Wicked Good Thanksgiving: Sour Dough Stuffing with Apples and Fennel Sausage

Stuffing. If there was ever a food I could legally marry, it would be stuffing.

Just saying the word makes my stomach tingle, anticipating the buttery-herby-yeasty bread with toasty corners, fluffy and warm and filling. The first perfect forkful, always too big for my mouth, forces my cheeks into bumpy, lumpy puffs. I won’t let it escape. The bread melts away, leaving toothy nubs of onion and celery that I merrily nibble until the next gigantic bite.

Say it. Stuffing. Stuffing. Stuffing.



What’s the difference between stuffing and dressing?
There’s really no difference between stuffing and dressing. The ingredients are the same, the recipe is the same -- the words are almost interchangeable. The cooking method is what sets them apart. Stuffing is, well, stuffed into something, like the cavity of a turkey. And dressing is simply the same stuffing that’s not stuffed into anything, but instead baked in a separate dish.

So do I stuff the bird, or what?
Wicked Good Dinner recommends you do not stuff your turkey with stuffing and then bake. But, it’s perfectly wicked good to bake the bird, and THEN stuff it. Here’s why:

As organic and free range as your turkey may be, it’s still a germ smuggler. And if those germs are accidentally ingested, well, let’s just say it will be the worst Thanksgiving in the history of Thanksgivings for everyone, and you’ll all miss the dessert course.

Cooking the turkey to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (and letting it rest until it reaches 165 through carryover cooking) will kill off the salmonella and other bugs that thrive on making your life miserable. And because that beautiful stuffing is being dripped on and juiced by the raw turkey as it cooks, your stuffing also has to reach 160 degrees.

While the breast meat may have reached the perfect temperature after a few hours, the heat still needs to penetrate the stuffing. And as your stuffing is coming up to a safe temperature, the turkey will continue to cook. Moist bird just turned into dry bird. And nope, basting won’t help, and neither will that crazy brine you bathed the bird in for last two days.

To be on the safe side, cook the turkey and stuffing separately. Your stuffing will turn into dressing, and everyone will still be around for the pumpkin pie.

How do I stuff the bird after it’s been cooked?
If your family expects a dramatic reveal of a perfectly cooked turkey with cascading stuffing, you can spoon the baked dressing into the cavity of the bird after it has been removed from the oven. (And then the dressing becomes stuffing.)

There's that wonderful word again. Stuffing.



Sour Dough Stuffing (Dressing) with Apples and Fennel Sausage

Servings: Serves 8, plus leftovers or seconds
When to make it: Up to two days before Thanksgiving. Store in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven, covered.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Fennel seeds, toasted
3 links Mild Italian sausage, removed from casing (approximately 1/2 pound)
4 tablespoons Salted butter
1 cup minced Onion
1 cup minced Celery
1 cup diced Apple (any variety)
1 cup Olive oil
4 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt to taste
2 loaves Sour dough bread, cut into bite sized cubes (approximately 7 cups)
1 Egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup Heavy cream
6 fresh Sage leaves, minced
1/2 cup Flat leaf parsley, minced

Directions:
Toast the fennel seeds in a dry skillet on medium heat until fragrant, set aside. Place sausage in a large skillet over medium heat and cook until dark brown, breaking the sausage into small, bite sized pieces as it cooks. Remove the sausage from the pan and place in an extra large mixing bowl.

Melt the butter in the same skillet and add the onion, celery and apple to the pan. Sprinkle with salt to taste, and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the mixture to the sausage.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, pepper and toasted fennel seeds in a small bowl, and pour onto the bread cubes, toss to coat. Arrange the oiled bread cubes on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt to taste. Bake until toasted, about 20 minutes.

Add the toasted bread to the sausage mixture. Pour the egg, broth and cream over the bread cubes. Add the sage and parsley. Gently toss to coat the bread cubes.

Transfer the stuffing mixture to a large baking dish – this can also be divided into several baking dishes if needed. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.

Follow along and make our entire Thanksgiving menu . Let's make a kick-butt Thanksgiving dinner, together!

