Sunday Turkey

We purchase a five-dollar-turkey last week while grocery shopping at Vons — taking them up on a deal as long as we spent $25, which just isn't hard to do these days. It's been in the fridge defrosting and today was the day to cook the turkey. I am a big fan of Pioneer Woman and decided to try her method of cooking a turkey. She uses a brine for her turkey but I chose to skip that part. What I was more interested in was the actual roasting method. I stuffed my 14 1/2 pound hen, placed her in one of those disposable aluminum roasting pans, drizzled a bit of olive oil on her, covered her with two layers of foil carefully sealing the edges around the roasting pan. Then roasted her without looking at her again for 2 1/2 hours in a 275° oven. The foil was removed, a cube of softened butter was smeared all over the bird, the oven turned up to 375° and she cooked at that temperature until the meat thermometer reached 170° — basting every 30 minutes. It only took another 45 minutes

We love to watch the food channel and several of the chefs cook their turkeys using this slow, low-temperature, and it really works. I'll forever cook my turkeys this way . . . it was the juiciest, most tender turkey we've ever had!

Ken wanted to try a carving method that several top chefs also use. We've normally sliced the turkey breast holding the knife so that it cuts down the breast while it is still intact. After removing the legs, thighs, and wings— the "new" way is to cut the whole breast off the carcass, lay it flat on the cutting board, and slice it vertically — against the grain. According to Alton Brown the meat is more tender cut against the grain and tougher when cut with the grain. This is a great trick and looks nice on the serving platter.

The breast halves ready to slice vertically. We'll have enough turkey to enjoy the rest of the week. Plus a nice pot of soup will be on the stove soon, and that's one our favorite parts of roasting a turkey!

Life is good!