspoon flour
1 quart or vegetable stock, for the gravy
A little white wine or sherry (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. To prep the turkey, rub it with salt inside and out 12 to 24 hours before cooking; table salt is fine. Store the salted turkey in a plastic bag and refrigerate. When ready to cook, rinse or wipe off excess salt. Pat it dry with paper towels and place on a board. Make a bed of roughly chopped shallots, 6 unpeeled garlic cloves, and carrots in your roasting pan to act as a rack.



Slice the strips of pancetta in half and slice the peeled garlic into thin slivers. Place a rosemary sprig and a garlic sliver on one end of a strip of pancetta and roll it up tightly. Repeat with the other pieces of pancetta until you have 12 little rolls.

Stab the thighs and drumsticks of the turkey in 6 places on each side. Push your finger into each slit to create a gap. Place each pancetta roll into the holes until it just peeps out. Find the edge of the skin at the turkey neck and with a rubber spatula or large spoon separate the skin from breast meat so that you can put the stuffing under the skin of the turkey breast. If you're careful you should be able to separate all the skin from the meat, keeping it attached at the sides but without ripping any holes in it.

From the neck end of the turkey, spoon the stuffing up between the skin and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to stop any leaking out during cooking. Microwave the orange for 30 to 60 seconds to get it nice and hot. Poke a hole in the hot orange and stuff it into the turkey cavity. You can also add some rosemary to the cavity.

Place the bird in roasting pan filled with the vegetables, season well with salt and pepper, and rub olive oil all over. Weigh the stuffed bird, cover with foil, and roast for 18 minutes per pound, or until the juices run clear from the thigh if pierced with a knife or a skewer. Remove foil for the last 45 minutes to brown the bird.

Remove the turkey and rest on a board for 20 minutes.

Remove most of the fat from the roasting pan. Mash the roast vegetables right in the pan with a potato masher. Add the flour, sherry and stock and bring to a boil on a high heat. When the gravy thickens, strain into a bowl. Serve the turkey with the gravy.

Answer 6

Thawing a Turkey



If you buy your turkey 1-2 days before Thanksgiving, you can prepare it fresh from the refrigerator. If your turkey is frozen, you will need to thaw it out beforehand. It is not safe to thaw a turkey on the counter at room temperature, so don't do it.



The best method to thaw out your turkey is in the refrigerator. Make a note to remove it from the freezer to begin the process before Thanksgiving. It takes about 3 days for the average 16 lb. turkey to thaw in the fridge.



If you forget to put it in the refrigerator to thaw, you can place the turkey in a sink filled with cold water. This will take up to 8 hours for the average 16 lb turkey. You will need to change the water frequently to keep it at a steady temperature.





Recipe Ingredients



* 1 whole turkey (16 lbs for our example)



* 1 stick of butter - room temperature



* Salt & pepper - Accent seasoning salt is ideal



* Stuffing (dressing) - optional



* Additional seasonings - optional





Roasting Your Turkey



Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place the oven rack in the lowest possible position to allow room for the roaster. Remove the turkey neck, giblets etc from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse your turkey in cold water, drain. Coat your roasting pan with no-stick cooking spray.



Place your turkey in the roasting pan and fill the cavity with stuffing if you choose to do this. Do not pack the stuffing tightly! Rub your turkey with the softened butter stick and sprinkle it with the seasonings of your choice (salt, pepper, Accent, etc.) Many turkeys come with a pop-out meat thermometer -- but they sometimes malfunction. Play it safe and insert your own meat thermometer into the thigh.



Cover the turkey loosely with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. While it's roasting, frequently baste the turkey with the butter and it's own natural juices. Remove the aluminum foil about 1 hour before the turkey is finished roasting. The average roasting time for a 16 lb turkey is up to 5 hours, but it's not done until your meat thermometer reads about 180 degrees.



When your turkey is done, remove the stuffing and let it stand for about 15 minutes to ease the carving process. Transfer the turkey to the serving platter and begin carving.





Additional Bird Roasting Tips



* Keep your hands clean, washing them throughout the process



* If you're concerned about the turkey being dry, have a can of turkey stock or broth on hand and baste the turkey with it while it's cooking.



* Consider baking the stuffing in a separate pan. The turkey will roast quicker and this insures the stuffing is not contaminated.



* Use the drippings for savory turkey gravy. Put the roasting pan right on the stovetop (usually over two burners) and make your gravy right in the pan.

Welcome to the newby Turkey makers...

Answer 7

Get a 20 pound turkey so you don't run out. Put it in the oven at 350 degrees and cook to perfection. Good Luck ! :)

Answer 8

there are a lot of recipes, there is a site where the recipe is not to bad on the turkey sound very good it is thanksgiving on the net

Answer 9

There are so many recipes online. Check out Better Homes and Gardens website www.bhg.com or just search "turkey". As my mom always said, "It's just a big chicken!"

Answer 10

Get a cookbook and follow the directions.