YOU’LL NEVER GO BACK to cooking a whole bird after making this recipe. I’ve broken the turkey into its primal cuts, which allows the meat to cook more evenly—in half the time! The meat turns out perfectly cooked, classically flavored, golden brown, and delicious every time—with far less babysitting than a whole turkey. This method frees up the oven sooner, plus the carcass can be simmering into stock for the gravy ahead of time.
I’ve used my spice cupboard staples for the seasonings so the drippings make tasty gravy, and all you’ll need is a standard half-sheet pan and a metal rack that fits inside it.
Its November and I’m gearing up for my holiday turkey. I love a brined turkey and cooking with beer, so I combined these elements to create a juicy beer-brined turkey with a Dankful IPA gravy. Dankful IPA has piney hop aromas, so I paired that with juniper berries in the brine to accentuate those flavors.
If you need a stunner for Thanksgiving dinner, here’s your recipe, which is modeled on the traditions of coastal Veracruz. It results in a moist, juicy bird, with an irresistible adobo marinade and a to-die-for stuffing. The turkey is marinated for a day (or two) in a pineapple and orange adobo sauce. The adobo is poured over the turkey before it goes into the oven, so it caramelizes as it thickens and seasons the bird even more. The sweet and tart flavors in the adobo harmonize with those in the stuffing, which is made with a soft bread and a colorful mix of ingredients that include cashews, tomatoes, and chorizo.
America's Test Kitchen found the trick to applying a glossy, tangy-sweet glaze to turkey so it doesn’t pool at the bottom of the pan or keep the skin from crisping up.
A little soy sauce in the glaze ensures the burnished mahogany skin that holiday memories are made of.
Most butchers will remove the backbone for you.
The very best part of Thanksgiving is the day-after leftover turkey sandwich. We like ours on good white bread slathered with mayonnaise, a spoonful of turkey drippings or gravy, and cranberry gelée; a leaf or two of crisp lettuce; and a pile of thinly sliced breast meat seasoned with lots of salt and pepper. A cold glass of milk is our beverage of choice, although there may be a splash of last night’s Champagne left on the refrigerator door (with a small silver spoon hanging in the neck of the bottle to preserve precious bubbles). Better stick with milk.
Ingredients
Chicken Larb (Laotian Chicken and Herb Salad)
At our house, we call this skeleton soup. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving weekend without the lush aromas of this broth filling the kitchen. My mother says she started making it back in the Depression. "We couldn't afford to waste anything. Besides, the soup is delicious." You could freeze the broth, to use later in homemade soups. But usually, it's so good on it's own, we finish it all up by midweek.