Falling-Off-The-Bone Turkey recipe

Truly, my turkey was completely separated from the bone when I took it out...it is that amazing!

I got some inspiration from this site which goes into detail and has pictures if you want to check it out, and combined that with the recipe I used last year (which was the best Turkey I had ever eaten up to that point) to come up with this. Not only does it taste amazing, but it is oh.so.easy!

3 sprigs Rosemary
3 sprigs Thyme
1/2 cup butter, partially melted so it is soft
1 orange
1 onion
1 stick celery
1 carrot
2 bay leaves
1/4 bunch sage
3 or 4 sprigs parsley
turkey

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Remove the giblets and neck from the turkey (or ask your husband to do it for you if that stuff grosses you out). Spread butter in between the skin and the breast of the turkey and shove one sprig of each fresh rosemary and thyme in there (the site has a disturbingly good picture of this).

Quarter the orange and rub it on the outside of the turkey skin. Pour the remaining butter on the outside of the turkey and rub it over the outside skin. Salt and Pepper the skin. shove the orange quarters, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves, sage, and parsley inside the turkey cavity. Tie the legs with

Place the turkey in a covered roasting pan and bake at 475 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 250 degrees, without removing the turkey from the oven. Cook the turkey at 250 degrees, 20 minutes for each pound (18 lb. turkey = 6 hours). No basting is neccesary. Check the internal temperature of the bird to ensure doneness (breast meat - 170 degrees, thigh meat - 180 degrees).

Let the turkey sit uncovered for at least 20 minutes before covering it, after taking it from the oven.

Try it out...you'll be amazed!

Crock Pot Hawaiian Haystacks

I wanted to make Hawaiian Haystacks for the kids because I knew they would love piling on the toppings, but wanted something with quick prep, so I experimented in the crock pot and it turned out fantastic. If you have any suggestions for making the recipe better since I am no cooking expert, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.

1 lb. chicken breasts or tenders cut into bite sized pieces (I am lazy and just used my serving spoon to shred tenders into smaller pieces right before serving)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup water
cooked white rice

toppings (chopped or diced):
tomatoes
celery
green peppers
pineapple
mandarin oranges
olives
water chestnuts
grated cheese
coconut
almonds
crunchy chow mein noodles

Line bottom of crock pot with raw chicken. In a separate bowl, combine soup, sour cream, and water in a small bowl and stir until mixed. Pour soup mixture over chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

To assemble the haystack, put a pile of rice on your plate, cover with chicken and sauce, top with cheese (so it will melt) and whatever other toppings you wish (I put everything in small bowls and let everyone top their own with the stuff they like). Enjoy!

Brined, Herb Roasted Turkey

All of your tips guided me to find this recipe by Emeril Lagasse on the food network website! I used a large food storage bucket to brine the turkey. Make sure you mix the brine before you put the turkey in the bucket. Even though it was kind of a pain to flip the turkey over 1/3 through the cooking time, it really made a difference - silicone gloves would really come in handy for this. Also, I couldn't fit all the stuff into my turkey cavity, so I just tried to get a good mix in there. Mmmm!

Brine:
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary

1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey
1 large orange, cut into 1/8ths
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
Salt and pepper
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1/8ths
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
1/2 bunch sage
3 or 4 sprigs parsley
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or turkey stock, for basting

To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a nonreactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, food grade plastic storage bag). Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary. Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.

Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey (discard or save for gravy if you wish). Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water.

Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels both inside and out. Place turkey, breast side up, in a large, heavy roasting pan. Rub breast side with orange segments and rub on all sides with the butter, stuffing some underneath the skin. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, remaining orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.