Vanilla-Vanilla Bean Roasted Apple Pie

36 Million Americans call apple pie their favorite pie flavor. And this award-winning recipe, with its flaky, buttery short-crust and chunky, caramelized apples, will make it your favorite, too.

The gals at Disney Food Blog and Cookie Madness recently tested the recipe and posted reviews, with excellent tips and substitution ideas. And, there's a great Pie Dough How-To  I provided on Recipe Lion.


FIRST PLACE WINNING RECIPE
As seen on Food Network

Vanilla-Vanilla Bean Roasted Apple Pie

Ingredients:
For the crust:
2 1/2 cups Organic all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting/rolling
2 teaspoons Salt
1 tablespoon Vanilla powder
3 tablespoons Organic sugar
1 Vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
20 tablespoons (10 ounces) unsalted European style butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar, chilled
6 - 8 tablespoons Ice water (plus more if needed)


For the filling:
4 tablespoons European style butter
12 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced in large chunks
1 Vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
2 teaspoons Ground cinnamon
1 cup Organic sugar
4 tablespoons Organic all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1/2 cup Apple cider
1 tablespoon heavy cream


For the egg wash:
1 egg
1 tablespoon of cream
Coarse sugar


Directions:
Measure out all ingredients and place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Place the food processor blade and bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.


Make the dough:
Place the food processor bowl back on the motor with the blade, as directed by the manufacturer. Combine flour, salt, vanilla powder, sugar and vanilla bean seeds in the food processor; pulse to mix.
Add butter cubes and pulse 10 times, or until the mixture begins to resemble coarse meal with varying sizes of fat - pea-sized + some larger and some smaller.

Add the vinegar and pulse to mix. Add one tablespoon of water at a time, pulsing to incorporate, until the mixture begins to clump together. Pinch some of the dough in your hand. If it sticks together, the dough is ready. If the dough does not stick to itself, add another tablespoon of water, pulse, and pinch the dough together again. Repeat until the dough holds together without being overly wet. Dough should be slightly crumbly, but hold together when pinched.

Remove dough from the food processor and transfer to a work surface. Divide the dough into two equal parts and gently shape into two flat round discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.




Prepare the apples:
Preheat the broiler. Add apples, vanilla bean seeds, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of the sugar to a roasting pan; toss apples to coat. Broil until the tops of the apples begin to brown. Apples can burn easily under the broiler, so don’t walk too far away. Toss apples as soon as you notice browning. Once apples are caramelized (but not cooked through), remove from heat and add the remaining sugar, the flour, vanilla extract and salt.

Add the apple cider and cream, stir to incorporate. Taste for seasoning – add additional salt, sugar, vanilla or cinnamon to taste.


Finish the pie:
Place a 9” pie plate into the freezer. Remove one dough disc from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 5 - 10 minutes, or just long enough for it to become easy to roll, but still chilled. Lightly flour your work surface and roll dough out to a 12" circle, between 1/8 - 1/4" thick. Place in the bottom of the chilled 9” pie plate. Return to the refrigerator to chill. Remove after 5 minutes and add apples. Dot the top of the apples with remaining butter.

Remove second dough disc and roll out to a 12” circle on a lightly floured surface. Place on top of the apples and pinch the top and bottom dough edges together to enclose the apples. Add decorative edge if desired, and slice 1” air vents around the top of the pie.


Make the egg wash:
Beat the egg in a small dish and mix in cream. Lightly brush the egg wash over the top of the pie and along the edges. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.


Bake:Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Cover edges with aluminum foil if browning too quickly. Turn the pie in the oven, and continue to cook for another 15 minutes. Continue to cook in 7 minute intervals, as needed, until the crust is golden brown and flakey.

Cool:
Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least two hours before cutting and serving.

I'm picking citrus, while you're picking apples

Fall arrives abruptly every year in Central Florida. But it's something we look very forward to. The shorter days and cool, long evenings encourage the orange blossoms to bloom, releasing their deliciously dizzy and intoxicatingly sweet fragrance into the early night air.

