It’s a week before Thanksgiving and all through the house,
I have recipes all scattered…and you won’t find a mouse.
The turkey is bought, yes it’s a week still away,
the fixin’s are all counted for and I know I won’t stray.
I’ll make the same thing as last year as everyone left content,
I want to skip on making the peas…wait did i just say that? It’s not really what I meant.
I hope you all find joy and happiness and make sure to give thanks,
and if you can’t make a turkey, you can always make yourself some franks!
Ok so that was my attempt at a cute Thanksgiving fun. I can’t tell you all the stories I’ve encountered with making turkey for Thanksgiving but I can share that there has been uncooked turkey, overcooked turkey, butterball turkey…and every other kind of turkey story in between. A few years back, I called my Zia (aunt in Italian) and asked her how she prepared her turkey as my mother is no longer with me and I wanted some family advice, she gave me some of her pointers and I included my normal Thanksgiving turkey fixins and now I have what I consider to be the best turkey recipe ever!!!!
1) First off, I always start with a brine, I use the William Sonoma brine which we just love and I just follow the directions on the package, the brine is great because you do it the night before and I do really believe that it helps with keeping the turkey moist.
2) I always give my turkey a “wine bath” I basically purchase a cheap bottle of white wine and after the brine, I pour white the wine to wash off any of the brine.
3) I always use sliced oranges on the bottom of the pan with fresh bay leaves.
4) I always stuff put some butter that has been left at room temperature and mixed with chopped herb sunder the skin of my turkey.
5) I always stuff my turkey with lemons, apples, oranges, celery or whatever else I have around, this year i even used onions!
6) I try to get a turkey that is 17 pounds or less as it’s much more tender then the bigger turkeys (I have been known to even buy two turkeys for larger parties)
7) Finally, I always follow the baking rules for the turkey I buy.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as it’s my “no fail” amazing turkey!
Ingredients
- 20 pound Turkey, brine over night
- 1 jar Brine, William Sonoma
- 1 ½ sticks Butter, room temperature
- 2 packages Fresh poultry herbs or fresh poultry herbs from your garden
- 1 package Sage
- 1 package Bay leaves (I use fresh from the farmers market)
- 4 whole Oranges
- 1 whole Lemon
- 1 whole Green apple
- White wine
- Oil
- Salt and pepper
- 3 Stalks celery
- Orange juice
Directions
- Twenty-four hours before Thanksgiving, brine your turkey, following the instructions on the jar or package. Whether or not you brine, make sure to remove the neck and giblets that are in the cavity of the turkey.
- On Thanksgiving Day, remove your turkey from the brine and, use half a bottle of wine to give your turkey a "wine bath," basically rinsing your turkey. This is my Italian secret). Reserve 1/2 of the bottle of wine for later. Pat your turkey dry with paper towels. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- On the bottom of a roasting pan, add the orange slices and lay the bay leaves on top. Set the pan aside.
- Chop the fresh herbs (excluding the bay leaves) and combine with the butter. Add the orange and lemon zest to the butter and mix well. Put the butter mixture under the skin of the turkey, focusing on the breast area. In the cavity of turkey, place lemon, and remaining orange slices, celery, apple and any remaining herbs.
- Place turkey on top of the orange slices, breast side up. Add the orange juice and the remaining wine to the pan. Put some oil on the turkey and season it with salt and pepper.
- Cover it with aluminum foil and cook until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees. The juices of the turkey should run clear.