added to the learning experience! I decided for my first challenge I would learn how to prepare, cook, and cut a turkey. I was looking forward to learning how to cook a turkey this past November for Thanksgiving – it being my first Thanksgiving away from home – but circumstances had it where I was unable to. Plus, recovering from food poisoning on Thanksgiving I was also unable to partake of the turkey that was prepared by my roommate. All the more reason to learn how to cook one! Who needs a holiday as an excuse to cook a turkey anyway? Turkeys don’t just grow in the month November.
To be honest, I was quite intimidated by this challenge because I had never done it nor had I ever seen anybody prepare a turkey before. I’ve just seen it come out of the oven each year. Thus, my research be
gan – I found a recipe online that looked tasty and that had also received many 5 star ratings. Plus, it was classified as ‘easy.’ Can’t go wrong with that. The recipe: Oven Roasted Turkey with Sage ButterFirst mistake: I bought a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey. Now, I can blame this mistake on lack of sleep because I purchased the turkey breast right after getting off of my 12-hour long night shift on Monday. (The day has significance because that means I had just completed three 12-hour night shifts). But when I was in the store I was more concentrated on finding a turkey that weighed as little as possible; I wasn’t focused on the label as long as it said ‘turkey’ somewhere on it. Needless to say, I no
w have a turkey breast in my freezer and I made another trip to the grocery store. The complete spa treatment began this afternoon by first undressing it of its plastic wrapping and removing the neck and giblets. I then thoroughly washed the turkey inside and out. This cleansing prepared the meat for the next spa treatment stage.
I began the exfoliating process by sprinkling sea salt and pepper on the inside of the turkey. Spreading olive oil all over the
outside of the turkey, I then rubbed sea salt and pepper over the entire turkey. The next and most time consuming part of this spa treatment was the full body massage. (Since when do turkeys get full body massages!?!) I had to separate the skin of the turkey from the meat beneath in order to spread the Sage Butter over the meat. This part of the treatment ended up being the most fun for me. It was something that I never imagined or thought possible – but I was actually doing it! It was interesting to feel how the skin and meat were separated, but even more fun to see the turkey have saggy skin afterwards! (Thanks goodness this doesn’t happen after human body massages!). 
After the massage, the conditioning and soothing lotion (Sage Butter) was added in between the skin and meat. And by way of suggestion, I rubbed minced garlic over the outside and inside of the turkey as well as sprinkled some additional salt and pepper over it again. I stuffed the inside of the turkey and the bottom of the cooking dish with sliced up potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic for added nutrience and supplement. Covering it up with tin foil, it was ready for the last portion of its spa treatment, 3 hours in the tanning bed! I had absolutely no idea how to carve the turkey once it came out of the tanning bed, but lucky for me the same website that provided the recipe (foodnetwork.com) also provided a video on how to carve a turkey! The video gives great instruction, but I had a difficult time getting good clean cuts because the meat literally fell off the bones! This made getting the meat off of the bones super easy. I guess that’s
when you know you’ve done an excellent spa treatment! The meat was absolutely mouth-watering delicious!! It wasn’t dry at all, but burst with flavor! It made my taste buds sing and dance all night long. The turkey along with the cooked vegetables and some stuffing to complete the meal was a little bit of heaven on earth. I will be enjoying the turkey for days to come! 
After all is said and done, I think the one who gives the complete spa treatment ends up with the better deal….Bon Appetit!
December Challenge: Success!
(The recipe is included under comments for your convenience)
2 comments:
Ingredients
* 1 (12 to 14) pound fresh turkey
* Salt and black pepper
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* Sage Butter, recipe follows
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and remove the top rack of the oven.
Rinse the bird thoroughly inside and out with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the cavity and skin liberally with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with stuffing and, if required, truss the legs. Cover the turkey with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Push the sage butter under the skin of the turkey, being careful not to puncture the skin.
Put the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan, and into the oven. Continue cooking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meaty part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F. The thigh juices will run clear when pricked with a knife, about 3 hours total (15 minutes per pound). If the legs or breast brown too quickly during roasting, cover them with foil.
Sage Butter:
2 sticks butter, softened
1/4 cup chopped sage
Salt and pepper
For Complete Recipe click on the following link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/oven-roasted-turkey-with-sage-butter-recipe/index.html
Wow - good job! I've never made a turkey by myself before. That's pretty impressive
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