INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Here's my recipe for the perfect turkey...first time, every time! (Notice
the old comments regarding the meat thermometer.)
1. Rinse the bird inside and out. Drain well.
2. Grease (margarine or oil or Crisco or a light spray of Pam) the skin and
season with salt, pepper and paprika.
3. Place in a roasting pan breast side DOWN. This keeps the breast meat
from overcooking before the dark meat is cooked.
4. Put in preheated oven (350F).
5. After 1/2 hour, baste with a mixture of 3 cups apple juice and 1/2 cup
soy sauce.
6. Baste every half hour until the last hour, when you baste every 15
minutes. Timing is critical for turkey...I tend not to follow charts
because, frankly, every bird is different. Rather, I use a meat thermometer
stuck into the deepest part of the thigh.
My thermometer says to take it to 180F internal, but an article in the LA
Times three years ago says that all bacteria are dead at 165F. They
recommend taking the turkey out of the oven at 160F and allow it to come to
165F in a foil tent, at which time it will be perfect. Myself, I find too
often that parts of the bird are undercooked, so I leave it in the oven
till somewhere between 165 and 170.
[Revision: with my Polder thermometer, I set it to go off at 166F...by the
time I get back to the kitchen and get it out of the oven, it's about 167F,
and I find that to be perfect.]
Once it hits around 155, you have to keep a closer eye on it because at
this point, it could overcook very quickly.
I think what I'm trying to say is that jazzy isn't what people are looking
for in a turkey...you want something special, and I can understand that.
But do it with the side dishes...not the bird.
And whatever you do, don't fall for that hoax popcorn stuffing recipe...as
the myth goes, you put unpopped kernels in the stuffing and when it blows
its a** off, the turkey is done. Doesn't work...never will, because the
internal temp of the bird is too low...you end up with a mess of stuffing
that is inedible because of those kernels, too.
One last thing. The baste (apple juice and soy sauce) is not only good for
the turkey....while the bird is resting before you carve it, siphon off the
liquid from the pan and it will make the absolutely best gravy you've ever
tasted...I guarantee it personally!
B'teyavon!
Posted to JEWISH-FOOD digest V96 #73
Date: Fri, 08 Nov 1996 10:53:37 -0700
From: Mimi & JB Hiller <hiller@smartlink.net>

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