Let's Talk Turkey!!!!!

OK. I decided to cook a turkey not long ago. I had some time on my hands so I decided to do things a bit differently than I normally would. Besides, a 14 lb turkey at $.59/lb is nothing to shake a stick at. So my thinking was I would have some good lunch meat for a while so I took advantage of the deal. How did I do this? What did I do differently than I normally would have done? Let's take a look below.

1.  First, the turkey was placed in water to unthaw (I did it for about a day and a half). The seasoning used were all the basics: kosher salt, cracked black pepper, ground black pepper, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, onion powder & garlic powder. My view on garlic is this. I use fresh garlic on sauces and garlic powder on rubs or mixed with dry seasonings. The common factor is that it is consistant with the substance I am using. Fresh garlic doesn't work very well in dry rubs. If it does, I have yet to experience it. I'll use whatever garlic I can get my hands on and use it. Normally, I would add some hot pepper (habanero, for example) but decided against it.  I like adding those things to my salad dressing or gravy (which in this case, I didn't do).

2. Next is where the adventure begins. After the bird was fully unthawed, I cut undernear the skin (top) and seasoned underneath the skin (bottom). I used a knife and cut between the meat and the skin. I left it at room temperature for about 20 minutes or so in order for the skin to be easy to handle.

3. The next thing I did was to take the end of an onion and place some olive oil on it. Once I did this, I then seasoned the onion slices with  more rosemary, thyme, ginger & sage. This went inside of the turkey's cavity. I have also used basalmic vinegar inside as well but this time, I didn't have any on hand.

4. This is the end result, done in a roaster for just under 5 hours on a rack. I let the turkey rest for about 30 minutes but I didn't expect this result.  Notice how this turkey is literally falling off the bone (the two bones on the bottom are the legs I pulled off without even using a knife). One of the things I did was fill the roaster with enough water to fill the botttom (giving it a steam room effect to it).

5. On the one side is all the meat I had from the turkey and on the opposite side, the carcass. I BARELY used a knife to pull off the meat because it came off with little or no effort. Notice how clean the bones are? Yes. Not to brag but I think I did myself proud.

This was one fun dish to make!!! Guten Essen!!! Mangia bene!! Good Eating!!!!