Anyone who has ever taken on the challenge of roasting a turkey for the family on Thanksgiving knows that it can be a daunting undertaking. First off, it's an all day event. And then there's the issue of attempting to cook both white and dark meat without one being undercooked and the other dry as a bone.
Julia Child addressed this very issue in 1989 when she published The Way to Cook. She recommended deconstructing the turkey for faster cooking and easier carving. The day before she detached the leg quarters, boning and trussing the thighs and removing the backbone. Then to keep the breast moist she would brine it for up to 12 hours and season the interiors of the thighs with sage, salt, and pepper.
On the day of the meal the breast is placed skin side down in a skillet and given a 30 minute head start in the oven to brown the skin. The partially cooked breast, now skin side up, is center stage in a roasting pan along with the leg quarters and placed on top of stuffing in a roasting pan and put in the oven, initially at 425F. Then after a half hour turning the heat down to 350F for an additional 40 minutes.
After allowing the meat to rest for 30 minutes and a quick stir of the stuffing all the parts are reassembled on the serving plate.
For further details, you can refer to the November/December 2013 issue of Cook's Illustrated for an update on how Julia Child took on the Thanksgiving turkey and won.
No comments:
Post a Comment