If Thanksgiving turkey preparation has been on your mind, and with the advancing days you are feeling too lazy to cook, we have some last minutes turkey recipes for you!
If you do not want to spend your whole holiday preparing Thanksgiving food, we have the simplest Thanksgiving dinner ideas for you.
Simple Roast Turkey
Ingredients
One turkey
Chopped onions
Chopped carrots
Chopped apples
Herbs
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Recipe
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Clean the turkey removing the giblets, liver and create a cavity. Dry the turkey with paper towels, then season inside and out with salt and pepper.
Fill the cavity with chopped onions, carrots, apples, and herbs. Place the breast-side up and brush it with melted butter.
Cover with foil and roast for two hours for a 10- to 12-pound turkey. Add an extra 15 minutes per pound for larger birds.
Remove the foil, apply butter to the turkey again, and keep it in the oven at 425°F.
Roast for another hour or until the meat at the thigh temperature measures 165°F.
Mom’s Roast Turkey
Ingredients
One turkey, approx. 15 lbs
One to two carrots
Half yellow onion, peeled and quartered
A bunch of celery
A bunch of parsley
Juice of a lemon
Salt and pepper
Olive oil or melted butter
Fresh rosemary and thyme
Recipe
Clean the turkey by removing the giblets and liver to create a cavity. Apply lemon juice and some salt inside the cavity. Stuff the cavity with onions, celery, parsley, and carrots.
Cover the entrance of the cavity with aluminum foil, or close it with metal skewers or kitchen string to avoid the stuffing falling out of the cavity while roasting.
Rub softened butter or olive oil all over the turkey and sprinkle salt and pepper over it.
Place the turkey on a big roasting pan with the breast side down.
Put the turkey in the oven at 400°F. If it is 15 lb turkey, start the cooking at 400 °F for the first 20 minutes to brown it.
Lower the temperature to 325°F for the next two hours; then reduce the heat further to 225 °F for an hour or half.
Take the turkey out of the oven when the temperature reading for the thigh is 165°F, and for the breast 160°F.
Remove the turkey from the oven and cover it with a foil, let it rest for 15-30 minutes. Then you can carve the turkey and serve it.
Roasted Turkey Legs
Ingredients
For seasoning – sweet smokey paprika, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, garlic powder, black peppercorns, celery salt, and lemon zest.
Make a brine with 3/4 c. salt, 1/2 c. brown sugar, bay leaf, peppercorns, onion, garlic, and a heaping tablespoon of the poultry seasoning.
Soak the turkey in the brine overnight. Rinse and pat dry the turkey legs and rub with the seasoning all over. Place the legs in a roasting pan over chopped carrots, celery, onion, carrot, and garlic.
Cover and cook for an hour. Uncover it and crank the heat to 350°F and roast another 40 minutes rotating half way. Take the pan out and rub the legs with butter (combined with fresh parsley, lemon juice, and salt). Fry the legs for three minutes. Roasted turkey legs are ready to serve.
With such simple and juicy turkey recipes we wish you have a wonderful 2016 Thanksgiving.
Sources:
“World’s Simplest Thanksgiving Turkey,” Food Network web site; http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/worlds-simplest-thanksgiving-turkey-recipe2.html, last accessed November 23, 2016.
Bauer, E., “Mom’s Roast Turkey,” Simply Recipes web site, November 22, 2016; http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/moms_roast_turkey/
