Thanksgiving is one of the most celebrated holidays in the US. For many, this is not just a celebration of thanks but a time to spend with family and friends. Relatives come from far away and spend a few days with family that they haven’t seen for months. Of course when there’s a gathering, food always completes the celebration! Family and friends even bring food to contribute to the host. You could also say that this is a celebration of food and cooking. Which brings me to this turkey recipe that completes the feast.
No other dish in the world screams Thanksgiving than turkey. It’s a combination that is just as classic as milk and cookies or Fourth of July and fireworks. However, as much as the average American wants to serve a big fat turkey on Thanksgiving Day, some are put off because it is challenging to prepare. However, I would like to share with you a turkey recipe that I have been doing for years now that is easy to pull off without sacrificing the taste and flavor we all love. Oh and I promise it won’t “gobble” up too much of your time.
Thankful For This Turkey Recipe!
This turkey recipe takes a whole lot of time and effort to prepare. By the way, make sure you know how to spatchcock a turkey and prepare it a day in advance because you really need to take time in marinating and cooking it. However, I assure you that this turkey is totally worth it! I know — it takes hours to prepare and just over an hour to consume. If you have leftovers, you can turn them into other recipes such as a pot pie, casserole, soup, or as filling for sandwiches and tacos. Over-all, this turkey recipe will not go to waste!
Enjoy cooking and Happy Thanksgiving!
Don’t forget to leave a comment when you’ve tried this. Please share with your friends, too!
The Turkey Recipe for your Thanksgiving Celebration
Ingredients
- 1 Spatchcock turkey
- Apple Sage Brine Kit from Bed, Bath, and Beyond
- Lots of Water
- Lots of Ice
- A stick of Butter for basting
- Rudy’s Turkey Rub
FOR THE GRAVY
- 1 pack mixed turkey neck, giblets, heart, liver
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup turkey drippings
- 1 pc celery stalk
- 1 basil leaf
- Half an onion roughly sliced
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Butter and flour for the roux
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Get a large pot and follow the instructions on the brine mix. Once you bring it to a boil, turn the heat off and put enough ice on the mixture to quickly cool it off.
- Put the turkey in the brine pot and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
- Get your turkey and rinse it off. Heat up about a half-gallon of water in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Carefully pour this on your turkey to help shrink the skin into the meat to make your dish more crispy.
- Get some dry paper towels and pat your turkey until completely dry.
- Get your butter and start generously basting your turkey.
- Make sure to completely cover the entire turkey. After this, start rubbing the turkey rub all over the turkey. Again, generously cover the entire turkey.
- Take out your Kitchenatics cooling rack and put that into a half sheet pan. Place the turkey in there. This way you can catch all the turkey dripping which you will use later for the gravy.
- Preheat smoker/pellet grill to 225 F. Get it smoking and then place turkey on the grill.
- In about an hour, check the internal temp of your turkey. Once it reaches about 110 F, add some water into the pan and crank up the heat to 375 F. This will keep the meat moist while crisping up the skin. Keep checking the internal temp of the turkey until it reaches 165 F. Place it on a cooling rack and start making the gravy.
TO MAKE THE GRAVY:
- Put the turkey neck and gizzards (with some liver and the heart) into a stockpot. Put the celery, onion, garlic powder, onion powder, and basil leaf and pour about four cups of water and bring to a boil. Then put the heat to low and cook it for about two hours. This will be your turkey stock.
- Cut off some good meat from your turkey and chop it finely. Set it aside.
- Make a roux with one part butter and one part flour. Whisk that for a few minutes and then add a cup of broth from your turkey stock. Mince some of the gizzards and add some heavy cream to your desired thickness.
- Season with some salt and black pepper.
1 thought on “Totally-Banging Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe”
Grateful for the recipe! I am not one to do comments, but this recipe had turkey come out beautiful, moist, and delicious for our new year’s day.