Turkey Thoughts

I'm still in search of the perfect turkey. I dream of super-moist and dense meat, with a crisp, nicely browned skin. With some steamy, herbaceous stuffing falling out of the bird. Our friends at the USDA advise us not to cook the stuffing in a turkey, "for optimum safety", because of salmonella issues. I stuff the turkey anyway, because it makes the stuffing taste so good. Just don't let any warm stuffing sit around in an uncooked bird for very long.

Last year, I tried injecting and then deep frying one, and smoking the other one in a Weber with hickory. Neither was very good. This year, the strategy is to go back to brining and high-heat roasting for the main bird, which I've had great results with in the past. For my experimental bird, I'll do a slow smoke over apple wood chips.

For both birds, I'm using the Diestel free-rangers again. The heritage birds from Bill Niman in Bolinas sounded very appealing, but the $6.99/pound was stifling.

I'll use the brine from the Bouchon cookbook for both birds, which I've been using for roast chickens. I think I'll add some allspice and juniper berries to give some of that Thanksgiving earthiness and spice. 

For my stuffing, I'll cut up some of the big Pain au Levain loaves from Trader Joes into small cubes, combining in a large cast iron pan with melted butter, adding a sauteed mixture of carrots, celery, and onions, with a touch of minced garlic. Some thyme, parsley, and sage for aroma and flavor. Then, I like to take all the giblets (kidney, heart, stomach, and especially the liver) and puree them in a cuisinart. It makes for a scary looking addition to your stuffing, but it makes the stuffing so good. I much prefer the natural flavors of the turkey giblets in the stuffing to adding sausage, which tends to overwhelm the turkey flavors. Gotta keep that stuffing moist, so I'll add lots of chicken stock to it, along with some white wine to give it some good acidity and bite. I'll cook half of the stuffing in the roasting bird, and half in a covered casserole dish.

Let us know your bird plans and secrets, and how things turn out for you. Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Chop and Stir readers!

Brine

Zest the lemons with a vegetable peeler, and then juice them. Combine zest and juice with all other ingredients in a large pot and bring...

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Author: Thomas Keller

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Comments

[Amy Wescott]

My plan for the perfect bird is accepting an invite to my inlaws for Thanksgiving dinner...it's effortless and I get to take home leftovers...but if I'm ever in San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day, I'll accept an invite from you. I'm not one bit afraid of salmonella and I think the inclusion of juniper berries are pure art!