Why does technique matter? So at the end of the day, you produce juicy slices of turkey. First, you have to “see what you’re doing,” said Venezia, a third generation butcher, as he expertly glided his knife through the turkey’s sinewy joints, cracking it open like a walnut.  By the time he got to the breast meat, Venezia had already accumulated a beautiful platter of turkey meat.  For the best results, “slice against the grain,” Venezia advised, holding up a piece of white meat—and improbably—squeezing it so that juice spurted from the just-cut meat.

Fairway scion, 26-year old Dan Glickberg—he’s the fourth generation of his family to operate the company—worked alongside Venezia, earnestly hacking away at a second turkey.  Glickberg was supposed to represent the Thanksgiving Every Man. He bent over his bird, sawing methodically at breast and drumstick, occasionally stealing a glance at Venezia’s handiwork. “Am I doing it right?” he asked every few minutes. Venezia reassured him—not to mention the group of anxious soon-to-be-turkey carvers in the audience—that his knife skills were just fine.

Here’s a video of Venezia carving a Thanksgiving turkey.  Either you’ll find his demo reassuring. Or you’ll conclude that without a master butcher in your house Thanksgiving Day, the whole thing is hopeless.

Video: Mrs Mo’s New Jersey Channel, hmorris0506′s.

Related posts:

1. Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Part I: Double the Pleasure with Two Birds
2. East Side Butcher to Move to Upper West Side
3. Upper West Side Butcher Competes in Whole Foods Meat Meet

Click here for Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Part I: Double the Pleasure with Two Birds

Roasting the Turkey

Read all directions before starting. Organize your time and pace yourself. The following instructions are for two turkeys.

• Let the seasoned butter you made yesterday come to room temperature (and you will have made twice as much for two turkeys).

• Remove the turkeys from the brine. Dry them inside and out. Save all necks, giblets, gizzards and livers for the gravy.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees; make sure the racks are low.

Thanksgiving turkey. Photo: by defak via flckr.

Each turkey will sit on the following ingredients in a roasting pan:
4 onions, coarsely chopped, with the skin on (please wash them off before cutting)
4 large carrots, scrubbed clean (unpeeled) and cut into coarse chunks
6 ribs of celery, same as above
8 bay leaves
2 bunch fresh thyme
2 bunch fresh sage
4 parsnips, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
2 head of garlic, cut into 4 pieces—skins and all
1 bunch parsley

Toss all these ingredients together with ½ cup of olive oil and lay them down in the bottom of the roasting pan, close together so the turkey has a good bed to rest on.

In the meantime:
Gently lift the skin of the turkey away from the breast with your fingertips, stretching it slightly as you go. Try not to tear the skin.  Do the same for the thighs and legs.

Push the seasoned butter mixture under and around the skin: most of it should go under the breast skin, but save some for the legs.

Once the butter is under the skin, smooth the remaining butter on top of the turkey skin.

Place the turkey on the vegetables and sprinkle salt and pepper generously all over the bird.

Roast for 45 minutes, uncovered.

After 45 minutes, pour ½ bottle of white wine, water or stock into the roasting pan and return the turkey to the oven. Reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and roast for another 45 minutes.  If the skin is starting to brown too much, cover it loosely with a foil tent.

After a total cooking time of 1.5 hours, test the temperature of the thigh meat—it should be between 155 and160 degrees. Take the turkey out and let it rest, loosely covered.  The temperature will continue to rise to 165 degrees, At this point, the turkey should rest for 30 minutes before carving.  Resting is very important—it helps the turkey retain its juices and keeps it moist.

Sauté salted and peppered livers lightly in butter.  When they are browned and fully cooked, add a splash of sherry and swirl around until it has evaporated. Remove livers from pan and cut into small pieces, which you will add to the gravy at the end of the gravy making process (see below).

Meanwhile, heat up the stuffing:
When you’re ready to heat the stuffing, pour one cup of broth into and around the mixture and mix it well. If it’s moist, you have added enough liquid. If not, add a little more. You don’t want it to be too wet.

Place in pre-heated oven at 375F, covered, for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350, uncover and finish roasting for 30 minutes, to crisp the top a bit.

To carve and to make gravy:

Lift turkey out of pan, tilting it so the juices run back into the roasting pan.  Start making the gravy now (directions below)—you can carve afterward.

