Thanksgiving Tips

Since the year of "the cranberry sauce that changed everything," I have gained a lot of experience with Thanksgiving dinners. I have planned, prepared, and served about 13 such dinners with turkeys ranging in size from 20-35 pounds and guests ranging in number from 6 up to 30 people.  You read that right. One year we had a 35 lb. turkey, killed the day before by my husband (with assistance from a lead pipe and the people who raised them). Every year my Grandma comes, she asks, "how do you get the turkey so perfectly browned?" That is the tip I am going to share.

You can prepare the turkey the night before. I make the herb butter (not healthy, but oh so delicious) which I rub under the skin, everywhere I can get a few fingers between the meat and the skin without tearing the skin. Next, rub olive oil on top of the skin. Place the turkey BREAST SIDE DOWN in a roasting pan. This allows the turkey juices to drip down, making the breast meat more moist. Cover the whole thing and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, cut a double layer of cheesecloth big enough to cover the whole turkey. Soak it in chicken broth for a few minutes and lay it over the top of the turkey. Every 30 minutes, take the turkey out of the oven and baste the top with either the juices from the pan or chicken broth, depending on the amount of juice available. After about 2 hours, remove the cheesecloth but continue to baste every 30 minutes until the turkey reaches a temperature of 178 degrees. It should rise to 180 after removed from the oven. If the skin begins to get too dark, loosely tent it with foil until it is done. It comes out beautiful and juicy every time!

Garlic Herb Butter-From Martha Stewart. If you have extra herbs, add them to the turkey cavity before roasting.

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic head
• Olive oil for drizzling
• 3 T each chopped fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, and flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 tsp coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350, with rack in center. Place the garlic head on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle with oil. Loosely wrap garlic and roast until fragrant and very soft, about 1 hour. Remove from oven; let cool.
2. In a small bowl, combine herbs and butter. slice off tip of roasted garlic head with a serrated knife; discard. Squeeze garlic head firmly over bowl to release softened cloves. Season with salt and pepper and mix until smooth.