While Thanksgiving has come and gone, and my birth month has finally arrived, this recipe was just too good to deny front page status.  While perusing Bon Appétit for some Thanksgiving menu ideas, my mom and I came across this technically wonderful cooking method.  We did a test run on a couple of chickens, and when those turned out amazingly, we decided to take a risk and make our Thanksgiving turkey the same way.  My oh my, did it pay off.  Not only is the skin to die for (my favorite part!) but the meat was moist and oh-so-flavorful.  If that wasn’t enough, the cooking time was about half of what it normally would have been.  This is the first year that every scrap of leftover 15 lb. turkey was eaten – by two people and a dog.  Try this out with your next big bird, or with a delicious chicken. You can’t go wrong.

Spatchcocked Thanksgiving Turkey!

Ingredients:

1 turkey, defrosted
1/2 c. butter, softened
TURKEY HERBS: Whatever you love! Here’s what we did…
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1/2 Tbsp. pepper
1/2 Tbsp. granulated garlic powder
1/2  Tbsp. sage

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Take your turkey and remove the giblets, neck, etc. Rinse with water inside and out.  Taking a pair of poultry shears, cut along the sides of the backbone.  Then, score the inside of the breastbone (aka the keel bone), flip it over, and press down on the breasts to flatten it out.  Here’s a lovely infographic, courtesy of Sage Culinary Studio, to help you out:

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and whatever you’d like to flavor your turkey/gravy with – we used celery and onion.  Pour a cup of water in so that the drippings don’t burn off in the beginning.  Mix all your herbs into the butter, and then spread this under the skin of the turkey.  Place the turkey on a grill rack over the veggies in the pan and rub skin with remaining butter mixture. Cover the wingtips and from the ends of the legs to about halfway up with aluminum foil to prevent drying out.

Roast at 425 for 15 minutes then reduce to 325 and bake an additional 1.5 hours for a 15 lb. turkey, basting every 30 minutes.  Remove, let rest, carve, and serve!

Happy Holidays,
Echo