Cartoon by Juan A. Horrillo

Do you feel intimidated by the thought of cooking Thanksgiving dinner? You are not alone. For many years, cooking was very far from my mind and baking a turkey was the farthest! Cooking techniques and ingredients were foreign concepts. Growing up there was always someone else thinking about cooking. Years went by, married life happened. Our family grew and so did our memories around our kitchen and our dinner table.  Thanksgiving holidays came, and although fearful at first, I daringly cooked, again and again… until I came to terms with my turkey recipe, “Citrus and Herbs Stuffed Turkey”, a family favorite today.

Citrus and Herbs Stuffed Turkey recipe:

Thaw one 10-12 lb. turkey the night before. Remove giblets. In a bowl, mix butter, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, [good] red cooking wine, salt and pepper. Mix well. Rub the bird with this mix making sure to cover all the turkey skin.  Stuff the bird with oranges cut in halves, tangerines cut in halves and one lemon cut in 4 pieces. Tie some rosemary, thyme and sage sprigs together to form a bundle. Insert the bundle in the cavity with the oranges, tangerines and lemon.

Preheat oven at 400 degrees F. I use a baking bag and follow the package instructions for baking time. The stuffing in this recipe gives the turkey an exquisite delicate flavor.

I hope this recipe helps attenuate the intimidating factor (if any), as it is quite simple to make. Happy Thanksgiving!