Favorite Turkey Day Recipes C'mon Down!

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Traditionally....we BBQ the bird on Thanksgiving.

Lemon Stuffed Turkey

1 Turkey, 12 to 15 pounds
2 Cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 T Fresh thyme
1 T Fresh sage
1 T Fresh rosemary
2 to 3 Whole fresh lemons, washed
Salt & pepper to taste

Finely chop the thyme, sage, and rosemary and mix well in a small bowl ... add the minced garlic and mix well again ... after salt and peppering the body and neck cavities to taste, place 2/3 of the mixture inside the body cavity and 1/3 of the mixture inside the neck cavity ... pierce the lemons three or four times with a fork and place the lemons in the body cavity ... salt and pepper the outside of the turkey to taste ... place on rack breast side down and grill over indirect coals until the internal temperature reaches 185 degrees ...

This grilling method moistens the meat from the inside out ... you will not believe how juicy the bird ends up being doing it this way AND with just a VERY SUBTLE hint of lemon - almost un-noticeable ... guests who have never eaten turkey prepared this way swear they have never eaten such a juicy bird !

Bill,

That sounds seriously good.

I need to try your recipe sometime

But yeah on the champagne. It browns on the bottom of the pan during cooking and gives you a deeper fond for gravy-making later. My gravy is always a deep chestnut brown. Very attractive, and of course delicious tasting. And I make it with broth, not water.

I'm sure this seems obvious... but it isn't to me. This champagne gravy sounds right up my alley. I went out and purchased a sparkling wine that I hope is suitable. I make the assumption to use it for cooking / basting my bird... but do you have some ratios you can share? Champagne for basting--with how much broth? At what point do you mix them?

Dying to try it, and if I don't hear back, I'm brave enough to try my own hand at it, but would love some guidance.

Welcome, Trudy.

I am using only the sparkling to baste with, then when it's time to make the gravy I'll use the stock I pre-made to round it out and combine with the champagne basting leavings.

I won't baste with the stock. I don't think it sounds like Jenise does, but I could be wrong. (Not that it's happened before! LOL!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks, Cynthia. So, you use the champagne/sparkling wine on its own as a baste (mmmm...), then combine with stock (I'm making my own turkey stock--no boxes or cans this year) to make gravy, right?

Well, Trudy, I have never used Jenise's Champagne Gravy Method before, but I am approaching it the same way I approach basting any roast with wine, which I do frequently.

Yes, wine on its own to baste, then combine wth stock to make gravy.

I made Coq au Vin using Chef Carey's recipe from "Chef on Fire". Served it with crusty French bread and a green salad. Wine served with the meal was Domaine Daniel Rion 1994 Clos Vougeot.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Trudy! Welcome back, and I'm so sorry I didn't see your message for I certainly would have described my method but yeah, Cynthia was steering you in the right direction. I just keep pouring it over the bird throughout the process of baking. The steam from evaportation keeps the bird moist, and the wine reduces in the bottom of the pan and creates a lot of brown fond from which comes the richest of gravies when combined with stock (which I sometimes add to the pan, too) and flour. How'd yours turn out?

Slightly OT, but a great practical joke:

A woman I know who's got a sharp sense of humor has a sister who is... let us say, "a bit slow." OK, she's blonde. In any case, while preparing T'day dinner, my friend sent her sister to the store on a pretextual errand. While sis was gone, my friend took the stuffing out of the turkey and inserted a stuffed quail.

When it came time to slice open the turkey, the blonde sister was given the privilege. She opened the turkey only to find the small bird stuffed inside. My friend exclaimed, "Ohmigawd, that turkey was pregnant!" whereupon the blonde sister burst into tears.

Stuart, that's got to be one of the funniest "blonde" stories I've ever heard!
Thanks for sharing, Aaron.

I gotta say, Jenise, that champagne gravy is some of the best I have ever tasted anywhere. Yum!

Thank you!

Trudy! Welcome back, and I'm so sorry I didn't see your message for I certainly would have described my method but yeah, Cynthia was steering you in the right direction. I just keep pouring it over the bird throughout the process of baking. The steam from evaportation keeps the bird moist, and the wine reduces in the bottom of the pan and creates a lot of brown fond from which comes the richest of gravies when combined with stock (which I sometimes add to the pan, too) and flour. How'd yours turn out?

Well, I'm naive enough to be undaunted by lack of experience or specifics, and just tried my hand at it all. I did a brine on my bird including salt, brown sugar, lemons, oranges, thyme and rosemary. Then loosely stuffed it with a couple of lemons and onions, with garlic cloves. Mooshed some herb-infused butter up under the skin, along with generous amounts of salt and pepper. Then used the champagne for basting. I underestimated how much would evaporate, and so ended up supplementing the liquid with chicken stock.

But the results were perhaps the most juicy, and deliciously flavored bird I've ever had (if I do say so myself... sniff). Herb-flavored crispy skin, and even the white meat was so juicy I kept having doubts about whether I had gotten it completely cooked -- but my thermometer assured me I had.

Then using my homemade turkey stock and the wonders of my nonstick roasting pan, I utilized all that browned, full-flavored goodness from the bottom of the pan, and made a top-notch gravy.

Thanks! Your suggestion will now be included as part of my regular repertoire. And what sounds grander than "Champagne Gravy" when describing my menu to my faraway family members!

[Jenise]

Trudy, that's cool. My experience with brining had been like yours--but there are others who swear they've tried it and can detect no improvement whatsoever. I can't quite understand that, but we're all different.

I'm so thrilled your gravy turned out great. Like Carrie, I've used chardonnay too, and it works very well indeed, but there's something about the name "champagne gravy" that ups the ante. I shouldn't admit my head is so easily turned, but there you are. Once a slut, always a slut. Understandable that you added stock--I had to add quite a bit too this year, but then my turkey also cooked a lot faster than expected. You have to play that by ear, exactly as you found. Isn't it a divine gravy, though? Gosh, I think back to the watery gravies my mother and grandmother made, and I just cringe. Lovingly, but it's still a cringe.