When I was first married, I was always “tight” on oven space at Thanksgiving. I had a large spread and needed the oven for the side items. So, I had to come up with a way to cook the turkey that allowed me to use the oven space when I needed it. I did it by working on this recipe and it has turned out to be exceptional. I have offered it to many friends over the years and they really like it. I thought I might offer it to other cooks that are “oven space challenged” for Thanksgiving.
14 to 16 pound “hen” turkey
1 bunch of celery – rough chopped
2 large sweet onions – rough chopped
1 pkg of fresh sage
1 pkg of fresh thyme
salt & pepper
4- 10 oz cans of Campbell’s Chicken Broth
2 sticks of butter
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
large roasting pan
Fudgy’s 9 O’clock Turkey
At 9 PM preheat oven to 450 degrees for 1 hour- during this hour wash the thawed bird and pat dry – place bird into a heavy roasting pan without a rack – place 1/3 of the onions and celery into the bird’s cavity, along with one stick of butter – tie the bunches of sage and thyme together and place into the bird – distribute the rest of the onions and celery around the bird – cut the remaining stick of butter into 4 pieces and place on each side – rub the bird completely with the vegetable oil – salt and pepper the bird and remember to put seasoning into the cavity – place the bird directly on bottom of roasting pan – pour all of the chicken broth into the bottom of the roasting pan – at 10 PM, place the bird into the pre-heated oven, uncovered – allow to cook for 1 1/2 hours – at 11:30 PM cut the oven off – go to bed and allow bird to remain in oven until 8 AM – You will find a perfectly cooked bird that is tender and moist
Cooks note: I like to remove bird to cutting board and break the it down and place back into the cooking juices – add a little more broth to cover the meat and cover pan with foil – warm when you are ready to enjoy the most moist and juicy turkey of your life * for a larger bird ( 18 lbs + ) add 30 minutes to cooking time before cutting off the oven
Just a little help
When the bird comes out of the oven, place the pan on top of the stove and allow to rest for 30 minutes – remove bird to a large cutting board with the wings closest to you – take the wing by the drumette and pull toward you – most of the time it will just pop off but use a sharp knife to trim the wing or if it does not pop free, use the knife to separate the wing at the joint which is very easy to see – do the second one and place both at one end of a large pan – rotate the bird so that the legs are closest to you – place you thumb between the leg/thing and the carcass and push straight down away from the bird – it too will break free – separate the leg and thigh with a knife at the joint and place in the opposite end of the pan – now, comes the challenging part – with that sharp knife, run the knife tight along the breast bone starting away from you and pulling back towards you – make a second cut to make sure it is completely cut – then, find the bottom of the breast and again pull back toward you and do a second cut even angling the knife up a tad to free the meat from the carcass – now Buster Brown – turn the bird 90 degrees so that the cut breast is facing you – with both hands, fish your way behind the breast and using your fingers work your way down and free from the carcass until you have the full breast lobe free – place to the side and repeat on the other side – now comes the best part – you will wind up with a denuded carcass but the best parts are left to be discovered – pick all of those “bits” from the carcass and put them in you pan and in your mouth – turkey for breakfast is really not that bad – now with an electric knife, cut across each breast lobe in at least ¼ inch pieces leaving the skin on each piece – place all of the cut pieces into the pan in the middle – now, pour the pan drippings into the serving pan up to the level just before completely covering – we want that skin to remain exposed – if you are a little short, add some chicken stock – if you have excess, use to build a gravy (melted butter, flour and then the liquid until you get to the desired consistency) – cover with foil and place in a cool spot in the kitchen – 30 minutes before serving, bring the pan to the stove and place on a burner – cut on heat to medium and bring the broth up to temperature – no boiling- and me being from the South always add ¾ of a stick of butter and allow it to slowly melt into the broth – you are now ready to serve and hopefully, you will find one great turkey that is unbelievably moist and flavorful -Happy Thanksgiving
