For Thanksgiving this year, my office had a "hall"iday party, where everyone in our looong hallway participated......Mission-based Management, Dean's Finance, and School of Medicine Curriculum. Once again, it was a potluck. I swear, 99% of work parties are potluck. Not that it's a bad thing, but sometimes it's nice to go out and have an actual NICE meal together. Oh well.
So, being the go-getter that I am, I (stupidly) signed up to bring the turkey. Why? I don't know. I've already established myself as a capable cook, having never brought in something gross (I wouldn't bring it in, to be honest). Everything that I cook and bring in to work has to be Kasia-approved anyway. She would tell me if it was sub-par. If that EVER happens, you better believe I would scrap the project and start over. I've been in that awkward position too many times before where I've been forced to eat/try something gross that a coworker made. I do not wish that upon anyone. But I digress........
I had never baked a turkey before. I had baked a chicken or two, so that idea wasn't too foreign to me. However, it was THE turkey. Having never baked one before, I was unaware that it was best to purchase the bird days in advance to allow adequate time to thaw in the fridge. 3 days before the luncheon (shopping on Friday, party on Monday), I bought two 17lb birds. Frozen. Completely frozen. I didn't know how much turkey I should bring. We were feeding quite a few people and I didn't want anyone to have to scrimp on their portions.
I placed a panicked call to my mother to get some advice on thawing the birds. She gave me some great advice, but I still faced the daunting task of defrostation. The birds were heavy, and I didn't have enough time or fridge space for normal thawing. I had a "brilliant" idea and called Kasia on my way home from the store. I asked her if she could quickly do a once-over scrub on the bathtub. It was the only place I could theoretically thaw out the birds. Luckily, she is so used to my weird requests and didn't question me. When I got home, I realized that the birds wouldn't stay submerged in the tub. Kasia had the idea to use the plastic bin that I store my niece's toys in (I have since thrown it out.....no way was I going to let my niece play with toys that even came CLOSE to a raw bird). It worked!
Yes, we are white trash. Don't you just love how the edges are bowing out? I was afraid it was going to break at one point. Whatever, it worked. I had to make sure the temperature of the water was just right and changed it every 2-3 hours. It was a long Friday night. I'm pretty sure we went and saw the new James Bond movie that night too.
Let me just say this: I've mentioned before in a previous post that I can play with dead bodies and be totally fine with it. Handling a raw bird......not my strongest moment in life. I asked Kasia to stand by me next to the sink as I washed out the cavity, removed the gizzards, looked for little pinfeathers, and rinsed everywhere. I would seriously scream every time I felt one of the joints move. Those suckers were heavy! I think Kasia and I were crying by the end of it!! Who knew that a dead turkey's joints would still work?! Because I sure didn't! Woof!!
Saturday, I wanted to brine the turkey. I had researched a bunch and found that brining the turkey helps keep it moist and tasty. This was interesting. I bought 2 oven bags and a TON of sea salt. Once the birds were completely thawed out, I put about 2-3 cups of salt all over them, in the creases and in the cavity, stuck them in individual bags, and filled them with ice cold water, tying them up nice and tight. Normally, you're supposed to put them in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Well, we still didn't have room in the fridge. Good news: it was in the 20s outside and was going to stay below freezing all night long. So what did I do? I stuck them in the pink tub outside on the deck. Problem solved.
Sunday, I had a marathon of baking. I ended up cooking the birds upside-down. Why? I heard that it keeps the breasts moist. There's nothing worse than dry turkey meat. 3.5 hours into cooking, I flipped the bird over. I was careful to cook them thoroughly. I didn't want pink anything on the birds. Of course, I cooked them one at a time. I was excited when the first one came out looking pretty yummy:
So, being the go-getter that I am, I (stupidly) signed up to bring the turkey. Why? I don't know. I've already established myself as a capable cook, having never brought in something gross (I wouldn't bring it in, to be honest). Everything that I cook and bring in to work has to be Kasia-approved anyway. She would tell me if it was sub-par. If that EVER happens, you better believe I would scrap the project and start over. I've been in that awkward position too many times before where I've been forced to eat/try something gross that a coworker made. I do not wish that upon anyone. But I digress........
