Roslyn Wasserstroms Turkey Marinade Recipes

Steps:

• Rinse turkey well in cold water and pat very dry with paper towels.
• Make the marinade: Combine garlic, cumin, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl and mash the mixture together with the back of a kitchen spoon to make a kind of paste. Stir sour orange juice (or orange and lime juices) and oil into the paste and whisk to combine. Add oregano leaves and mix again. Reserve 1/2 cup of marinade and put aside.
• Put turkey in a roasting pan that can fit in the refrigerator and cover with remaining marinade, making sure to get a lot of it into the turkey's open cavity. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or for at least a few hours. Baste a few times with marinade.
• When ready to cook, heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove turkey from marinade and place on a clean cutting board. Discard marinade and clean roasting pan well. Return turkey to roasting pan, tuck the tips of the wings under the bird and shower it with salt and pepper. Place orange, lime and onion quarters in the turkey's cavity, then truss its legs together with cotton string. Roast turkey, uncovered, in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees. Baste turkey with pan juices, and add remaining marinade to the pan. Continue roasting turkey, basting every 30 minutes and tenting it with foil if the skin is turning too dark, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh without touching bone registers 165 degrees, approximately 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours more. Transfer to a cutting board or platter and allow to rest at least 30 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Peel garlic, combine ingredients and puree in an electric blender.
• Rinse the turkey inside and out and dry thoroughly.
• A day before roasting, season as follows: Loosen skin on entire bird and with your hand, spread marinade under skin. Also spread marinade inside and outside the bird's cavity. Reserve marinade for basting and place turkey in plastic bag in refrigerator overnight.
• If stuffing turkey, stuff only three-quarters full, and figure three-quarters of a cup per pound up to 15 pounds. For making stuffing in baking dish, bake approximately three-quarters of an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the turkey in a roasting pan, breast side up. Add one cup of orange, pineapple or apricot juice and one cup of water.
• After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue roasting, turn occasionally to brown evenly, and add water to pan as liquid evaporates.
• To test for doneness, prick the skin of the thigh to see if the juice runs clear or jiggle the drumstick to see if it moves easily.
• Remove from oven and brush on the following glaze: one-half cup of red currant jelly and the juice of one lemon, which have been heated together until the jelly has melted.
• Let the glazed turkey rest at least 20 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Trim off any excess fat/skin. Wash bird well, remove all innards/giblets, turkey neck; save if you are going to use them to make gravy, otherwise discard, pat bird dry, inside and out.
• Blend all marinade wet and dry ingredients, heat to warm and blend either in microwave or on stove but do not let it scorch.
• Put 1 TBS of flower in a turkey roasting oven bag, shake to coat insides. Put a cake cooling rack (coat w/ cooking spray to keep from sticking) inside of bag to help raise bird off bottom, set inside of turkey roasting pan.
• Pour/rub marinade ingredients all over, making sure to get between skin, inside cavity of bird.
• Fold back wings, let legs lay free, put bird breast up in bag.
• Tie off bag and trim any excess beyond tie;.
• Puff up bag to keep it off skin as much as possible.
• Let bird marinate overnight in bag, in the pan ready to go in oven.
• Remove middle rack and put rack/roasting pan in lowest oven position. Preheat oven to 325, cook approximately 11 minutes per LB until core is up to 160 degrees, Before putting pan on oven, put 6 @ 1/2" long knife slits in bag around perimeter of breast to allow for venting.
• At half way point turn pan around 180 degrees in oven to allow even cooking in case oven has hot spots. Oven bag will suggest 350, I have found this cooks the bird too hot, too fast with less forgiveness.
• Pull out of oven, use scissors to cut slit in bag across top to allow it to sit for 30 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil over bird to help trap heat and moisture back inches.
• I usually go top down, starting with removing each breast half, and the cross cut against grain into portion slices, then cut drumsticks and present them whole, then remove thighs and wings and proceed to scrape and cut into portions.
• I will drizzle just a little of the pan drippings over cut portions in pan, helps to give the white meat a little more flavor and moisture.