Apple Sage Thanksgiving Turkey

From Bobby Flay's television show "Boy Meets Grill" this is an Apple Sage glazed turkey! We had a big crowd coming over so I got a big bird. I got this one from Tag'z Five Star Meats and it weighed in at about 15 pounds. It all started the day before when I prepared the glaze. I put the cast iron skillet over the grill and seared some chopped red onions, garlic and a serrano chili. Meanwhile, I cored and peeled four Granny Smith apples and chopped them into small chunks. Then all the grilled onions, chili, garlic, and apples went into a large pot together with apple cider vinegar, apple juice, brown sugar, some molasses and (I couldn't resist) a pour of Jack Daniels old number 7.

The pot went over the grill and allowed to simmer and reduce for about 20 minutes. The smell was terrific! The apples turned golden brown and then I added the Sage. After coming off the grill and cooling, I used the food processor to produce the puree glaze. I stored the glaze in the fridge until the next morning - Thanksgiving Day. 

Wisdom of the Grill. Here is another great Bobby Flay trick. I rotated the turkey over the grill for about three hours, but I placed a metal pan under the turkey. During the three hours I kept the pan filled with liquids - alternating water, chicken broth and apple juice. The liquid would come to a boil and steam rose up and continuously basted the turkey from below.

You can see the flame curling around the pan and the chicken broth in a rolling boil. This kept the turkey moist and enhanced the flavor even more. As the turkey turned for the last our, I basted with the Apple Sage glaze. During the final 30 minutes or so, I removed the pan and let the bird turn over a direct flame - the glaze carmelized and this gave the turkey a crust on the skin but without drying out the inside.  I was looking for an internal temperature of 160 degrees, but like all meats its best to bring them off the grill and let them stand for several minutes before carving. I let the turkey reach about 157 degrees before I took it off the grill. I knew the temp would continue to rise a little even after coming off - that insured that I got the best temp without overshooting and drying it out. As you know dry turkey is not good - even though we have all endured it before!

The turkey carving must be just as strategic as the turkey grilling. Rule 1: Don't use an electric knife. Use a regular knife that is very sharp. Cut away the legs and wings first then slice the breasts. Carve straight down from either side of the breast bone all the way through. Rule 2: Don't shave off the turkey breast diagonally into thin slices. If you do that only the top piece will have any of the skin. Why go to all that trouble to glaze the turkey for hours only to have glaze on one piece? Instead, with the turkey breast carved off in one large piece, you can cut across and get glaze-skin in every piece:

Check that out. The legs and wings on the right. The properly carved turkey breast on the left with glaze on every slice!

What to drink? The 2010 Georges Dubceuf Beaujolais Nouveau of course. I went to Tim's Premium Wines and got three bottles. I have gotten three bottles every year a decade. Here is the collection going back to 2002.

Of the three bottle each year, we give one to my father. We drink one with the turkey. We save one for the collection. To be honest it is far from the best wine I ever drank, but I just like the story. The "nouveau" means "new." This is the newest wine of the year. This wine was still grapes growing in France just last August. Every year this wine is blessed by the Pope and then FedEx flies only a limited number of cases around the world. There are parties in Japan to mark the arrival of the year's Nouveau. Tim gets only about 24 bottles each year - he hold three for me! 

Snacks before the Turkey and during the first football game? Zig and Julie put out the cheeses and identified each one on Dorothy cheese slate!

Late fall / early winter is a great time of year. The air gets chilled, footballs fly, the Nouveau arrives, the family gathers, the turkey turns over the grill. So don't put those grills away! Winter grilling season is about to begin - its a great time of year. From Zig, Julie, Rose, Anne, Floyd, Jeannie, Phillip, Stevie, Dorothy and myself, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and remember - every season is grilling season. No matter the temperature and no matter the menu from hot dogs to the Thanksgiving Turkey - just grill it!

Paul