It's been a great week. Republicans take the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives and the Cats get the huge win in basketball. Then add in that I went to the VA yesterday and while there, I was told they were giving out free turkeys. Drove over to the area where it was happening and got a turkey plus a bunch of can goods, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.
I took it all to my mom's house so she can do Thanksgiving for the family and not be out any money. I've never cooked turkey or prepared a big meal like that so it would have been lost on me. I was tempted to buy one of those turkey fryers but it probably wouldn't have went very well.
If you buy a stainless steel roasting pan with a lid and inner rack, cooking a turkey is simple and not very time consuming.
Thaw the turkey in a cold water bath
Put together a big bowl/bag of spices and salts (we use garlic powder, onion powder, salt, ground sage, celery salt, rosemary) mix them up (shake them in a gallon ziploc bag
Remove neck and organ bag, and rinse the turkey out and off
Rub the turkey inside and out with the spices
Pat olive oil over the outside of the turkey
Put some chicken stock in the bottom of the roasting pan, add the rack
Put the turkey on the rack
Roast it in the covered roasting pan in the oven at recommended temp
Covered roasting pan usually takes from 1/3-3/5 the time that it would take uncovered depending on how well the bird is thawed and your oven temp.
We uncover it briefly and turn the temp up at the end to get the skin a little more crisp and golden if we have picky company. Otherwise we just let it cool a bit, carve it up and serve it. My wife uses the broth to make the dressing and gravy.
I personally like turkey gravy and soup base, so I add onions, carrots, and celery to the broth in the bottom before it goes in the oven. Strain out the veggies for a separate dish on the table and/or use it all for a soup and gravy base. It was a great soup base for comfort food when someone in the family got sick.
I also roast the turkey with the legs and turkey breast down so it is more tender and juicy. It's not what most people do, but since that's where most of the meat is, I do it that way.