are gender reveal parties pc in 2021? 
Yes. More options.
I think smoking first then frying would be my preferred methodā¦ dries the surface out and adds flavor.
nothing is pc anymore not even Dell.
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Do yourself a favor and donāt fry a turkey.
Whole turkey in the oven bag worked well for us for many years but once we discovered turkey breast en cocotte, Iāll never make turkey another way. Just a large breast browned in a large dutch oven on the stove then braised in the oven with aromatics at 250F with just a little liquid until it hits 160F (gets to 165 standing). Perfect breast meat. Enjoy.
Iāve been doing the sous vide and deep fried method for the past several years and itās been yummy and a big hit. Can do much in advance, too, which is nice.
Inject up a pork butt and throw it in there after the Turkey. Bunch of my buddies do these as well.
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Sorry for the delay, but here are my recipes. I donāt rigidly follow them and tweak things as it seems necessary during the process. I also measure out the stock needed for the gravy first and use what is left for the dressing and I keep a couple of extra quarts of store low sodium chicken broth on hand to use if the dressing needs more moisture and I run low on stock.
A few other tips: I find that the gravy is good just using the stock and turkey schmaltz, but it really gets a kick in intensity from fortifying it with the drippings from the roasted bird. Also, I like only filling the dressing baking dishes about one inch deep as I find it gives a good ratio of crunchy to moist parts of the dressing.
My Turkey Stock (updated 12/2019)
Yield: 6-8 quarts stock
ā¢ 3 large turkey drumsticks
ā¢ 4 large turkey wings
ā¢ 2-3 lbs. turkey necks
ā¢ 6 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
ā¢ 4 yellow onions, quartered
ā¢ 6 carrots, cut in pieces
ā¢ 4-6 celery ribs, cut in pieces
ā¢ 1/4 cup tomato paste
ā¢ 2-3 cups white wine
ā¢ 3-5 bay leaves
ā¢ 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed & peeled
ā¢ 1 tablespoon peppercorns, cracked beneath a pan or with a mortar and pestle
ā¢ fresh parsley and thyme (optional) or 2 teaspoons each of dried parsley and dried thyme
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
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Sprinkle turkey parts with salt and pepper. In a large roasting pan, place turkey, skin side down, in oven and roast for 25-35 minutes.
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Prepare and combine vegetables. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F, briefly remove turkey, scatter the onion, carrot, and celery in the same pan, turning to coat in bottom of pan juices, and place turkey, skin side up on top and to sides of vegetables and continue to roast for another 20-30 minutes until vegetables are browned around the edges. Donāt let the veg burn. (You can cut the meat off the bones for dinner if you wish; but the meat will add lots of flavor to the stock.)
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Remove pan from oven, remove turkey pieces and set aside, add vegetables to a stockpot and place stockpot over medium heat, remove fat and reserve for making the roux, and place the pan over medium heat. Add white wine to the pan and cook, stirring, until wine is reduced to a syrup, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, add the tomato paste to the stockpot and cook, stirring, until tomato paste is fully mixed in, fragrant, and slightly darkened, about 2 minutes.
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Add turkey bones and reduced wine to stockpot. Cover everything completely with water or chicken broth, 6 quarts/liters or more, and:
i. If overnight in oven: Turn your oven to 180Ā°ā200Ā°F/80Ā°ā90Ā°C, put the pot over high heat, and when the stock comes to a simmer, put the pot in the oven for 8 hours or overnight, then add the garlic, parsley and thyme, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the temperature to low and cook for another hour or so. Strain into a clean pot. Cool, then refrigerate; or
ii. If all on stove: Add garlic, parsley and thyme, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Put the pot over medium-high heat just until mixture comes to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to low, skim any foam floating on top and simmer, skimming as needed, for at least 3 hours. Taste for salt and add more if needed. If stock tastes watery, keep simmering until stock is flavorful. Taste for salt again and add more if needed. Strain stock through a sieve into a large container or containers. Discard solids. Let stock cool slightly, then refrigerate.
- After refrigerating, skim and reserve any fat that has congealed on top to use for the roux to thicken the gravy on Thanksgiving day. The stock will be gelatinous so it is easy to skim the fat. Use within 4 days or freeze.
Cornbread & Challah Dressing and Turkey Gravy
(updated 12/2019)
Cornbread & Challah Dressing
3 - 4 quarts turkey stock or chicken broth
5 - 6 cups onion, chopped fine (for dressing)
2 - 3 cups celery, diced (for dressing)
6 tablespoons butter (for sautƩing dressing veggies)
1 loaf Challah bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, dried in oven
2 loaves, crumbled Southern cornbread (that means it shouldnāt be sweet and should preferably be made in a cast iron skillet)
2 - 3 whole eggs, beaten
2 - 3 tablespoons dried rubbed sage
2 - 3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 - 2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
Prep:
ā¢ Celery - 2 to 3 cups, diced (for dressing)
ā¢ Onion
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5 to 6 cups onion, chopped fine (for dressing) (mix with diced celery)
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1 medium onion, chopped coarse (for gravy, if making giblet stock ā see below)
ā¢ Herbs/Spices - For dressing, mix together:
2 to 3 tablespoons dried rubbed sage (for dressing)
2 to 3 tablespoons dried parsley (for dressing)
1 to 2 tablespoons dried thyme (for dressing)
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Add Challah and cornbread to a large mixing bowl and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter. When foam subsides, add 1/2 of onion and celery and sautƩ until softened, then pour it over the cornbread mixture. Add 2 to 3 more tablespoons of butter to the pan. When foam subsides, add 1/2 of onion and celery and sautƩ until softened. About 30 seconds before finishing, add the sage, parsley, thyme, pepper, then pour it over the cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, and adjust seasoning, adding salt at this point if needed. Then add the eggs and mix well to combine. [Note: This step can be done 1-4 hours ahead of time to allow flavors to meld, keep dressing in refrigerator until ready.]
