Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I decided to post a series of recipes that actually did come from my mom. (I’ll post recipes for cornbread dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes, and more within the days between now and Thanksgiving.)
First up: A Perfect Turkey
I promise that if you follow the directions for cooking this turkey, your turkey will turn out beautifully.
It’s a fool-proof, easy recipe.
A Perfect Turkey
one 16-pound turkey, thawed
one onion
two celery stalks
one stick of butter
1 cup of cold water
1 lemon, cut in half
kosher salt
ground black pepper
garlic powder
3-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove giblets. Rub outside of turkey with salt and sprinkle generously with pepper and garlic powder. Inside the cavity, place one peeled onion, two celery stalks, one stick of butter, one cup of cold water, lemon, and rosemary sprigs.
Wrap the whole bird in heavy aluminum foil, checking to see that it is snug and tight. Put wrapped bird in roasting pan and cover with the lid. Or, to make your own roaster, use two aluminum roasting pans to form a top and bottom.
Cook for one hour at 350 degrees. Then lower the temperature to 275 degrees. Cook for thirty minutes per pound (about eight hours for a 16-pound bird).
During the last hour (eighth hour), lower the oven to 250 degrees. At the end of that hour, turn the oven off. Allow turkey to sit in the cooling oven for about thirty minutes.
Cool turkey completely before slicing.
I know the timing can be a little tricky to figure out. Here’s a sample schedule (I’ll be doing something like this on Thanksgiving Eve):
8:00-8:30 Prep bird for baking
8:30-9:30 Cook at 350 degrees
9:30-5:30 Cook at 275 degrees
Set alarm for 4:30 to change oven temp
and go back to bed
4:30-5:30 Lower oven to 250 degrees
5:30 Turn oven off
5:30-6:00 Turkey sits in off and cooling oven
Move turkey to cool in refrigerator
11:30-11:45 Slice turkey and plate
Noon Eat Thanksgiving dinner
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