Thanksgiving Turkey Hack or My New Tradition

One thing I have always disliked about the Thanksgiving meal is the turkey. Not the bird itself, but the condition in which we receive it at the table.

You roast the turkey. You let it rest. You carve the turkey. You put it on your beautiful china platter (or your white ironstone platter with the embossed turkey). It goes to the table. It is passed around. By the time you take your first bite - yep, it's cold. The gravy can help, but depending on the gravy boat, it may not stay warm.

Well, watching Home Town, a delightful HGTV show with Ben and Erin Napier, a delightful Southern couple, I received a revelation. Their tradition is to roast the turkey and remove and chop the meat. They make their family's dressing. They combine the two with flavorful turkey broth, heat them in a large casserole, and serve with gravy.

So I ordered a fresh turkey from Fresh Market. The obliging butchers cut it into quarters and the back. This allowed me to roast the light meat separately from the dark. The breast meat did not dry out while the dark meat came to 165 degrees. (By the way, roasting this way takes barely an hour and a half.) I used Reynold's brown-in bags with lots of chopped onions, celery, apples, and appropriate seasonings. I had a bounteous amount of wonderful drippings for the gravy.

I combined our family cornbread dressing (secret recipe) with the turkey meat, heated the mixture, and served it with gravy. I used some insulated gravy boats, courtesy of Jeff (Bezos), so it was hot for the whole meal. Mr. EB, my sisters, and their families pronounced it a success. As my husband's grandfather used to say, "Bob's your uncle!"

It's our new Thanksgiving meal. "Try it, you'll like it."