ROAST TURKEY

Let's get Roasting!

Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
Place the bird on a v-shaped roasting rack, breast-side down and pat dry with paper towels,use a shallow roasting pan (If you use a deep roasting pan, you wind up steaming the meat). 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thoroughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture.
2. Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the chicken broth
3. Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (185 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.

To prevent the meat from drying out, loosely cover with a thick sheet of aluminum foil, butter on the inside to prevent sticking. The last hour or so, remove the foil and turn the turkey to brown the breast.

Baste, baste, baste.

Don't rely on the little plastic thermometer in some turkeys to pop out. If you wait for it, the turkey will overcook. Instead stick an instant read thermometer several inches down through the skin between the thigh and the breast so the tip ends up about an inch above the joint. The turkey is ready when the thermometer reads 180 degrees F. If you are not prepared to use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the turkey and the stuffing in the bird, that is okay but the stuffing should be cooked outside the turkey," I always cook my stuffing outside of the turkey".

Let the cooked turkey "rest" after it have been removed from the oven. While the turkey cooks, the juices are forced away from the heat to the middle of the turkey. Cover loosely with the aluminum foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes after it is removed from the oven. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the turkey. A moist turkey is easier to carve.

If you need your oven to reheat or cook side dishes, it's better to serve the turkey at room temperature with hot gravy than to reheat it. Reheating dries out the meat. The interior of a large turkey will stay quite hot for at least an hour.

Let’s get cookin’ starting with the Turkey

We will finishing off with all the sides and deserts. Sense we all are trying to eat heath; I’m going to update my recipes and try to take a little fat out without losing that good old fashion.
Do you know that a "frozen" turkey is fresher than a so called "fresh" turkey?
I always buy a frozen turkey because the so called fresh turkeys can sit in your store for days uncooked. The frozen turkey have been frozen immediately upon preparation.

To get a flavorful turkey, you must start with a brine.

Brining adds moisture and flavor to the turkey and helps to keep it from drying out. 

 Now let's get to the turkey. Wash the bird, inside and out, in cool running water, completely thawed, and should not be a self-basting (Butterball) or Kosher turkey, they have a salty stock added that will make your brined turkey too salty.

To properly brine a turkey you need to start the night before you plan to cook. You will need a container large enough to hold your turkey and enough brine to cover it. You'll also need *Kosher salt, water, sugar, and enough room to refrigerate it. A large stainless steel stock pot or even a 5 gallon clean plastic bucket would make excellent containers. Whatever container you choose the turkey needs to have enough room to be turned so it should be big. Both Reynolds (Oven Roasting Bag for Turkeys) and Ziploc (XL Storage Bag) make very large food safe seal-able bags that are great for this job.

Brine Ingredients:
To make the brine, mix 1 cup of Kosher salt in 1 gallon of water. You will need more than 1 gallon of water but that’s the ratio to aim. Add up to 1 cup of sugar per gallon of brine, then bring the whole thing to a boil for 5 minutes to blend flavors. Make sure that the salt and sugar is completely dissolved. Be sure to allow it to cool before immersing the 
Set-up: Place the turkey in a bucket or pot (plastic, stainless steel or enamel – not aluminum or other “reactive” metal) pour in enough brine to completely cover the turkey with an inch or two to spare. You do not want any part of the turkey above the surface of the brine. Now you put the whole thing in the refrigerator. Cover the pot and refrigerate for 6 hours - or up to 24 hours

Keep it Cool!: Don't have room in the refrigerator? Try a cooler. A cooler big enough to hold your turkey and makes a good container for your turkey and brine. If the weather is cool, but not freezing you can put the whole thing outside until you need the turkey. If the weather is warm fill a a zip top bag with ice. Place this in the cooler with the turkey and brine and it will hold down the temperature during the brining process.

Rinsing: When you are ready to start cooking your turkey, remove it from the brine and rinse it off thoroughly in the sink with cold water until all traces of salt are off the surface inside and out. pat dry with paper towels, and roast as usual. Safely discard the brine.

Brining makes an exceptionally moist and juicy (but not watery) turkey. This is way I have the Perfect Turkey year after year, just follow my steps and you will to.

* Kosher salt is the ONLY type of salt to be used in making brine (it is sweeter and more pure than ordinary table salt).

Tips: After rinsing your turkey, allow the turkey to stand, refrigerated, for 6 hours or overnight. This resting period has the added advantage of evening the degree of brininess throughout the meat (it will be less salty on the surface of the meat, more evenly brined throughout), and resting produces a slightly more tender result.

If salt is a concern (the entire turkey will absorb only 10-15% of the brine)

It time to start getting ready for the big day. Thanksgiving Day Dinner

Thanksgiving is time when family and friends come together for a great home cook meal, this year let's do it right with a great Thanksgiving Dinner. Okayfor all you cooks who only cook on Holidays and for everyone who loves great tips. I will cover how to prepare the perfect Turkey and a few of my favorite holiday sides.

This week it’s mostly paper work. I feed about 20 people and I need enough food to cover a big Thanksgiving dinner, and a huge plate of food to send home with everyone.  This requires organization, so this week I do my lists: Menu, groceries needed groceries on hand, shopping list, to do list, cooking schedule. I used to do all of the cooking myself but I have grand kids in training so I get a lot of help.

How to Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Now that you have carved your pumpkin, and removed the membrane and seeds, it time to bake  up a batch of pumpkin seeds to snack on.

Cut a fresh, well-ripened pumpkin in half.
Remove the membrane and seeds.
Remove most of the pulp from the seeds (leaving some pulp on is okay because it adds to the flavor; for the same reason, do not rinse the seeds.

Heat oven to 300.
Spread 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a shallow pan.
Sprinkle seeds over oil in single layer.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over seeds.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned; cool.
and enjoy.

Cajun Spiced Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Double or triple this roasted pumpkin seed recipe, depending on how many cups of seeds you have. One large pumpkin will generally yield 1 cup or pumpkin seeds, and smaller pie pumpkins will yield about the same amount. Toss a salad with these seeds, sprinkle over a chicken dish, or serve as a snack.


Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 scant teaspoon Cajun seasoning, or to taste
paprika, for more color, if desired
a little salt, depending on saltiness of the seasoning
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon melted butter or vegetable oil

Preparation:
Rinse seeds well and get as much of the pumpkin pulp off of them as possible. Some of the small pieces are going to adhere, but they won't hurt the seeds at all, and might even add a little more flavor. Pat dry with paper towels. Don't let them dry completely on the paper towels, because they might stick!

Toss pumpkin seeds with seasonings. Combine butter and Worcestershire sauce; stir into seeds until well blended and coated.

Heat oven to 300°. Roast, turning from time to time, for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and crunchy.

PUMPKIN BREAD Day 3 (New recipe just try it today yummy)

JENNIFER CONWAY’S PUMPKIN BREAD

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. each: Nutmeg, Cloves, Cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups each: Granulated Sugar, Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 cups Canned Pumpkin (Libby's is best!)
• 4 Eggs

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
2. Add sugar and mix well
3. Add oil and pumpkin, stirring until well-combined
4. Add eggs one at a time, blending thoroughly
5. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 1/2x5 1/4" loaves
6. Bake @ 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
7. Let cool for 5 minutes
8. Remove from pans and place in wire racks to cool completely