Turkey a la Christopher

With me stuck at home this year I will be attempting to recreate Chris's fantastic turkey from the Sib Thanksgiving dinner last year. In order to do this right Chris recommended you have the following tools at your disposal:

An injector
A meat thermometer
Heavy fin foil
A turkey roaster

Make sure your turkey is completely thawed out by the night before. Clean out the turkey and remove the plastic ties on the legs. Chris recommended going to the food network and learning how to properly truss a turkey. I tried to make the link but couldn't get it to work so here is the address.

www.foodnetwork.com/how-to-truss-a-turkey/video/index.html

Now that the bird is ready to go, we can get ready to do the injecting. You will need:

A bundle of fresh rosemary, thyme and sage
1 stick of butter
1 bottle of dark beer (he recommended using a Belgian White like New Moon)

Simmer these all together for 1/2 hour. Cool. Inject all over the bird until the solution is gone. Cover and let the turkey rest overnight.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Give the bird a good rubdown with canola oil. Take a large piece of tinfoil and fold into a triangle. With the tip towards the legs, mold it to the turkey making sure you completely cover the breast. Remove it and set aside. Make sure the rack is in the lowest possible position. Put the turkey in the roasting pan with the breast toward you and cook for 30 minutes. This will seal up all those puncture holes that were made during the injection and help keep the juices inside the turkey while it cooks. Recover the turkey with the shield. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Cook until the thermometer inserted in the breast reads 160 degrees and inserted in the leg reads 180 degrees. This can be anywhere from 2 1/2-3 hours for a 20 bird, but he stressed you shouldn't be relying on time, you should only have that be a guideline and check with the thermometer. Let the bird rest for AT LEAST 30 minutes before carving. He recommended giving yourself an extra 20 minutes just in case you need more time to cook. Delicious.

Chris's French Bread Stuffing

Chris made this stuffing last year for our sibling Thanksgiving (best eva!) We all loved it and I'm hoping to do it justice for Jana's family this year.

French Bread Stuffing
Three loaves of French bread cubed and dried (maybe even slightly toasted)
3 quarts chicken stock
9 eggs
3 bundles parsley chopped
1 celery bundle cleaned and trimed. and chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter
fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme bundled together
3 medium onions diced


Melt butter in large skillet. Add onions. Add spice bundle when onions begin to soften. Remove spices when you can smell them strongly. Add half parsley. Add celery when onions translucent. Meanwhile, mix stock and eggs together.

Pour butter and stock over bread and then add the other half of the parsley. Gently fold together so bread and stock and parsley are mixed, but preserving the integrity of the bread cubes. Bake 25 min or so @350F. Serves 20 (or so)

Chris made it clear that this stuffing could stand on its own, or as a base for other ingredients. We talked about adding currents, cranberries, sausage, pecans, etc. (ooooo... Sun-dried tomatoes...)

Raspberry Butter

I just gave myself quite a scare thinking I had lost this...so I am blogging it. This is the Carriage Court's recipe for Raspberry Butter. Even though the restaurant is closed I believe the recipe is still being served in either the Lion House or The Roof. So it is kind of secret (except for the fact that I published this on the family blog)! ;)My source recommended whipping the butter with a paddle if you have one. I don't, so I just use beaters.

Raspberry Butter

1 lb butter (at room temperature)
8 oz honey
8 oz raspberry preserves (I use frozen raspberry jam)
1 tsp vanilla

Whip the butter until light and fluffy. Add the honey and whip again. Add the raspberry jam and vanilla and whip again.