My Turkey Triumph
How was your Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is one of those days of the year where most of us are doing the same thing — having a feast with loved ones — but we’re all doing it a bit differently. Usually we’re gathering in someone’s home, but it’s not uncommon to go to a restaurant instead. I love paging through my Instagram stories after Thanksgiving. I get to see what everyone’s eating; this year I spotted lots of turkeys, but also chickens and clams and hot pot. People share who they’ve chosen to spend the day with; family, friends, a partner, themself.
Last night, I went to a dear friend’s apartment for Thanksgiving dinner1. He hosts a potluck every year, and this time there were a over a dozen people who showed up, each bearing something good to eat. I brought a roasted turkey, just to prove a point. D——, the host, has strong opinions, one of them being that a traditionally roasted turkey is always bad.
I proved him wrong 😃
(Note: I wrote this very quickly this morning in the interest of expedience, so if there are any typos of unclear prose, I’ll go back and edit it later.)
In defense of turkey
Turkey gets a bad reputation during this time of year: it’s dry, it takes forever to roast, it’s underwhelming. But it’s just a bigger, slightly leaner chicken. And most meat eaters love chicken. How did the humble turkey get scapegoated?
Roasting a whole bird, no matter the species, is not the easiest task.
Most people do not regularly roast a whole bird. If Thanksgiving is the only time during the entire year that a home cook is cooking a bird, they’re bound to not get the best results.
As turkeys are the centerpiece of the meal, there’s an expectation that it must be the best dish of the night.
The most common way to prepare a turkey is not the best way to get the best out of the bird.
The first time I roasted a whole turkey, in 20202, I did a buttermilk brine and it was delicious, but not seasoned as well as I would have liked. This year, I wanted to make a turkey that was terrific — not terrific for turkey, just terrific.
The inspiration
On the Friday before Thanksgiving, I went to my friend I——’s apartment for a Friendsgiving and, as is custom, he made a turkey. Reader, it was the best turkey I’ve ever eaten.
Regard: beautifully golden skin, juicy flesh, salty as hell. I asked I—— for his secrets: spatchcocked, dry brined (with “way more salt than you think is necessary”), and butter basted.
I had figured out my own turkey plan.
How I cooked my turkey
I pre-ordered a heritage turkey from DiPaola Farms in New Jersey and picked it up at the farmers market. If I wanted to change someone’s mind about turkey, I wanted to get the best possible one that money can buy. That amount of money is sixty dollars.
On Tuesday afternoon, I spatchcocked the turkey, which means cutting out the backbone and flattening it. Doing this allows the breast and the thighs to cook evenly, and you get some extra bones for making gravy.
Then I coated the bird in salt and rosemary and sage. Following Epicurious’ guide, for a 15 pound turkey, there was about 3/4 cup of kosher salt, which was indeed way more than I thought was necessary. (It was absolutely necessary)
Then I put the turkey on a rack and monopolized the entire fridge until Thursday:
Two days later, the salt had worked its magic. This thing was covered in salt when I put it in the fridge, and now it had all been absorbed into the meat.
A last minute switch up 🔥
I follow chili crisp evangelist James Park on Instagram and he shared a recipe he had developed for The Kitchn: Chili Crisp Butter Spatchcock Turkey. This turkey preparation was the same thing I was already working on, but with a chili crisp compound butter rubbed all over the turkey before going in the oven, and dressed with a mixture of chili crisp and lemon juice.
No question that I was going to do this.
I put the turkey in the oven at 425ºF using the convection roast setting, checking in on the bird to make sure it wasn’t getting too brown on the top. After an hour or so I reduced the temperature a bit. Once the breasts hit the magic number of 150º, it came out of the oven. The chili crisp had burnt a bit, but this was undeniably a beautiful bird.
One thing I did not think about? How to transport a fully roasted turkey to my friend’s apartment, a ten minute walk from mine. (At least I didn’t need to take the subway). I divided the turkey into a few pieces, wrapped it in foil, and then walked the streets of Brooklyn carrying the centerpiece of Thanksgiving in a Freshdirect bag.
Fortunately I did not trip on anything. I got to my destination, carved the turkey, reheated the gravy, and dinner was served!
I’m very proud of how this turkey came out. Tender and moist and juicy. Salty as hell. The chili crisp butter added a subtle heat to the meat; it was the chili crisp-lemon dressing, mixed with some gravy, that really made this turkey great.
The verdict from my skeptical friend: delicious. They say that a good meal can change people’s minds. Usually they mean it in a pretty deep sense, but sometimes, the only goal was to have someone admit that, yes, turkey can be an amazing meat when treated with proper care.
If called upon next year, this is exactly what I’ll be making for next year’s Thanksgiving. Invite me to your party and I will bring a very good turkey.
And dessert!
Everyone brought something great to the dinner table at the Thanksgiving dinner I went to last night, but I have to admit I had a favorite: this mulled wine chocolate cake with mascarpone orange cream and mulled wine ganache.
I’m off to enjoy a weekend packed with movies — on Monday, I’ll send a missive about all the new & notable films out this fall! Subscribe to get this directly to your inbox
Quick rant: I see many people gather with their friends on Thanksgiving day (as opposed to family) but they still call it a Friendsgiving. This is incorrect. If it’s the day of Thanksgiving, it’s a Thanksgiving dinner!
my roommate really wanted turkey and I obliged even though we had to eat leftover turkey for the next seven days straight