It's not something easily described. The scent of blooming orange blossoms is delicate, soft, calming, contradictively spicy and slightly tropical. It's distinctive and crisp, but mellow and succulent. It seduces you to breath in, deeper than your deepest breath, filling your lungs with pure happiness, hope, and everything good in the world.

It is a guilty pleasure to hold that deep breath for as long as your body will allow; before it forces you to exhale. And then you do it again. Euphoria. Orange blossoms can do that.

You think I'm exaggerating. No. Not even a bit. I think Food Blogga captured their essence perfectly when she said, "I don't know if paradise exists, but I do know that if it does, then it smells like orange blossoms."

I couldn't agree more.

With little time under the fall and winter sun, those blossoms work hard and fast to develop into juicy, ripe oranges.

Clermont, Florida, about 30 minutes southwest of Orlando, houses a scant group of local, small-scale growers who invite the public to pick their own citrus throughout the year.

Although Florida grapefruit is available all year long, the orange picking season begins in the fall and runs through June, with the most abundant months in late winter and early spring.


Fresh picked citrus at the general store

Our favorite place to visit, Showcase of Citrus, is a family owned and operated 2,500 acre working citrus and cattle ranch. I've never actually seen the cattle, but I have been chased by the roosters, chickens and ducks on the farm, no doubt protecting the eggs you'll find for sale, steps away in the country store.


Jars of local honey

The quaint country store and old-time processing equipment is the perfect front for the organic groves that boast 13 varieties of orange, and a myriad of grapefruit, tangerine and lemon varieties.



Processing equipment and antiques

The fruit can be ugly sometimes; it's pesticide and herbicide free, so the only thing standing between you and the citrus is nature. But don't let the outside of the fruit fool you. An organic orange, eaten right off the tree, is something you have to experience to believe.

Citric acid audaciously pricks every part of your tongue, while mellifluous juice dribbles down your chin and neck, leaving an orange-stained, sticky trail to the middle of your shirt.
Here's one of my favorite ways to use our fresh-picked Florida grapefruit:

Florida Grapefruit Muffins with Freshly Cracked Black Pepper



Ingredients:
2 cups All purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 sticks Butter, room temperature
3/4 cup Sour cream
1 Vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
Zest of three Florida grapefruits
3/4 cup Freshly squeezed Florida grapefruit juice
3 eggs, room temperature
Freshly cracked black pepper


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add butter, sour cream, vanilla bean seeds, vanilla extract, zest and grapefruit juice to the flour mixture. Mix in a standing mixer or with a hand mixer on medium speed until well combined (about 3-4 minutes), scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add eggs, one at a time, and mix on low speed after each egg until well incorporated. Once all eggs have been added, mix on medium speed for 1 minute.

Add cupcake liners to two muffin tins. Fill each liner half full with batter. Add a pinch of freshly cracked black pepper on top of the batter in each liner.

Bake for 15 minutes and check for doneness by inserting a wooden skewer into the middle of a cupcake. Cupcakes are done when a wet crumb sticks to the skewer. If batter is still very wet, continue to cook for 5 minutes. Repeat until wet crumb appears on skewer.

Remove from oven and let cool completely in tins.

Top with sweetened Florida grapefruit sour cream. (add 2 tablespoons of confectioner sugar and 2 tablespoons of grapefruit zest to 2 cups sour cream.)

Me, Fox News, Thanksgiving Morning, Pie, Pie, Pie!

I'll be posting a detailed pie-making how-to in just a few days. Then, tune in to Fox News Orlando Thanksgiving morning, where I'll be making my award-winning apple pie, live.

If you're not in the Central Florida area, you can watch the segment online at www.myfoxorlando.com/subindex/good_day later that morning. I'll also post the video at Wicked Good Dinner.

Visit Wicked Good Dinner  for the step-by-step photo how-to, then tune in to Fox News Orlando. Let's make some killer pie!

How do I make gravy from scratch?

