Uncle Bills Method For Cooking Turkey Recipes

UNCLE BILL'S METHOD FOR COOKING TURKEY

Steps:

• Turkey must be thoroughly thawed before preparing for the oven unless you are using a fresh turkey.
• Remove turkey parts from cavities and use as you desire.
• Wash cavities well with cold water.
• Boil a kettle of hot water (scalding hot.).
• Place turkey in a clean sink or a large roasting pan.
• Pour hot water over the entire turkey including in the cavities.
• The skin will shrink tightly to the turkey.
• "This will help hold the natural juices in the turkey while it is cooking. Do not peel skin back to layer herbs under the skin. This will destroy the process for a moist turkey.
• "Pat dry both inside and outside of turkey.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Sprinkle cavities with salt and black pepper and granulated garlic powder.
• If you are stuffing the bird, then line inside of cavity with cheesecloth, then stuff with your favorite dressing,"stuff loosely",.
• Tie legs and wings with a good meat wrapping twine and leave a lifting loop to remove the turkey from the pan when cooked.
• Place a wire rack in the bottom of roasting pan.
• Place the turkey on the wire rack, breast side up.
• Pour 2 cups of water or 2 cups of chicken broth into the pan.
• Pour about 1/2 cup or more if required of extra virgin olive oil over the exterior of the turkey.
• Cover the turkey with heavy aluminum foil, but do not let the foil touch the turkey as it will stick to the turkey while cooking.
• Pinch foil tight to the sides of the pan.
• Place turkey on lower rack in oven and cook for 1 hour.
• Reduce heat to 325 F and cook for 2 1/2 hours.
• Now turn heat up to 350 F and cook for another 1/2 hour.
• Remove foil from turkey. At this time test for doneness by inserting an instant read thermometer into the breast to see how the cooking temperature is. We are cooking towards a reading of 175°F.
• Baste,the turkey and continue cooking, uncovered, for an additional 1 hour at 350 F, basting about every 15 minutes so that the turkey turns a nice brown color.
• When the time for cooking is finished, test for doneness. Insert the instant read thermometer into the thickest portion of the turkey breast, reading should be 175 F and no more. .
• Remove from oven, lift turkey out the roasting pan using the string loops.
• Cover with foil and let the turkey rest for about 1/2 hour before carving.
• Total time for cooking a 16 pound stuffed turkey is 5 hours.
• There is no need to baste the turkey until the last 1 hour of cooking, this saves you a lot of time as you do not have to remove the foil tent during the first 4 hours.
• For a crispy browner skin, you may wish to consider rubbing butter over the entire bird after pouring olive oil. This works very nicely.
• COOKING TIMES: Left Side -Stuffed---- Right Side - Unstuffed.
• *12-14lbs.
• 4 - 4 1/2 hours-- 3 1/2 - 3 3/4 hours.
• *14-16lbs.
• 4 1/2 - 5 hours-- 3 3/4 - 4 hours.
• *16-18lbs.
• 5- 5 1/2 hours-- 3 3/4 - 4 1/4 hours.
• *18-20lbs.
• 5 1/2 - 6 hours-- 4 1/4 - 4 1/2 hours.
• *20-22lbs.
• 6 - 6 1/4 hours-- 4 1/2 - 5 hours.
• *22-24lbs.
• 6 1/4- 6 1/2 hours-- 5 - 5 1/4 hours.
• NOTE: Test for doneness by inserting a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the breast, reading should be 175 F and in the thickest part of the leg or thigh, reading should be 180°F.

UNCLE BILL'S CHICKEN STRIPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Remove all fat from chicken breasts and cut into 1 inch by 4 inch strips. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and buttermilk. In a plastic resealable bag mix together the bread crumbs, grated cheese, garlic powder, salt, pepper and dill weed.
• Dip each chicken strips into buttermilk mixture, then into bread crumb mixture (about 4 strips at a time), and toss to coat well. Place strips in a single layer in a 9x13 inch baking dish and drizzle with melted butter/margarine. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown, turning once after about 8 minutes of baking time.

UNCLE BILL'S TURKEY DRESSING

Steps:

• Purchase an 8 ounce sliced loaf of day old bread, such as homemade, sour dough or Italian bread.
• Cut into 1/2" cubes and place on cookie sheets to dry for at least 1 day or dry in a 250 F oven for about 30 minutes.
• I prefer to buy bread rather than purchasing bread cubes or bread crumbs.
• In a large frying pan, add butter or margarine, onions, green and red peppers, celery and saute' for about 10 minutes; DO NOT BROWN.
• Add chicken soup base and stir well.
• Saute' for 5 minutes longer on medium-high heat.
• In a large mixing bowl, add beaten eggs and milk and mix well.
• Add dried bread cubes and mix well to coat.
• Add mushrooms and mix again.
• In a small bowl, mix together poultry seasoning, ginger, salt, parsley, dill weed, granulated garlic powder, black pepper and mix well to combine.
• Sprinkle mixture over dressing and mix well.
• Add crushed soda crackers and mix well.
• Dressing should be only slightly moist when squeezed and should just hold together.
• If dressing is still too moist, add more crushed cracker crumbs until the desired texture is achieved.
• Adjust spices to taste.
• You may wish to add some dried sage if desired.
• Line the cavity with cheese cloth leaving enough cloth so that it protrudes outside the cavity. Stuff dressing loosely, DO NOT PRESS TIGHTLY, as it will not cook properly.
• You can also wrap the dressing in double aluminum foil and bake in the oven along with your turkey or separately at 400 F for about 1 1/2 hours.
• When the turkey is cooked, pull out the cheese cloth with the dressing. Leaves the cavity clean and you do not need to dig the dressing out.
• NOTE: I prefer to cook the dressing in double aluminum foil in the oven.

UNCLE DICK'S MASHED POTATOES

Steps:

• Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes; drain and transfer potatoes to a large bowl.
• Mash sour cream, cream cheese, salt, white pepper, and garlic into the potatoes with a potato masher to your desired consistency; transfer to a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Drizzle melted butter and sprinkle paprika evenly over the top of the potatoes.
• Bake in preheated oven until hot in the center, about 30 minutes. Garnish with chives.