I like my turkey to be two things -- The meat must be juicy and the skin must be crispy. When I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner two years ago I did a lot of recipe research but nothing really applied to both of my favorite things. So I took it upon myself, put on my brave Thanksgiving chef hat and combined two recipes that looked good. The result was amazing and I've now followed this recipe twice. Last year my dad, Chris Brenner and I had a turkey cook off. He fried his and I still won! It should be noted that I didn't come up with the stuffing idea myself. I can't find the recipe I orginally used but it's so good I had to share!

Ingredients for Stuffing:

4 Granny Smith apples
4 yellow onions
Dry Champagne - 1 bottle

Ingredients for Dry Rub:

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried sage
1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil
1 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Directions:

Buy a turkey and make sure it is thawed before Thanksgiving. Click here to learn how to thaw a frozen turkey.
The day before you're cooking your turkey - Chop the granny smith apples, onions, and place them in a large zip lock bag. Fill the bag with your bottle of champagne and let your stuffing marinate in the refrigerator over night.
On turkey cooking day - follow these directions to see how long to cook your bird based on the weight. This way you will know what time to get it in the oven so it's ready for your meal. Don't forget to allow yourself time at the end. You should let your turkey rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.
Start by cleaning out the turkey of all the 'fun stuff' and place it in your roasting pan. I used a throw away tin year one and a pan with a rack year two - both times turned out great.
Use salt and pepper to coat the inside cavity of the turkey for seasoning.
Stuff the cavity of your turkey with your apples and onions and then bind the legs together with cooking twine.
Take a few slabs of soft butter and rub the butter under the skin of the turkey.
Coat the outer skin of your turkey with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then massage in your dry rub generously all over the skin.
Place your turkey in the oven and follow the cooking times listed in direction #3. Follow the time chart for "stuffed" and take your turkey out when it reaches 180° F in thigh and 165° F in the breast. *side note - I didn't have a meat thermometer until after the wedding and I trusted the popper that came in the turkey. Everything worked out just fine.
Let your turkey rest for 15 minutes before carving. Need directions for carving. Look here.
Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our blog followers! Please travel safe!

Spread the Love & Dream Big,

Mrs. Madej