Holiday Turkey
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Turkey Prep, Roasting & Carving
This is an article from "Cuisine at Home" magazine from a few years
back.
Very unique way of roasting & carving.
I’ve used these ideas since then with good success.
After stuffing the turkey, and before tying the knuckles of the legs together, cut away about 1 inch of the
skin up the leg from the knuckle. Using a sharp knife, cut through all the
exposed tendons as close to the knuckle as you can, leaving at least ˝ inch of
tendon exposed. Later, after the roasting is done, you use a pair of needle-
nose pliers & pull the tendons directly out of the leg. This makes slicing the
leg meat much easier. (illustration further below)
And here’s a way to get the dark meat & light meat to finish cooking at the
same time!
Line your roasting pan rack with foil. After the turkey is ready for roasting,
stuffed, tied, etc., and the oven temp. is set, place the turkey breast-side
down on the foil-lined rack. The foil keeps the rack from marking the
breasts.
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Position the pan so the turkey’s legs point toward the back of the oven
where it’s hottest. Keep the oven rack as high in the oven as possible
to take advantage of the heat.
After two hours, remove the roasting pan & reposition the oven rack to the
middle of the oven. Using paper towels, lift turkey by the ends, remove foil,
& reposition the turkey back on the rack, breast-side up. Tuck the wings
under the back to keep the tips from burning.
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Return the pan to the oven & continue roasting until the breast meat
registers 160 – 165 degrees.
Remove roasting pan & use the needle nose pliers to remove the now-hard
tendons.
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Tent with foil & let sit for 30 minutes before carving.
Carving the Turkey
Next, after pulling the hard tendons, cut around the thigh and, using your hands, pull it down until the joint pops out, detaching the thigh from the hip. Cut through this joint.
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I usually remove the bone from the thighs and slice them as well. This way,
the platter of turkey is completely boneless, except for the legs, if served
whole, and the wings.
Then, to remove the whole breast, cut down the breastbone along the top of the bird.
Using short strokes, cut along the rib bones to remove the meat, repeat on the other side.
Now the breast is super-easy to slice.
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Below are suggestions for serving.
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