#1108 - Thanksgiving Turkey

(by Shirley McNevich)

Filling:

2 bags filling bread (14-16 oz.)
3/4 to 1 cup chopped celery (use leaves and everything from heart, and some of the stalk)
1 large onion (chopped)
3/4 cup fresh parsley or dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
6 eggs (beaten)
3/4 to 1 cup milk
2 TBSP Parkay margarine

Make this the day before Thanksgiving. In a frying pan, add Parkay, onion, celery, and parsley. Heat on medium heat with lid on for 10 minutes, stirring after first 5 minutes. Put filling bread in a large bowl and add the onion/celery/parsley mixture--mix with your hands. Add the beaten eggs, salt, pepper and milk and continue mixing with your hands--leave it in the bowl, cover with Saran wrap and refrigerate until the next day.

1 - 18 to 20lb. turkey (if frozen--thawed completely in cold water the day before)
1 large onion (cut in half)
4 ribs of celery (cut each rib into 3 pieces)
6 tsp. salt put into an empty salt shaker
1 Reynold's Wrap turkey bag
cord string
2 sets poultry pins (usually in grocery store in same section as cooking bags--it's a seasonal item)
1 TBSP flour
1 large roasting pan
1 quart water

The next day (Thanksgiving Day), spray the inside of the turkey cooking bag with Pam--put the 1 TBSP flour inside of the bag. Close the end of the bag and shake it to distribute the flour--set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make sure the turkey is thawed--remove turkey from its wrapper--open up the neck/rear of the turkey and remove the giblets and neck. Wash giblets and neck in water, then place them in a saucepan if you want to use them. Wash the turkey (both inside and out) with cold water--check for any remaining feathers and remove them (use tweezers). Pat the outside of the turkey dry with paper towels. Using the salt shaker with the 6 tsp. salt, shake about 2 tsp. of the salt all over the inside of the turkey. Using your hands, stuff the filling that you made yesterday into the rear of the turkey. Shake about 1/2 tsp. salt into the neck. When you can't get any more filling in the rear end, stuff remaining filling into the neck. Use the poultry nails--pull the skin on either side of the two turkey openings (neck and rear) and insert poultry pins so they will hold your filling in the turkey. Take the cord string, wrap it around the top poultry pin, then start connecting the poultry pins (like lacing a shoe), pulling tight as you put the string on each pin. When you get to the bottom tie the string into a knot and cut off excess string. Use a separate piece of string to tie the wings together. Put the prepared turkey bag into the roasting pan. Open up the end, put the turkey inside of the bag. Pour 1 quart of water into the bag with the turkey. Shake any salt left in your salt shaker all over the top and sides of the turkey--it's ok if some of the salt goes into the water. Put one half of the onion in the water by the neck end, and the other half onion in the water by the rear end of the turkey. Arrange celery evenly in the water around the turkey. Use the special tie that comes in the box with the cooking bag--tie the bag shut according to the instructions on the cooking bag box. Take a sharp knife and POKE 5 or 6 HOLES IN THE TOP OF THE BAG. If you skip poking the holes, the bag will explode. Put the roaster in the preheated oven and bake 3 1/2 to 4 hours--test with a fork for doneness. If making a smaller turkey, the cooking times are listed on the cooking bag box.