Final share of my original series of 'Thanksgiving Countdown' articles from The Hawaii Tribune-Herald of Hilo
(Photo - Dressing (recipe at bottom) baked in muffin molds served with carrot -ginger sauce and cooked homemade cranberry sauce)
HELE MAI `AHA `AINA! (Come Join the Feast!)
By Sonia Martinez (November 23, 2004 - The Hawaii Tribune-Herald of Hilo)
Thanksgiving Countdown –Part III - To Stuff or not to Stuff
I know that many cooks cannot conceive of roasting a turkey and not stuff it, but my personal preference is to cook the stuffing as a side dish of dressing and not inside the turkey. Instead of filling the cavities with stuffing, I prefer to fill them with bunches of aromatic fresh herbs.
Whether you stuff it or cook it as a side dish, care needs to be taken to follow proper food safety with the raw ingredients, both during preparation and in the cooking. If you prefer to stuff the turkey, please follow the simple safety guidelines below.
* Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and take out all packages of giblets and neck from neck and body cavities. Rinse well and pat dry.
* The stuffing should be prepared and fully cooked just before you fill the bird.
* Do not stuff the turkey the night before. Always stuff it just before placing the bird in the oven.
* Do not use raw ingredients to stuff the turkey. Be sure to sauté your vegetables such as onions, carrots and celery before hand. Sauté or boil the meats used such as livers or sausage ahead of time. Due to the danger of bacteria developing in stuffing that does not cook completely while the turkey is roasting, use pasteurized egg products instead of raw eggs.
* Stuff the turkey from both the neck and body cavities. Allow 1/2 to 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound of turkey.
* Do not pack stuffing too tightly into the turkey cavities. To guarantee even cooking, stuffing should be packed in loosely.
* Return legs to original tucked position, if you untucked them for rinsing or stuffing.
* Use a cooking method that allows the stuffing to cook at the same time as the turkey.
* Do not stuff turkeys when cooking on an outdoor grill or water smoker or when deep-frying the turkey.
* Do not leave roasted turkey sitting around for more than one hour with stuffing in it.
* Remember to always take out the stuffing to store any leftover turkey. Store separately.
Ideas for your turkey:
The following is reprinted from my cookbook "Tropical Taste":
"After you rinse and dry your turkey, start loosening the skin from the breast meat (even from the fatter part of the drumstick) by sticking your very clean fingers in between and just pushing little by little. You want to be careful as you don't want to prick the skin-short fingernails are a must! Rub a little bit of salt or poultry seasoning or garlic powder and then slip in sage or basil leaves (purple basil looks really beautiful) and form a pattern with the leaves."
I also like to take carambola (star fruit) slices and slide them in also. When you roast your turkey the leaves and fruit slices look very pretty through the translucent skin.
To give the turkey a delicious taste, rub with salt inside the cavity and stuff it with bundles of fresh rosemary or other fresh herbs.
The following are hints and tips I've collected from my foodie friends
From E. W. I make a mixture of about 2 tablespoons chicken fat, 4 or 5 pressed cloves of garlic, salt, and enough paprika to make a fairly thick paste. I rub this all over the turkey, put the stuffing inside the bird, put the bird in the pan and put the whole thing in a large brown paper bag (made from UNrecycled paper). Also, I close the bag with staples for a small turkey and use two bags, one from each end for a large bird. You want the turkey completely enclosed.
That goes into a 350oF oven for 15 min per pound. No basting or turning needed. I get lots of gravy and the turkey comes out beautifully browned with crisp skin. In 40 years of making it this way, I've never had a dry turkey.
The only thing to be careful of is the bag touching the coils in an electric oven. That's the only way it would catch fire. Oh, and with an electric oven, I used to put a couple of custard cups filled with water anywhere in the oven with the turkey. I seemed to get more gravy that way. It's not necessary with a gas oven.
From L. M. Usually when I buy free range no hormone turkeys I end up roasting them breast up (which is my preference based on nothing else but tradition). They have instructions on their wrappers that have worked well for me.
They recommend initially mixing 4 tablespoons olive oil, 4 teaspoons salt, and 2 teaspoons paprika and brush that mixture over the entire turkey. It gives it a beautiful color and, while I normally don't salt things much, it gives the skin a wonderful flavor.
They recommend you start with two cups of water (in the roasting pan), and then pour 1 cup warmed white wine over the turkey halfway through the roasting to give the gravy more flavor. It makes superb tasting gravy, and the turkey always turns out well.
(Photo: preparing the chicken livers, onions and aromatics before adding to the herbed bread stuffing blend and eggs)
Sonia's Traditional Dressing
Even though I like to experiment with other recipes, this is the one that my kids loved and my son Anthony still requests. We not only use this as a side dish during our Thanksgiving dinner, but also cook it to serve with a regular meal at any time during the year. We don't use salt, but if you feel you need it, salt and pepper to taste.
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery bunch, chopped, leaves included
2 bay (laurel) leaves
Olive or vegetable oil for sautéing
2 cups chicken livers, rinsed and chopped
5 to 6 cups chicken broth, separated
A few sprigs of fresh sage – leaves only
1 large package herb blend stuffing
4 large eggs
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 F
Slowly sauté onions, celery and bay leaves in small amount of olive or vegetable oil until onions are translucent. Add the chicken liver pieces and cook thoroughly. Add 2 cups of broth and the sage leaves and cook, simmering, for about half an hour.
Empty dressing mix in a large bowl. Add the cooked vegetables and liver and mix well. Add the eggs and mix well. Add the rest of the broth, little by little to make sure the dressing is thoroughly wet but not soupy, test for seasonings and add if needed. Take out the bay leaves. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes or until top is golden brown, but still moist.
