Have you ever wondered how the turkey became the official centerpiece for our Thanksgiving meal? I have, and I can recall my young, school-age children relating to me the story that Benjamin Franklin sought to make the wild turkey our national bird. Wild turkeys are native to North America and the story goes that Franklin believed it to be “a much more respectable bird.” I love a turkey, but I am very glad that the majestic bald eagle was chosen.
But, how did turkeys end up being the traditional main course for Thanksgiving? I did a little research and turkeys were abundant but historians do not have any proof of exactly what was served at the famous “first thanksgiving” between the pilgrims and the native Americans. We know the meal occurred, and while we do not know exactly what they ate, it must have included wild game and fowl.
One turkey could feed a lot of people and were abundant and economical for puritan families. If you were going to have a large family gathering, then a large turkey would be much more practical than several small chickens or ducks.
Researchers also point out that turkeys are also only useful for their meat. You cannot use their eggs, so they did not serve any other purpose other than for the cooking. (I need to take a point of personal privilege and disagree with this point. Turkeys can be used as one heck of a guard animal. We grew up with a series of different turkeys and they are meaner than any guard dog we had. In fact, our dogs were scared of the turkeys.)
One particular angry bird would run up to the car of anyone that came to our house and peck at it and chase you until you got in the house. One time, my brother and sister got trapped by that old bird, and I had to beat it off with a long handled broom. It hissed and chased us all inside. After that incident, we demanded that our father send the turkey to the Thanksgiving processing plant, never to be seen again! (Yes, turkeys can be used for their meat but other options are out there.)
Thanksgiving was declared an official holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and not long after that, the official first national thanksgiving meal was celebrated. By this time, the turkey had already settled into tradition through writings and marketing campaigns that existed even way back then.
I found a lesser-known theory about the turkey’s popularity. It is a simple but profound theory that touches on my contrarian nature. Some explain that the settlers ate turkey to show their distain and independence from Great Britton. The colonists did not want anything to do with “Old World Traditions” and many traditional English feasts included a roasted goose as the main course. Maybe that just made the turkey taste that much “sweeter” in those days?
Not sure if that was the reason and I doubt we will ever know the complete story. Maybe the easiest story is the best: Puritans were practical and sensible, and turkey was economical, it fed a lot of people, and they were easy to find.
The various cooking methods that we use today show the versatility of turkey. I hope you enjoy one of these and I hope you enjoy this wonderful family holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Brined and Roasted Turkey
Purchase a large (about 16 -19 lb.) turkey, frozen and allow several days for it to thaw in the refrigerator.
To brine the turkey:
You can purchase a good quality brine mix or make your own.
Homemade Brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 gallon ice water
Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the solids and then remove from heat. Chill to room temperature or refrigerated until chilled. The night before baking the turkey, combined the brine and ice water in a clean large bucket or cooler. Place the thawed turkey in the brine. Cover and refrigerate or put in a cool area for six hours or overnight.
To roast the turkey:
Preheat oven to 500°. Combine one apple, quartered; one onion, quartered; several sprigs of fresh rosemary; and any other herbs you like; plus, one cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for five minutes.
Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse the bird. Place bird, breast side up in a rack in a large roasting pan and pat dry. Insert the mixture from the microwave into the bird’s cavity. Coat turkey with canola oil and salt and pepper. Roast in the 500° oven for 30 minutes. Remove the bird from the oven and cover the breast portion with a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and return to the oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and set the probe thermometer to 161°.
The time of baking will vary but you can estimate that a 16 pound bird will take about 2 1/2 hours to cook. Once the probe thermometer registers an internal temperature of 161°, remove bird from the oven and let rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
Overnight Turkey
Several years ago, I read about a turkey that you cook overnight. It may not make the most attractive bird for Thanksgiving but it is easy and guarantees to be a moist and delicious treat.
14 pound turkey, rinsed and thawed
1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt and black pepper, or any other seasonings you prefer
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2-3 pieces of fresh rosemary
1 onion, quartered
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups boiling water
Preheat your oven to 450°. Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan and rub with melted butter. Sprinkle inside and out of the turkey with the salt and pepper or seasoning mixture. Put celery, rosemary, and onion inside the cavity of the bird. When oven is preheated, pour boiling water around the turkey cover the pan tightly and cook for two hours.
After cooking time, turn off the heat and do not open the oven door. Leave the turkey in the closed oven overnight or for at least eight hours. In the morning, the turkey will be ready to slice and refrigerate. Save any pan drippings to make delicious turkey gravy.
Roasted Spatchcock Turkey
This will be the version that we will be doing this year. I have always enjoyed a spatchcock chicken and this recipe intrigued me as it originally said it cooks in under an hour. My bird took about one hour and twenty minutes to reach 165 degrees.
12 pound turkey
10 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 branch, fresh thyme or rosemary cut into several sprigs
1/3 cup, extra virgin olive oil, or butter
Salt and pepper or seasoning salt to taste
Preheat oven to 450°. Put turkey on a stable cutting board breast side down and cut out the back bone. Turn the turkey over and press it down firmly to flatten it. Put the turkey, breast side up in a large roasting pan that will allow the bird to lay flat.
Wings should partly cover the breast and legs will protrude a bit. Tuck the garlic, thyme, and/or rosemary under the bird and in between the wings and the legs. Drizzle with olive oil or rub with softened butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast the bird for 20 minutes. Turkey should be browning. Remove from the oven and baste with any of the pan juices. Return the bird the oven and cook an additional 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400° if the turkey is getting too brown.
