BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — We know so many people are cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the first time - so 7 Eyewitness News anchor Katie Morse (who has never cooked a turkey before) give it a try...with some help from her mom.
Katie cooked a turkey from start to finish - while her mom, Mary Beth was on Zoom.
"If you had to define my cooking skills right now, I would say they're a work in progress, what would you say?" she asked her mom Mary Beth.
"Yes I agree," said Mary Beth. Adding - "slightly below average."
Here are some basic steps for cooking a turkey - for the full idea, watch the video!
Start by cutting an onion and celery.
Soften the celery and onions in a pan with oil. Tip from Mary Beth: "You don't want it to brown, you want it to soften."
While the veggies soften, move onto the bird. The turkey Katie did was already defrosted. Rinse it, dry it, then set it aside.
Once your veggies are soft, put together the stuffing. Combine bread cubes and a number of spices - you can really make it your own, but Mary Beth suggests: poultry seasoning, that's sage, rosemary, thyme mixed together. Parsley, oregano, salt and pepper.
Add the warm veggies, an egg, some chicken stock and stir.
Katie determined that cooking a turkey is a lot of work - so she made sure to have a sous chef. Her dog Bandit, who was by her side...looking like this...the entire time.
Once you're ready to stuff the bird, grab the stuffing, and don't forget both ends!
"Put the turkey in the pan upside down," Mary Beth explained. "Put a little stuffing in that back end. Then you turn the turkey so the breast is up, and do the rest of the stuffing."
Once that's done, you oil up the bird, and into the oven it goes. Start it at 325 degrees for an hour.
"When you see the turkey is getting golden brown but it's too early to take it out, it wouldn't be done, then you want to tent it with tinfoil," Mary Beth said.
Put the turkey back in with a tinfoil tent on, and check it every hour. The time it takes to finish cooking depends on the size of the bird. Katie's was about 11 pounds, and took between 3-4 hours to be finished.
Temp the turkey - make sure it's 165 degrees - and let your sous chef enjoy!
