Let's Talk Turkey Technique, Recipes or ideas

So for the last 10 years I have been honorably been asked to make a Turkey for the Celebration at my sister home. Our Thanksgiving consist of Family and friends, so we talking 40 plus folks. So we make a few turkeys and a number of dishes.
So being the one that likes to think outside the box I choose to make a different style of turkey or Technique. We have Fry,smoked,roasted and grill the big bird. Stuffing the bird with some of the finest ingredients,slider,cornbreads,meats,fruits and even other Birds .. So in another post the talk of (Tom Tom Tamales) humm good idea and now Diane Kennedy?s recipes for Negro and Coloradito Mole. These sound like great ideas and would love to hear more on your recipes.
Thanks Bronco

I am going to try dry salt brining this year. Russ Parsons from the LA Times mentioned that he has been "wet" brining for years (salt mixed in water, add the meat), but recently he has been experimenting with dry brining (salt without water) and found it added just as much flavor/juiciness, but without the sometimes "flaccid" meat.

The secret is to let the turkey sit in a bag with salt on it for 3 days. It will expel water, and then reabsorb it. Then let it dry out for 1 day. It takes some planning, but sounds like it could work.

The hard part is finding the right bird to use. You can't use Kosher turkeys because they are already salted, and you can't use pre-brined birds.

See this website for recipe details http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf/gf071020mori_ex_cacao_bacon_

I had great success last year with butterflying the turkey. The backbone was a *pain* to remove, compared to the chickens I routinely butterfly, but it really cut down on the cooking time. Also, by covering the stuffing with the butterflied bird, all of the butter (slid under the skin before cooking) and grease from the turkey flavoured the stuffing really, really well. The Washington Post just did a feature on butterflying, but I prefer the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

danimalarkey wrote:I had great success last year with butterflying the turkey. The backbone was a *pain* to remove, compared to the chickens I routinely butterfly, but it really cut down on the cooking time. Also, by covering the stuffing with the butterflied bird, all of the butter (slid under the skin before cooking) and grease from the turkey flavoured the stuffing really, really well. The Washington Post just did a feature on butterflying, but I prefer the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

CI's is my favorite too. An easy way to remove the backbone is with a pair of pruning shears. Run them through the dishwasher before and after and its a snip and snip job.

danimalarkey wrote:I had great success last year with butterflying the turkey. The backbone was a *pain* to remove, compared to the chickens I routinely butterfly, but it really cut down on the cooking time. Also, by covering the stuffing with the butterflied bird, all of the butter (slid under the skin before cooking) and grease from the turkey flavoured the stuffing really, really well. The Washington Post just did a feature on butterflying, but I prefer the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

Sounds great, but how can you make pan gravy if all the grease and juices have been absorbed into the stuffing?

danimalarkey wrote:I had great success last year with butterflying the turkey. The backbone was a *pain* to remove, compared to the chickens I routinely butterfly, but it really cut down on the cooking time. Also, by covering the stuffing with the butterflied bird, all of the butter (slid under the skin before cooking) and grease from the turkey flavoured the stuffing really, really well.

You can speed up cooking even more by cutting the turkey into parts and cooking on a rack above your pan of stuffing. You get crisipy skin and this method also lets you cook the legs longer than the breast.

If you need to make pan gravy, cook some of the parts separately.

You might also want to look at this turkey thread.

How To Make A Fabled Mexican Turkey Dish On A Wood Grill: Turkey escabeche

Turkey escabeche grilled whole to crisp and brown the skin
The sisters explained that to achieve intoxicating fragrance and flavor, a small, whole trussed turkey (or pieces of a large bird for easy maneuvering) is simmered in seasoned water, but before it’s done it’s whisked off the stove, cooled a bit, thoroughly massaged with recado de bistec (Yucatan’s peppery spice paste), taken outdoors and plopped onto a hot grill. Yep, the whole thing. A whole turkey’s skin is browned first on the back and then turned over to the front, finally turning twice more to brown each side, all the while basting generously with more recado de bistec. Only when the turkey is fully cooked — deep, chocolate brown and crisp in every nook and cranny — is it lifted off the grill.