After an hour, begin to check the turkey’s internal temperature. When the thigh meat registers 165° on an instant read meat thermometer, remove the bird and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Deep Fried Turkey
My brother-in-law will occasionally set up his big turkey fryer and offer to deep fry turkeys for a special occasion. He does a great job but it is quite the undertaking.
Things changed for our family in the world of deep-fried turkeys when my husband was invited to go with a friend to get a turkey from a “real pro.” His friend promised to supply us with the best fried turkey we had ever tasted. This friend might be known to occasionally embellish a story, so my husband went excited, but skeptical. The friend was not overplaying his hand. This bird really was the best fried turkey that we had ever tasted. The master fryer and his small crew, fry turkeys on Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Eve. They cook a lot of these birds and they really know what they are doing.
We learned a pro tip from another recipient of these fried birds. He has a big household to feed and he said it is best to get one bird to eat as soon as you get home and then another bird for Thanksgiving. He recommends that we trust him on this and insisted that we would not be able to resist eating it as soon as you get home. We have made that mistake once. One taste (because you know you are going to do) and you and your family will pick at it until there is virtually nothing but a carcass left. If you get a fried turkey, get an extra for the Thanksgiving meal.
Now, we leave frying turkeys to professionals, but very few things are as good as a deep-fried turkey. We have found that large birds do not cook properly. The outside gets burned before the inside cooks to temperature. It is also important to good use good quality peanut oil which is not cheap.
Frying turkeys takes some time and effort, and a lot of precaution attentions. But the results are delicious. After all the trouble to set everything up to fry, plan to do several birds. Find a couple of friends to split the cost and fry three or four.
One large turkey fryer
12 to 14 pound turkey, defrosted, rinsed, and dried
1 bottle Cajun Butter flavor injector seasoning
4-5 gallons of peanut oil
Feel free to brine the turkey before frying, but make sure it is rinsed, well dried, and allowed to sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes before cooking.
When ready to fry, set up a perimeter around your turkey fryer and bring oil to 250°. When oil has reached a proper temperature, slowly and carefully lower the bird into the oil and bring the temperature to 350°.
Once the oil is up to temperature, lower the heat in order to maintain the temperature of the oil to 350° for frying. After 35 minutes, carefully pull the turkey out and check the internal temperature of the bird. Once the breast meat reaches 151°, carefully remove the bird from the oil and allow to rest a minimum of 30 minutes before carving.
The bird’s internal temperature will continue to rise, once it is resting.
Fried Turkey Nuggets
Yes, we actually ate turkey nuggets one Thanksgiving. My brother-in-law had been on a hunting trip and had several wild turkey breasts in the freezer. We were worried that the meat of the wild turkey might be tough so we decided that we would try turkey nuggets. They were actually very easy and delicious.
We cut the turkey breast in the small bite-size pieces and soaked in a combination of buttermilk and Tony Chacker seasoning.
When ready to serve, Drain the turkey nuggets and lightly dust with a mixture of one cup all-purpose flour and one fourth cup corn starch, and one tablespoon Cajun season. Deep fry until golden brown, and serve with a variety of sources.
Turkey Legs in Confit
I have not tried this, but saw it online when doing some research. I love chicken thighs, cooked in duck fat in the oven low and slow. If duck fat is not available, then use olive oil. It is just a delicious method for cooking and cannot wait to try this whenever I have time.
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon chili flakes
8 garlic cloves, minced +4 whole garlic cloves for turkey drumsticks
2 quarts duck fat, or olive oil
2 sprigs, fresh thyme
1 sprig, fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Mix, salt, sugar, garlic, and chili flakes in a small bowl and rub mixture on drumsticks, pressing to adhere to the meat. Transfer the drumsticks to a lined baking sheet and store in the refrigerator for six to 12 hours.
In a medium Dutch oven combine the oil, the whole garlic cloves, the thyme, rosemary, by leaves, and peppercorns. Preheat oven to 275°.
Meanwhile, rinse the drumsticks well under cold, running water and pat dry with paper towels. Carefully place in the oil, cover, and cook in the preheated oven until turkey meat is very tender or about three hours. This may take a little longer depending on the thickness of your drumsticks. Allow to cool in the cooking fat and then refrigerate at least six hours. when ready to serve, remove the drumsticks from the oil and crisp in a very hot pan, turning occasionally until crispy all over or about 10 minutes per side.
Smoked Turkey Breast
Instead of preparing a whole turkey, some people only need a small turkey breast. I think smoking the breast is a delicious and easy option.
Feel free to brine the turkey breast as with the recipe above and allow to rest while you prepare the smoker. Preheat your smoker according to the manufacturer’s directions and make sure that the internal temperature of the smoker is between 225 and 250°. Prepare your wood chips or pellets, depending on what you are using. Some people like cherry, Mesquite, applewood. It is whatever flavor you prefer.
Season the turkey breast with seasoning of your choice. I would keep it pretty simple as the smoky flavor is what you want to achieve. You might want to sprinkle with just a little bit of seasoning salt.
Once smoker is prepared and the temperature is at least 225 put on turkey breast, I smoke for three and a half to four hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165°.
Remove turkey and loosely cover it with foil and allow to stand for at least 15 minutes before slicing. This may be the most important part of cooking. Allow any meat to rest about 5-10 minutes so the juices do not run out.
You will probably need a five to six pound turkey breast and count on about 35 minutes per pound for smoking, but it may be more less than that depending on the type of smoker and the internal temperature of the smoker you are using.
