Thanksgiving in August!

We cooked a 22 lb turkey today. About two weeks before Thanksgiving when many grocery stores have a sale on Butterballs, $0.99 a lb, I always buy two. One to cook for Thanksgiving, the other to save for later. And every year towards the end of summer, I realize it is still in my freezer, and I end up rushing to cook it! I cook a very large turkey because I freeze the meat and use it in soups and other dishes through out the year. 

I have spent the last 5 years trying to perfect my brother in law's famous turkey recipe. It always tastes amazing, but I really need to keep better notes year from year, I keep forgetting what I did last time! 

BIL's Apple Turkey

This is a loose recipe. Take a turkey, and loosen the skin from the top and all around the sides, you need to be able to get your hand in it. Take a bottle of honey, pour handfuls into one hand and rub into the turkey, coating the breast in honey. I don't end up using a whole bottle, maybe 3/4 of it for a very large turkey. He is a huge fan of Emeril, and that is probably where this recipe came from. Pour handfuls of Original Emeril Essence Spice and smear into the honey, throughly coating the breast, sometimes I end up using all of the bottle, other times I don't. The last step is circles of Granny Smith apples. You place them under the skin, on top of the honey and spice, cover all the meat that you can reach under the skin. You might have to toothpick the skin back into place after this step to keep the apples in place. I stuff the turkey with onions and more apples. Place the turkey into a roasting bag, and cook per the bag instructions! It is a great recipe. Sometimes the honey underneath causes some of the skin to char, just peel away after it's cooled, the meat underneath is still fine (this is one of the parts I'm working on perfecting).  Always remember when you pull a turkey out from the over, do not cut it! Let it sit in it's juices for at least 20 minutes before cutting, it helps keep the meat moist. 

 Now I just need to learn how to make great homemade gravy and stuffing, mine never turns out right! I can make a mean country gravy but not turkey gravy. I didn't attempt it today, I just went straight to the canned stuff, I always try every Thanksgiving. Maybe this year.....