The King's Christmas Feast
The Feast Turkey
The King likes it plain, no fancy stuff please,
just simple roast turkey with a rich natural gravy.
This is the ultimate turkey lover's turkey --- no bells and whistles,
just a juicy, delicious bird with crispy skin and plenty of delicious gravy.
It's also great for first time cooks, since there's no fussing with
brines or glazes and no stuffing the cavity. Plus, it's done start to finish
in about 4 hours.
What you'll need.
-
Turkey, about 16 pounds (you can choose a larger or smaller bird, just
adjust your cook time according to the information with the bird.
-
Large roasting pan
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Salt, one to two tablespoons
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Pepper, one to two tablespoons
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Two cups water
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Thermometer
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Other seasonings --- according to your own taste. The King insists that
the turkey be sprinkled inside and out with cayenne. You might want to
use ginger, garlic, onion, sage, etc.... seasoning is a personal issue
and practice, dear reader, practice makes perfect.
-
The King notes that many excellent turkeys have been served with no seasonings
at all!
What to do.
First. Remove thawed turkey from refrigerator and let it sit at room
temperature for one hour before you start cooking it. Immediately check
the bird over and remove any remaining feathers and quills with tweezers,
needle nose pliers, or just plain pliers (wash these instruments to be
sure they are clean before use).
Second. Be sure to remove the neck and giblets removed and reserved
for another use if desired (these can be boiled and the stock reserved
to make gravy or to use when making the dressing).
Third. Preheat the oven 500°F. Put an oven rack in lowest
position (remove all other racks if you have two or three).
Fourth: After the turkey has been sitting out for an hour, rinse turkey
inside and out with cold running water, then pat dry using paper towels.
Fifth. Sprinkle turkey cavities and outer skin with salt (about one
to two tablespoons) and pepper (about two tablespoons) to taste.
Sixth. Fold neck skin under body (secure neck skin in place with metal
skewers if you have skewers). Tuck wings under the body. You can tie the
legs together, but the chef does not.
Seventh. Put turkey its roasting pan. Add two cups of water to pan and
put the turkey into the oven, feet first (the feet pointing to the back
of the oven).
Eighth. Immediately reduce oven heat from 500° F degrees to 450°
F degrees.
Ninth. Do not baste this turkey. Basting just causes heat variations
which do not help the roasting process -- in a word do not open the oven
door unless you need to.
Tenth. About half way through the roasting time, open the oven and turn
the pan so that the turkey's feet are pointing out of the oven; the breast
will then be towards the back of the oven. The turkey will roast in the
range of two hours and thirty minutes so you will turn the bird in the
oven after about one hour and fifteen minutes.
Eleventh. Bake until a thermometer inserted into fleshy thick part of
the thighs registers 170° F; this will require about 2 1/4 to
2 3/4 hours baking time. Test both thighs; do not touch bones when testing
the temperature. When the thighs test at 170° F, remove the turkey
and pan from the oven.
Be sure you are using oven mitts, the turkey and the pan are hot!
Twelfth. Carefully tilt turkey so any juices from inside the cavity
of the turkey can flow into the roasting pan, then transfer turkey to a
platter where it can "rest."
During the resting time, due to residual heat, the internal temperature
of the turkey will continue to rise slightly. Let turkey stand, uncovered,
30 minutes (during this time the hot turkey is still cooking from residual
heat and the temperature of thigh meat should rise to 180°F.
After thirty or forty minutes, the turkey can be served.
As the turkey rests you can proceed to deglazing the roasting pan and
making the gravy. See the Feast Gravy section.
The roasting pan will be full of juices and you want to reserve or save
these juices. Do not wash the roasting pan a this time as you will shortly
deglaze it for more rich juices and flavors for the gravy. Deglazing is
in the Feast Gravy section.
