4 Stages of Turkey (Easter Dinner) *Includes recipe*

Four stages of Turkey!!

I just love the challenge of cooking a turkey dinner.  Cooking the turkey itself is nothing more than good planning and preparation.  The most important aspect is to prevent the turkey from ever going to room temperature prior to cooking.  To thaw a turkey from frozen, I always place it in a clean sink full of cold water to thaw over night, and in the refrigerator (from the freezer) a day prior.  In the morning, plan out when your guests will arrive, calculating backwards the hours it will take to cook the bird.  I cooked a 20 lb bird for Easter so based on everyone arriving at 3:30, the turkey was stuffed and in the oven by 10:00 am (based on 5 hour cooking time).  Once the bird is thawed in the water, take out everything inside, the neck, and giblets (there is a little bag of heart/liver parts which is sometimes missed.  Make sure you've taken that out too! 
Now for the stuffing.  There are all kinds of stuffing and some modified versions of it, but my family loves the traditional.

• 30 slices firm bread
• 3 Tbsp. instant minced onion
• 2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. seasoned pepper
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 3 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
• 3/4 tsp. ground sage

You can modify stuffing by adding apples, cranberries, nuts and raisins or sausage. Once the bird is stuffed, into the oven it goes.  Covering it up is a personal experience thing.  I have always made an aluminum tent around the turkey and uncovered it for the last 2 hours to get it nice and golden color.  The legs and wings are covered up with aluminum foil because these parts tend to burn.  


Now for the side dishes.  Its probably smart, and this is what I mean by prep to cut and peel your turnip and potatoes the night before and keep in a pot of cold water.  Its really more because you want to be able to spend time with your friends and family and not in the kitchen.  This year I made turnips, potatoes, Brussel sprouts, carrots and of course the stuffing.  About 40 minutes before the turkey is done, you want to get all your vegetables boiling and cooked.  You will also need a partner to mix things up (potatoes and turnips) while you are preparing the other dishes.

Gravy starter kit :)

Promised everyone I wouldn't exploit them!

From experience, the gravy can be a matter of taste..literally.  I cheat a little by buying ready made gravy (as a base only!).   This is set aside in a pot or pan.  To this you will add the juices from the cooked turkey and the water from the boiled vegetables (potato water is best).  Then add some corn starch to a small amount of cold water (to prevent lumping) and add this to your gravy.  This will thicken it up.  Turns out perfect every time.  I like the buffet style dinners where everything is laid out on a side table, but my boyfriend wanted to have everything on the table so that everyone could be together without getting up to get more food.  The turkey is usually carved at the head of the table but my bf carved it in the kitchen, bringing out only the platters of poultry already in slices.


As for dessert, you might find everyone is just too stuffed to eat anything too rich, so don't be surprised if your prized cupcakes or macaroons go untouched! I just put a pumpkin pie out with whipped cream for something extra with coffee, tea or wine/beer.  Always choose white wine with your bird.

The prey

Lake O

The predators

The two cats also love the smell of turkey being cooked, but they have their eyes on another bird!


Finally after everyone has eaten, the most important thing is to relax first and then go for a walk anywhere and enjoy your time away from the kitchen.  Nothing is more boring or anti-climactic than doing dishes after the meal.  I usually get help, but don't ask for it and would prefer to clean up later.  Its just more important for me to be with the people I love.