Thanksgiving Turkey (Tia Lulo's Recipe)

Legend has it that our cranky cook has only tasted two turkeys in his whole life worthy of his 5 stars. I agree.

So we searched high and low for the perfect combination of marinade for our first hosting of thanksgiving. We even took out the treasured "Cocinemos con Kristy" book. A cookbook sealed in a temperature controlled ziplock bag meant to preserve its yellowing cracking pages. It only comes out on special special occasions as it disintegrates every time. We started our experiment the Saturday prior to thanksgiving test cooking two turkeys. We attempted an organix free-range and a kosher bird. The kosher bird received the wine marinade and the organic bird got the beer base marinade. We also tried the high heat cooking method. Thank goodness we tested first. They came out ok, tasting like turkey and not much else. The cooking method though was a hit. Two 12 lb birds done in under 2 hrs. So, back to perfecting the marinade we went. We called in the reinforcements with a phone call to Aunt Lulo. "How much garlic did you add?" she asked as soon as she picked up. One head. She laughed. One cup apparently is more like it. So here is the revised recipe which was a hit! A delicious, moist and flavorful bird in 2 hrs. We ended up using Butterball and it worked famously. Here goes:

1 10-14 lb turkey
1 cup minced garlic (from jar)
2 cans of beer
1/2 cup of olive iol
2 cups of orange juice
1/2 cup of kosher salt
1 red onion
1 large white onion
1/4 cup pepper
2 tsp meat tenderizer
2 tbs oregano
3 tbs soy sauce

Wash and pat turkey dry. Pierce bird with large fork all over and in particular inside cavity for marinade to penetrate. Take all ingredients above and put in blender. Pour over and inside turkey, rubbing well. Refrigerate covered for 48 hrs. Turn over every 12 hrs and spread marinade with baster. On day of feast remove from refrigerator and marinade. Tie legs and fold wings behind breast. Place in roasting pan breast side up. Pre heat over to 450 degrees. Place in oven for approx 1 1/2-2 hrs depending on size of bird until thermometer placed in thigh reads 170 degrees. Take out and let sit for 30 minutes. Temperature will rise to 180. Carve and enjoy.

Cranky Cook aggravation rating: ** out of 5 stars

A breeze once we got the cooking method down and marinade was a cinch to make. Impressive for a thanksgiving first.