Put dressing in well-greased baking dishes about 1-1/2 to 2 inches deep (it will take 2 or 3 9ā x 13ā baking dishes) and set aside until ready to cook it.
Bake dressing for 30 ā 45 minutes until golden brown.
Turkey Gravy
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (optional)
Reserved turkey giblets, neck and tail (optional)
1 chopped onion (optional)
2 quarts turkey or chicken stock
2 sprigs fresh thyme and 8 parsley stems or 1 tablespoon each of dried parsley and dried thyme (for giblet stock)
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks) and reserved turkey fat from making turkey stock
1 cup all-purpose flour plus one tablespoon for each tablespoon of reserved turkey fat
1 cup dry white wine
1 ā 2 teaspoons each of dried parsley and dried thyme
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Reserved turkey meat from making turkey stock (optional)
Optional if using giblets: Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering, but not smoking. Add giblets, neck and tail and sautƩ until golden, about 5 minutes. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until turkey parts and onion release their juices, about 20 minutes. Add stock and herbs, increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, skimming any scum that may rise to surface, until broth is rich and flavorful, about 30 minutes longer. Strain broth (should be about 16 cups) reserving neck meat.
Bring turkey broth and wine to simmer in medium saucepan under medium heat. Heat butter in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. When foam subsides, vigorously whisk in flour to make a roux. Cook slowly, stirring constantly until nutty brown and fragrant, about 10 to 15 minutes. Vigorously whisk all but 1 cup hot broth into roux (only reserve 1 cup if you will be deglazing the turkey pan). Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, add reserved neck meat (or any reserved meat from making the turkey stock) and dried parsley and thyme, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and flavorful, about 30 minutes longer. Set aside until turkey is done or dinner is ready to be served.
Optional if roasting a turkey: Once turkey is done and has been removed from the roasting pan, spoon out and discard as much fat as possible, leaving behind any caramelized vegetables. Place roasting pan over 2 burners at medium-high heat and cook drippings, stirring constantly, until they caramelize if they are not already. Return gravy to saucepan to simmer over medium heat. Deglaze roasting pan with wine and reduce by half. Add remaining 1 cup of broth to roasting pan, then strain mixture into gravy, pressing on solids in strainer to reduce as much liquid as possible. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and a dash or two of additional dried parsley and thyme if needed and serve with turkey.
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Turkey year in and year out.
If we did not eat turkey on Thanksgiving, we never would (at least whole roasted ones).
But during Thanksgiving, the kids (and wife) at some point will say we should do this more often.
We do a Diestel Farms American Heirloom each year. Dry brine starting on Sunday. I do cover the breasts during the roasting to even out the cook a bit.
Great leftovers as well.
Iāve suggested smoking a bird on the Egg, but they like the way I make the turkey, so dry brined Heirloom turkey for the foreseeable future.
I would say the roast turkey is half tradition (my wife is from the Midwest and grew up with big family Thanksgivings with turkeys and football) and half that everyone still really likes the turkey.
Iāve been spatchcocking my turkey and wrapping it in a bacon lattice for a few years nowā¦this year Iām going one-up and cooking that same turkey configuration in the smoker.
Amazing what you have to do in order to make this boring (tradition) meat taste good. Wish Jen didnāt like turkey, as Iād definitely not make it otherwise.
Last 10 years or so weāve been taking advantage of availability and lower pricing around Thanksgiving and buying one or two small turkeys, less than 10 lb, for the freezer and cooking for another time. Think of them as big chickens. And we can experiment with other prep methods.
Stone crab, FL lobster, and venison
(and turkey)
I am making grandmamaās amazing mac & cheese for our 16 year old neighbor because she said no one would make Mac & cheese for her.
When we hosted one year, I bought a smoked turkey from gobblegobble.com - it was fantastic and definitely an upgrade from the usual roast turkey. Outsource the work!
I just finished spat-cocking my turkey and will be adding the dry rub in just a bit, peeped the smoker yesterday and cut up the chunks of wild cherry wood. All systems are ready.
Sides are the traditional candied yams, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy and I make my grandmotherās layered asparagus pea casserole and her corn pudding recipes. And Nolita asked me to make my homemade Mac and cheese which Iām sure the grandchildren will love!!
I agree, but I get too much shit from the rest of the family so I just brine and will either slow roast or spatchcock and grill. I do not like smoked turkey - the fat seems to absorb too much smoke for my liking.
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My parents were upset when I suggested I cook next year for Thanksgiving and I wasnāt going to do turkeyā¦ they immediately were like ācan you just do Christmas dinner?ā
I tempād the turkey they were cooking and it read 178 in the oven and I was like āOH noā¦ take it out nowā
My sister made a new dish this year. It was corn pudding and it was okay. It tasted like sweet corn eggs.
The kitchen exhaust fan would have done that soonā¦in the form of turkey meat dust.