Recipe Wednesday - All About the Bird - Thanksgiving Demystified

Recipe Wednesday means I bring you a great recipe to consider for your collection.  My intention is to bring you delicious recipes featuring better food choices.  Let's face it, if it doesn't taste good, you won't eat it no matter how good it is for you.  Today's feature is all about the Bird.  Thanksgiving demystified.

If this is your first Thanksgiving you'll be cooking, it's kind of scary.  Even for the seasoned chef, this is the all important meal of the year.  People will remember that dry turkey for friggin' EVER.  The pressure is on.  But, you're not alone.  For great tips on how to cook a turkey and how to carve a turkey,  how to make a pie and even how to set a table, visit the fine folks at Taste of Home for Thanksgiving 101.   What ever way you make your turkey, I hope you take a break from the crazy shopping that starts on Thanksgiving evening to spend with your family.  Appreciate them and hold them close, you never know when you will loose one of them.  Our tradition has changed as the family grew and people go their own ways.  My brothers are often still hunting elsewhere in the state (this is deep in the 9 day Wisconsin gun-deer hunt), our kids are grown and gone, celebrating their own Thanksgivings.  However, my husband and I still celebrate with Ma & Pa, everyone who has no where else to go is still welcomed.  I make the turkey, Ma makes the mashed potatoes and gravy.  We keep it simple.  We read a bible verse and spend a moment to tell the others what our heart is truly thankful for in the past year, there is so very much.  This year it includes the safe return of our oldest from his deployment in Afghanistan.

For a quick Turkey Rub, try this one (also from Taste of Home Originally published as Herbed Turkey Rub in Quick Cooking November/December 1998, p61):
Herbed Turkey Rub
This three ingredient rub will add wonderful flavor and beautiful color to the skin of your turkey.
Prep/Total Time: 5 minutes       Yield: enough for a 14-16 lb turkey (2 servings)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
Directions:
Combine all ingredients, brush all over turkey before roasting.   

Nutrition:
 1 serving = 2 tablespoons = 103 calories.  11g fat (7g saturated fat), 31mg cholesterol, 116mg sodium, 1g carbohydrate, trace fiber, trace protein.

I never, ever make a turkey without the use of a roasting bag.  They are my secret to a moist turkey, year after year.  Whether you opt to use the rub recipe above or the full recipe below, the roasting bag in an aluminum roasting pan is the way I go.  Place a flat cookie sheet under the aluminum roasting pan to support it.  This way you can easily reuse the roasting pan year after year and the clean up is a snap.

Herb-Roasted Turkey photo retrieved from Taste of Home.com

• Prep: 20 min. Bake: 3-1/4 hours + standing
• Yield: 14 Servings

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 turkey (14 to 16 pounds)
• 8 fresh sage leaves plus 4 fresh sage sprigs, divided
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs, divided
• 4 medium onions
• 5 celery ribs
• 5 medium carrots
• 3 medium parsnips

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup oil, garlic, salt and pepper. With fingers, carefully loosen skin from the turkey breast; rub mixture under the skin. Place sage leaves and two thyme sprigs under the skin. Secure skin to underside of breast with toothpicks.
• Cut onions into wedges and the celery, carrots and parsnips into 2-in. lengths. Place about a fifth of the onions, celery and carrots in the turkey cavity; add sprigs and remaining thyme. Place remaining vegetables in a roasting pan. Place turkey, breast side up, over vegetables. Brush with remaining oil.
• Bake at 325° for 3-1/4 to 3-3/4 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180°, basting occasionally with pan drippings. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes before carving turkey. Discard vegetables; use drippings to make gravy. Yield: 14 servings.

Nutritional Facts8 ounces cooked turkey equals 599 calories, 32 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 245 mg cholesterol, 342 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 72 g protein.

Originally published as Herb-Roasted Turkey in Taste of Home October/November 2009, p43