The Turkey: Centerpiece of the Meal
I imagine it is possible to have Thanksgiving without a turkey, but I have never, never in my life seen one. Wherever we are, by hook or by crook, we find a turkey.
The irony is that it doesn’t even matter if you like turkey that much – and turkey can be tough and dry if overcooked – it is tradition. You can skip other things, but if you don’t have a turkey, you probably should at least have a paper turkey in the center of your table, something, anything, that will satisfy the need for “rightness” as in “this isn’t right!” if there is no turkey.
The good news is that left over turkey makes great sandwiches, filling for burritos, makes great sweet n’ sour, makes great turkey-noodle soup, cassarols – there are a lot of uses for cooked, left over turkey. If that doesn’t appeal to you, buy a bunch of those wonderful tin trays with lids at the supermarkets and send all your guests home with leftovers!
Your turkey will come with instructions. I usually thaw mine in the refrigerator – it takes up space that on Thanksgiving Day, when take the turkey out to cook, there is space for things I need to store for dinner. Space in the refrigerator will be a very good thing (says Martha).
Be sure to take out the innards. If you are going to make gravy, this is what most people use. You slow simmer the neck and gizzards in about a litre of water. You can pull meat off, and be sure to get all the bones out. That stock will be part of the gravy later on.
Your turkey roasting pan should have sides at least 10 cm (4 inches) high, because of all the turkey juice that leaks out. HINT: Spray that pan liberally with oil – it will be easier to clean down the road, trust me on this. I have a wonderful kitchen gadget that you put olive oil in and pump, and it sprays pure olive oil just like one of those store-bought sprays full of chemicals.
Spray the pan. Spray the turkey. Place the turkey in the pan, breast side up. (I have cooked them upside down and they were OK, too.) Put strips of fatty bacon over the top of the turkey.
Now here is the great secret: Put your turkey in a paper bag, tray and all, and staple shut. If you are using a meat thermometer, put it in the turkey right through the paper bag, it’s OK. Put the turkey in the oven at the temperature it says in your instructions that came with the turkey. (Usually around 180 C.) Every 30 minutes or so, spray that bag with water, like with the sprayer you use to spray clothes that need ironing.
When the turkey has an hour of cooking left, tear off that paper bag and begin basting, which is dripping the turkey juices back over the turkey. Baste every 15 minutes or so.
The house should smell wonderful by now. The turkey needs to come out of the oven about half an hour before serving. It needs to sit for 10 minutes and then someone needs to carve it, i.e. cut slices of it for serving. Often the big turkey wings are put on the plate of sliced turkey and some young man will eat the turkey right off the bone.
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Ok two questions:
1) Isnt the paper bag in the oven a fire hazard?
2) I am (ashamed) having the Turkey itself catered. (My siblings wouldn’t allow me to try cooking myself when I told them I’m inviting people over inshala). SO ANYWAY, I told the caterers to have it ready by 3 and told the guests to come by four. We have this heating cabinet, not sure what it’s called in English, but it looks like a short brown cupboard that you keep indoors. It’s not an oven but it is pretty hot so is it safe to just keep the Turkey in there until we actually serve dinner?
1) Hmmmm. Maybe. I’ve never thought about it. You use those large grocery bags, and you staple it shut, it encloses the entire turkey AND the pan it is in. You spray it with water every now and then . . . and you tear it off an hour before it is finished, so that it gets nice and brown. . .
AHA! Remember Ray Bradbury’s book Fahrenheit 451? And 451 (F) is the temperature at which paper burns? So when you are cooking turkey at 350 (F) or (180 C) it is lower than the temperature at which paper catches fire.
(Woooooo Hoooooo! I didn’t know I knew that until you asked!)
2) Some years I buy turkeys, too. It’s OK. Remember, it’s all about gathering your family and friends.
I am sorry, but I really don’t know what this short brown cupboard is . . . but I would keep the temperature very low, and I would wrap the turkey is several layers of aluminum foil to keep it from drying out. Ugh! Dried out turkey!