Tired of the same old bird for the holidays? Give your turkey an extreme makeover by taking the cooking — and the party — outside.

While cooking meals from scratch has been on the decline in time-pressed families, grilling is on the rise, according to NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y. market research company. Men, who are cooking more than ever, are responsible for 13 percent of all meal preparation — much of it on the grill. Maybe this is the year to take turkey preparation outside.

“A turkey smoke-roasted on the grill tastes better, thanks to the smoke flavor,” said Steve Raichlen, author of “The Barbecue Bible” and “How to Grill” (Workman Publishing) and host of the PBS series “Primal Grill.” “It frees up your oven for other dishes. It gives you an excuse to spend the afternoon outdoors, gathered around the grill drinking beer or wine with your buddies.”

And get ready for the “oohs” and “aaahs” when you present a turkey smoked to perfection: “a gorgeous, plump, mahogany-colored bird — the skin crackling crisp, the meat tender and juicy, the whole shebang perfumed with wood smoke,” Raichlen said.

“Guests are totally amazed because they would never guess that a whole turkey can be cooked outdoors,” says Dave DeWitt, editor of Fiery-Foods.com, the Fiery Foods and Barbecue website. “Grilling and smoking are generally becoming more and more popular, so people apply them to the various holidays as they see fit.”

Among the options for cooking a turkey outdoors are grilling, rotisserie and smoking in a Big Green Egg, a ceramic smoker. DeWitt favors the rotisserie method “because it’s so versatile, you don’t need to worry about flipping the meat over, like you would with grilling. The heat is even and you don’t have to tend to it very much.”

DeWitt is not keen on cutting up the bird to cook on the grill, which he says takes away the beauty of a whole bird in the center of the table and may lead to burning the bird if you step away for too long to watch the game.

Raichlen favors cooking a whole turkey in the Big Green Egg or on the charcoal grill, which he said “is best for the reason that it’s easy to smoke on a charcoal grill and very difficult to smoke on a gas grill.” (See Raichlen’s recipe at end of this story).

Both suggest using the proper tools and avoiding common mistakes. Here are several of their tips for cooking your turkey outdoors:

Assemble your tools

Raichlen suggests a barbecue injector, which enables you to inject some of the marinade into the turkey. Consider food gloves for handling the turkey. Both Raichlen and DeWitt say a meat thermometer is essential. Too high a temperature and the turkey skin will burn before the meat is fully cooked; too low a temperature will result in an undercooked turkey — and unhappy guests.

Smoke ‘em out

Raichlen prefers natural lump charcoal, not briquettes, which can have a chemical taste if not properly lit. Soak wood chips before placing them on the charcoal once the ash is well formed. Raichlen likes to use poultry smoking chips. DeWitt prefers fruitwood, such as apple, peach or apricot, which gives the turkey a mild smoky flavor. “Most of the barbecue flavor comes not from the wood, not from the charcoal, but the fact that fat drips from the bird onto the hot coals or wood, which interacts with the smoke and rises to coat the bird,” DeWitt said.

There’s the rub

DeWitt likes using a low-sodium rub on his smoked turkey. Make your own rub from paprika, garlic and ground chili pepper. “Salt draws out the fluids from the turkey and you want your turkey as moist as possible,” he says

Stuff yourself

Cook stuffing separately, not in the bird. “In the bird, it stews rather than crisps, and comes out soggy,” Raichlen says. “Plus it throws off the cooking time for the bird.”

Spice up your gravy

While some experts are fine with putting a drip pan underneath the grill in order to acquire enough juice for gravy, DeWitt says carbon particles can end up in the pan. Instead, he suggests making the gravy on the stovetop inside. Brown the turkey neck and giblets in butter or oil. Mince the neck and giblets, add them to the pan with some water and simmer on low to extract the flavors. Thicken with flower or cornstarch. Add some chipotle chile powder (a smoked red jalapeño) for color and spice.

Pause before serving

Be patient before putting the bird on the table. “Let the bird rest for 20 minutes before carving to let the juices redistribute themselves,” Raichlen said. “The bird will be much moister.”

Bourbon-brined Barbecued Turkey

Adapted from BBQ USA by Steven Raichlen (Workman Publishing, 2003)

FOR THE INJECTOR SAUCE:

2 tablespoons salted butter
1/3 cup chicken stock (preferably homemade), at room temperature
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 tablespoon of your favorite commercial barbecue rub (Note: Finely grind in a spice mill or coffee grinder if the rub has any coarse bits or spices in it so it doesn’t clog the injector).

FOR THE TURKEY:

1 turkey (8 to 10 pounds), thawed (if frozen)
4 tablespoons of your favorite commercial barbecue rub
1 tablespoon melted butter

YOU’LL ALSO NEED:

A marinade injector
3 cups of wood chips, preferably apple, soaked for one hour in water to cover, then drained

1.  To make the injector sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the stock, bourbon and rub and whisk to mix. Let cool to room temperature.

