Over the years I have roasted the turkey with various recipe promises for moist meat cooked throughout and crispy skin.
BLACK LACQUERED TURKEY
Many years ago, a friend and I used to watch Martha Stewart Living (in our own homes) while our toddlers napped.
Then when our kids had playtime together, my friend and I compared notes from the tv show.
The most curiously intriguing for us to try was Martha Stewart’s Black Lacquered Turkey which has a ton of ingredients for turkey, stuffing, paste, and glaze.
Further steps include flipping the turkey midway through roasting.
The most tedious step was removing the black paste after the turkey was done roasting.
As I recall, it came out okay for my friend, but I bombed.
Several years later, I tried again and it came out the way it should, but it wasn’t a big wow…especially for all the work involved.
FLIPPING THE TURKEY
Hearing that the big secret to success with a turkey’s moistness/crispness ratio is all about the flipping, as employed with the Black Lacquered Turkey, I decided to focus on that.
Many chefs proclaim this method of roasting the turkey breast down at high heat for a short time, then flipping it to its back and reducing the oven temperature to finish the cooking.
For example, in the Black Lacquered Turkey, the oven starts at 500 degrees for the turkey to roast breast side down for 30 minutes.
Then the turkey is removed from the oven to lay on its back, then reenters a cooler 325 oven to roast until juices run clear. (timing dependent now on size of the bird)
Every chef who uses this technique has a different ratio of timing to oven temperature and I think I’ve tried them all.
Sometimes the turkey comes out perfectly, while in other years the juices come out bloody looking even though the thermometer claims the meat is a safe temperature.
Although the USDA claims this merely a protein leakage, so cooks should focus on the thermometer reading 165 and run with it.
SPATCHCOCKED TURKEY
Then last year I tried the Spatchcocked Turkey for the first time, using Alton Brown’s recipe…and it was a hit for all of us! (I forgot to take a picture, since we were too excited to eat it!)
This year I upped the ante by buying a fresh free-range turkey which never had antibiotics!
While all the meat was juicy and evenly cooked, the skin was uber crispy.
This presentation is much easier than the traditional, allowing an easier means of cutting all the parts for serving.
EQUALLY EASY SIDES
Likewise, the sides were equally easy.
Turkey Gravy with Sage and Thyme…
Cranberry Sauce with raw unfiltered honey instead of sugar…
Green bean salad
Mashed sweet potatoes with sage…
Last year I made a chocolate swirled pumpkin pie and a pecan pie the old-fashioned way, with honey, instead of karo corn syrup….topped with homemade whip cream (super easy) from whole raw milk but forgot to take pictures.
Everyone enjoyed everything, although the kids are still good with more traditional foods, while my husband and I are now eating healthier and feeling better for it. (see below)
My kids get that and they did have a more traditional dinner (at least once) with their spouse’s families on the actual day of Thanksgiving.
TURKEY TRYPTOPHAN MYTH
They came here the Sunday after and have a big work day the next day, so eating lighter I think they would concede is helpful.
In short, all the grief the turkey gets for causing people to fall into food coma, requiring deep sleep, is a myth.
It’s actually caused by all the carbs.
Last year we had a few extra guests on Thanksgiving Day who asked what they could bring.
Since my focus must be on health for my husband and I, I honestly tell them my menu and suggest that if they would miss something special that I’m not providing, then they are free to bring that.
Thus, one of the new guests brought starchy stuffing and sugary sweet potatoes which some people did eat from.
Most of my food offerings were gone…so that says a lot.
Furthermore, I found the dishes much easier to clean with the whole food ingredients because the food didn’t stick to them like glue as when processed ingredients are used.
WHOLE FOOD FARM FRESH
Thus, everything was made with fresh, whole ingredients.
Why? A few years ago my husband was diagnosed with SIBO after suffering horribly for weeks before the diagnosis.
Taking the doctor’s advice on eating a Low Fod-map diet, taking horribly expensive antibiotics, and then prebiotics did nothing to help him with his pain.
After lots of research, I learned a lot for my own health and fed him the same way.
The more he eats the way I do, the better he feels. If he cheats, he pays for it, sooner or later.
In short, I focus my meals on protein, fruit, and veggies without processed ingredients.
Of those foods, I focus on protein, aiming for 100g per day.
Interestingly, when we increase our protein, our sugar cravings go down.
Whereas eating carbs makes us crave more.
When looking at ingredient lists on the back of food products, if an ingredient did not come from a farm, I’m not buying it.
Instead, I look for food that is raw, unfiltered, unprocessed, free range, grass fed…
In other words, I eat real, whole foods, with a small treat on a very rare occasion…but even that is become less and less.
TURKEY HAND PRINTS GROWTH CHART TRADITION
After dinner, my daughter-in-love, S_____ picked up a tradition she began last year.
Since it was her baby’s (E______) first Thanksgiving, she wanted to trace her hand several times to make turkeys, then write the baby’s name, and date on the back.
S__________ also made a set with my other granddaughter, M________, enjoyed the project immensely this year and next.
What a fun treasure to decorate the walls or refrigerator with, then put into the baby book or a scrapbook of memories!
For more photos of my cooking journey, check my Flickr set here.
