How do you make a turkey?

Question

I dont know how to make a turkey this is going to be my first year of cooking thanksgiving dinner. how long do you cook it for, and on what? I know how to bast it i've done that for my mom plenty of times. and do you cut it against the grain or on the grain? Also how do you stuff it with stuffing? Can you just use stove top or do you have to make home made stuffing? how do you make homemade stuffing? And one last question how do you make homemade gravy? I love homemade turkey gravy. What other dishes should i have on the side?

Answer 1

Go to allrecipes.com
They are a great site and have very simple step by step basics on cooking a turkey. The turkey will be easy, the stuffing can be tricky. Do not use stovetop, ugh! Yuck. Make homemade. Once you have the steps down you can season and add what you like. It'll be great! Have fun.

Answer 2

Don't stuff your bird. Seriously, if any part of the bird is undercooked, nasties will be in the stuffing. Make the stuffing separately.

Make homemade stuffing, it's not hard. Get a 1 lb. loaf of French bread and cut it into 3/4"-1" cubes. Put them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and let sit out all night to dry a little.

Get a container of fresh sliced mushrooms, a red onion, and a stalk of celery. Melt a stick of butter in a large pan over med-med-high. Chop 1/3 of the celery and all the onion. Put celery, all the mushrooms, and chopped onion, and a lot of minced garlic in and saute until soft.

Toss all that with the bread cubes, add sage, and drizzle and toss with 2-3 cups of chicken broth. Put in a greased baking pan and bake at 350F (can be done with the turkey if you have room in the oven) for 45 minutes. Check on it every 15 minutes for moisture, you might need to drizzle it with more chicken broth so it doesn't dry out.

Good luck hon! Don't worry, it's easy!

Answer 3

This website has a menu planner for Thanksgiving with step-by-step directions of what to do. http://www.gourmet-food-revolution.com

Another choice (not on that site) is to cook the turkey in one of those big plastic Reynolds bags. The recipe is inside the box. It's very easy and the turkey turns out nice and tender.

If you don't want to make homemade gravy and you live near a Honeybacked Ham, you can pick up a great one from them and just heat it up.

Answer 4

Since you've already got your recipe/instructions for the turkey, I just thought I'd pass on a tip for you. If you don't want to bother with stuffing the turkey, this is an alternative way to cook it separately.

Coat 12-cup muffin pan with melted butter. Using an ice cream scoop, fill and mound stuffing mixture into muffin cups. Bake at 375* until set and top is crisp, 20-30 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer to platter.

Answer 5

Call your local restaurant and order Turkey & Dressing w/ gravy & dinner rolls. Then use your kitchen time to make yummy & easy sides like coleslaw, sweet potato casserole, fried corn, green beans, honey-glazed carrots, etc. You can also go to your local bakery & get a few yummy desserts. This way you are not too overwhelmed for your first try & can actually enjoy the holiday!!

Answer 6

ROAST TURKEY WITH GRAVY

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Main Dish Appetizers
Poultry Microwave

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
12 lb Turkey
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tb Flour
Salt and pepper
Chicken broth

1. If turkey is frozen it may be defrosted in the
Microwave Oven (follow directions in your manual), or
it may be defrosted by placing it in the refrigerator
overnight or until thawed. 2. Wash turkey and pat it
dry. Sprinkle inside cavity with salt and pepper, to
taste. 3. Tie legs together. Tie wings and legs to
body. 4. Invert a heat-resistant, non-metallic saucer
or small casserole cover in a shallow, 10-inch,
heat-resistant, non- metallic baking dish.
5. Place turkey breast-side-down on the saucer.
6. Heat, uncovercd, for half of cooking time, 3
minutes per pound (36 minutes).
7. Turn the turkey breast-side-up and continue cooking
covered with a paper towel for the remaining half of
the cooking time. (3 minutes per pound or an
additional 36 minutes). 8. Insert a meat thermometer
into fleshy portion of turkey, not touching any bones.
It should register 160ø F. DO NOT PLACE THERMOMETER IN
MICROWAVE OVEN while cooking. 9. If temperature is not
160ø F return turkey to Microwave Oven for an
additional few minutes until correct temperature is
reached. 10. Let turkey stand covered with aluminum
foil at room temperature 20 to 30 minutes to finish
cooking. The internal temperature of the turkey should
be 170øF after standing. 11. While the turkey is
standing at room temperature, prepare the gravy. The
turkey should be removed from the roasting pan. 12.
Pour the pan drippings into a bowl, leaving the
residue in the pan.
13. Allow the fat to rise to the top. Skim off about 6
tablespoons of fat. Reserve pan drippings. (If there
is not enough fat, add butter or margarine to make 6
tablespoons total. Discard any excess fat.)
14. Return fat to the baking dish.
15. Blend in flour and salt and pepper, to taste.
16. Heat, uncovered, in Microwave Oven 4 minutes or
until lightly browned.
17. Measure the remaining pan drippings and add enough
chicken broth to make 3 cups.
18. Gradually stir liquid into flour mixture until
smooth, scraping the sides of the pan to loosen any
particles that stick to the pan.
19. Heat, uncovered, in Microwave Oven 14 minutes or
until thickened and smooth. Stir occasionally during
last half of cooking.

Answer 7

deep fry or bake in oven depending on size for 8 hours or 5 and use stove top stuffing its the best and so many flavors

Answer 8

Put it in the over for 3.5 hours and based every 20 minutes with a turkey baster.

Answer 9

http://www.foodgeeks.com/