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Sunday, November 20,2022
ForsythNews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS 13A
By Adlen Robinson
Forsyth County resident and author Adlen Robinson presents
the best of her recipes each Friday for "In the Kitchen." Please
email her at adlen@adlenshomematters.com.
Roasting a perfect
turkey made easier
with a bit of prep
Metro Creative Graphics
When we first married, I had never
roasted a turkey before.That was
always my mother's job. Sure, I
assisted in the kitchen and made sev
eral dishes of my own, but roasting
the bird was way too intimidating to
me. I am not sure why a wedding
ring gave me the courage to try it,
but I roasted my first turkey that first
year of our marriage. I don't remem
ber the specifics of said turkey, but I
do remember being underwhelmed
by my bird.
As with all things cooking, I exper
imented with lots of different meth
ods—it turns out that people are
quite opinionated about their turkey
cooking. After a few years of trying
my hand at perfecting a turkey, I felt I
had the whole thing down to a sci
ence.This is my tried and true favor
ite way to create the most tender and
flavorful turkey and gravy ever.
Before I reveal the recipe, let's talk
just a minute about the actual turkey
and some tools to help you on your
quest.
I know lots of people get the big
gest turkey ever and begin cooking
their bird super early in the morning.
I always have preferred a smaller tur
key—and if you are going to have a
big crowd, you could get two. You
can even cook one the day before,
go ahead and carve it, and then on
Thanksgiving Day, cook the second
one and have it on display with the
carved one re-heated and ready to
eat. Smaller birds cook much faster
and frankly, are just easier to handle.
They fit easily in your oven and don't
require a giant platter you probably
only use once a year. Ditto for a giant
roasting pan.
Invest in a good digital thermome-
ter.This is critical. I like the kind you
can leave in the bird as it cooks, so
you can monitor the temperature.
Just insert it in the meaty thigh area.
A glass fat separator is nice to
have—even though I only use mine
once a year, I love having it.
A good carving knife and fork
make carving a snap. My mother
always used an electric knife, but we
have always used a carving knife.
Make sure it is sharp.
Garnish your finished bird. I like to
use sprigs of herbs, some kumquats
and/or fresh cranberries. You could
also use whole nuts and even some
leafy greens, such as curly kale.
Perfectly roasted turkey
• One 12-14 pound turkey,
thawed if previously frozen
(preferably brined overnight in
the refrigerator)
• 1 stick butter, at room temper
ature
• 2 quarts turkey stock or chick
en stock
• Salt and pepper
• 1 lemon
• Handful of Italian parsley
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Position the oven rack to the low
est position. Preheat the oven to
325-degrees. Remove the turkey
neck and giblets for gravy, or dis
card. Rinse the turkey with cold
water and then pat until very dry
with paper towels. Squeeze the
lemon into the turkey cavity and put
the lemon halves inside. Stuff the
cavity with the herbs.
Fold the wings behind the back
and tie with kitchen string.Tie the
drumsticks together. Place the tur
key, breast side up, on a rack in the
roasting pan. Rub all over with the
softened butter and sprinkle liberal
ly with salt and pepper.Tightly
cover the breast with aluminum foil.
Pour 3 cups of the turkey stock into
the bottom of the pan.
Place turkey in the oven and
roast, basting every 30 minutes. Lift
up the aluminum foil to baste the
breast. Roast until the meat ther
mometer reaches 180-degrees. Add
more turkey stock when liquid
begins to evaporate.
Remove turkey from oven and
place on a serving platter. Let tur
key rest for 20 minutes before carv
ing.
Perfect gravy for
the perfect turkey
• Drippings from roasted turkey
• 1 /2 stick butter
• % cup flour
• 1/3 cup dry sherry
If you have a fat separator, pour
the turkey drippings into it and let
the fat separate. If you don't have
one, pour the drippings into a large,
glass measuring cup or pitcher. Once
fat separates, skim off excess fat to
use in the gravy. It is ok if some fat
remains.
Heat the turkey roasting pan on
top of two burners. Add the turkey
fat and butter to the pan. When melt
ed, whisk in the flour, whisking for a
few minutes. Whisk in the turkey
stock and the dry sherry. Whisk and
cook for about 5 minutes.Taste for
seasoning and add more salt and
pepper if needed.
Turkey roasting
times at 325-degrees
• 8 to 12 pounds 2 % to 3 hours
• 12 to 14 pounds 3 to 3 %
hours
• 14 to 18 pounds 3 % to 4 1 /4
hours
• 18 to 20 pounds 414 to 4V2
hours
• 20 to 24 pounds 4V2 to 5
hours
ENTERTAlNM ENT -"t;
1. TELEVISION: At which popular restau
rant does Penny work in "The Biq Banq
Theory"?
2. ASTRONOMY: Which one of Jupiter's
moons has active volcanos?
3. GEOGRAPHY:TheTiber River flows through which famous
capital city?
4. LITERATURE: Who wrote the novel "The Martian Chronicles"?
5. U.S. STATES: Which river forms the eastern border of Iowa?
6. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the first president to give a tele
vised address from the White House?
7. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What image on Canada's flag is a
recognizable symbol of the country?
