Happy Friendsgiving!!
This if my first time hosting a friendsgiving celebration and my first time cooking a turkey by myself. I'm so proud of how it turned out. Cooking a turkey always intimidated me, but it's way easier than I thought. At the start I had my mom help me to make sure I was doing everything right, but she kept saying "there's no right or wrong" just do your own thing and don't freak out if the recipe isn't spot on.
I was nervous at first but I quickly realized anyone can cook a turkey. I'm sure the more I cook I will add some more things to the recipe, but for now here is my simple fool proof recipe.
Turkey, Stuffing & Gravy Recipe
I bought a frozen whole Butterball turkey and let it thaw for just over 48 hours. Once removing the neck and giblets, I drained juices and blotted with paper towel.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Place turkey in shallow baking pan.
I added some butter and salt & pepper to the skin. I know a lot of people can add amazing rubs, but I went simple for my first time. Find some amazing recipes on the Butterball website (here).
Then I went on to make my stuffing because its the best to cook the stuffing in the turkey! I ripped apart half a loaf of bread into tiny pieces. I sprinkled in poultry seasoning all over the bread (this is the best). In a separate pan I cooked 3 chopped yellow onions, two cups of chopped up celery and 3/4 unsalted butter.
Let that sautée until onions & celery are soft. Poor that yummy mixture into your bowl of bread and stuff into your turkey.
I cooked my turkey for about 3 - 3 1/2 hours. However, when you start to see the skin turn golden brown that's when you will want to cover it lightly with some tin foil. If you have a cooking thermometer place that deep into the thickest part of the thigh and cook until it reads about 180°F
Let it cool for about 15 minutes before carving.
While turkey is cooling it's time to make your gravy. Add the remaining juices in your turkey pan to a stovetop pan & turn on medium heat. Add about 4 tablespoons of flour or until it starts to thicken.
Unfortunately, I ran out of flour so I just used the turkey juices and fat as my gravy and it still tasted delicious!!
I served my turkey with the stuffing still inside the because the presentation looks so nice. PLUS keeps the stuffing warm before everyone digs in.
I'm going to say it again but look how beautiful that Turkey looks. I'm so proud of myself!!
All I need is turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie & apple cider!
Yes...Gary is in a high chair at the table!!
-Sydney Hoffman
*This post was sponsored by Butterball. However the views and opinions expressed in this blog are purely my own*