the (Pre) Thanksgiving Friday Feast: The Ultimate Adobo Turkey

Years ago (and by that I actually mean several decades ago) there was a small quarterly magazine featuring spicy foods of the American Southwest published out of Albuquerque that we subscribed to.

It was simply titled Chile, in all honestly wasn’t that professionally done, but was packed with great recipes, tips and tricks for growing chiles of all sorts, and a smattering of advertising for all things chile-heads loved back in that day. Sadly, and I’m guessing in part given their laser-sharp focus on spicy foods of the Southwest, the magazine vanished in 2006 or 2007, leaving behind little or no trace of their prior work.

We folded a number of their recipes into our family food lexicon, including one for what they called a recado turkey, which was a turkey rubbed with a vinegar and olive oil based rub, actually more like a slather, rich with toasted and coarsely ground peppers and other big, vibrant spices.

Truth be told, it wasn’t my wife’s favorite turkey preparation – the flavors were pretty bold and could be almost astringent at times – but the kids and I loved it, enough that we’d often do two turkeys (especially if entertaining), one a classic brined and roasted bird, and then our special recado turkey.

Much to my chagrin the back issue of Chile which holds the magic recado recipe is packed in storage in another state right now, and several friends and I have been chatting this past week about different ways to spice up the menu for Thanksgiving next week.

As we often do when we’re searching out novel preparations for creative and spicy foods featuring the melting pot cuisine of Texas and the Southwest, I reached out to Chef Libby in Austin and she suggested we give her Ultimate Adobo Turkey a spin. She described it as a pretty classic spin on adobo, built around two acids for tartness (cider vinegar and freshly squeezed orange juice), an impressive handful of toasted guajillo and ancho chiles along with fresh garlic, and a well-balanced spice array.

I was easily convinced to give the recipe a spin, and decided to incorporate the cooking method that the team at Bon Appetite is pushing this year – cutting up your turkey into several more manageable pieces pre-roasting, almost akin to spatchcocking, but with two distinct advantages. One, with the legs and wings removed, it’s much easy to slather everything with the adobo. And two, the cut-up turkey cooks much faster, with both sides browning well when using the rack. The turkey pictured was a smaller one (about eleven pounds), but I think we’ll be using this method for years to come no matter how big the bird.

The adobo is outrageously good; Libby folds at least half a cup into her favorite gravy recipe when serving on her own table or for catering gigs, and a couple of tablespoons folded into your homemade avocado oil mayo recipe will change your leftover turkey sandwiches forever.

You’ll want to try this one – it’s hands down the best turkey prep we’ve ever enjoyed.

8 dried guajillo chiles
6 dried ancho chiles
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 inch of cinnamon stick, smashed
4 whole allspice
2 cloves
2/3 cup ACV
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp fresh orange juice
1/4 cup avocado or olive oil
1 tbsp good salt

Wipe the chiles clean, then stem, seed, and toast in a large skillet (cast iron wins here) over medium-high heat until fragrant, pliable, and slightly changed in color.

Place the toasted chiles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water and soak until softened (20-25 minutes). Drain the soaking liquid when softened.

While the chiles are soaking, toast the spices over medium-low heat until fragrant; keep them moving in the pan so they don’t burn (this should only take 2-3 minutes).

Into your trusty blender goes the ACV, orange juice, oil, toasted spices, garlic, salt, and the soaked – and drained – chiles; puree until very smooth. Be patient here, the mixture will likely be thick (add more orange juice if liquid is needed to get it moving), and you want to be sure and break up the whole spices.

Prep your turkey (see the discussion above), pat it dry, the coat all the turkey pieces with the adobo, reaching as far under the skin as you can. Place the rubbed turkey/turkey pieces on a rack in a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and throw in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to a day.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425, and line a clean baking sheet with three layers of foil, top with a clean rack, and then arrange the turkey/turkey pieces atop the rack. Add 1 cup of water to the baking sheet. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes at this temperature, rotating the rack front to back at 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven to 300, add water to the pan if needed, and continue to roast until the breast temp reads 150 and the thighs 170 on an instant read thermometer, adding water every to the roasting pan every thirty minutes or so as needed. Total cooking time depends on your turkey size, but should be somewhere around 75-90 minutes.

When done, tent (loosely) with foil and let rest at least 30 minutes before carving (60 is better).

Enjoy.