NOVEMBER 27, 2014
Fallbrook/Bonsall Village News TheVillageNews.com
Page B-5
Dining Talking Turkey – Make your turkey delectable! Nathalie Taylor Special to the Village News The turkey is native to America and the entrée of choice at many Thanksgiving feasts and Christmas dinner tables. Most families have favorite recipes and methods of preparation. Also, thanks to the Internet, cooks are able to study various recipes and decide upon one that is right for them. The intent of this article is to provide a collection of testimonies to various methods of preparing and cooking a turkey. Maybe, like me, you have never even heard of some of these methods. Brining? What’s that? One good way to try a new recipe, or method of cooking, is to buy a small turkey and experiment. Find out what works, and, along the way you and your family will enjoy some delicious turkey meals! Spatchcock Until this week I had never heard of this word. But, thanks to Barbara Anderson Beard, I now know its meaning, and more importantly, can apply it to cooking a delicious holiday turkey. Find several in-depth spatchcock instructions online. It is simply a butterflied turkey with the backbone removed and the bird flattened. It cooks quickly, resulting in crispier skin. Barbara commented, “This is my favorite way to cook a turkey. It is so easy and cooks very quickly… We’ve cooked it on our Big Green Egg and it turns out moist and flavorful. I put herb butter under the skin to keep the breast moist. Once it’s done, it is so easy to carve.” Brining Brining a turkey makes it juicier. Charles Graham has brined his turkey for the past few years and commented, “It’s a little bit of extra work, but it sure seemed juicier to us.” He soaks his turkey in a brine solution for twenty-four hours before roasting. Does it make the turkey taste too salty? Charles says, “No.” Deb Zoller says she is also pleased with the brining method. After brining she cooks it in a turkey roaster. She also mentioned that the meat wasn’t overly salty. I discovered that there are two methods of brining a turkey: wet and dry. Christi Brotherton explained that her husband, Brent, has used both, but they prefer the dry because it is easier, and the end result, surprisingly, is a turkey that is moister than with the wet brine. Brent rubs the turkey with kosher salt, seals it in a cooking bag and refrigerates it for three days before cooking.
Basting Blanket C i n d a M o o r e K n u d s o n ’s grandmother always used a turkey basting blanket made from flour and water, and she has kept to her grandmother’s tradition. The dough is rolled out, then draped over the turkey, which is baked in the oven as usual. No basting needed! There is time to relax and have a glass of egg nog. The blanket is removed from the turkey during the last fifteen minutes of cooking so it can brown. “It turns out moist!” said Cinda. “The secret is draping the blanket over the top without ‘locking it in.’ Make sure the blanket doesn’t go to the bottom of the pan so it doesn’t sop up the juices.” Getting under the skin Herbing a turkey before cooking is something that Kathy Craig’s son practices. “He pulls the skin away from the body and puts fresh sage and butter under the skin – fabulous!” Trisha Popov says, “I inject chicken broth to the breast, and baste it throughout the cooking process.” She doesn’t use a rack in the pan, but prefers to let the turkey simmer in the juices as it cooks. She keeps it loosely covered with foil and removes it “the last thirty minutes or so.” Other methods Bill Bristol suggests using a roasting bag and putting some sliced apples and oranges in the bag before closing it. “They keep the turkey from drying out,” he noted. Cook a turkey upside down? It sounds crazy, but it works. Doug Rook suggested using this method so the juices would gather in the white meat. It actually worked. The white meat was juicier than it would have been with the conventional roasting method. However, if you display your turkey on the table before carving, bear in mind that the bird may be a bit uneven on the top. Kathy Greer said that her husband, Charlie, has barbequed their turkey for the last twenty years and she says, “It’s so moist and good!” I n o rd e r t o a v o i d f o o d contamination, it is a good idea to check out the government website: http://www.cdc.gov/features/ turkeytime/. Readers will find instructions on how to safely thaw, prepare, stuff and cook a turkey. To comment on this story online, visit www.thevillagenews.com.
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