The Thanksgiving meal usually comes with a number of challenges: how to manage cooking so everything hits the table on time, how to keep the white meat juicy, how to fit everything in the oven and how to avoid overeating amongst delicious and usually high-calorie dishes. The following Thanksgiving sources have recipes and ideas that can help with many of those most common Turkey Day challenges. First off, this year try grilling your turkey! This will free up some space in your oven while providing a healthy cooking option that can be accomplished in about 3 hours. Below I have offered up a tasty recipe provided by Kingsford Charcoal.
Second, try a new, lighter side dish recipe this year. Just because it has fewer calories, doesn’t mean that it won’t be a hit (the family doesn’t have to know it’s lower calorie)! The November issue of Taste of Home’s “Healthy Cooking” magazine is filled with recipes that promise Thanksgiving indulgence without guilt. Included are desserts such as lightened-up bread pudding, Hummingbird Cake and coconut brownies, as well as such diabetic-friendly recipes as whole-grain “Bountiful Loaves.” Try not to salivate over the pictures and recipes for moist turkey sausage stuffing, cheddar mashed potatoes, sweet potato biscuits and broccoli-cauliflower cheese bake!
And finally, To save time and oven space, try plucking a few recipes from slow-cooker cookbooks or internet sites. Phyllis Pellman Good’s “Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook” is a ring-bound volume filled with recipes that call to mind church suppers and potlucks. Submitted by home cooks, the collection includes several recipes for holiday-friendly sides and for those who don’t want to cook a whole turkey.
THANKSGIVING RECIPE
Charcoal-grilled turkey with fresh herb butter
10 servings
1 whole 12-pound turkey
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Coarse ground black pepper
For fresh herb butter:
1 cup of butter
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/3 cup chopped green onion tops
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
For gravy:
2 cups turkey stock (as directed)
2 tablespoons water
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1. Place the whole turkey breast side down on a cutting board. Remove the neck and giblets and set aside to make turkey stock. With a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen shears, cut the turkey down each side of the backbone, removing it completely. Open the turkey and press it flat on the cutting board. Using a sharp knife, loosen the breast bone from between the turkey breasts and remove it with your fingers. It is a dark colored bone that is often called a keel bone because of its shape. This will enable the turkey to open completely flat. Apply a light coat of olive oil to the turkey skin and liberally season the skin with kosher salt and black pepper.
2. Build a charcoal fire for direct grilling. The heat over the coals should be hot, approximately 450 to 500 degrees.
3. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add the remaining fresh herb butter ingredients, mix well, and keep warm until needed.
4. Place the butterflied turkey directly over the coals, skin side down, and baste with the fresh herb butter. Grill the turkey for 5-7 minutes or until the skin starts to turn golden brown and begins to crisp. Transfer the turkey to a 10”x10” baking dish skin side up, place it back on the grill, and baste with herb butter. Cover the grill and close the air dampers reducing the cooking temperature to 350 degrees. Cook for 2 1/2 hours, basting every hour with the remaining herb butter. Meanwhile, prepare the stock while turkey is cooking.
5. To make turkey stock, add 3 1/2 cups water, 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, turkey neck and giblets to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
For turkey: The internal temperature of a turkey thigh should reach 175-180 degrees while the breast meat should reach 160-165 degrees. Remove the cooked turkey from the grill, cover it with foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes prior to carving. Make the gravy.
6. To make the gravy, scrape all of the drippings and liquid from the bottom of the roasting pan into a small bowl. Skim the grease from the top of the liquid. Pour the seasoned liquid, about 3/4 cup, into a small sauce pan. In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons water with the cornstarch until smooth. Add the cornstarch slurry and 2 cups of the pre-made turkey stock to the sauce pan and heat. Serve drizzled over the turkey or on the side as table gravy.
