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Search For Perfect Thanksgiving Bird Ends Here: "Turkey In A Sac" With Bread Stuffing - History & Technique - Thanksgiving Classics Combo
Originally published for Thanksgiving 2005 on October 10, 2005...Annual Thanksgiving Classics Recipe No. 142 "Search For" H:644 on 111509.. Repub Nov. 10, 2006 H:351 on 111509.. Repub Nov 2, 2007 H:400 on 111509.. (Total H:1,395 on 11/15/09)
Originally published for Thanksgiving 2005 on October 11, 2005...Annual Thanksgiving Classics Recipe No. 143 "Perfect Bird" H:948 +C:1.. Repub Nov 10, 2006 H:551.. Repub Nov 2, 2007 H:1,307.. (Total H:2,806 + C:1 on 11/15/09)
Combo Annual Thanksgiving Classics Recipe No 142-143 Nov 2, 2008 H:523 on 111509.. Reissued November 15, 2009 (Total H:4,724 11/15/09)
Your Search For
The Perfect
Thanksgiving Bird
Ends Here:
"Turkey In A Sac"
With Bread Stuffing -
The History &
The Technique -
Thanksgiving
Classics Combo
This recipe originally came from “Dining With David Wade”. It has been adapted and altered by Tabacco. I have worked on it for the last 35 years. About 25 years ago I stopped experimenting with the basic recipe. About 3 years ago I added the finishing touch – brining. This recipe is now perfect – I guarantee it. However, my stuffing is very inconsistent. That part of the recipe is still in the experimental stage. So for the present you will have to supply your own stuffing recipe.
Evolution of a Recipe
What is the bacon for? Taste? Maintain juiciness? Both? In an effort to maintain juiciness, this cook has sacrificed browning.
Around 1970 I remember preparing this recipe and having to put it back in the oven because it was undercooked. I did this several years because I neglected one fact in Wade’s original recipe: my turkey is always stuffed; Wade’s was not. Therefore my bird would not be properly roasted using Wade’s timing rule. I added 1/2-hour roasting time and increased oven temperature 25 degrees. Once I got past that hurdle, the undercooked bird has never again been a problem.
I lost my original copy of “Dining With David Wade” and did it from memory. My memory wasn’t always perfect, even then. I forgot to set the spices in warm water for 15 minutes. I began setting them in the peanut oil instead. Around 1990, I found another copy of the book in a Broadway bookstore in New York City. When I realized my oversight, I used the water just as Wade’s recipe directed. The taste was not as good. Don’t ask me why. So I went back to my “improvement” which was the result of a faulty memory, not a stroke of genius.
Once I discovered brining, my turkey went from spectacular to sublime. Two years ago, after preparing the turkey, I prepared to cut a slice for myself, in the privacy of the kitchen with the electric knife, just to make sure it was OK. The knife made the turkey meat quiver like Jell-O. I forgot about sampling, and announced to my guests, “Dinner is served”.
Most cooks baste their turkey to death. This opening and closing of the oven door increases the cooking time and dries out the bird; but it does insure a crisp, brown skin. That’s why most white meat is served swimming in gravy. If it weren’t camouflaged that way, you would be dining on compacted sawdust. I haven’t made turkey gravy in 25 years except for the obligatory turkey hash after the 3rd day.
If you do nothing else in the kitchen, brine your poultry! I mean henceforth and forever more, whether you roast a turkey or chicken, whether you fry, smoke or whatever. Brine!
Turkey In A Sac will brown & be juicy,
especially the white meat.
The Basics
Brining
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brining
In cooking, brining is a process similar to marination in which meat is soaked in a salt solution (the brine) before cooking.
Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of its muscle tissue before cooking, via the process of osmosis, and by allowing the cells to hold on to the water while they are cooked, via the process of denaturation. The brine surrounding the cells has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells, but the cell fluid has a higher concentration of other solutes. This leads salt ions to enter the cell via diffusion. The increased salinity of the cell fluid causes the cell to absorb water from the brine via osmosis. The salt introduced into the cell also denatures its proteins. The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix, which traps water molecules and holds them during cooking. This prevents the meat from drying out, or dehydrating. {Did you get all that?}
In many foods the additional salt is also desirable as a preservative. Note that kosher meats are salted during the process of koshering so they should not be brined.
Procedure Basics
1- Brine the turkey
2- Rest spices in peanut oil
3- Prepare bread stuffing
4- Pour off peanut oil, after spices settle to bottom, into large supermarket brown paper bags (2) double-bagged
5- Oil/spice turkey inside and out
6- Stuff the turkey
7- Place turkey inside doubled bags
8- Twist open end and tie with thick twine, also dredged in peanut oil
9- Roast @350 degrees inside the prepared double bags, 10 minutes per pound + 30 minutes for the stuffing
10- Cut the bag off the turkey
11- Separate the turkey drippings from the oil with a gravy separator
12- Serve and try not to smile too much at the shock and awe of your guests and family when they taste how juicy your turkey is without the necessity of oceans of gravy
The Recipe follows.