8. MEASUREMENTS: Which ancient civilization used palms,
digits and cubits to measure length?
9. MOVIES: Who voices the character Princess Anna in
"Frozen"?
10. ANIMAL KINGDOM: An elephant has the most muscles in
which part of its body?
Trivia
test*,m
Rodriguez
^"During the holi
days, our schedules
change so much, it's
hard to keep track. I
used to write and re
write our family calen
dar, but now I just
make a grid for the
days/weeks, and I use
Post-it notes to enter parties, school
obligations and anything that is a
'maybe.' It's much easier to move
around, and to add or delete events
as needed." — via email
* "Fasten all buttons, snaps, fas
teners and zippers on your clothes
before washing and drying. It will
help them keep their shape.Turn
socks inside out, too. It will help pre
vent them from getting fuzzballs." --
M.W. from Saskatchewan, Canada
* "I pick up extra coffee mugs
from second-hand stores, then
clean and fill them with hot choco
late packets, small coffees and
wrapped tea bags and a few little
chocolate bars.These make nice lit
tle gifts for friends and service peo
ple. I am on a fixed
budget, but I find that
I can be generous
this way." — T.L. in
North Carolina
*When mailing
packages, keep in
mind that secure
cargo is tightly
packed. You don't have to buy
expensive packing peanuts or bub
ble wrap; you can use what's
around. For instance, plastic grocery
bags are always in abundance.They
can be tucked into any spare room
and they barely weigh a thing.
Same with newspaper; fill all the
available space so that nothing
bounces around in transit. Save
your bubble wrap for the following
tip.
* "When mailing cookies, make
sure they are packed well. Use an
appropriate size container, and give
layers some space by separating
them with small sheets of bubble
wrap. My cookies arrive intact every
time." — J.J. in Florida
Trivia Answers
1. Cheesecake Factory. 2. Io. 3. Rome. 4. Ray Bradbury.
5. Mississippi. 6. Harry Truman. 7. A maple leaf. 8. Egyptians.
9. Kristen Bell. 10. Trunk.
Q: Who is the
actress playing Princess
Diana in the current
season of "The
Crown"? I know she's
different than the actor
who played her the last
two seasons. Both have
done a fantastic job. —
L.L.
A: Elizabeth Debicki,
who is Australian,
began playing
Princess Diana in sea
son five of the Netflix
series "The Crown,"
opposite Dominic
West as Prince
Charles. Debicki is a
statuesque 6 feet, 3
inches tall, and with
her big blue eyes, she
physically inhabits the
tragic character of the
Princess ofWales.
Debicki's first big
role was a supporting
one in Baz Lurhmann's
"The Great Gatsby,"
starring Leonardo
DiCaprio. In 2016, she
starred alongsideTom
Hiddleston and Hugh
Laurie in the British miniseries "The
Night Manager," and before landing
"The Crown," she starred in acclaimed
director Christopher Nolan's twisty
thriller "Tenet."
Emma Corrin, who is British and
whose pronouns are they/them, por
trayed Diana in season four of "The
Crown" and was nominated for an
Emmy.They're only 26, but their career
has taken off quickly. Corrin played
Esme in the first season of the HBO
Max series "Pennyworth," which is the
origin story of Batman's butler, and
they can also be seen in "My
Policeman," a film starring Harry Styles.
Q: Is the new movie directed by
Steven Spielberg about his own life?
Also, how many Oscars has he won as
director? — S.R
A:Steven Spielberg, one of
America's greatest directors, recently
told Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes" that
every one of his movies is a personal
movie. However, he admits that his
new film, "The
Fabelmans," is semi-
autobiographical. It's
about a boy, like him,
who was obsessed
with making movies
and whose mis
matched parents
divorce when he's a
teenager. Paul Dano
plays the engineer
dad in the movie and
Michelle Williams his
free-spirit mom, and
their respective per
sonalities mirror
Spielberg's own par
ents.
Spielberg has two
Academy Awards as
director for "Saving
Private Ryan" and
"Schindler's List,"
both released in the
1990s. He has a slew
of nominations, how
ever, the most recent
of which was "West
Side Story" earlier
this year, but he lost
to Jane Campion for
"Power of the Dog."
Q: When is the Elizabeth Holmes
film coming out starring Jennifer
Lawrence? I know she had a baby
recently. Did she finish filming
already? — RN.
A: Jennifer Lawrence's career has
slowed down the past few years, but
for good reason. She fell in love and
married Cooke Maroney, an art gallery
owner, and gave birth to their son, Cy,
earlier this year. Professionally, she
was working on perfecting the deep
voice necessary to play fallen tech
tycoon Elizabeth Holmes in an upcom
ing film "Bad Blood," directed by
Adam McKay.
However, Lawrence recently
announced she's exited the project
after seeing how well Amanda
Seyfried did in the same role for "The
Dropout," a limited series on Hulu.
Seyfried won an Emmy for her por
trayal as well, and Lawrence felt "we
don't need to redo that." It's uncertain
whether the role will be recast or if the
project has been scrapped.
m
lebrity
extra
by Dana Jackson
Elizabeth Debicki
Dana Jackson/
Depositphotos