Sarah from Colorado asked Wicked Good Dinner how to make gravy:

I thought I'd get a jump on Thanksgiving plans this year. I'm cooking dinner for the first time and I'm not sure how to make gravy. I want to make everything from scratch, but not sure how.

Don't worry, Sarah! Wicked Good Dinner has got your back!

Perfect gravy, whether from pan drippings or prepared stock, is easy when you understand the ratios of three key ingredients: fat, flour and liquid.

Gravy mystery solved:

Perfect gravy takes a little bit of elbow grease with a sturdy whisk, and equal parts of fat and flour mixed with liquid until the desired consistency is reached.

The standard proportion is 1 part fat, 1 part flour, and 8 to 12 parts liquid, cooked for 7 minutes. For example, 4 tablespoons of fat from the pan drippings (or butter, olive oil, etc.), plus 4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour, mixed with 2 to 3 cups of broth, will make a silky, thick gravy.

The Wicked Good roasting pan method:

Remove the roasting pan from the oven, and set aside the turkey, beef, chicken, vegetables or any other roasted items in the pan, leaving only the fat and liquid behind. Set the roasting pan on the stove, and heat on medium-high. Pour two cups of wine, beer or broth into the pan and deglaze, scraping up any brown bits. Turn off the heat.

The brown bits at the bottom of the pan are called "fond," meaning "foundation." And that fond, as ugly as it looks, contains the concentrated goodies that will infuse your gravy with a deep, complex flavor.

Using a mesh strainer or chinois, strain the liquid and fat from the bottom of the pan into a glass container or gravy separator. Discard any of the bits of food or bone caught in the strainer. Defat the liquid in a gravy separator or by chilling the liquid for several hours and removing the solid cap of fat that will form at the top of the container.

In a separate sauce pan, heat the four tablespoons of fat on medium-high heat. Sprinkle four tablespoons of all-purpose flour over the fat, and whisk until the mixture reaches a school-paste, lumpy consistency. Cook for one minute, whisking frequently and adjusting the heat to prevent burning. By mixing flour with the fat, you've created a roux  - the thickening agent for your gravy.

Add one cup of the pan liquid to the roux, whisking to incorporate. By adding one cup at a time, you can better control the consistency of your gravy. Less liquid will produce a thicker, more concentrated gravy. More liquid will produce a thinner gravy. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for seven minutes on medium heat to remove the "raw" flour flavor from your gravy, adjusting the heat to prevent the mixture from boiling.

Continue adding one cup of pan liquid at a time, whisking to incorporate. Your gravy will begin to transform from a lumpy mess to a beautifully smooth and viscous liquid. If you do not have enough liquid from the pan drippings, broth may be substituted.

When the desired consistency is reached, taste for seasoning, and finish with a tablespoon of unsalted butter.

OK, that was the long way. Here's a quicker way:
Remove the meat from the roasting pan and set aside.  Remove all but 4 tablespoons of fat from the pan and set the pan on the stove over medium/high heat. If there isn't enough fat in the pan, add butter or olive oil until you have 4 tablespoons. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of flour over the remaining fat in the pan and whisk to form a paste. Whisk in 1 cup of warm chicken broth until smooth. Whisk in 1/2 cup of wine. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add additional pan drippings or chicken broth/stock until you reach the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3-5 minutes, strain the gravy, finish with a knob of butter, and serve.

And the stovetop method:

If you've pan fried meats, fish or vegetables, you can use the same pan to create your gravy, infusing that flavor into your roux and gravy. Or, begin with a clean pan. Add equal amounts of fat and flour to the pan, as described above. Cook for one minute. Add homemade or store-bought broth, one cup at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Cook for seven minutes. Taste for seasoning, strain, and finish with a tablespoon of unsalted butter.

Alternative thickeners:
A slurry can also be used to thicken your gravy. A slurry is a mixture of starch and cold liquid -- usually water or broth -- which is mixed and poured into the deglazed pan. Cornstarch, arrowroot and even potato starch can be used in place of the roux method, offering a gluten-free alternative.

