Let's Talk Turkey

Isn’t this little guy cute? My neighbor made us a plate of these turkey cupcakes and delivered them Tuesday before the holiday. How sweet!

The evening before Thanksgiving, I took my "real" turkey out of the refrigerator and pulled out all of those parts that are neatly packaged in the cavity. I do not use those parts in my Thanksgiving dinner. Some of you may try to sneak a little turkey liver into your stuffing, but I would never dream of doing that to my guests. I was slightly traumatized when I bit into organ meat hidden in an otherwise lovely stuffing when I was a child. It still makes me twitch just thinking about it. Anyway…back to the turkey prep. Next, I removed the pin feathers and rinsed the bird inside and out. After I patted her dry, I loosened the skin over the breast and legs and thighs and rubbed my herb turkey rub under the skin. Then I rubbed it over the skin. Then I poured the remainder of the rub over the turkey and covered her back up and tucked her into the fridge for one last night of Turkey: Raw and Uncut. I prepare my turkey the night before for a couple of reasons. First, I like for the flavors of the rub to really soak into the turkey overnight. Second, wrestling that raw turkey is messy work. I like to get it out of the way the night before instead of when I’m all clean and dressed for my Thanksgiving Day company.

I discovered this herb turkey rub last year when we fried our bird. It was so good that I decided to make it a yummy turkey tradition. I made the rub in the food processor this time. Just threw in the rosemary and thyme and pulsed it until they were very finely chopped.


Then I added the olive oil, white wine, Worcestershire, balsamic vinegar, onion, garlic, and salt.


And blended really well. Here’s the rub:


And here’s the turkey:


This year I decided to bake the turkey in a bag. This was probably a good thing, because I left the bird in just a smidge too long. I think that bag prevented the turkey from becoming too dry while I was off mashing potatoes and filling the glasses on the table. I can be so forgetful...like, I even feel as if I'm forgetting something right now. Oh yeah, the recipe for that rub. Here you go:

Herb Turkey Rub
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
2 tablespoons balsamic
2-3 tablespoons each of fresh rosemary and thyme, chopped
2-3 tablespoons minced onion
2-3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon of salt

Mix together and rub on your turkey the evening before roasting or frying.