I didn't buy a turkey.

I have to admit I didn't buy a turkey this year. 

• I  have been making a turkey every year since we have been married because I wanted to get in some good practice before we ever had to host. Plus when you go to someones house sometimes you get left overs and sometime you don't. Not getting leftovers is tragic; then you wouldn't be able to create delicious leftover recipes. Plus Turkey is usually on super sale after Turkey day. Since I am at home now I didn't want to wait until next week to cook up my bird so I just decided to go ahead and make the *big meal before hand. Then my common sense that took over when I was at the market and I bought a chicken instead of a turkey.   Roaster chickens were only $1.89 lb and turkeys were $4.99 lb. Really? Three dollars and ten cents difference. Does this make me Un-American? I got the chicken because I am cheap; I couldn't fathom buying a $30 turkey for just the two of us.
• Chicken, Turkey- pretty much the same. 

I tried a few new things this year for the bird. I did a dry brine and I **flat roasted the chicken. I have done a wet brine before but I didn't like it. Its takes up tons of space in the fridge, if it sloshes you get turkey water everywhere and I didn't think it was worth the time and effort. Dry brine I loved. Super simple, and doesn't take up tons of room in the fridge. 

Dry Brine: 1/3c Kosher Salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp pepper. Rub mixture over ever inch of the bird. Cover and set in refrigerate overnight. Before your are ready to cook, thoroughly rinse bird. Make sure there is no remaining visible salt and then pat dry. 

Butter rub: Salt & Pepper (not too much salt since we dry brined it), Zest of one lemon, 3 cloves garlic, 10 sprig of thyme, 1 sprig of rosemary, 2 tbsp ghee.  Chop up fresh herbs & garlic, mix all ingredients in semi soft ghee.

I based my butter compound off of Ina's Roast Chicken recipe. Then I took the butter compound and rubbed it in between the skin and meat of the bird.  Flattening the bird turned out really great. I didn't have to worry about the white meat getting dry or the dark meat not cooking and it only took 30 minutes! How come no body cooks their birds like this for Thanksgiving? It would be a big time saver especially for larger birds. 

It turned out fabulous. Juicy, flavorful. 

What is your favorite poultry cooking technique?

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* Our day before Thanksgiving meal. 

** This is also called spatchcock chicken or butterflied.