Wow….after years of cooking a Thanksgiving turkey there were a lot of techniques. But, “Butterfly” style is such a unique way of preparation but the outcome is “FAST” and “Tasty” and “Juicy”….!

It’s not easy cutting out the backbone, but with careful force, a butcher type or heavy duty grade scissors can do the trick. I used a butcher knife and managed. After you have removed the backbone, flip it over breast up and push the breast down like doing “CPR” to flatten the turkey.

They Dry rub is where you can be creative….create your own or go online to see your liking. I just used my basic pantry….Garlic Powder, Garlic Salt, Ground Pepper, Basil Leaves….I was tempted to put “Cajun” and regret I didn’t….I like a little spicy….but not for everyone.

After the dry rub application completely, under and up and over and the sides of the turkey place in fridge overnight. Doing so will get the spices into the pores of the meat making it tasty and juicy. It will basically help keep the turkey hydrated while cooking is my guess.

Before you place in the oven the next step is creating an “EVOO” rub adding herbs of chives and green onions and some light seasoning (no more salt needed). I added lemon pepper and other seasoning. Rub over turkey completely and place in oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Butterflying the turkey accelerates the cooking time. This 12 pound turkey took only 2 hours with extra time just sitting in the oven. It basically cooks through while the oven is still hot. So, with the sitting time in the oven it is about 2.5 hours total. I added “Smoked Sausage” as a flavoring on the veggies sides. You may want to season the veggies to bring out the flavor where not all the veggies is sitting in the drippings.

Be creative with your stuffing! I used the basic “Stuffing Package” you will find in any grocer and added it with the gizzard and liver cuttings. In cutting out the backbone I used it for the stuffing along with the turkey neck which was then backed with the spare seasoning (I cooked it the night before). De-bone the meat and chop it up to add to the stuffing mix. So, you can be creative in the flavoring of your stuffing. Don’t forget to taste your stuffing before creating your “Stuffing Balls” or (SB). Abbreviated for sensorship. So after the stuffing is rolled up the size of golf balls you can carefully insert mozzarella cheese. Process for the SB for the deep fry is rolling it on Flour, then egg, then Panko…..then it’s ready to fry. We used basic oil and not deep enough to do deep fry.

To add color to presentation we pre cooked broccoli for green and cherry tomatoes for red colors.

We took the Thanksgiving meal to my Brothers family with my Mom….

Believe me it was a delicious treat made with love….But above all, seeing family is the star. We practiced safe distancing for respect of our family members. All in All a wonderful time we will never forget.

The last segment of this video shows us getting ready to eat leftovers the next day. Are you like me, where the leftovers taste the best?

Thanks for watching and I hope the segment gives you enough information to be inspired.