Recipes

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Roast turkey


After finding my cheap bird yesterday by accident I decided to dethaw it right away and cook it for Sunday dinner. This morning I picked up some fresh sage leaves which I think are a classic turkey herb and decided to make a simple wet rub with it using orange rind, olive oil and salt. After chopping it all up I loosened up the turkey skin and spread the mixture on the flesh. I then sliced up the orange and added it with the rest of the sage leaves to the cavity of the bird. Then I melted some honey and added the juice of the orange to it in order to baste the bird a few times while roasting. Pretty simple stuff really.
I have a really cool roasting pan that I picked up a few years ago at Costco and it's proved to be my favorite way to roast turkey's or a big chicken. I've also seen them at Walmart and a few of the bigger chains for $60-150.00. First of all they leave your oven free for all of the side dishes and desserts you still have to cook for dinner that day but more importantly, it roasts the turkey quicker than the oven because it's a more 'contained' heat which I find leaves it juicier and more tender almost like a crockpot would but you still get the roasting effect. I also baste the bird much less (maybe 3 times) because I don't like to lift the lid and let out the heat and steam. The best part of the roaster though is when the turkey is done and removed, I leave all of the juices in the roaster and then make my stock as soon as we're done dinner. Add all of the bones, skin and neck along with your stock veggies back into the same pan and cover it leaving it at about 250 degrees for 3 hrs. You can strain it then and leave the stock all night to get your fat to float to the top for easy removal. I'll let you know what kind of soup I make this week with the stock. Always planning ahead! I think I have a frozen apple pie made in September in the freezer for dessert.

2 comments:

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  2. funny. My first (and only) follower has commented. :)

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