Thanksgiving: Twinkling Citrus Turkey

Thanksgiving meals are easy and stress free for me. I started making them by myself when I was 15 years old and have learned a lot since then. Timing is everything. Knowing how long each item will take to prepare is key to having everything complete at the same time. No one wants cold mashed potatoes or to have to wait for the gravy. My advice for dessert is to make it a day ahead or to bake it while everyone is eating.

My most memorable Thanksgiving actually was the one year I didn't have turkey and my father and I went to Italy for 9 days. Finding a turkey dinner in Rome is a challenge and I didn't bother to look too hard. This Thanksgiving is memorable to me because I woke up and looked out of my kitchen window and saw eleven wild turkeys trotting across my yard. I often see them but usually in the late afternoon and never that close to the house. They are really beautiful.

Each year I stuff my turkey with lemons and oranges, herbs and shallots. I also always make it in an oven bag. The result is a moist turkey with flavor that is bright and delicious and you don't have to constantly baste it. This year I wanted to change it up a bit after I came across a recipe for Twinkling Turkey. Twinkie has a recipe book believe it or not, and I came across an online article about how you baste the turkey with a mixture of the cream filling and honey and the stuffing is made with the sponge cake. I don't stuff my turkey with stuffing because it takes so much longer to cook and I am scared of killing someone if it's not heated all the way through. The oranges and lemons impart a unique flavor and it's how I make a perfect turkey every year.




Twinkling Citrus Turkey

12-22 lb Turkey
2 oranges, zested and quartered
2 lemons, zested and halved
Salt and Pepper TT
Bunch of Fresh Rosemary, chopped
Bunch of Fresh Sage, chopped
Bunch of Fresh Thyme, chopped
2 Shalllots chopped
1 stick of butter, melted

Roasting Pan
Oven bag
1 T flour

For the Glaze
Cream filling from 6 Twinkies
1/4 cup honey
zest from 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove the parts from the cavity and discard or set aside for giblet gravy. Rinse the entire turkey and cavity with cold water. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper the inside of the cavity generously. Mix together the chopped herbs, citrus zest, and shallots. Place some whole stems of herbs in the cavity and fill with oranges and lemons at both ends. Place herbs and zest under the skin and also cover the outside. Salt and pepper TT. Pour melted butter over the turkey and under the skin. Place 1 T of flour in the oven bag and arrange it on the roasting pan. Carefully transfer the turkey to the oven bag with the flour in it. Cute 4-5 slits in the top of the bag and cook in the oven until it's done. The last 15 or so minutes, check the temperature and cut open the bag. Mix the glaze and cover the turkey with it. Cook until golden brown. Remove the bird from the oven and allow to rest 20-30 min before carving.