Holiday stunner Coffee- and chile-spiked rub makes for a beautiful, flavorful Thanksgiving turkey
Roasting a beautiful, bronzed turkey is easy. It’s the rest of the meal that sets nerves on edge. For a successful, lowstress Thanksgiving, I post a menu, and an outline of things to prep in advance, on the fridge door. We set the table a few days ahead so the house looks ready even if the cook is in the weeds.
Speaking of the turkey, a whole
DINNER AT HOME golden roasted bird always makes a stunning presentation. Buy the best turkey you can afford. Read the labels: Natural birds do not contain additives and taste the most like turkey. Kosher turkeys are usually pre-salted and retain moisture nicely; a delicious option when available. Self-basting birds are injected with a solution by the manufacturer and are my least favorite because while they may come out moist, they tend to taste artificial and overly salty.
This year, I’m ordering a natural, never frozen, medium-size turkey from my local butcher. Rather than a wet brine — which requires lots of refrigerator space for a container large enough to hold the turkey and brine — I’m adding flavor with a dry rub applied several days in advance.
The rub, a combination of sea salt, dark coffee and sweet red chile, is reminiscent of a packaged blend we used when cooking on a recent trip to Maui. This terra cotta-colored rub gets applied to the turkey a day or two in advance of cooking for maximum flavor.
The salt in the rub causes juices inside the meat to come to the surface; the salt dissolves in this exuded liquid which then gets reabsorbed into the meat. This means flavor in the meat and a beautifully bronzed exterior.
Always remove the seasoned turkey from the refrigerator about 1 hour before cooking. For roasting the bird, I choose a shallow pan that allows air circulation for maximum color and crispness of the skin. A bed