How Will You Cook Your Turkey?
If it was left to Ben Franklin our national bird would have been the turkey instead of the eagle. Does this mean we would have been having eagle on Thanksgiving? One shudders at the thought. Keep in mind that just because you're having a big Thanksgiving dinner doesn't mean you can't stay healthy. In fact, there are some wonderful power foods that will fit in very nicely with your recipe planning. However, it is the turkey that takes center stage.
This is one of those meals where family tradition dominates. Whoever was charged with cooking the bird passed that recipe down through the generations. That was until some upstart decided to strike out on their own and come up with a new fangled way of making the Thanksgiving turkey. Now we've got dozens of cooking methods and new recipes seem to pop up each year. Here are some possible methods:
Turducken
Yes, Virginia, there really is a Turducken. Of all the turkey cooking methods this is probably the most bizarre and most time consuming. However, by all accounts the rewards are worth the effort. What you have to do is debone a turkey, a duck and a chicken. Then you kind of layer them together, roll up and roast. This is probably not a bird(s) you want to attempt on your first Thanksgiving. Practice makes perfect with the Turducken.
Deep Fried Turkey
Before attempting this kind of turkey, go to YouTube and search for "deep fried turkey explosion compilation." The videos speak for themselves and the mistakes folks make are common and endless. Don't deep fry near a home. Don't keep you flame on when you dunk the turkey. Always test with water first to see how much oil you actually need to avoid overflow. Or you can simply by a countertop deep fryer that takes all the hazards out of the process.
Grilled Turkey
This is a great a way to free up your oven for the ever important side dishes. Plus you can grill in any kind of weather. The goal is to make sure your grill maintains an even temperature throughout the entire cooking process. You'll want make sure you've got plenty of propane for the duration.
Brine Turkey
Think of this as pickling a turkey. You start out by infusing the bird with your choice of seasonings. That bird then needs to stay in the fridge as those spices make their way through the juices. Then you're going to cook it just like you would with a roasted.