Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and friends; be grateful for all the blessings life has bestowed. And a little booze never hurt either. Maybe your family, like mine, doesn’t drink. Since bringing wine or a good bourbon to Thanksgiving dinner would be considered a party foul, you can always bring an alcohol-infused fowl instead.
Here are some of my favorite Turkey recipes with alcohol:
- Food Network’s Rum Glazed Turkey Recipe
- Magic Hat Brewing Company’s Beer Basted Turkey Recipe
Prep Time – 30 minutes
Cook Time – 5 hours, 30 minutes
Total Time – 6 hours
Ingredients
1 Turkey (12-18 lbs, thawed, giblets removed)
Stuffing of choice (if desired)
Salt and pepper
1 stick unsalted/sweet butter
2 (12-ounce bottles) Magic Hat #9 or Ale of Your Choice
Preparation:
Adjust the oven racks so the turkey will fit in the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Season inside and out with salt and pepper.
Stuff the bird, if desired. If you are not making stuffing, insert in the body cavity something that will flavor the meat. Use all of some of the following: a halved lemon or orange, a stalk of celery, a few garlic cloves, a halved onion, a bay leaf.
Place the turkey in a roasting pan.
Melt the butter. Stir in one bottle of ale. Pour the butter-beer mixture over the turkey.
Cook an un-stuffed bird for about 15 minutes per pound, cook a stuffed bird for about 20 minutes per pound. A meat or instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should register at least 180 degrees F. If stuffed, the stuffing should register at least 160 degrees F.
Baste every 20 minutes or so with the beer-butter and pan juices that have accumulated in bottom of the roasting pan. About halfway through the cooking, pour the remaining bottle of beer over the turkey and continue basting.
Cover the breast and drumsticks with foil if they start browning too early.
- Uncle Jack’s Whiskey Brined Turkey Recipe by Samuel Park
This recipe not only looks tasty (it took 5 years for the author to perfect it), but it also includes entertaining references to Clint Eastwood and the whiskey gods.
- 100-Proof Vodka Turkey from Paul Loftus, Executive Chef of PD O’Hurley’s West End
14 lb turkey
2 bunch thyme
2 bunch oregano
2 bunch sage
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 onion, peeled and diced
2 stems celery, diced
6 oz olive oil
8 oz fresh cranberries
4 oz Georgi Vodka each in the following flavors: peach, apple, cherry, orange and lemon
8 oz Georgi Blue Vodka (100 proof)
Put turkey breast-down the night before with the diced vegetables, one bunch each of fresh herbs, cranberries and 4 oz of each flavored vodka. Refrigerate to marinate. On the morning of Thanksgiving, turn the turkey breast-up and cover with herbs and vegetables. Roast in oven at 375 degrees for three hours.
Blend the remaining fresh herbs, olive oil and Georgi Vodka Blue and inject into turkey.
- Tequila Tom Turkey Recipe by Maestro DOBEL Tequila
Here’s the 3-cup tequila rub: One cup of tequila goes into the turkey rub, one cup is injected into the turkey and the final cup is poured over the turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Photo courtesy of Dina-Roberts Wakulczyk, flickr.