It’s turkey season! Gobble gobble!
As we all know a major part holiday gatherings is the turkey. I have a tried and true turkey recipe that is guaranteed to give you a beautiful brown crispy outside and juicy moist centre. Sorry, no helpful pictures in this one.

The recipe I have was handed down to me from my mom. The origins of where she obtained it can be debated as I am sure it has been adapted over time. For the sake of this recipe let’s call it “Mom’s Turkey Recipe”. Just like cooking a turkey, reading this recipe will take patience because I give important tips, (i.e. ramble on).

What you will need to start:

1. A turkey any size. We ended up cooking a 22 pound bird this Thanksgiving. 18 people showed up to help us eat and give thanks. Quite the feast to say the least!
2. A turkey pan that fits the turkey. It’s ok to go too big but too small and limbs hang out of the pan and it turns into a full day cleaning the oven.
3. A meat thermometer. It is important to know the temperature so the turkey is cooked all the way through. It would be really embarrassing to give a guest food poisoning.
4. A boiling kettle or pot of water. One of the tricks to this recipe is tightening the skin with boiling water. It is weird to watch and a little creepy, but goes a long way in keeping the bird moist.
5. Stuffing any recipe. I like homemade stuffing with bread crumbs, sausage, cranberries, and other yummy flavours. My husband likes potato stuffing with summer savory herbs. I usually win.
5. 1 cup of butter. This assists in the browning of the turkey and adds flavour to the juice left in the turkey pan after cooking.
6. Tin foil. This is to cover the turkey to keep it moist.
7. Oven. The temperature should be 450 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have an oven you can pretty much huck the bird in the trash clean up and call it a day. This should really be first on your list.
8. Time. Turkeys take a good part of your day to prep and cook. Maybe this should be the first item, although if you have made it this far through my recipe you probably don’t have a lot going on anyways…

How to prep a turkey:

1. Before you start doing anything with the turkey you will need to thaw it. You can do that in the fridge over the course of a couple days. Or alternatively, you can do what I do and buy your bird fresh. Juicier the better. In fact you should probably get splashed with gross turkey juice a couple times while trying to move it around.
2. Remove the gizzards, neck, and heart from the turkeys crevasse. Roll up your sleeves and get in there. If some of your guests like to eat those parts put them aside for later.
3. Rinse the turkey. Wash out the sink with soap and water and place the turkey in the sink with the drain out. Thoroughly rinse the turkey with warm water to get rid of any random residue and gunk that is on the surface or in the orifices. We don’t want to eat that stuff.
4. Pour boiling water all over the turkey. With your kettle or pot, pour water over all of the turkey everywhere. It is it will look like the turkey is all of a sudden wearing spandex as everything tightens up instantly. If you need more water to get the whole bird make sure you do as this is a key component in cooking the bird.
5. Place the bird in the turkey pan. Make sure the legs are pointing up so the turkey is laying on its back.
6. Stuff the bird with your choice of stuffing. Put in as much as possible. You can usually stuff both ends.
7. Pour melted butter overtop of the breasts, legs, and orifices… Sounds a little like “50 shades of poultry”.
8. Cover the bird and pan in tin foil. Place the meat thermometer in the bird through the tin foil for easy reading.
9. Heat the oven to 450F and place the turkey in the oven. You may need to rearrange the racks prior to doing so to accommodate the size of your turkey.
10. When the turkey reaches about 175F on your meat thermometer, remove the foil. This will allow for a nice brown crisp skin. Cook the turkey for roughly 30 minutes longer or until the meat thermometer reads 185F. That means your turkey is done!
11. Remove the turkey from the oven and cover with tin foil while waiting for other dishes to be complete. There should be a delicious pool of juice at the bottom of the tray that can be used for gravy.
12. Carve the turkey and serve. Yum!