It’s hard to believe that it is officially 2014, and I am still trying to catch up with blogs I wanted to post in 2013.
It has been a little over a month since we moved into our house. While many things have not found their permanent home as yet, at least they are unpacked and the boxes are thrown out. There is still much to do to make it home.
We took a break from it all for a couple of weeks to welcome my sister who came to spend the holidays with us, her first visit here to San Luis Obispo.
Leaving the cold and snow in Pennsylvania behind her, she enjoyed, as did we, our first Christmas and New Year’s in this beautiful Mediterranean climate we are lucky enough to now call home.
Since we had just moved in two days before Thanksgiving, and I wasn’t able to cook what is my most favorite meal, Thanksgiving Dinner, I decided that I would make a Thanksgiving Dinner for Christmas.
For years now,during the weeks before Thanksgiving I love to listen to the Martha Stewart Show on XM Sirius radio. The format always involves guest chefs and callers sharing their holiday menus, both traditional as well as familiar dishes done with a new twist.
This year Martha Stewart Living test kitchen introduced a new way to roast a turkey that I found very intriguing and had wanted to try.
It involved roasting your turkey slathered in butter, but wrapped completely in parchment for several hours, then raising the oven temperature, unwrapping the turkey and putting it back in the oven to brown.
Wrapped in the parchment for the majority of the roasting time really seals in the juices resulting in a deliciously moist bird.
Removing the parchment and continuing to cook the turkey at a higher temperature for 45 minutes to an hour ensures an especially golden brown crispy skin.
Although Martha roasts her turkey stuffed I prefer to roast my Mom’s Stuffing in a separate casserole dish.
If roasting the turkey unstuffed you will want to lessen your cooking time accordingly.
Be sure to check the temperature with an instant read thermometer.
My sister, husband and I all agreed this was a wonderful way to roast a turkey, and I’m certain I will be doing it again.
Here’s the link to the recipe…
http://www.marthastewart.com/1040385/roasted-turkey-parchment-gravy
Here’s Martha herself showing how it’s done on The Today Show…