I had never baked a turkey before. I had baked a chicken or two, so that idea wasn't too foreign to me. However, it was THE turkey. Having never baked one before, I was unaware that it was best to purchase the bird days in advance to allow adequate time to thaw in the fridge. 3 days before the luncheon (shopping on Friday, party on Monday), I bought two 17lb birds. Frozen. Completely frozen. I didn't know how much turkey I should bring. We were feeding quite a few people and I didn't want anyone to have to scrimp on their portions.
I placed a panicked call to my mother to get some advice on thawing the birds. She gave me some great advice, but I still faced the daunting task of defrostation. The birds were heavy, and I didn't have enough time or fridge space for normal thawing. I had a "brilliant" idea and called Kasia on my way home from the store. I asked her if she could quickly do a once-over scrub on the bathtub. It was the only place I could theoretically thaw out the birds. Luckily, she is so used to my weird requests and didn't question me. When I got home, I realized that the birds wouldn't stay submerged in the tub. Kasia had the idea to use the plastic bin that I store my niece's toys in (I have since thrown it out.....no way was I going to let my niece play with toys that even came CLOSE to a raw bird). It worked!
The new problem was that they were still having a hard time staying submerged. We had to improvise with the crock pot and some large bowls:
Yes, we are white trash. Don't you just love how the edges are bowing out? I was afraid it was going to break at one point. Whatever, it worked. I had to make sure the temperature of the water was just right and changed it every 2-3 hours. It was a long Friday night. I'm pretty sure we went and saw the new James Bond movie that night too.
Let me just say this: I've mentioned before in a previous post that I can play with dead bodies and be totally fine with it. Handling a raw bird......not my strongest moment in life. I asked Kasia to stand by me next to the sink as I washed out the cavity, removed the gizzards, looked for little pinfeathers, and rinsed everywhere. I would seriously scream every time I felt one of the joints move. Those suckers were heavy! I think Kasia and I were crying by the end of it!! Who knew that a dead turkey's joints would still work?! Because I sure didn't! Woof!!
Sunday, I had a marathon of baking. I ended up cooking the birds upside-down. Why? I heard that it keeps the breasts moist. There's nothing worse than dry turkey meat. 3.5 hours into cooking, I flipped the bird over. I was careful to cook them thoroughly. I didn't want pink anything on the birds. Of course, I cooked them one at a time. I was excited when the first one came out looking pretty yummy:
I let him cool while I put in a ham for dinner. I know, I know. Yes, I cooked 2 turkeys and a ham in the same day. I wanted ham for Sunday dinner. It was delish! Anyway, once the first bird cooled, I carved him up (after watching a few how-to videos on YouTube) and put him in plastic baggies. I must admit, I was a little worried and skiddish about the whole carving idea. I once again, asked Kasia to just sit by me while I did it. Nothing major happened other than a LOT of laughing while I carved. I finished carving the second bird super late in the evening/morning. Both birds went into gallon-sized Ziploc baggies and then into 2 crock pots. No, I didn't take the train. What a trip that would be! Thank goodness a coworker lives close to me and helped me transport them to the office. Ironically, she's a vegetarian. Thankfully she wasn't opposed to helping me out a bit.....
The turkey was a hit! Everyone complimented how moist the meat was and how tasty overall. I was so excited! It's always a big deal when your first attempt at cooking something new is a hit.
What have I learned from this experience? 1. I can now cook a turkey or two. 2. I will never make one that has to be transported again!! Here is the recipe for just 1 bird. I obviously had to double everything!!
INGREDIENTS
2 c sea salt (for brine)
1/2 c butter, melted and UNSALTED
2 onions diced
4 carrots chopped
4 celery stalks chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh sage
1 bay leaf
1 lemon
1 green apple
1 c dry white wine
DIRECTIONS
1. Rub turkey inside and out with the salt. Place the bird in a large oven bag, and cover with cold water. Place in the fridge (or outside if it's cold enough), and allow the turkey to soak in the mixture for at least 12 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350* after brined. Thoroughly rinse the turkey and discard yucky salt water.
3. Brush the turkey with 1/2 of the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the veggies and herbs, and the bay leaf. Cut the lemon in half and put half in the cavity. Cut the apple in half and remove seeds. Stuff both halves in the cavity.
4. Scatter the remaining veggies and herbs around the bottom of the roasting pan. Squeeze the other half of the lemon onto the bird and cover with white wine.
5. Roast uncovered 3.5-4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temp of the bird reaches 180*. Carefully turn the bird over about 2/3 of the way through cooking, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.
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