I was watching The Final Table last night, as a part of the competition, Thanksgiving Dinner was served; one of the chefs made a turkey and slathered it inside and outside with mayonnaise. I’d never heard of such a thing, but that is going to be my Thanksgiving twist this year! That, and @Hoggirl 's Whipped Goat Cheese dip!
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Honestly, using mayo does not seem that weird to me. I also owned a sandwich shop and we used mayo instead of butter when making grilled cheese sandwiches.
I’m gonna have to go bag and check @Hoggirl’s dip. I could use another appetizer.
How far ahead do you make your stuffing/dressing (I don’t actually stuff the turkey). I have always heard it is not food safe to assemble it the day before.
I usually saute the onion/celery/aromatics in butter the night before and then refrigerate. The day of, I mix up the aromatics with the bread cubes and broth and toss it into the baking dishes. I usually do this in the morning and then it sits in the fridge until I need to bake it. It saves a little time that way.
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Maybe it’s because I use a lot of butter in my dressing, because the sides & bottom are always crispy. It’s cooked on high for as long as it takes for the temp to be right, then turned down.
You can always use a mini torch to brown the top, assuming the bowl you’ve put it in can handle whatever heat might hit it.
I think the crockpot is the best thing for thanksgiving dinner. Besides dressing, it can be used for heating mashed potatoes, reheating gravy (I always fix the Cooks Illustrated make-ahead gravy a couple of days ahead), mulled wine/cider, keep plain veggies warm.
I have given into the masses and will be making StoveTop stuffing this year - my kids prefer it over all else. 
On the plus side it is quick to make and takes up no oven space.
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I get everything ready for the dressing 2 days ahead (today) and just put it all I the frig. I assemble Thanksgiving morning. I don’t saute my onions or celery, I put it on raw. I bake fur one hour on 350.
You are my stuffing guru this year! I am going to do the same and was debating whether to brown the onion and celery! And I bought a box of stove top to add to it - like your relative did!!! 
I also chop up 1/2 bunch of parsley and use 2 teaspoons of ground sage. I salt to taste.
As you start poring your chicken stock, like I said, do it a little at a time. You know you have put in enough when the mixture stops sticking to your hands. The celery sticks well, too, instead of falling out. I taste it to see how much more salt I need. I do put lots of butter pats on top. Nice and brown. I literally knead it like bread.
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I always do that and it is delicious.
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Yes, I know they replace butter w mayo on sandwiches, but slathering it on the whole bird? Never heard of that but come Thursday, I’ll report back!
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I’m looking forward to hearing how it works. I grew up in a kosher home and even though I have’t kept kosher at any point in my adult life, I just can’t abide by rubbing a turkey with butter.
Turkey on the oven upside down. My DH is coming home early today and is going to have a cow. He might even be a little mad, but I don’t care.
Question. I know I’m supposed to wrap the slices tight with some stick. But how do I do that? Just wrap the pan tight with foil, or the Turkey itself? And the Turkey itself, how do you keep the liquid in.
Help! I sent dh to the store for rubbed sage, and he brought back refrigerated organic sage leaves. I always make the cornbread ahead of time and season it so that the flavors mix overnight before cooking it in the morning.
I’ve never used fresh sage. Do I add it now with the rest of the seasoning? I read something about frying it up to make it crispy, kind of like dried sage leaves. Would that work? I’m afraid adding it now as is it’ll get moldy or something.
Any ideas?
I assemble all the dry ingredients together so the cornbread absorbs the seasonings overnight. I cut the onion and celery the day before but don’t saute them in butter until the morning, when I add it to the dry ingredients and bake it off.
Fresh sage is delightful! It adds a nice dimension to dishes. If you chop it up it may look a little shriveled but I think it will still impart the flavor. I am not sure how to sub quantity wise, because dried herbs are generally more concentrated than fresh, but sage is pretty strong.
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Well, since I’m going to not one but TWO Thanksgiving dinners tomorrow, at 2 and at 6 (is it just a NY Jew thing that we eat late? Is it a Christian thing to eat Thanksgiving dinner in the early afternoon?), I decided to go ahead and make a turkey today! This was so that I’d be able to get my turkey fix with moist, juicy meat, since most people wind up overcooking the bird until it is dry and tough, and I don’t want to be disappointed tomorrow.
Here is the report: I defrosted the frozen bird in the kitchen sink filled with hot water. Yeah, I know it is verboten, but it works, and darned fast. BTW, over the years I have learned to go with a frozen bird, since it is deep frozen as soon as it’s slaughtered and cleaned, as opposed to a “fresh” bird which is stored at as low as 28 degrees for who knows how long, and often frankly doesn’t smell fresh. As soon as I could, I got out the giblets and ran hot water right down the cavity, until bird was defrosted. I then rubbed it with olive oil (I too have the tribal aversion to milk with meat) and seasoned it inside and out with poultry seasoning, which is a mix of sage, thyme, salt, and other french herbs. Put a cut onion in the cavity and neck. Stuck the continuous read meat thermometer deep into the breast, with the wire to an outside reading screen so you don’t have to open the oven, put it on a rack in a roasting pan, breast down, into an oven preheated to 500. Turned oven down to 450, roasted for 20 minutes to kill external bacteria, turned it down to 250, and even then to 225, as I thought the temp was rising too fast. Held it for 5 minutes (turned oven off at that point) at 150 degrees internal thermometer reading, left it in the warm oven to rest for 30 min. Removed to carve.
Result: back skin was only mildly crisp, front not at all. I removed the front skin in one whole piece, could have been airfried or broiled for crispness, but I just threw it in with the carcass/giblet broth pot. Entire bird was wonderfully juicy and tender, even the most exposed parts, like the wings. No part of the bird was underdone. The breast meat was very moist. I removed all the meat from the carcass, divided it into about 8 one quart ziplocs, added some pan drippings to each bag so that there’d be some liquid when defrosting, and froze 6 bags, left some light and dark meat in the fridge to eat over the next few days.
This method is just foolproof. As long as you have an external remote read meat thermometer, it is just about impossible to wind up with a dry bird, plus it’s very easy. There is absolutely no need to bring the bird to 165 degrees since holding it at 150 for 5 minutes achieves adequate bacteria kill - and holding it longer at 150 doesn’t lead to a dry bird.
Happy Thanksgiving! And may all your turkeys be moist and delicious!
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Experts say even defrost at room temperature is OK as long as you don’t let the turkey’s surface get over 40 degrees!
In our home, it’s a Dallas Cowboys thing!
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Some attend morning services, then eat.
Just waiting for the big upset by the Washington team.