Please Help : Turkey Recipes?

Have you tried allrecipes.com? I get everything I need from them. You can search for specific recipes and read reviews of members who have tried said recipes. It is free to join. They have a huge section devoted to Holiday meals. They also have videos to show you how to do specific things. It is awesome. The only web site I go to for recipes. Good luck.

As a bit of background, my mom is a chef. She has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, and now is a chef instructor at a culinary institute. So she actually teaches this kind of thing for a living! ;) She always dry-brines her turkey, which is actually really simple, and yields FABULOUS results. If you don't have room in your oven... you can actually barbecue your turkey after dry-brining it! (We have done this for years - specific instructions for that can be had on the Weber website if you're interested.) Anyway, here's a recipe to get you started. Please note - my mom says that dry-brining a turkey (vs doing a brine where there is chicken stock or water) actually creates a MUCH more flavorful turkey, and it will turn out very moist. Your guests will be wowed, I promise! Also - do not put stuffing inside the turkey, whatever you do. Prepare the stuffing in a separate casserole dish - both items will come out better when prepared on their own.

The below recipe was published in the LA Times last year:

Dry-brined turkey

Total time: 2 hours, 50 minutes, plus 3 days brining and drying time

Servings: 11 to 15

Note: This is more a technique than a recipe. It makes a bird that has concentrated turkey flavor and fine, firm flesh and that is delicious as it is. But you can add other flavors as you wish. Minced rosemary would be a nice finishing addition. Or brush the bird lightly with butter before roasting.

1 (12- to 16-pound) turkey

Kosher salt

1. Wash the turkey inside and out, pat it dry and weigh it. Measure 1 tablespoon of salt into a bowl for every 5 pounds the turkey weighs (for a 15-pound turkey, you'd have 3 tablespoons).

2. Sprinkle the inside of the turkey lightly with salt. Place the turkey on its back and salt the breasts, concentrating the salt in the center, where the meat is thickest. You'll probably use a little more than a tablespoon. It should look liberally seasoned, but not over-salted.

3. Turn the turkey on one side and sprinkle the entire side with salt, concentrating on the thigh. You should use a little less than a tablespoon. Flip the turkey over and do the same with the opposite side.

4. Place the turkey in a 2½-gallon sealable plastic bag, press out the air and seal tightly. Place the turkey breast-side up in the refrigerator. Chill for 3 days, turning it onto its breast for the last day.

5. Remove the turkey from the bag. There should be no salt visible on the surface, and the skin should be moist but not wet. Place the turkey breast-side up on a plate and refrigerate uncovered for at least 8 hours.

6. On the day it is to be cooked, remove the turkey from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

7. Place the turkey breast-side down on a roasting rack in a roasting pan; put it in the oven. After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and carefully turn the turkey over so the breast is facing up (it's easiest to do this by hand, using kitchen towels or oven mitts).

8. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees, return the turkey to the oven and roast until a thermometer inserted in the deepest part of the thigh, but not touching the bone, reads 165 degrees, about 2¾ hours total roasting.

9. Remove the turkey from the oven, transfer it to a warm platter or carving board; tent loosely with foil. Let stand at least 30 minutes to let the juices redistribute through the meat. Carve and serve.

Hit your local library tomorrow and look for this month's Bon Appetit magazine. Their November issue always has lovely turkey recipes and other Thanksgiving recipes. Other good sources are Cooking Light magazine and Cook's Illustrated. If you prefer to find your cooking advice online, go to the Food Network site and look at Alton Brown's materials. His recipes are good, and they may have video available.

One thing that will make a huge difference in how tender in tasty your turkey is is brining, which is soaking it in a salty liquid overnight before roasting. Any of the sources I list above will have specific directions about how to do that.

How on earth did a vegetarian get persuaded to make the turkey? :-)

I agree with Cheryl B. Also, I use Tony Chachere's creole butter injectable marinade. That also will give you a juicy turkey even days later when you're still snacking on leftovers. I inject marinade and watch the bird get puffy and I don't stop until all the marinade is gone bc you can never have too juicy of a bird! Especially in the breast area.

Also, since you are a vegetarian, you may want to know that taking left over turkey and adding taco seasonings makes great turkey tacos for your family members who are not vegetarians.

Gobble Gobble!!! Enjoy!!!

Everyone has their own special way of preparing the turkey. Many swear by brining (soaking in a salt water and spice solution). My MIL places strips of bacon on the top. Some people baste, while others say forget the basting. Many beleive that injecting the bird is the best way to go.

Personally, I have found that a fresh turkey is most moist than a frozen one. Don't depend on those little plastic pop up thermometers that are placed in the bird, use a meat thermometer. Also after the turkey is done and removed from the oven, make sure you give it time to rest before carving.

If you have some time, check out one of the shows on the food network. I learned alot last year watching "Good Eats".

You only need 2 things, period.

1) A meat thermometer.

It's done when, inserted in the thigh (breast will work as well, but thighs may have to go back in for a bit, in the thigh guarantees the whole bird), the meat thermometer reads

180 degrees.

Period.

Pull it out when it reads 165-70, because it will rise another 10-20 degrees as it ...

2) Rests.

When you pull your bird out (oven, bbq, deep fryer, whatever your cooking method)... you HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO let it sit for 10-25 minutes. Plan on 1 minute per pound.

Why?

Because the steam lyses (cuts through/ explodes) the muscle cells when you cut into it if it's still steaming. This is true with ALL meats. If it's poked, cut into, etc... before "resting" the juices run out of it, and it gets dried out.

