Our turkey comes from Crane Dance Farm (this was last year’s picture, back when MI had more grass).
If all goes well, by the time you read this post, I’ll be mid-move. Yep. The day before Thanksgiving!
But planning ahead has led me to do something this year that I always forget to do until actual Thanksgiving: explain how I used bacon to make superb turkey.
The logic is simple (aside from the really more basic axiom that everything is better with bacon): The trick to making great turkey is to slow the cooking of the breast and to slowly apply salt to the meat. Most people do the latter with brining, but I think that makes the meat mushy–why buy a pastured turkey if you’re just going to turn its flesh into processed meat?
So instead, as you’re putting the bird in the oven (after you’ve stuffed it–I’ll be doing sage and jerusalem artichoke bread stuffing), put most of a pound of bacon on the breast, legs–basically anywhere there’s open skin. Just about the point where the Kitties’ Turkey Day game starts to look hopeless, just about the time you need a snack to make it till dinner, the bacon will be browned and ready to eat. That’ll leave enough time to brown the bird.
Go ahead and share your Turkey Day tips here. And if you’re traveling, safe travels!