Gravy:

Place the turkey necks and giblets in a saucepan (large), and cover with water by at least 3 inches. Add two onions, cut in half, a handful of black peppercorns, smashed, 6 smashed cloves of garlic and 2 pieces of star anise.   Keep on a low simmer, continually replenishing the water.  You want to end up with 4 cups of turkey stock, although you

Photo: by sisterbeer via flickr.

won’t strain it until later.

Blend 4 tablespoons cornstarch with ½  cup cool stock at some point. Reserve—this will be for thickening the gravy later.

Add the vegetables and juices from the roasting pan to the pot with the giblets and necks.  If there are lots of brown bits on the bottom of the turkey roasting pan, place the pan on a medium burner and add wine, water or stock to scrape up the bits.  Bring to a boil and pour the liquid into the pan with the necks and vegetables.  You should have about 2 quarts of liquid.

Simmer everything together for 30 minutes, then strain, pressing on the solids, into another saucepan.  Rest 10 minutes and skim off the fat.  Bring the gravy to a simmer and add the well mixed cornstarch mixture, whisking it in to avoid lumps. Add the livers. Return gravy to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.  Taste and serve.

To carve the turkey:

The best carving instructions i know come from Judy Rodgers, of Zuni Café in San Francisco, so i am reproducing them here—thank you, Judy!

• Slice through skin between leg and breast, and begin folding back leg, rolling turkey on its side. Fold back leg further to expose ball joint at hip then use tip of boning knife to free the leg. Cut leg/thigh into two pieces at knee joint. I don’t aim for pretty slices from the drumstick—it’s too full of “hatpin” bones. I just carve off the meat in three or four neat chunks, sliding the knife against the bone and rotating the bone with each slice.

• To carve the thigh meat, set skin side up on the cutting board and slice parallel to bone, either side of the bone.

• To carve the breast meat, use a boning knife to remove the whole breast, just as though you were boning a chicken breast. Slide the tip of the knife close along the sternum, then gradually pry the whole breast away using a series of little cuts holding the blade of the knife flat against the sternum and rib cage. (if the turkey is properly rested, it won’ be too hot to handle).

• Use the tip of the knife to sever the tenacious sinews at the base of the wing. Study the direction of the fibers on the boned side of the breast—they curve abruptly near the wing joint, but generally run in a slight arc the length of the muscle. Now place the breast flat on the cutting board and carve nearly straight down into ¼ inch thick slices that cut directly across the grain you just studied. This will produce slices that are as tender as possible.

• Wide slices cut on a steep angle may look impressive, but will be tougher, since you are leaving too much muscle fiber intact.

Happy thanksgiving!

Related posts:

1. Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Part I: Double the Pleasure with Two Birds
2. Thanksgiving Turkey Carving Is No Big Deal When Fairway’s Butcher Does It
3. Thanksgiving Recipe: Sweet Potatoes But Hold the Marshmallows Please

You could spend Thanksgiving morning wrestling with one gargantuan turkey. Or you could do what Upper West Sider Chef Renee Marton does and opt for roasting two, more petite birds. If that sounds like twice the work, it’s not.  And when the turkey comes to the table and your guests are done oohing and aahing over your handiwork, you won’t be left to decide whether Aunt Bess or cousin Sally gets the drumstick.  With two birds, there’s double the usual number of the turkey’s most prized parts.

While not producing a Norman Rockwell tableau, two smaller turkeys are better than one because:
•    A more petite turkey is easier to carve.
•    There are more legs, thighs, wings and pieces of breast to go around.
•    If you have a couple of carving-enthusiasts at your table, they won’t have to fight over who gets to cut up the bird.
•    Last, but not least, two birds yield more leftovers than one.

Turkey 101. Try to find humanely raised turkeys, grown without antibiotics, hormones and pesticides. Buy from a butcher so you can ask questions. Butchers aren’t necessarily pricey. Even Costco has butchers. Organic is nice if you can spend the extra money. There’s always Butterball, that old standby. Other turkey essentials:
•    Some people think toms taste better than hens.
•    Heritage birds—turkeys with a history, so to speak—have a gamier taste. Roast one regular turkey and one heritage variety—slow roasting is best—and guests can choose to go traditional, or not.

Here’s the Thanksgiving turkey game plan:

Part I below outlines Turkey Day Minus One—what you need to do the day before Thanksgiving to get your turkey ready to go in the oven

Part II, appearing tomorrow, describes how to roast and carve the bird, not to mention how to stir up some first-rate gravy.