((When you're temping it as you cook it, keep a peppercorn/garlic clove/something, handy to shove into the hole.))

After it's rested, and the steam isn't lysing out... it will be VERY juicy (if cooked to 180), because the juices stay IN the cells.

It WILL still be warm/hot. It just won't be pouring all of it's juices out onto the pan/plates. Super. Tender/Juicy.

PS: People often go by "per pound" cooking times. DON'T. This will only get you to 180 by LUCK. Ovens cook at different temps (usually a size issue, as in different sized birds in different sized ovens). Birds are prepped in different ways (stuffed, and with what, and how densly... partial precook -acids/steams-, butterflied, etc.). Some joints are looser than others (many people tug on a leg, which is a GREAT trick. But it can get you an overdone bird if it has tight ligaments, or is trussed). People OFTEN end up with 250 degree birds, or 150 degree birds going by timing per pound. 250 = dry. 150 = pink (raw). If you want snow white breast dripping juices, and perfectly browned dark meat... you want that bird at 180.
_________________________________

If you follow the 2 above things... 180 degrees and Resting... you can use ANY method, ANY recipe (there are dozens of great methods, and thousands of recipes). It's "cooking meat 101". So, if you know it, my apologies... but I'm constantly surprised how many meat eaters don't!!!! (Especially steak eaters! Put. That. Knife. Away!!! Aieee! Do NOT cut into it yet! We're waiting 5 minutes. Ahem, with smaller cuts, the resting period ratio is different. With a 10-30lb turkey, you want to wait 10-30 minutes)

__________
__________

PPS... One thing almost everyone does at some point (even 30 turkeys in, but often on #1) is to forget to pull the giblets out. In the body cavity AND they neck cavity will be 2 paper/plastic sacks. One with have organs, the other will have neck/etc. Make sure you get both bags out AND wash out the turkey, water only, inside and out before cooking. Very little tastes/smells worse than turkey cooked with giblet bags in. Blech!

A girl in my office yesterday was singing the praises of the oven bags. She said you put the turkey in, it bastes itself and you pull out of the bag for the last bit to get it browned.

Obviously I have never cooked a turkey either. here is a link to the oven bag recipe/method.
http://www.reynoldsovenbags.com/turkey-central.aspx

Buy Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning and Tony Chachere's cajun butter (with the injector).

Clean and wash the turkey. Inject it with the cajun butter the night before. Refrigerate. In the morning, rub the outside of the turkey with the seasoning. Follow Riley's directions for cooking the rest of the way.

Wash out the turkey really well, make sure all the lung tisue has been pulled out, it makes the meat bitter. Sometimes the giblets are in the body cavity and sometimes in the neck cavity, in a paper bag. Take those out and rinse them well, set aside. I like the stuffing in the bird, it just tastes better. As long as you use a food thermometer and make sure the stuffing and bird are at 165* when done you're okay. But I digress, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and garlic powder inside the bird, then stuff. Place in a large dutch oven or Nesco type roaster, add water to pan season the top as you did the inside, cover it tightly. I would say plan to cook it 25-30 minutes/pound, so a 10 lb turkey will take 5 hours to cook at 350*. About every half hour use a baster to squirt the liquid from the pan over the top of the turkey to keep it moist. The turkey is done when the joints at the leg and wing move easily and the inside temp reaches 165*. You can add the giblets to the pan to cook with the turkey or place them in a separate pan to bake, or make a separate or extra pan of stuffing and place the giblets on top of that stuffing.
To thicken the juices to make gravy, add flour or cornstarch to water in a jar with a lid, shake. Remove bird from pan and all the small pieces, bring juices to an almost boil and add thickener to make gravy, you may need to add water to get the right consistancy. Flour makes it look kinda creamy, corn starch makes it look kinda shiny.

Good luck I'm sure it will be wonderful.

The easiest way to make a delicious, tender, juicy turkey is to use a cooking bag.

All you have to do is wash the turkey, rub salt on the inside cavity; I season with sage and poultry seasoning, and then rub the entire turkey with olive oil, but it in the bag, close the bag, poke a few holes to vent and put it in the oven. No basting - just let it cook. As for timing, go by the instructions you get with the cooking bags. The turkey will be perfect!

Good luck and have a wonderful holiday!

with my experience, however you brine it, baste it, whatever,put it in one of those Reynolds Turkey bags. It will taste moist and delicious!

I cooked my first Turkey a few weeks ago it came out perfect.

1. Completely defrost it and take out the Heart/liver in the bag, and the neck).

2. I put bacon on the top, and where I dont put bacon I took olive oil and rubbed it, (like on the legs)

3. 1/2 onion, 1 Carrot and 1 celery. I put it inside the Turkey/

Put it in the oven, I did not baste it, because I could not find my baster at the time.

Let it sit out 15-20 mins before you try carving.

Good luck.

I was so interested to read Catherine C's dry-brining method and am going to try that this year. BUT - I have been cooking my turkey breast side down for the first half of the cooking time for the last 15+ years and it makes a huge difference. The dark meat is on the bottom of the turkey and is already moist as it's more fatty in content. The white meat of the breast has a low fat content and is usually cooked on the topside and can get VERY dry - which is why we all have this image of a 1950's era mom basting the turkey (with the apron on!). My mom would lay strips of bacon across the top of the turkey.
Since reading about it in a food magazine I've been roasting my turkey "upside down" - then about 2 hours before it's due to be done my sister and I (and now my daughter) flip it over to let the breast brown. It makes for a nice moist turkey breast -true, it's not easy - but it works.