Turkey in my family is traditional for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Unfortunately, it is also traditionally very dry.  Some of my family members just refuse to eat breast meat as a result.  Others load up on veggies and bread.  This Thanksgiving we were saved by a new brother in law who is a chef, but he can't host every holiday meal. Thankfully, I think I've found a solution: cooking the dark meat separately from the breast meat so the breast doesn't dry out.  

I tried out these recipes tonight from the UK television show River Cottage and the results were incredible.  Check out this short video of the turkey being prepared.  

The recipe doesn't provide any directions for cutting up the turkey.  I found removing first the wings, the drumsticks, then the thighs the easiest.  To remove the breasts in one big piece, first find the wishbone and remove it with a paring knife.  Then start cutting one breast away beginning at the wing.  Keep the knife close to the ribcage and make shallow cuts, peeling the meat away as you go.  When you reach the breastbone, do the same on the other side.  Once both breasts are free, it is much easier to remove the meat from the breastbone without accidentally cutting the skin.

The leftover bits of carcass went into the slow cooker to make stock.  I highly recommend using a slow cooker for stock as it comes out crystal clear without any supervision.   

One last tip: The roast recipe calls for starting the oven at 425 degrees and then reducing the heat, starting the meat skin side down for only 20 minutes before turning it over.  Instead, I kept it at 425 degrees the entire time and only flipped the meat over for the last 20 minutes to crisp the skin.  By keeping the pouch of meat "wrong side up", all of the juices stayed in the meat and only a few tablespoons were lost during the last few minutes of cooking.  

It is so dark in my kitchen that I can't get good pictures.  The photo is from the River Cottage site.