Thanksgiving 2012 - Tender Tender Turkey

Before the year gets away from us it's time to take a look at our 2012 Thanksgiving extravaganza. We already previously covered in great depth the various components of our traditional Thanksgiving meal from year's past (green bean casserole, stuffing, deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, etc). So this year we'll look primarily at things we did a bit differently with the turkey, as well as how to make amazing gravy using the turkey drippings and on-hand ingredients.

Through trial and error over the seven years Megan and I have been doing Thanksgiving together, we've found the best way to season the turkey is to mix seasonings with butter and rub it underneath the skin. Here Megan is starting to lift the skin away from the meat to make room for the seasonings.

Mix up some butter with your favorite fresh or dried turkey seasonings - sage and garlic are must-haves, but throw in anything you like.

It's messy but worth it: grab a handful of seasoning goop and get on in there to spread it around.

After getting enough of the mixture under the skin, Megan then massages it across for even distribution.

For a change this year we took a page from what we learned while griling this summer and decided to also inject the meat directly. Besides adding in more flavor, this also keeps more of the meat moist and prevents dryness. For the injection, we heated up some the butter mixture until it became more of a liquid to use with the injecting needle.

The butter, garlic, and sage gets delivered straight into the meat at various points across the turkey.

We use a cooking bag every year, which not only reduces the cooking time, but also heats the turkey in its own juices. In addition to the injection, this made for the most tender and moist bird we've ever cooked. There wasn't a single dry piece of meat to be found.

Here it is out of the oven after cooking for a few hours, but resist the urge to tear open the bag because there is liquid gold in there begging to be used for another purpose...

...making gravy! Cut a small slit near the bottom of one side of the bag, and then lift and pour the turkey drippings into a skillet or large pan.

The drippings are already flavored perfectly thanks to all the seasonings and injections.

Stir in some milk and flour, turn on the heat, and after a few minutes of stirring you will have gravy that easily beats any store-bought variety.

It never fails: every year by the time we're done with all the prep work and cooking we always too tired and  forget to get pictures of the actual meal itself! Next time we make turkey and gravy we'll have to make sure to get a shot of a finished plate of delicious glory, or you can always check out our previous Thanksgiving blogs.