This Thanksgiving, I planned to smoke my turkey over charcoal and word for a BBQ experience on the great day of blessings; however, traditional values got a hold on me and I decided at the last minute to roast it instead.  The recipe is really easy and works great for being dubbed the Turkey-Master at home!

The Inside

First, get a really nice turkey – duh!  Slice up some fresh onions, red peppers, green peppers and garlic cloves – a whole mess of them; then stuff them inside the cavity of the bird.  Next, stuff 2 sticks of butter inside the cavity (1 stick if its a small bird).  Next, drop about 2 tbsp. of Italian Seasoning inside the cavity.

The Outside

Completely coat the bird all over with EVOO; and I mean liberally too!  Then, sprinkle a mixture of granulated garlic, granulated onion, kosher salt and course black pepper all over the bird until he is covered.  Next, put 2 more sticks of butter all around the turkey in the roasting pan and then drop some extra onions, peppers and garlic around it too.

The Cooking Process

Cover the turkey with heavy-duty foil (even if you have a roasting pan cover, use foil instead), and place it in a 325* oven until it reaches about 155* internal temperature in the breast.  Then, uncover and finish cooking until golden brown and at least 165* in the breast (although, I like to go 170*).  After the turkey is done, cover with foil again and let it rest in a 150-170* oven (no higher!). It will hold very nicely until serving time.

The Finale’

Your turkey will be tender, juicy and flavorful. Don’t be afraid to coat those white meat slices with the cooking juices at serving time.

Big-A's Juicy Thanksgiving Turkey

Get ready for my first iPhone/iPod Touch application with BBQ and food in mind – EstiCalc!

EstiCalc is a simple, easy-to-use, yet very handy food calculation tool for the cook who wants to ensure there is enough food available for their guests.

With EstiCalc, you will be able to determine

how much meat is needed to feed a number of guests.  Whether you are cooking roasts, steaks, hot dogs or ribs; you can be sure to have enough meat to satisfy your hungry family and friends.

Use the “Per Lb. Calculator” for large cuts of meat that are typically sold by the pound such as, Chuck Roast, Pork Shoulder and Beef Brisket.  Use the “Per Piece Calculator” for meats and even sides that are sold by the package or rack such as ribs, hot dogs and hamburger patties.

You can even specify a price per pound or package for EstiCalc to give you the estimated cost of your meat purchase and the estimated cost per guest.

Please forgive me, but I am absolutely chowing down as I write this post.  There is nothing better on a mild August afternoon than a hot grill waiting for anything wrapped with bacon!  Let me express my true feelings for bacon as I paraphrase Emeril, one of my Food Network favorites… “You could wrap bacon around a rusty nail and it would be good!”.  Well, I’m not sure that I am ready for bacon and nails; however, there are a couple of other items that work very well with bacon – Chicken and Beef.

First the chicken.  I got some really nice breasts, really thick because I like to cut them in half so that I get twice the servings and they don’t have to cook so long to get done which reduces the drying factor.  After they are cut, I simply sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then wrap in my favorite bacon slices.  I do a combination of indirect grilling (the meat is not directly over the coals) and direct grilling (the meat is directly over the coals) to accomplish this cook.

I put the chicken on the grill for indirect cooking for 15-20 minutes.  The breasts have been cut in half so they are not very thick and it does not take long for them to cook.  After about 20 minutes I crisp up the bacon by putting the chicken directly over the coals.  This finishes the chicken and crisps up the bacon at the same time.  That’s all there is to it!

Now the Beef.  I went to the Indiana State Fair and tried all the hyped-up food items that were supposed to be the big thing – none of them lived up to the hype.  So, my wife and I were walking near the back of the fairway and I saw a little booth with a guy and his wife selling Cheesy Beef Sticks.  Well, I like beef and I like cheese so this had to at least salvage my disappointing experiences after all the hyped-up foods turned out to be failures!  So, I bought one and took a bite… I heard angels singing, music playing and my whole life began to come into perspective!  Well, that may be a bit much but, these things were fabulous!  So much so, that I bought about 6 of them.  Ok, that’s not what the doctor orders… but the doctor wasn’t ordering that night! lol!

Here is what I did to make mine which, are no where near as good as the guy at the fair but; never-the-less, very good!  I seasoned up some angus ground beef (any ground beef will do) with typical spices: Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, Cumin.  Then I rolled out some roughly 4 oz. meat balls and then mashed them flat.  I put some extra-sharp cheddar cheese in the middle then rolled them up into cheese-stuffed meat sticks.  I wrapped half of them in bacon because… well, you know how I love bacon!  Then I cooked these with the same method I cooked the chicken above.

It did not take long for these to cook because the meat is wrapped around the cheese and as the cheese heats up and steams it also cooks the beef from the inside out.  Here are the pictures…

Do yourself a favor… wrap something in bacon and grill it!