Friday, November 27, 2009

Use it or Lose it?


How did you roast your Turkey this year? Did you stuff it? Brine it? Cook on high heat then reduce to a lower heat? Deep Fat Fry it? Massage it with butter and stuff with herbs? Baste it every 1/2 hour? I have done all of those (well, I've not fried a turkey for it's just to scary a task for me!)







I cooked the turkey this year was with a roasting bag. It's self basting and browns the turkey pretty well. Those roasting bags are pretty mainstream now....they are pretty much in all the stores (those slow cooker liners are not easy to find though).

If you haven't used a roasting bag....please do. They are great. Not only can I massage the oil/butter with the bag instead of my hands but lifting the turkey to put in the roasting pan is no fuss-no muss.


Simple instructions, preheat oven @ 350 degrees. Follow the chart for the time per pound. Season and oil your bird. I put tons of fresh herbs in the cavity. Rub down with oil, salt and pepper and a Tablespoon of flour or two down in the bag under the turkey. Seal bag with tie provided. Cut a few slits on top and shove that gobbler in the oven. About halfway I did use a temperature probe for I wanted to make sure the leg temperature was 180 degrees( I was NOT going to use that stupid 'pop up' thing to tell me if/when my turkey was done!




When I carve, I like to cut behind the breast meat (knife along the breast bone) and all the way down. Removing the WHOLE breast and then slice as shown. So much easier. My dad always used one of those electric knives and the meat just seemed to shred. This way 'fans' on the platter nicely.



Here you go, meat and stuffing balls with gravy ready for the table! It was so moist!






















So my advice? USE IT, this post may have come after T-day....but now you are ready to go for Christmas. Better yet, you can use these roasting bags for chicken and pot roast too anytime during the year!

Tune in next time for the stuffing balls!

Gobble-gobble,

2 comments:

Leslie said...

I always brine my bird! Makes it soooo flavorful.
Love the bag idea

Jelli said...

This year, I brined. Alton Brown's fans all said it was great, and it was. Yours looks fantastic too. Oh, how I heart turkey.