2.  Remove the packet of giblets from the neck or body cavity of the turkey and set aside for another use. Remove and discard the fat just inside the cavities of the turkey. Rinse the turkey, inside and out, under cold running water, then blot dry, inside and out, with paper towels. Season the inside of both cavities with 2 tablespoons of the rub.

3.  Fill the injector with the injector sauce. To do this, push the plunger all the way down, place the tip of the needle in the sauce, and slowly draw the plunger up: The syringe will fill with sauce. Inject the sauce into the turkey breast, thighs and drumsticks. Don’t be surprised if a little sauce squirts out; this is OK. Truss the turkey; this is optional, but it will give the bird a more dignified appearance. Brush the outside of the turkey with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of rub all over it, patting it onto the skin with your fingertips.

4.  Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium. If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips or chunks in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in the center, preheat the grill to medium, then toss 1 cup of the wood chips or chunks on the coals.

5.  When ready to cook, place the turkey, breast side up, in the center of the hot grate, over the drip pan and away from the heat. Put the lid down and cook the turkey until the skin is nicely browned and the meat is cooked through, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. To check for doneness, insert an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of a thigh but not so that it touches the bone. The internal temperature should be about 165 degrees. If the wing tips start to burn, cover them loosely with aluminum foil; if the skin starts to brown too much, cover the bird loosely with aluminum foil.

6.  Transfer the grilled turkey to a platter, cover it loosely with aluminum foil, if you have not already done so, and let it rest for 10 minutes. Untruss the turkey, if necessary.

Serves 8 to 10.

Jeff Schnaufer writes for CTW features.

Low Fat Chicken Enchiladas

Recipe from the Home of Sarah Whitlach

Ingredients

3 cups cooked, cubed chicken breasts
1 cup fat-free plain yogurt
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup salsa (can add more to taste)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can (10.75 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
4 ounces shredded low-fat cheddar cheese
4 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
10 8 inch flour tortillas

Directions

Mix all ingredients together. Place  1/2 cup of mixture in center of each tortilla. Roll tortilla and place in greased casserole dish. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Candy Bar-Stuffed Baked Apples

Recipe from the Home of Waco Today

4 servings

Ingredients

4 medium apples, top  1/2-inch removed
1/4 cup roughly chopped toffee candy bar (recommended: Skor)
1/4 cup roughly chopped chocolate covered nougat nut candy bar (recommended: Snickers)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely chopped toffee candy bar (recommended: Skor)
1/4 cup finely chopped chocolate covered nougat nut candy bar (recommended: Snickers)
3/4 cup soft apple cider
1 tablespoon sugar
Vanilla ice cream, accompaniment

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using an apple corer and small melon baller, scoop out the stems, cores, and seeds from the apples, leaving the bottoms intact. Cut off the top  1/2-inch of each apple and then stand in a baking dish.

Stuff the roughly chopped candy bars in the apples (2 total tablespoons of candy per apple). Place 1 1/2 teaspoons of butter in each apple on top of the candy. Stuff the finely chopped candy in the apples (2 total tablespoons of candy per apple).

In a bowl, whisk together the cider and sugar. Pour over the apples. Bake uncovered until the apples are tender, 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Place the apples on plates and top each with a scoop of ice cream. Spoon the pan juices over the ice cream and serve immediately.

Low Glycemic Pancakes

Recipe from the Home of Meredith Boozer

The simplest way is to use the Quaker oatmeal pancake mix (it’s with the other pancake mixes at Walmart and some H-E-Bs.)

Ingredients 

1 cup of the mix
1 whole egg
3/4 cup soymilk (unflavored or vanilla)
Add cinnamon to taste. (Cinnamon helps keep the body’s blood sugar lower even when consuming high carb or high glycemic foods, thus making this low glycemic recipe even more effective at training the body to burn more fat and spare glycogen).

Directions

Cook on skillet at medium to medium high heat until bubbles form on surface, flip and cook until lightly brown.This yields a low glycemic but high carb easy to carry pancake patty.

The patties will be rather thick. so you can thin them with water or more soymilk to “trick” yourself into eating fewer calories while you workout.

This recipe is good for longer rides where you are trying to teach your body to spare glycogen and burn more fat. I wouldn’t use these on any high intensity workouts, and the first few times you use them, I would recommend taking along some type of sugary item just in case you bonk. Yields about 800 calories worth of pancakes.

Orange You Glad It’s Thanksgiving Soup

Recipe from the Home of Rachael Ray

6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup pulpy orange juice
2 boxes frozen butternut squash puree
2 or 3 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper
Grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves, for garnish
1 tablespoon orange zest, for garnish

Directions

Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. When butter has melted, add the onion and carrots and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Deglaze with the orange juice and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.

Transfer the mixture to a food processor or a blender. Puree the mixture until smooth, then return to pot over medium heat. To mixture, add the frozen butternut squash puree and the chicken broth and stir to combine. Adjust the seasoning. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Grate some fresh nutmeg and stir to combine.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with chopped thyme and orange zest.

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