Biswas' Cajun-Injected Spicy Turkey

Biswas family Thanksgiving staple

Ingredients

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon concentrated liquid crab and shrimp boil (recommended: Zatarian's)

• 1/4 cup apple cider

• 3/4 cup honey

• 1 (12-ounce) bottle beer

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 tablespoon ground allspice

• 1/2 cup Creole seasoning

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup finely minced garlic

Turkey:

• 1 (10 to 12-pound - or larger!) turkey, rinsed well inside and out, patted dry

• butter

• aromatics for inside the bird: like apple, onion, cinnamon, herbs (optional)

• 4 teaspoons kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

• 1 to 2 cups chicken broth, as needed for bottom of roasting pan

• disposable tray

Directions

Marinade:

• Make the marinade by combining the Worcestershire sauce, crab boil, apple cider, honey, beer, salt, allspice, Creole seasoning, cayenne, olive oil, and minced garlic in a blender and process until very smooth, ideally in a magic bullet, a few minutes.

• Take fresh (or thawed) turkey out of the fridge and place in empty sink. carefully cut a rectangular panel above the turkey opening - ideally the bag will stay in place overnight as you marinate the bird. Remove the neck and anything else in the turkey’s cavity, flip the turkey (still inside the bag) over and get all the blood/liquid out. Pat it somewhat dry with paper towels and reposition the bag so its in place and will hold any excess drippings of marinade.

• Fill a large syringe and inject turkey in the breast and thigh area, as well as the back, wings, and legs, with at least 2/3 of the marinade. You will have to fill the syringe numerous times. If you can, marinate overnight - put the turkey in the bag it came in into another grocery bag (for leakage) and place that in the fridge along with your leftover marinade.

  
  

Cook:

• Preheat the oven to 420 degrees F and line a large roasting pan with aluminum foil.

• Remove turkey from fridge and marinate bag, truss

• Season the injected turkey well both inside and out with the kosher salt and black pepper.

• Place tablespoon slices of butter under the turkey skin

• Line large roasting pan with aluminum foil, or use a disposable roasting pan

• Use risers or cut 1-2 onions or apples in half and place on base of roasting pan, so turkey will be raised

• Stuff turkey with aromatics. Some people add stuffing, but the turkey cooks faster without stuffing.

• Place the turkey in pan and pour the remaining marinade all over the turkey.

• Bake the turkey uncovered for 30 minutes.

• Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, add 1 cup of the chicken broth to the roasting pan, tent with foil and continue to bake the turkey until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the deepest part between the thigh and the leg registers 165 degrees F. (If the turkey begins to brown too much, tent loosely with aluminum foil until it is done. Also, add more broth as necessary to keep the bottom of the roasting pan from burning.)

• Optionally baste every hour, using a baster to put juices from the pan to the top of the turkey

• When the turkey is done (approx 15 minutes per pound in the oven total - so ~3hrs for 10lb or ~5hrs for 20lb) , remove it from the oven and set aside to rest at least 20 minutes (ideally 90 min) before carving.

Note: Large syringes designed especially for injecting turkeys may be purchased at many grocery stores in the spice / marinade / seasoning sections; many folks inject turkeys before frying them. Recommend a 2oz metal syringe with a needle that has multiple holes, easy to find on amazon.