Lucky Turkey

This past week, there have been many turkeys. And many lucky people. Due to the credit crunch, congress is scrabbling to pass a bill that will bail it out. Having studied economics, I am internally (and oftentimes externally) screaming against this. I'm an Adam Smith, Laissez faire econmist: let the markets do what they will do. Things will balance out eventually.
I also, may be incredibly lucky, or I may be the turkey. You are reading the blog of an almost (within a week probably) sub-prime borrower. I wanted this apartment. I got the apartment. Can I afford the mortgage? Not really. Unless my boyfriend lives with me. And pays rent. Which he has promised. But will he? It remains to be seen...

So for the turkeys, the luckies, and the lucky turkeys, I have a recipe for you. I originally created this recipe last year, for thanksgiving. I was handed a 15.5 pound, 7 kilo turkey and profusely thanked for the next several hours where it would be roasting in my oven. Now, I've cooked, but I've never been responsible for a turkey that will feed about 25 people. Fortunately, after about 6 or 7 hours of all day cooking, I walked into the party, and my turkey (there were 2 others) was immediately named "Lucky". It was golden brown on top, gorgeous pink white underneath, and not a BIT dry. It turns out that the method I used is actually often used in Czech cooking, so it must have been my ancestors subconciously poking at my brain to "do it the right way" I recently recreated lucky, albeit on a much, much MUCH smaller scale! Same results, yummy turkey.

Lucky Turkey

one 2 kilo turkey breast, bone in, skin on
50 g fatty meat (you can use the czech slanina which is essentially just pork fat, extra marbled bacon, or leftover beef/chicken/pork fat that you might have trimmed from other cuts of meat)
1 tbs fresh chopped rosemary
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
2 tbs fresh chopped basil
4 cloves of garlic chopped finely
2 small apples cut into cubes
1 large onion cut into cubes

take the fatty meat and fry it in a skillet. You should get a few crispies and a lot of liquid fat in the skillet. Pour it all in a heatproof bowl. Put the bowl in the freezer to quick chill. When the fat has the consistency of soft butter, mix the herbs and garlic in to create a paste-y consistency.

LIBERALLY salt and pepper the turkey. Gently open the skin of the turkey breast, and spread this paste underneath the skin. If you can't get under the skin in some spots, it is ok to insert a knife in, create a pocket, and just stuff some paste in here and there.
Put the turkey in a baking pan. Spread the apples and onions around it. If you'd like, you can pour in some water or white wine, but I've found the juices released are quite good on their own.
Broil uncovered for about 10 minutes. Lower the oven heat to about 175 C, and cover the turkey with aluminium foil. Bake about 45 minutes per kilo. About 10 minutes before baking is finished, uncover again, and broil for crispy skin. If at any point you notice the pan is dry, pour in some wine, water or broth. It probably won't be though.

Enjoy!