There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
We use an offshoot recipe from Alton Brown. What we do not do is the brine and we cook in an oven bag. Why the oven bag? Because its dang fast. Not as fast a deep frying the sucker, but still fast. What we do is prep the turkey, by cleaning it and getting that giblets bag and neck bone out. Give the turkey a once over look to see if there's anything like lingering feathers. Give it a good rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
While I am doing the cleaning of the bird, my wife and kiddo prep a stick of butter which as been left out to soften; and pluck out a few sprigs of thyme leaves. About a 1/4 teaspoon or so. No real measurement but enough to infuse the leaves with butter and mix.
And after I am done with the drying of the bird, I go and chop up an apple (we use fuji apples but any will do), half of a sweet onion. Drop all of that into a microwaveable large bowl along with two cinnamon sticks. Pour one cup of water in the bowl and put in the microwave for 5 mins. Take out and let cool. Be careful! It's hot!!
Next would be the slathering of the butter/thyme mixture and slathering it under the skin and trying to coat as much of the turkey as possible. Before that, I suggest bending the wings behind the bird so that it may lay flat as possible in the pan. This is optional, but we have done it and works well in transport lol.
With the bowl from the micro, drain the water and then stuff the cavity of the turkey with the mixture. So that means the cinnamon sticks, half a onion, and apple goes in. Additionally, a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and sage gets stuffed in the mix as well.
I prep the oven bag and put a pinch or two of flower in the bag. Put the bag in the roasting pan. Take three or 4 fresh celery sticks and clean them and then go ahead and line them up on the bottom of the bag. Like reverse childbirth, in a joint effort, with my wife holding the bag open, I then slide the buttered bird in. Close the bag and cut a few slits on top for the bag to release steam while cooking.
I insert a cooking thermometer and cook the bird for 500 degrees for the first 30 minutes. Then I use a cooking thermometer and reduce the cooking temp of the oven to 350 degrees. I personally cook the turkey to 175 degrees internal temperature. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Actually , you can use the au jus from the turkey (there will be a lot) and thicken that up with some watered down corn starch for a thickening agent along with some salt and pepper to taste and there's the gravy.
The aromatics are off the charts! We have cooked this as a married couple for years and family members keep asking for us to cook it whenever they can. lol The cooking time? A FAST 2.5 hours for a 15 pound bird easy. Because of our 19 pounder, I expect to be closer to 3 hours for us. Still not bad at all.
Happy cooking all!