Poultry Roasting Recipe of 4 Generations

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

For generations, women in my family used this technique to roast poultry, including any large bird, whose white meat always comes out flavorful and succulent. All you need to do is rub some salt and spices, or some marinade, under the bird’s skin, and as far as you can reach. Another key step is to marinate your turkey 12–24 hours before you put it in the oven… And, don’t pack your bird with turkey stuffing as it’ll draw the juice out of the meat. Instead, fill it with apples.

If you’re an avid cook like I am, the paragraph above should be enough for you to make a mouthwatering turkey dinner. Or, keep reading.

My turkey is about 11 lb, and I’ll start preparing it tomorrow, Wednesday, November 22, early afternoon, for roasting it on the day of Thanks Giving.

Wash
Unpack from a plastic wrap, take out a bag with giblets from inside the bird, if any. Wash thoroughly inside and out, then pat it dry with paper towel. Set aside.

Prepare a marinade
I use lemon juice for my marinade. If you use vinegar, then marinate your bird for 6–8 hours before putting it in the oven. The longer you keep it in vinegar, the more it’d taste like one.
Heads up: you’re going to use marinade to rub it under the skin, inside the bird’s cavity, and over skin. So if you have a large turkey, consider using double the ingredients than in my recipe.

For 11-pound turkey:
1. squeeze a large juicy lemon into a small mixing dish;
2. to the lemon juice, add 4–6 large garlic cloves — chopped or squeezed;
3. add some chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano) OR you may use 2 tea spoons of Italian Mix spice (maybe I’ll do that too this year!);
4. 1 teaspoon of ground coriander (I always use ground coriander for my dressings and marinades)
5. add some olive oil to the mix. I never measure how much oil I use, so I think it’s safe to guesstimate at least 3 table spoons or more;
6. mix everything well and set aside.

First salt it, then apply the marinade
7. pour some kosher salt into a small dish;
8. gently, so not to break it, lift the bird’s skin and insert your fingers between white meat and skin, separating skin from the meat. Start at the bottom of turkey breast and work your way up toward the neck. Don’t be concerned about the spine area;
9. when the skin is loose, dip your fingers into kosher salt and start rubbing salt everywhere under the skin. If your hand is small enough you may even get to the legs and thighs. Keep repeating until turkey breast and other parts (if possible) are salted well;
10. rub salt inside bird’s cavity, where the bag of giblets was;
11. rub the marinade as you rubbed salt, under the skin. Cover as much area as you can reach, and brush some of it inside the cavity too. If you brake the skin, you may sew it together or use thin and long toothpicks to hold it together;
12. cover bird’s outer skin and back with some marinade;
13. last but not least, sprinkle some salt all over the outer skin, but not too much as it’s already salted from inside.

Apples
Use any juicy variety of apples. I prefer Fuji, but that’s because they’re always available almost anywhere. You may put apples now and let them marinate with turkey in the fridge, or stuff them before you put the bird in the oven. For my size bird (11 lb), I can probably fit 1 and 1/2 apples

13. Wash, peel, remove core, and cut them into cubes or larger pieces;
14. stuff sliced apples, as many as you can fit, inside the turkey’s cavity. If you have any marinade left, you may pour it inside, into apples;
15. place marinated and stuffed with apples turkey into a deep dish (a Dutch oven or any other dish that has a tight lid) and into refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

The day of cooking
Take out the marinated turkey from the fridge an hour or so before roasting it. It’s always a good idea to warm meat up at room temperature before shocking it with hot oven.

16. I’ll roast my 11-pound turkey covered for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350F in the Dutch oven, on convection setting. If your bird is much larger, consider keeping it covered for 1.5 hours;
17. uncover the turkey and continue cooking until it’s ready.
Package instructions recommend to cook 20 minutes for every pound of turkey. Also, I recommend squirting liquid onto turkey every hour as it’s roasting using a baster;
18. before you serve your turkey, scoop out the apples with a spoon to garnish your meal.

That’s it.
Bon appétit!

Tips: The sky is a limit with the type of spices you can use for any bird at any time. Try Chinese 5-spice mix, or Garam-Masala, or mix your own curry to suit your taste buds.

Disclosure: I’d never written cooking instructions before. My family keeps pushing me toward sharing my recipes with the world as, apparently, I cook very well both vegan and non-vegan meals, and my dishes are fusion of flavors and techniques of Central, Eastern, and Western Europe. The problem is I never measure anything (except when making pancakes and desserts). So I hope this recipe and technique works for you. I’d appreciate any comments.

Yours truly,
Aida