Tips For Your Turkey, Stuffing And Sides: Taking It Back To Thanksgiving Basics
With Thanksgiving in a little over a week, Here & Now resident chef Kathy Gunst goes over some basic menu questions with Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson and Robin Young. She’ll address defrosting a frozen turkey, to brine or not to brine, making gravy and how to pep up family favorite recipes.
Roast Turkey With Pan Dripping Gravy
This recipe is for an 18- to 20-pound bird, but can easily work with a smaller one by reducing the cooking time. If you’re working with a frozen turkey be sure to defrost in time (see “Frozen Tips” below) and leave time to brine the bird if you like. The turkey should soak in the brine for at least 12 to 24 hours and then it needs to dry out for several hours before roasting. (See “To Brine Or Not To Brine” below.)
Turkey Ingredients
- One 18- to 20-pound fresh turkey (preferably organic), at room temperature*
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 stick butter
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- Sweet Hungarian paprika
- Your favorite stuffing, optional
- 1 slice bread, optional
- Kitchen string or butcher’s twine
*Room temperature simply means that the bird shouldn’t come straight out of the refrigerator. You don’t want to let it sit around for hours; remove from the refrigerator about one hour before roasting while you make the stuffing. And never stuff a bird until you’re just about to
