Spatchcocked Turkey with Anise and Orange


This should be my husband’s post as he is the one that spatchcocked the turkey. But he wants to remain the chef advisor and taste taster and for that I am grateful. Anyway, I read about spatchcocking first in the November issue of Bon Appetit magazine. In short the turkey is butterflied and cooked skin side up. And by butterflied the backbone is removed so the bird can be flattened. This method will give you perfectly browned and crispy skin and keep the meat moist. It also cooks in half the amount of time.

The turkey was purchased from Trader Joe’s, 14 pounds, brined and all natural. You could really see the difference in the meat, both raw and after the turkey was cooked. The meat just looked better, the dark meat was a deeper color than the frozen birds we had purchased from supermarkets in the past and it certainly tasted better.


Prepare the spice rub. Toast the aniseed in a small, dry skillet for 3 minutes. Let it cool, then grind it in a spice grinder. Combine with salt, grated zest, sugar, chopped rosemary, thyme and pepper, then pulse in food processor, set aside.


Ingredients for rub:

4 teaspoons aniseed
1/2 cup Kosher salt
1/4 cup finely grated orange zest,
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped rosemary, reserve 1 sprig
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, sprigs reserved
2 teaspoons black pepper ( I used one)

Now to spatchcock the turkey- Place turkey skin side down using poultry shears to cut along both sides of the backbone. (Here is an instance when having the right tool made all the difference, as this step only took a few minutes). Next open up the turkey; then using the tip of a knife, score along the dark oblong bone in the middle of the breast. Turn the turkey skin side up and press down strongly with the heel of your hand in the center of the breast. You should hear a crack and feel the keel bone give way. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird. Place skin side up on a wire rack, inside of a rimmed baking sheet, in the refrigerator uncovered for 6 to 18 hours. We did not read this until the day we prepared the bird, so ours was only left for 4 hours. (Note to self: Once again read entire instructions).


Preheat oven to 450F. Arrange onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme and rosemary sprigs in the roasting pan. Rinse turkey, pat dry, and place skin side up, on top of the vegetables, and let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil, orange zest strips, and remaining aniseed in small saucepan until oil is sizzling, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Ingredients for basting:

1 teaspoon aniseed
1/2 cup oil
4 strips of orange peel (without the pith)

Ingredients for veggies roasting pan:

2 medium onions (quartered)
4 large carrots (peeled and halved)
4 celery stalks (halved)
3 heads garlic (cut in half and loose skins rubbed off)
1/2 cup water

Brush turkey with oil, add ½ cup water to roasting pan, and roast turkey for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350F, and continue to roast, brushing with oil every 20 minutes, for approximately another hour, or when an instant-read thermometer registers 165. Transfer to platter, tent with foil, and let rest at least 30 minutes.


After turkey was done I discarded all the veggies and deglazed pan with white wine and then made a slurry of flour and water. This was basically all I had to do, everyone thought that this was one of the best gravies that they have ever had. Happy Holidays!

This recipe has been adapted from Bon Appetit, magazine, November Issue.

Comments

  1. had not heard that term before. :) i like your desert view!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tex, it's pretty new to me too, but it was a great method.

      Delete
  2. What a terrific turkey recipe! I'm going to have to start roasting one more than once a year :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Liz, we are having 2 Thanksgivings this year, I probably wont be able to look at turkey for months after this.

      Delete
  3. Love this..my friend introduced me to it!
    Looks wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had never heard of this either. Great to learn about it. I love the ingredients in the spice rub!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great recipe, have never spatchcocked a turkey but have always wanted to and or have someone else do it and I would roast it. Love the brine/marinade/rub. The fennel seed and citrus sound like they are the perfect flavoring. Happy Holidays Cheri!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm going to try this with chicken. It looks amazing Cheri :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tandy, I think this would be a great way to prepare chicken.

      Delete
  7. Spatchcocked is the way to go! I have to admit though that I have never cooked a turkey. Hubby always smokes it outside so my oven is free. Love the use of anise in this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Abbe, I bet smoked turkey taste wonderful, great idea to free up the oven.

