Get Ready For Thanksgiving With Chef Travis Lett's Turkey Recipe
Leave it to one of our all-time favorite chefs, Travis Lett of the Venice Beach, California hotspot Gjelina, to bring a fresh approach to a Thanksgiving meal. We feature some of his crowd-pleasing side dishes, brimming with bright flavors, in this month’s issue of InStyle. (His new cookbook Gjelina: Cooking from Venice, California, hits stores this month, too). Here, he offers up his favorite recipe for a juicy turkey that won’t take forever to cook in the oven. His genius trick? Butterfly the bird.
“Roasting a turkey that has been butterflied substantially decreases the cooking time in the oven and yields a more juicy, evenly-cooked result,” Lett explains. “Butterflying the bird is easy to do—use a knife or poultry shears to cut out the spine. You can ask you butcher to do this for you, but remember to ask for the spine back because it’s great to use in the pan gravy.”
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Brining, he adds, is a key step in getting a well-seasoned, super moist result. “Make and chill the brine ahead of time, then sit the bird in the brine for 6 hours or overnight,” says Lett. “Remove the turkey from the brine and allow it to air dry (uncovered in the refrigerator for several hours) prior to rubbing and roasting. Here’s the step by step on how to make Lett’s delicious bird!