That's one very sexy leg you've got there!!! Smooth and golden brown, slightly salty and ready to be bitten this is Best Turkey Recipe EVER! There is nothing like the perfectly cooked turkey!
I've cooked my turkey with cheese cloth and doused with wine and butter for many years. Thanks to Martha Stewart and her genius cooking techniques I haven't had an ugly or over cooked bird yet!
The smells of turkey baking away in the oven and lingering hint of freshly baked pumpkin pie and I go weak at the knees. I can't wait until the turkey is carved to get a hunk of that golden browned skin...slurp! Thanksgiving might be past, but the memory of a tender and juicy turkey stills lingers on.
Cheese Cloth Turkey Perfection:
Adapted from Martha Stewart's perfectly cooked turkey recipe
The perfect turkey begins at your local market or turkey farm. Purchasing a fresh, young turkey will result in a tender, tastier bird. Big frozen birds are known to have added growth hormones and chemical enhancers to make the turkey look and taste better. I tend to shy away form this variety. Older birds can also be more tough and dry, but if you must impress your guests with a gigantic bird try to find one that's just been butchered for a fresher tasting turkey. In lieu of a gigantic bird another option is to roast two 10-16 pound fresh birds.
This year I cooked a fresh Redbird turkey and I can guarantee that it was well worth the money.
Ingredients
- 1-16 pound fresh Turkey
- 1 sticks of butter melted
- 1 cup good white wine
- juice from 1 orange
- 2 packages cheese cloth
Stuffing:
- 1 onion quartered
- 4 celery stalks, cut in half
- 1 large orange
- 1 large bunch fresh parsley
- 5 whole cloves garlic
- salt & pepper
Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce:
- 1 12 ounce bag fresh cranberries
- 1 orange, zested
- juice from 1 orange
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ pomegranate seeds
- 1 ½ cups sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- In a large glass bowl melt butter and add wine and juice of 1 orange, fold cheese cloths into quarters, submerge cheese cloths in butter mixture, set aside
- Remove turkey from packaging, remove giblets and neck from cavity and set aside for use in gravy, wash turkey with cold water and pat dry. Salt and pepper cavity and body of bird, place bird in a large roasting pan and stuff both the neck and body cavities with onion, celery, garlic, parsley, and orange peels, pull the excess skin from the neck cavity over the stuffing and tuck wing tips under the bird. Be sure to wash your hands and all surfaces after working with poultry.
- Remove cheese cloth from bowl and squeeze excess liquid back into the bowl, place cheesecloth on the bird covering the entire body, total layers of cheese cloth should be 8 layers thick, using a turkey baster, baste turkey with about ½ cup liquid and place in a preheated oven, cook bird for 45 minutes then lower the heat to 350, baste turkey then set timer to baste turkey every 30-45 minutes, cook bird until meat thermometer reads 165-170 degrees, remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil and rest for 30 minutes before carving. Use the drippings to make a delicious gravy.
Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce
- In a medium sauce pan, bring all the ingredients to a boil then lower heat to medium low, cook until mixture is thick, stirring frequently, refrigerate for 2 hours before serving or make a day ahead.
Results...the perfectly cooked, juicy & browned bird
Rebecka
I think the votin button is broken today...:(
kitchen flavours
OK. Noted. Will try again! It's a pleasure to vote for you!
Rebecka
kf, you should be able to vote once every 24 hours. I couldn't vote yesterday until the time I voted the day before! Thanks so much for your support!!
kitchen flavours
Rebecka, HELP!!! I can't seem to vote today! I cannot find the world "VOTE" as I did yesterday! Can we only vote once or is it once a day? Let me know!
Rebecka
Gloria, {{{HUGS}}} I left a long comment on you blog post for the cookie debacle....not to worry... it happens to all of us, however, most of us are just to proud to admit it!!!
Gloria
Hi Rebecka. That turkey looks delish!. I love cranberry, so good. You know, I tried baking those molasses cookies and they just did not come out for me. They taste good but look limp, and scraggly. hehehehe. what did I do wrong, I followed the recipe. I guess I just can't bake. I do bake bread though.:)) Thanks for sharing the recipe, I enjoyed making the cookies or more like, well just undescribale. have a look at them on my blog and please tell me what I did wrong?? I did add the baking soda so they should have risen. Oh well, se la vie. :() bye now.
Rebecka
♥♥♥Joyce, I'm so greatful for your votes♥♥
kitchen flavours
Hi Rebecka, voted for you today, I hope I did it right! Your roast turkey looks perfect, and the cranberry pomegranate sauce looks really good! I can only imagine the smiles at the dining table when served with this delicious feast! Voting again tomorrow. Have a lovely day.