      Delete
  8. Your bird looks perfect, Cheri. I love the idea of blending the orange peels in the rub mix.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Francesca, the smell was amazing. Happy Holidays!

      Delete
  9. Cheri, I spatchcock a lot of my chickens but have never attempted preparing a turkey this way - this recipe does indeed look very tempting and utterly delicious to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Andrea! I should try a chicken next time, this was delicious!

      Delete
  10. Interesting method to get the skin nice crispy cooked, need to try that out some time. Right now I am just trying to recall if we had done this back in college time. I will need to take out my books! Thanks for sharing, I learned a bunch. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Helene! my husband was the one that actually prepared this and it crisped up the skin nicely.

      Delete
  11. Hi Cheri,
    I've spatchcocked a chicken but never thought to do it to a turkey. Great idea! And I love the orange and anise flavorings - brilliant!
    Your turkey looks mouthwatering. I can't wait till Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Robyn, me too, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!

      Delete
  12. Cheri:

    I may be posting this twice, or once. It seemed like my last comment didn't show up.

    Anyway, Kudos to you and your husband for trying new things. I have never tried butterflying a turkey, but I do it all the time with chicken. This makes great sense and I will have to give it some thought for this year's turkey.

    Thank you.

    Have a great holiday!

    D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cheri, I have always wanted to have spatchcocked chicken (or turkey)! The technique and results always sound amazing. And yours certainly came out amazing! I love the rub on it. Your house must smell so good with this!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cheri - maybe I would like turkey if it were prepared this way! I am going to buy a small one at Trader Joe's and try this after Thanksgiving. Will let you know! ~ David

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi David, please let me know if you try it, Happy Holidays to you and Mark, we are driving down to Tucson to have dinner at my daughter's.

      Delete
  15. I have never tried that before and love that idea! Your turkey looks gorgeous and so flavorful!

    ReplyDelete
  16. This looks absolutely delicious. I haven't spatchcocked a turkey before but I do spatchcock chickens. From the list of spices and seasonings there must have been plenty of flavour in this turkey and the gravy sounds wonderful xx

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow, spatchcocking a turkey is quite an achievement. Well done! It looks amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, my husband is the one that did all the work, but it was delicious!

      Delete
  18. Great flavors and wonderful rub!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  19. I've heard that spatchcocking is the only way to really get the turkey evenly cooked! Your bird looks gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Very clever, Cheri! I've made spatchcocked chicken and game hens, never would have thought of turkey. This looks fabulous! Love the anise and orange flavors as well.
    Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  21. That's a great flavor combination Cheri. I love especially the rub!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Your turkey sounds so good. I think this would be good when just cooking the breast for other times of the year when you are not preparing a meal for a crowd.

    ReplyDelete
  23. My husband wanted to spatchcock his turkey too. Your hubby did a great job with the bird. Happy Thanksgiving Cheri.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Penny, it's so nice to have help with Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your husband.

      Delete
  24. I've always wanted to do this! Your turkey looks wonderful - Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tricia, my husband is the one that prepared the turkey, so nice to have help. Happy Holidays to you and your family!

      Delete
  25. It looks great, we'll have to try spatchcocking it. Thanks for the recipe and Happy Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I always wondered how to spatchcock a chicken! I think I will have to get my husband to read your fabulous instructions so that he can learn to do the same. ;-) I'm not sure I would trust myself!
    The flavours you've added to this sound just incredible. No wonder it's the best gravy you've ever had!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Helen, it's always nice to have help in the kitchen. :)

      Delete
  27. wow this looks fab. really delish. i could eat me some of that!

    ReplyDelete
  28. can't wait for thanksgiving! this makes me excited!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh wow, the spices and flavors in that spice rub sound so good, I bet it was fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  30. You sound like a poultry expert, Cheri! Love the spices and veggies you used. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

    Julie & Alesah
    Gourmet Getaways xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Julie and Alesah, it's my husband that did most of the work, thanks!

      Delete
  31. Hi Cheri,
    I saw a recipe spatchcock chicken but haven't tried it out. Don't think I can handle such big bird like turkey.
    Your Spatchcocked Turkey with Anise and Orange definitely yummy-licious !

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts