How to sleep a couple extra hours on Thanksgiving morning

If you, like me, want to sleep a while longer on turkey day without fear of serving the perfect bird, fear not. I am here to tell you you can. I am the queen of short cuts.  I love to lounge in bed a little while longer in anticipation of the festivities and preparations of this most favored holiday.  I also am a lover of great-tasting cuisine. 

With that said, we must broil that bird face down and flat.

Laying the bird flat gives it a larger, more uniform surface area, allowing for more even cooking. It also exposes all of the skin to the heat (hence, more browning), so you'll get the super crisp skin you're looking for. This method cuts the turkey's roasting time almost in half. 

I discovered spatchcocking (the process of splitting a whole bird in half, removing its backbone and roasting it flat, skin-side up) about five years ago.  Friends thought I was crazy to roast the prized bird that way, yet the more I thought about it the more convinced I was that this was the fool-proof way for the amateur cook (so as not to say, laid-back) to broil the bird.  It was the way to get juicy flavorful meat and that prized, magazine-worthy golden skin.

Once the bird is fully cooked in about 3-4 hours, when serving it, you can either prop it up again to look like a regular whole roasted turkey, or just serve it flat. Either way, you can dress it up with an assortment of roasted herbs and veggies. I have also served it stuffed, after broiling it flat. If you are creative enough and passionate enough, it can be done.  If the tasty bird doesn't stay propped up, which it will normally do, you can hold it together in various ways with either twine or skewers, or whatever else you can think of.  As long as you're creative in how you serve it, no one will care.  And if anyone does care, the minute they have a bite of your succulent bird, they will be praising your ingenious spirit. 

So go ahead and oversleep on Thanksgiving Day without the worry of dinner not being served on time. Just don't forget to wet or dry brine the bird the day before.

Happy Thanksgiving. Everyone!