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Wild Turkey Maple Glazed Turkey WHAT YOU WILL NEED 18 to 20 pound turkey, giblets removed 1½ cups Wild Turkey bourbon ½ cup orange juice ⅓ cup Steen’s syrup 1 tablespoon chopped thyme Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 HOW TO PREP Gently loosen the skin over the turkey breast and thighs (try not to tear it). Place a large oven-roasting bag in a very large bowl. Set the turkey in the bag, cavity-end up. In a large measuring cup, mix the bourbon, orange juice, Steen’s syrup, thyme and 1½ teaspoons each of salt and pepper. Pour some of the mixture over the turkey — use a silicon brush or your hands to completely coat. Gradually pour additional bourbon mixture under the turkey skin. Press to distribute it over the breast and thighs. Close and tightly wrap the bag and seal with a twist tie. Refrigerate overnight. Bring the turkey to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 325°. Take the turkey out of the bag and place it breast side up in a large roasting pan. Rub 6 tablespoons of the butter under the breast skin and rub the remaining 2 tablespoons over the skin. Use twine to tie the turkey legs together. Pour ½ cup of the marinade into the roasting pan and roast the turkey for 30 minutes. Baste the turkey with the pan juices and add 1 cup of water to the pan. Roast the turkey for 1 hour longer, basting it every half hour. Add the remaining marinade to the pan. Loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil and roast for an additional 2 hours, or until an instant- read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°. Carefully transfer the turkey to a carving board. Cover loosely with foil and let rest for 30 minutes before carving. stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

Wild Turkey by Bobby Childs

W ild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey really is a perfect match for Thanksgiving dinner. For starters, it’s a uniquely American whiskey. The bourbon itself is complex, spicy and a touch herbal. One reason is because its average age is about eight years old. The minimum age for bourbon is two years, and to a point, every year the whisky ages in a barrel, it picks up some nice complexity. (Charred-barrel aging, the process that gives bourbon its rich amber coloring, is an American innovation). Wild Turkey has those bourbon flavors we all love — caramel, vanilla and oak — but it’s also a bit spicy. The spice comes from the high percentage of rye in Wild Turkey’s mash bill, or recipe. Traditionally, bourbon is made from corn, rye and malted barley. When I say spicy, I don’t mean hot sauce spicy. Think more along the lines of the spiciness of rye bread. Thanksgiving dinner is one of the most diverse meals you’ll have all year. Wild Turkey will compliment all of the different flavors of your meal. With its rich caramel and vanilla notes, it’s the perfect match for sweet potato casserole. Its spicy characteristic, along with a high proof, will cut right through grandma’s oyster dressing

without overpowering the dish. And the whiskey’s slight herbal quality also pairs nicely with the turkey itself. Wild Turkey bourbon is bottled in two different ways. There’s the standard 101 proof (50.5% alcohol by volume), which is the one I’d recommend picking up. You can proof it down to your tastes by adding a splash of water or some ice. If that’s still too strong for you, Wild Turkey also makes lower 81-proof bourbon. Remember, alcohol acts as a flavor carrier, so in this case the 101 is more flavorful than the 81. The story behind Wild Turkey is one of American entrepreneurship. Back in 1940, grocery wholesaler Austin, Nichols & Company owned a distillery. One of their executives,Thomas McCarthy,met with some of his friends each year for a turkey hunt in South Carolina.McCarthy was asked to bring some whiskey, so he bottled some 101 proof bourbon from one of the warehouses. The group loved the whiskey so much that the next year they asked for more of that “wild turkey bourbon.” McCarthy, a businessman with a background in marketing, knew he had a hit.The company soon changed the name of their bourbon to Wild Turkey, and the rest, as they say, is history.

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2016