Have you ever wondered how professional chefs cook Thanksgiving turkey at home? We found three chefs from the Evansville area who are happy to share their personal recipes. 

Chef Stanley Trice is a 2017 Ivy Institute of Technology Culinary Graduate with a degree in Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. Before becoming the chef of Gatrick's Bar-bq and Fine Dishes, he worked at Chef Kyle Kellog's Evansville Country Club and chef Dontae Hines' Piston's Sports Bar and Grill. These days, he develops new skills and does private dining under the guidance of chefs such as Hell's Kitchen champion Megan Gill at the Victorian National Golf Club in Newburgh.

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"First, understand that Thanksgiving is about love and unity," Tris said. "When cooking the most important dishes, it is essential to express love and patience throughout the cooking process. Take care of the turkey. One of the main ingredients of all delicious dishes is love. Another important step is to make sure that you start cooking All the items have been cut and prepared before."

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Salt and pepper to taste

1. First remove the internal organs and neck of the turkey cavity, then rinse with cold water and pat dry. Then loosen the turkey skin by carefully separating the turkey skin from the meat. I often find myself using many different seasonings until I realize how to use kosher salt and fresh pepper correctly. Season the turkey well with salt and pepper.

2. Next, we will insert two sticks of butter and our spices into the cavity of the turkey: quartered yellow onions, cloves of garlic, sprigs of thyme, whole sage leaves, sprigs of rosemary, half lemon, sliced Chopped celery and chopped carrots.

3. To ensure that the turkey is cooked in the proper form, tie the legs and wings of the turkey down together.

4. I like to spread large pieces of meat when baking. We will use compound butter and the juicy water droplets in the pan. To make compound butter, just add chopped rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, garlic, and slowly heat the butter in a pan on the stove. After the butter has melted, add the butter and spices to a small bowl and mix well.

5. Put the bundled turkey in a large baking pan with a grate at the bottom. The grate is important to ensure even cooking and heat flow under the turkey during cooking. Spread a large amount of vanilla butter on the turkey with a spreader.

6. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

7. After the oven has heated up, put the turkey in the oven for 45 minutes. After the turkey is fried for 45 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue to roast until the internal temperature is 180 degrees. To ensure moisture, make sure to coat the turkey with oil every 30 minutes, alternating with vanilla butter and drippings from the baking sheet. Once the internal temperature of your thigh reaches 180 degrees and the turkey drips with clear juice, you can rest, cut and eat the turkey.

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Chef Narda Jones has an extensive background in chemical engineering, contracting and business, but she has found her true passion in the culinary world. Ten years ago, she graduated from the Culinary Course at Sullivan University in Louisville. She worked with chef Doug Rennie for eight years at Just Rennie's, many of whom served as his sous chefs, and then in the fall of 2019, she carefully renovated the North Main Annex and opened her own company.

"My recipe has a story," Jones said. "My mother is a must-have cook for a family of eight. She did follow the recipe and made some dishes that she just prepared from memory. On Thanksgiving when I was a little girl, she decided to try Reynolds turkey buns for cooking. This holiday bird. This is a miracle. The meat is wet, whether it is white or black. She followed the instructions in the box and achieved great success. Of course, this is for a bird without filling. Wear. Clothes are always separated. This has become a tradition. Many years later, I continued this tradition and held Family Thanksgiving. However, with my desire to change, I made changes and experiments. You The turkey will be moist, tasty, with a hint of citrus."

1 Reynolds oven bag, turkey size

4 stalks of celery under the turkey

Salt and pepper to taste

Ground sage seasoned turkey surface, to taste

Grate thyme to season the surface of the turkey, taste

2 tablespoons canola oil, more or less as needed

1. Preheat the oven according to the package instructions.

2. Season the inside and outside of the turkey thoroughly with salt, pepper, thyme and sage. 

3. Stuff the turkey (both ends) with diced onion, celery, carrot and orange.

4. Place the Reynolds bag on top of the celery stalk. Rub a little canola oil on the surface of the turkey skin to make sure to get the legs and wings.

5. Bake according to the bag instructions.

Chef James Shemwell has extensive culinary experience in large-scale operations, including serving as an executive chef at the Talk of the Town restaurant group in Orlando, Florida, where he directed a series of Charley's Steakhouses. He is also the executive chef of a hotel owned by George Steinbrenner in Tampa. Shemwell and his wife Mikala moved from Florida to Evansville more than five years ago when he was hired as the sous chef of the Tropicana Casino. Soon, in the summer, he returned to Bud's Rockin' Country Bar & Grill and Marina Pointe on Franklin Street as the executive chef.

Shemwell uses sous-vide cooking to cook a large bird into juicy and tender. This technology requires the meat to be packed in a sealed bag filled with seasonings and then immersed in water to bring the finished meat to the exact temperature required. Long, gentle cooking and flavor absorption follow. The dish is then quickly exposed to high temperatures to brown the surface.

A turkey weighing 15 to 20 pounds

Immersion cooker (I use Anova Nano)

5 gallon stock pot or bucket

Whole turkey, 15-20 pounds, neck and offal removed

Ingredients for turkey and gravy

1 cup plus 1 cup extra unsalted butter, softened

The taste of kosher salt and coarse black pepper

1. Mix all the marinating ingredients in a bowl. Put the turkey in a brine bag. Add salt water to the bag, making sure to fill the cavity.

2. Put the bag in the soup pot, slowly seal and remove as much air as possible. Cover the bag completely with water. Install the immersion cooker on the side of the pot and cover the pot with plastic film to reduce evaporation. Set the immersion cooker to 150 degrees for 20 hours.

1. Set the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the turkey from the brine and transfer to a large roasting pan. Pat the turkey dry and discard the brine. Season the turkey with salt and pepper. Rub the turkey with butter. Add vegetables and herbs to the bottom of the pan.

2. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes or until the turkey is light brown and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Let the turkey rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

1. Strain the roasting liquid, herbs and vegetables into a small saucepan and heat it over medium high heat. When the liquid is boiling, slowly add the cornstarch and water mixture. Once the gravy has thickened, reduce the heat and cool slightly before serving.

Contact Aimee Blume at aimee.blume@courierpress.com.