Thanksgiving Turkey with a Sweet Potato “Stuffing”

A man’s guide to a thanksgiving turkey? What kind of recipe title is that? A very misleading one! Honestly this is just a thanksgiving turkey recipe, nothing gender specific, but today I realized that 84.9% of my Facebook friends are women and it made me wonder why. I mean 100% of us eat and I know that a lot more than 15.1% of men cook. So what makes my site not so guy friendly? If there are any guys reading this I would love to hear your opinion on this.
I am also hoping that the title will encourage more guys to cook thanksgiving dinner (a not so subtle hint to my husband).
This paleo thanksgiving turkey is extra moist thanks to the brine I marinated it with overnight and also because I baked it while covered with a moist light cloth. I used one of my baby’s receiving blankets. I got so many as gifts and didn’t get to use many of them until now.
WARNING: If you choose to use the wet cloth method you must keep the cloth wet at all times by basting it with the turkey juices every 20-30 minutes so that the cloth doesn’t catch on fire. If you are not comfortable with this idea then wrap it with parchment paper of foil but it just won’t be as moist

Ingredients for the brine:
1 quart of chicken broth
2 cup of white wine
½ cup of maple syrup
2 tbsp of dry thyme
1 tbsp of ground black pepper
1 tbsp of salt

Ingredients for the turkey:
A 12 to 14 lb turkey fully thawed
1 cup of softened grass-fed butter
1 tbsp of dry thyme
1 tbsp of dry sage
1 tbsp of dry parsley
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of ground black pepper

For the Stuffing
4 medium apples cored and diced
4 celery stalks, sliced
2 lbs of sweet potatoes or yams, diced
½ cup of fresh chopped  fresh sage leaves, loosely packed
1 tbsp of dry thyme
1 cup of dry cranberries
1-2 cups of walnuts
2 tbsp of butter reserved from the turkey rub
2 tbsp of coconut oil

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the brine
• Place your turkey in a plastic bag and pour the brine over it
• Remove all the air from to make sure the brine is covering the turkey and tie a knot to secure all the juices in.
• Place inside another plastic bag to prevent leakages.
• Marinate inside the refrigerator, breast down for at least 12 hours
• Remove the turkey from the fridge 1-2 hours before cooking to bring it to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 500 F
• Remove turkey from the bag and pad dry using a paper towel (Reserve 2-3 cups of the brine)
• Remove the innards and place turkey in a roasting pan or baking dish
• In a medium bowl, combine the  butter and the spices until a paste is formed
• Separate some of the skin from the turkey around the neck and breast and rub the turkey with the butter inside, outside and under the skin.
• In a large bowl combine all the ingredients for the stuffing and place a portion of them inside the turkey’s cavity, this will give it extra moisture and flavor.  Place the rest of the stuffing inside a Dutch oven and bake at 350 F for about an hour or until potatoes are tender
• Set the turkey on your oven’s lowest rack and bake for 30 minutes at 500 F
• Reduce the heat to 350 F.
• Cover the turkey with a light cloth dampened in the brine.
• Cook for about I hour and 45 minutes, basting the turkey (over the cloth) every 20 minutes.  Baste using the turkey juices and the reserved brine.
• Remove from the oven when a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 162 F and the juices from the turkey run clear.
• Cover the turkey (and the cloth) with foil or parchment paper and let stand for 20 minutes before carving.

Notes:
Depending on the size of your bird, the stuffing inside the turkey may be a little undercooked, if so just bake it in a separate dish for a little longer.

To store the rest of the carved turkey, put inside a container and pour some of the turkey juices over it to prevent it from drying.