Ingredients
Turkey: 14-16 pounds (if larger, increase brine and spiced peanut oil; cooking time based on weight of bird)
1- Turkey Brine:
Good Eats
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats Episode: Romancing the Bird (A Good Eats Thanksgiving)
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable broth (not salt-free type) – I prefer College Inn Chicken broth
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
…………………………………
1 gallon iced water
2- Turkey Spices & Peanut Oil:
1-1/4 cups peanut oil (NO SUBSTITUTIONS)
3 Tablespoons paprika
salt & pepper to taste
cayenne
poultry seasoning (optional)
3- Accessories:
bread stuffing (your recipe)
2 large paper shopping bags (double bagged)
thick twine or rope, not string
large roasting pan with wire rack insert
large, preferably serrated bread knife
Complete Procedure
1- Brining the Turkey:
Early on Wednesday evening, combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. (Peppercorns, allspice berries and candied ginger will never dissolve - I know, I've tried).
Remember to let the brine cool about 3-4 hours before adding ice water and immersing the turkey in the brine. Combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6-8 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining. (Weight down turkey if necessary!)
After 6-8 hours, remove bird from brine and rinse it inside and out with cold water, then pat dry. Discard brine. (I usually start brining around midnight on Thanksgiving eve, then turn the turkey over in the brine early on Thanksgiving morning).
2- Turkey Spices & Peanut Oil Preparation:
Place peanut oil and spices in measuring cup, stir to combine, and let stand 15 minutes.
(I haven’t tried this yet, but I will this year: heat oil and spices, to 200º Fahrenheit only, to release oil-soluble spice flavors into the peanut oil) Source: America’s Test Kitchen on TV
Double bag the shopping bags and pour off most of peanut oil into bags. Note that spices settle to bottom of measuring cup. Set aside remaining peanut oil and spices for rubbing turkey. (Twenty years ago I used one shopping bag - but they don't make brown paper shopping bags like they used to. If you tried one bag today, you would have one mess and an undercooked turkey.)
Swirl oil around inside of bags and, with hands, spread peanut oil over every inch of the doubled bags, inside and out. (This is the messy part; let the kids do it – they love making a mess.)
3- Turkey Preparation & Roasting:
Wash turkey thoroughly and pat dry after removing giblets & neck for your stuffing broth.
With hands, place small amount of remaining spiced oil in turkey cavities.
Stuff the turkey. (I don't care what they say, stuffing inside the turkey tastes best. There is no danger if you follow this recipe. I never use eggs in my stuffing, but that is not meant to discourage you. I highly recommend challah bread loaf for your stuffing. If you haven't tried it, you're in for a real treat. For the lazy, there's always seasoned croutons.)
Spread remaining oil and spices all over the turkey with your hands; paprika gives the bird a pleasing red color, which translates to a crisp, brown crust when done.
Secure legs and neck skin, after stuffing, with skewers etc.
Place stuffed turkey inside oiled double bags.
Place long piece of twine in measuring cup and add more peanut oil to saturate twine, for a couple of minutes, to prevent twine from burning during the roasting process.
Close bag(s) opening by twisting, and tie with oiled twine to seal opening tight.
Place bagged turkey on the rack, inside roasting pan, and cook @350º Fahrenheit according to the following formula:
10 minutes per lb of turkey + 30 minutes for the stuffing.
A stuffed 15 lb turkey then cooks
150 minutes + 30 minutes = 3 hours (that’s right, 3 hours, this is not a typo!)
A stuffed 20 lb turkey then cooks
200 minutes + 30 minutes = 3 hours and 50 minutes (that’s right, 3 hours and 50 minutes, this is not a typo!)
Have faith! I guarantee that your turkey will be superb, juicy and crispy on the outside with the formula above. And there's NO BASTING E-V-E-R!
After roasting time complete, use that serrated knife to cut the bags. Be careful, there is a lot of steam inside, just like a pressure cooker. Be careful removing bag pieces from wings and drumsticks; they will fall off if you’re careless - they will be that tender. Discard bag pieces (doubled shopping bags and twine will turn dark, but not burn). Remove turkey to serving platter. Tilt roaster pan to pour liquids into a gravy separator. Pour off the extra oil and reserve the juices. I never make gravy anymore; just serve the juices in a gravy boat or make gravy if you must.
Presentation for family Thanksgiving to make an impression:
Open a large can of pear halves. Place a few drops of green food coloring into the pear liquid and shake the can gently to even the pale green color. Place pear halves around the turkey, cut side up. Insert a maraschino cherry in each pear half. – The awe factor. (Let the kids drink the pear juice - a little green food coloring won't hurt them)
I highly recommend making your own cranberry sauce. The instructions are on the 12 ounce bag of cranberries, found in the produce section of your supermarket. Don't add sugar until you strain the cranberry sauce (why waste sugar). It is extremely easy to make, especially if you have a food mill. Some people will still prefer that horrible, dark, dank canned mess. So keep a can of Ocean Spray on hand for those, who cling to tradition over good taste.
Tabacco: I consider myself both a funnel and a filter. I funnel information, not readily available on the Mass Media, which is ignored and/or suppressed. I filter out the irrelevancies and trivialities to save both the time and effort of my Readers and bring consternation to the enemies of Truth & Fairness!
In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization)