It's that time of year again to bring around the tradition of all traditions, the holiday turkey, but in my family we have always taken it one step further with a recipe that went from my grandmother, to my mother and down to my sister and I where we stuff the turkey with a savory stuffing. Turkey is always a win during the holidays, but when it comes with a side and all you need is a vegetable to have yourself a full meal is a win win. See below how we get our juicy flavorful stuffing stuffed turkey.
STEPS TO PREP THE TURKEY(MOST IMPORTANT!!)
1. THE TURKEY NEEDS TO BE COMPLETELY THAWED (SOME TURKEYS CAN TAKE FROM 3-5 DAYS TO FULLY THAW) WHEN THE TURKEY IS COMPLETELY THAWED AND IT IS THE DAY TO COOK PULL THE TURKEY OUT AND MAKE SURE IT IS ROOM TEMPERATURE BEFORE YOU START BAKING.
2. MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN YOUR TURKEY INSIDE AND OUT AT BOTH ENDS VERY WELL, BUT DO NOT TAKE OFF THE LITTLE PLASTIC HOOK FOR HIS LEGS AS YOU WILL NEED THIS LATER FOR STUFFING THE CAVITY. YOU WILL NEED TO UNHOOK THE LEGS AS THERE WILL BE LITTLE BAGS OF THE INSIDES INSIDE OF THE CAVITY. (WHICH I JUST THROW AWAY, BUT SOME USE FOR BROTHS)
3. AFTER WASHING YOUR TURKEY MAKE SURE YOU PAT IT DOWN DRY, IF YOU DON'T IT CAN TAKE AWAY THE ADDITIONAL MOISTURE WHILE COOKING.
INGREDIENTS
TURKEY (11 - 13 Pounds)
- 1 BAKING SHEET AND TIN ROASTING PAN
(whatever pan will hold your turkey in a tin roasting pan safely or if you have a roaster the process will work all the same)
- 4 TBS BUTTER
- 1 TSP BLACK PEPPER
- 1/2 TBSP GARLIC MINCED
- 1 TSP LAWRY'S GARLIC SALT
- 1 TSP OF ITALIAN SEASONING
- SALT TO TASTE (due to whatever ingredients you prefer)
- 1 CUP WATER
STUFFING
- 1 BAG PEPPERIDGE FARM STUFFING CRUMBS (any crumbs should do)
- 2 EGGS
- 1 CUP CHOPPED ONION
- 1 CUP CHOPPED CELERY
- 2 CUPS CHICKEN BROTH
- 1 TBS BUTTER
- 1 TSP ROSEMARY
- 1 TSP BLACK PEPPER
- 1 TSP SAGE
1. After the turkey is all washed and clean set it out to come fully to room temperature and set the oven at 325 degrees while you prepare the stuffing. Pour Pepperidge Farm Stuffing Crumbs, Rosemary, Black Pepper and Sage all in a large bowl and mix together.
2. After you have a good mixture of the dry ingredients warm up chicken broth for 30 or so seconds(needs be to warm enough to soften; not burn your hands). Now start to pour 1 cup of broth over the dry ingredients, kneed them together(which now they will start to clump up) then add in the additional broth into bowl.
3. Once there is a thicker clumpy consistency pour in the celery and onion together, which you can see above turns into a clumpier, pasty ball which in this case sounds absolutely delicious!
4. Now it is time to taste and see if you need to add in any salt, remember this is to your taste and you want to do this before the eggs and the butter (I added 1/4 TSP just to be extra, but I personally think it is not needed at this stage)
5. Add in the eggs and butter and kneed together. The stuffer should turn into a creamier, clumpier paste. Once all ingredients are mixed together in the bowl it is now time to stuff the turkey.
6. Make sure the legs are unhooked from the plastic (which you still want to keep, but the legs should already be unhooked from washing the turkey earlier in prep) and start taking small hand fulls to make sure you fill the whole cavity. Be generous with the stuffing!! It is ok if the stuffing falls out at the end; this makes the stuffing a little crispy when the turkey is done.
7. When the turkey is fully stuffed it is time to prep the skin of the turkey. Take the butter and melt until creamy (around 30 seconds or so, but don't over do it because butter gets an odd smell of almost being burnt if cooked for too long). Then add in the Lawry's Garlic Salt, black pepper, minced garlic and Italian seasoning, mix well. Once mixture is prepared take a cooking brush and spread evenly over the turkey (using a bigger spoon to scoop mixture out and using the back to disburse will work just the same).
8. The above picture is how your turkey should look at the end of the disbursement(if you want to add a little to the stuffing it adds really good flavor). After the mixture is disbursed evenly on the turkey add a cup of water to the tin roasting pan (remember to put a baking sheet under the tin roasting pan because, I don't know about you, I could barley hold the turkey with the baking sheet let alone with just the tin roasting pan by itself; it would probably break which we want to avoid all unnecessary messes on Thanksgiving)
9. Take aluminum foil and make a tent over your turkey and place in the over at 325 degrees (do not let the foil touch the turkey, as you can see above, as the foil touching can burn the turkey). I also took the aluminum foil off at hour 3 to let the turkey get more of a brown coat. Our turkey, which was in the 10-18 pound range, was placed in the oven for 4 hours. I have heard not trust the little red buttons that push out when its done, but it worked for me, but another way to check if your turkey is done is with a thermometer. Your turkey should be at 165 degrees MINIMUM in the thickest part of the turkey for it to be considered done (I got my thermometer at my local grocery, but here is one quite similar that is digital on Amazon for $6 - https://www.amazon.com/Habor-Thermometer-Anti-Corrosion-Thanksgiving-Christmas/dp/B0198473E4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1511403660&sr=8-3&keywords=turkey+thermometer)
10. NOW IT IS TIME TO GOBBLE UP ALL THE GOODNESS!! Once done, take a bowl and scoop out the stuffing and set aside, then cut into the turkey and serve. I hope you all enjoyed this receipt an will stay tuned for the future recipes to come, have a Happy Thanksgiving!!
No comments