There is perhaps no better occasion to revive my inspiration to blog than Thanksgiving - a holiday devoted to the preparation and sharing of food and thanks. This year I was eager to tackle the turkey and its dressings of stuffing and gravy. Although one of my favorite sources of culinary information, Cook's Illustrated, presented a preparation method involving glazing and butterflying that was very intriguing, I opted for the same method I used last year. I also discovered this method from the aforementioned publication, and found it so successful that I couldn't resist trying it out on our Hogwash Farm turkey this year.
Firstly I must promote the process of making one's own stock, as it is so simple and yields superior tasting dressing products. Because my current professional position privileged me to obtain an extra set of turkey giblets, I simply used the two necks along with some aromatics (bay leaf, peppercorns, celery heart, and leek trimmings) to make my stock. I simmered everything together in a pot of about 4 cups of water for 2 to 3 hours. I then strained off and discarded the aromatics, reserved the turkey necks to pick at during further preparations, and used a cup and a half of stock for my stuffing, and the rest for the gravy - for which a recipe also follows.
Initially the preparation involves dry-brining the bird by rubbing about 2 tablespoons between the skin and the flesh, which is easily done after separating the two using the handle of a wooden spoon. Next I proceeded by wrapping the turkey tightly in plastic wrap and letting it refrigerate/brine for nearly 48 hours. On the morning of Thanksgiving Thursday, I removed our bird from the plastic wrap, dried it all over using paper towels, poked some holes into the fat deposits, and rubbed its outer layer with a 50-50 mixture of salt and baking powder to help it brown during roasting. I then let the turkey rest at  room temperature for an hour or so, which was not part of the original instructions, but would allow for more even roasting. After preparing the stuffing to a respective point- my recipe for which can be found at the end of this posting - I used half of my prepared stuffing to fill the cavity of the bird, and then tied the legs together. I next turned the bird so that its breast side was facing downwards in a roasting rack and pan, and finally laid salt pork over its back before placing it in the 350-degree preheated oven. I let the bird roast for a good three hours in order for it to reach the recommended temperature of 130 degrees. At this stage I took the bird out of the oven, turned the over up to 450 degrees, removed the turkey on its rack to a sheet pan, took off the crispified salt pork (also to be reserved for picking), turned over the bird, cut the twine binding the legs, removed the stuffing to add it to its other half, poured the pan drippings into a fat-separating gravy boat, and returned the turkey to the pan and the newly preheated oven. Although this may seem like quite a process to have to go through in the middle of preparing a full Thanksgiving menu, I can attest that the results are well-worth any inconveniences! The bird remained in the hot oven for another good hour - keep in mind that this year the Bothe family acquired a 15 pound and some odd ounce bird, and that it is necessary to adjust cooking times according to other sized birds. The final temperature of the thick part of the breast should read a recommended 160 degrees while the thick part of the thigh should read 175 degrees. I allowed the bird to rest for 30 minutes or so as I picked away at the neck and salt pork and finished cooking the stuffing.