Lets Eat Turkey

The turkey is the most anticipated and most stressed over part of Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing can make you more proud than a perfect turkey and nothing can be more embarrassing than a dud! For those who have never cooked a turkey it can be very intimidating. The first time I cooked a turkey on my own (not counting the one Catharine and I cooked in college) I was a nervous wreck. We invited 16 adults (including my in-laws) to come for the feast. Catharine told me about the Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe and I was intrigued. You brine the turkey before roasting it. The coolest part of the episode was the method for roasting the turkey. You put foil over the turkey breast so the legs and breast can be done at the same time. The dark meat takes longer to cook than the breast so if you wait until the legs are done, the breast will be dry. The foil solves this problem. Here is a link to the roast turkey recipe. You can also watch the video of the episode from there.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html

We also cooked a turkey on the rotisserie. We pierced 2 oranges with cloves and put them in the cavity of the turkey. As it rotated on the rotisserie, the juices from the clove studded oranges moistened the meat. It was amazing! Here is a link for this wonderful recipe:
http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/recipe/view.aspx?c=poultry&r=176

Good luck on your turkey this Thanksgiving. They don't call it Turkey Day for nothing!