The thickening power of a slurry is often double that of flour, so add a little at a time, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and adjust as needed. As rule, use 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to thicken every 2 cups of liquid. Avoid overcooking the slurry by boiling for too long, or the starch will lose its thickening power and begin to break down.

Thanks Sarah, and Happy Thanksgiving!

If you've got a Wicked Good baking or cooking question, don't be shy! We'll tell it to you straight and give you a recipe, too.

Wicked Good Thanksgiving: Making Gravy from Braising Liquid

Gravy made from braising liquid offers an intense and complex flavor, thickened using two easy techniques: reduction and beurre manié .

Beurre manié, similar to a roux, is a paste made with equal parts of flour and butter. The butter and flour are kneaded together, but not cooked until it is whisked into a sauce, soup, or in this case, gravy, to thicken the liquid.

Goat Cheese Pan Gravy (from Braising Liquid)

Servings: Approximately 5 cups
Cooking Technique: Reduction
When to make: Thanksgiving day, after the turkey comes out of the oven

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons European style butter, unsalted
2 tablespoons All purpose flour
6 cups Braising liquid
1 cup White wine
1/2 cup Goat cheese
1/4 cup Heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix the butter and flour together, kneading until completely combined, to make the beurre manié. Set aside.

Remove the turkey  (or meat) from the pan and set aside with a small amount of braising liquid to keep the meat moist.

Remove all but two cups of braising liquid from the roasting pan, reserving the rest of the liquid. Place the roasting pan on the stove over high heat, and reduce the liquid until it is almost completely evaporated and coats the back of the spoon (see photos above).

Add one cup of the reserved braising liquid, and reduce again until almost completely evaporated (this technique is called "au sec").

Reduce the heat to medium, and add the three cups of braising liquid to the pan. Whisk in the beurre manié and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the white wine.

Add the goat cheese and whisk until melted and blended. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Strain through a China cap, sieve or cheese cloth and serve.

Get more great gravy making tips here: How to Make Gravy from Scratch.

Follow along and make our entire Thanksgiving menu . Let's make a kick-butt Thanksgiving dinner, together!

Wicked Good Thanksgiving: Moist Thanksgiving Turkey

Every year, for the past, um, I don’t know – every year of your life – you’ve eaten some form of roasted turkey on Thanksgiving (and several days thereafter).

Some turkeys may have been memorable for delicious reasons. Perhaps crackly golden skin, with crunchy flecks of sea salt and bitter peppercorns revealed succulent breast meat, elevated by the most perfect pan gravy.

Who are we kidding? Our most memorable Thanksgivings have been spent Kumbaya-ing around a dry, overcooked bird, begging for a bath in the run-off liquid from the green bean casserole.

Experienced culinary folk, chefs, Alton Brown, sing the praises of brining to keep your bird out of the dry-rot stage. Me? Not so much. I don’t like the way brining changes the texture of the meat. And if a bird is overcooked, there’s not a brine in the world that’s going to save it from arid misery.

So how do turkeys get overcooked and dry in the first place?
Turkeys are big guys, with round or oblong bodies, and necks and tails and legs and wings that stick out all over the place. Some of those sticky-out parts cook at different rates than the breast meat because of the muscle composition and function  -- different muscles cook at different rates. Eh, some may argue it also has to do with the position of the bird on the roasting pan, which it does to some degree, but the meat fiber science far outweighs the roasting pan theory.

By comparison, the legs and thighs (dark meat) appear smaller than the turkey breast (white meat). And one would think, by observation alone, those parts cook faster than the breast meat. Not true. The legs and thighs actually take longer to cook. Here’s why:

Those little turkey legs work hard to keep Tommy upright and roaming around, fancy free, feeding on organic goodies throughout the day, ruling the roost and chasing after the ladies. Harder working muscles require more fat and more oxygen for energy, making the leg meat denser. Denser meat requires a longer cooking time because the heat has more "stuff" to penetrate. The breast muscles, however, rarely get the same workout, have a completely different composition, and do not store fat and oxygen the same way. The white meat is less dense, and requires less cooking time.

