Okay, so this is chicken. Because how many turkeys was I supposed to make in one month? Really?

Turkey. It’s the elephant in the room, that is actually a bird, that you eat. The least exciting, yet most important, part of your Thanksgiving meal; attention must be paid. Especially for those of us who have the sprue, because turkeys can be easily contaminated with that devil gluten, and you’ll wind up in the bathroom all night long and not because Aunt Sylvia called you a fat communist again during Thanksgiving dinner.

So take care when prepping that hulking bird, and remember two important things:  Always gluten-free your stuffing; and skip the flour for crispy turkey skin. Now, how about you check out two delicious ways to prep that turkey? One of which, is almost like practicing medicine!

Gluten-Free Turkey Marinade by Stubb’s

I love Stubb’s BBQ sauces and marinades, and not only because they just sent me a holiday gift of these injectables. No, not botox, Stubb’s has a line of gluten-free injectable marinades and I chose to use the “Texas Butter” version, because why wouldn’t I? This is how easy, and crazy looking, making your turkey can be:

Cool, right? All I did was buy a pre-brined turkey from Trader Joe’s (and verified that it was totally gluten-free, which it is), shoot that sucker up, cover it in the remainder of the marinade, and cook for three hours on 350 degrees until the temperature was 180 when the meat thermometer was in the turkey thigh. DONE. And delicious.

Accidental Turkey

This recipe from the FoodNetwork.com requires a bit more prep, and that’s the recipe I used in the chicken you can see above. While the cooking time the day of is shorter, you have to begin your prep two days prior to the big event. So do this today if you want a nice crispy skin with a lemon kick.

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 2 hours 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 12-14 lb turkey
3 Tablespoons Kosher salt, + 1 Tablespoon
Grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 large yellow onion, cut in eighths
1 lemon, quartered
8 sprigs fresh thyme
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Two or three days before roasting, combine salt, rosemary, and lemon zest. Wash the turkey inside and out, dry and place in a shallow dish. Sprinkle one tablespoon of the salt inside the cavity of the turkey and rub the rest of the turkey with the salt, rosemary, and lemon zest mixture. Wrap turkey in plastic wrap and refrigerate. The day before roasting, remove the plastic wrap to allow the skin to dry and turn translucent.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place onion, lemon, and thyme in cavity. Tie the legs together, and tie the wings close to the body. Brush turkey with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Roast the turkey for 45 minutes. Lower the temperature to 325 degrees and roast for another hour, until the thigh is 180 degrees. Remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

Makes: 10 servings

Have a great gluten-free Thanksgiving, everybody!