_______________________________________________________

Thanksgiving Turkey(s) Recipe: Two are Better than One

Serves 14 medium-sized servings, about 6-7 ounces per person.

Two 12-to-15 pound turkeys, cleaned, with feathers and inside packages and fat removed. Only rinse and dry the turkeys if they’re bloody. Otherwise, go straight to preparing the brine:

Brine

Brining means you’re soaking your bird in a salt, spices and liquid mixture to make it juicier. If your bird is kosher, then the turkey has already been brined as part of the koshering process.

Photo: Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association

For 2 turkeys:
2 gallons water
2 cups kosher salt
2 cups sugar (any kind will do)
8 bay leaves
8 star anise

Bring ingredients to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let water cool, then chill until cold. If your refrigerator is too small to chill the pot of water, use half as much, and then add ½ gallon of very cold water to the brine. Add turkey, making sure it’s completely submerged. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate immediately. Or place each bird in a doubled zip-lock bag, fill with brine, and stash in the fridge.

Make Seasoned Butter
For two turkeys:
1 pound sweet butter—softened to room temperature
½ c. cup olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
2 teaspoons smoked paprika (either hot or sweet)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 garlic cloves
6 cloves
zest of two oranges

Place all ingredients in a food processor and mix until well blended.  Scrape down sides of food processor and pulse again. Scrape the butter into a small bowl and refrigerate until one hour before needed.

Prepare Stuffing

Today, food safety dictates making your stuffing outside the bird. The reason: to avoid bacterial contamination. Also, stuffing and turkey cook at different rates, so timing is

Photo: Cloned Milkmen via flckr.

easier when they’re cooked separately.

This recipe is for two turkeys:
8 cups diced cornbread- small to medium dice (home made or store bought)- spread on a pan to dry out (overnight if possible—at least a few hours)—do not cover.
4 red onions, peeled and diced
8 ribs celery, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and diced
3 bunches scallions, trimmed and diced including the green part
3 green peppers, seeded and diced
10 links sausage, skin removed (about 2.5 to 3 pounds)
2 jars or cans cooked chestnuts, cut into large pieces (toss them with 1 teaspoon each of sugar and soy sauce before you use them)
4 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons of celery seed
2 bunches flat leaf parsley, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2 bunches cilantro, stems removed and coarsely chopped
2-3 cups broth (homemade or store bought, chicken or turkey)
2 sticks sweet butter
2 teaspoon of kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper- 20 twists

METHOD

Melt butter in 2 large sauté pans. When bubbling, add red onions, green pepper and celery. Cook until softened but not brown (low heat). Add scallions, chestnuts, thyme leaves and cook another 5 minutes. You want everything to have become very hot, but not cooked for long.

In another pan, add the peeled sausage and break it up until it resembles coarse meal. Brown thoroughly and drain. Add to onion mixture (divide between the two pans).

When mixture is cool, add cornbread, celery seed, parsley, cilantro, salt and pepper.  Make sure it is well mixed and place in a buttered or sprayed casserole. Cover and refrigerate until Thanksgiving Day.

Click here for Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Part II: From the Oven to the Table

Related posts:

1. Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Part II: From the Oven to the Table
2. Thanksgiving Turkey Carving Is No Big Deal When Fairway’s Butcher Does It
3. Kosher Thanksgiving Class at Le Marais Slated for Nov.10

On Tuesday, November 25, beginning at 10:30 AM, members of the New York Giants will ‘team’ with the Food Bank For New York City.  A total of 350 turkeys and all the fixings will be loaded onto one of the Food Bank’s 54 ft.-long-tractor trailers at the Food Bank’s warehouse, 355 Food Center Drive, in Hunts Point, the Bronx.

At 2:30 PM, the tractor trailer will arrive at the Food Bank’s Community Kitchen of West Harlem at 252 West 116 Street.  There, it will be met by members of the Giants’ D-line who will unload the turkeys and all the fixings and serve the dinner meal to 700 New Yorkers in need. The Food Bank’s Community Kitchen of West Harlem has served more than 92,000 meals this year.

Related posts:

1. Upper West Side Restaurant Community Food & Juice to Reopen Mid/Late July
2. Upper West Side: Community Food and Juice Reopens Today
3. Upper West Side: 97th St Greenmarket Shifts Pre-Thanksgiving Hours