Directions: |
Directions:3 Days Before Serving:
Thaw turkey in sink filled with cold water. Change water twice.
2 Days Before Serving:
Cut crusts off bread and cut into 1" cubes. Place bread cubes in large stock pot to air dry. Stir occasionally.
1 Day Before Serving:
For dressing, in a food processor coarse grind three (3) onions and store in zip lock bag. Fine Chop 1 1/2 cups celery and store in zip lock bag.
For under turkey in roasting bag, chop one (1) onion 3/4" dice and two (2) stalks celery 3/4" dice and store in zip lock bag.
Day Turkey is Served:
Pre-heat oven per instructions on oven bag to 350 degrees F.
Take the giblets out of bird, wash well. Put in pan, and cover with water (about two (2) cups) and a little chopped onion and simmer for one (1) hour. This is used to moisten stuffing.
Dry turkey well with paper towel, inside and out. Let turkey air dry for a couple of hours. This makes spreading butter on bird easier and helps to crisp the skin.
Heat two (2) to three (3) cups milk with a big piece of butter very slowly, do not boil. This too is used to moisten stuffing.
For The Stuffing:
To the four (4) loaves of cubed bread add the chopped onion and celery. Add the ground pork and 1 Tbsp. of poultry seasoning.
Remove the giblets from the simmering water and discard. A little at a time, add the giblet juice and the warm milk and mix well with your hands until desired consistency. Stuffing should not be too dry or runny. If dressing is too dry you can add a little chicken stock until it is desired consistency.
Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
For The Turkey:
Butter dried bird with hands inside and out.
Salt bird inside and out and sprinkle with turkey seasoning. To season the inside of the bird put seasoning in hand and rub inside.
Stuff the stuffing into the bird's cavity and neck. Truss bird with kitchen twine. Take a piece of skin from the bird's neck and use as a flap to cover the cavity. With a poultry pin, close the cavity over the flap of skin. Place a piece of foil over the neck.
Put left-over stuffing under legs and wings next to body and place a piece of foil over the stuffing to contain it.
To Cook Turkey:
Follow the directions on the roasting bag. Before putting turkey into the roasting bag add a couple of tablespoons of flour and the 3/4" diced onion and celery into the bag so the turkey does not stick to the bottom of the bag.
When fully cooked, let the turkey rest in the bag for at least one half (1/2) hour.
For The Gravy:
Carefully slit the bottom of the bag and drain off the juices as well as a little of the onion and celery.
Let juices sit a bit then skim off the fat. Using a gravy shaker make a roux to thicken the juices with flour and water (roughly two (2) Tbsp. flour with the shaker almost full of water).
Bring gravy to a boil and add the roux until desired consistency is reached and continue to boil for a few minutes till the taste of the raw flour is gone. Taste gravy for seasoning and adjust as needed.
Serve. |
This recipe for Mom's Holiday Turkey Dinner is from