Sure, we can get all geeky and talk about the myoglobin proteins, slow-twitch and fast-twitch fibers, but by the time we finish, your turkey will be parched and petrified.

Moister-than-most turkey:
The best solution for a perfectly cooked bird -- legs, breast and all -- is to cut it into pieces, take its internal temperature after being in the oven for a while, and remove the pieces that are cooked through, as they cook through. You’ll ruin your annual Norman Rockwell family photo, but you’ll have all parts and pieces yielding crispy skin and juicy, tender meat.

I cook my turkey upside down and it’s fine.
Everyone has a Voodoo trick up their sleeve for moist turkey – upside down for 30 minutes, flipped and rubbed counter clockwise, then laid on its side and basted while hopping on one foot. The bird gets more of a workout in the oven then it did while perky and pecking. Heck, if your superstitious methods work, then keep on keepin’ on. But there is a better way. Cross over, children. There is braising.

Braising is typically used to render tough cuts of meat tender by cooking them in seasoned liquid, using low heat, for several hours. The low heat and long cooking time breaks down the collagen and tough connective tissues in the meat, making it fork-tender, and producing a viscous sauce.

Although a turkey isn’t as tough as a Boston butt or chuck roast (unless you’ve overcooked it), it can benefit greatly from braising, but with a shorter cooking time.

The recipe below cuts the cooking time down even further. By splitting the breast bone and flattening the turkey, we’ve made it easier for the moist heat to evenly penetrate every inch of the bird.

Wait a minute, moist heat? What about my crispy skin?
It’s true. Braising will sacrifice your crispy skin, sort of. As with a traditional braise, the turkey skin will be browned and crisped in the roasting pan before the braising liquid is poured over the bird, adding caramelized and concentrated flavors to the liquid. But after being in the braising liquid for an hour or two, the skin will melt into a luscious, silky pool of wonderful. I suppose, for die-hard fans, you could remove the skin and roast it separately. But then you’ll miss out on the key ingredient that will add flavor to the pan gravy: turkey fat. The sacrifice will be worth it.

Braised Young Turkey with Herb and Vanilla Citrus Butter

Servings: 8
Cooking Technique: Braising
Fancy Equipment: Recycled aluminum foil, boning knife, deep roasting pan
When to Make it: Thanksgiving day, two to three hours before serving




Ingredients:
5-7 pound Organic, free-range turkey
Salt and pepper to season
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Herb and Vanilla Citrus Compound Butter 
4 Bay leaves
5 large Carrots, scrubbed and roughly chopped
5 stalks Celery, roughly chopped
4 cups Chicken or turkey broth
2 cup White wine

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the neck, gizzards and any additional pieces inside the cavity of the turkey. Using a boning knife or kitchen shears, cut through the breast bone of the turkey, allowing the breasts to separate and the turkey to lay flat on the roasting pan.

Season both sides of the bird with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to the roasting pan and heat the pan over the stove on high heat, until the oil is shimmery and smoking. Place the turkey in the roasting pan skin side down to sear the skin, about 4-6 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from the heat and carefully flip the turkey over in the pan so the skin is facing up. Place the carrots and celery around the turkey. Rub the compound butter over and under the skin. Tuck the bay leaves under the legs and wings.

Pour the chicken stock and wine into the pan. The liquid should cover 3/4 of the turkey. Add additional stock or water if needed. Tent the pan, sealing it tightly, with recycled aluminum foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 275 degrees after 30 minutes, and continue to cook for another 45 minutes.

Check the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh -- it should read 155 degrees. If it does not, set your timer for 12 minutes, and check the temperature again. Repeat until the thermometer reads 155. Remove from the oven and set aside for 20 minutes. The temperature will rise from carryover cooking to 165 degrees.



Remove the turkey from the braising liquid and place on a serving platter. Spoon some of the braising liquid over the bird and cover the serving platter with recycled aluminum foil to keep warm. Reserve the rest of the braising liquid for gravy. 

Follow along and make our entire Thanksgiving menu . Let's make a kick-butt Thanksgiving dinner, together!