The Turkey Journey 11.23.11

Good Morning! You may have noticed that the post today is a little later in the day. The reason being, I have a very special DIY for today that I was not able to actually do myself until today. So what's the big deal? Thanksgiving! This year my mom suggested that we have Thanksgiving at our house. (I guess this is part of that newly wed bliss) In result, I am responsible for the Turkey! (Please keep in mind that I have NEVER cooked a whole bird before)

When I think of turkey, I normally think: dry, bland, and mmmm this dressing sure is good. So, after being assigned this lofty duty I began  the searching the Internet for a great turkey recipe. Thanks to my friend Emily over at "the chronicles of us", I got connected with a great recipe blog Our Best Bites. After a few unsuccessful google attempts: "great turkey", "thanksgiving turkey", "how to make a turkey with flavor", I decided to see if Our Best Bites had anything to offer.

Luckily, they did have what sounds like a great recipe. It calls for some of my favorite herbs and seems to be as simple as a turkey could be. So thus my turkey journey began this morning. So join with me on this journey; it will be in 3 parts: Day 1 preparation, Day 2 cooking, and Day 3 enjoying! I will be sure to post parts 2 and 3 soon after they happen.

DAY 1: Preparation

Tools:

1 5-gallon bucket and lid (like a brand-new paint bucket and lid, washed well)
A reliable oven-safe meat thermometer
Flavor injector/meat syringe
Turkey roasting bags
Heavy-duty roasting pan

Ingredients:  (ingredients used today are in bold)

1 turkey, no larger than 12-14 pounds (Make sure you thaw it for at least 2 days! Frozen Turkey = No Turkey)
1 gallon chicken broth
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns1/2 cup brown or white sugar
1 cup kosher salt
5-6 cloves smashed garlic1 tablespoon dehydrated onion
1 large sprig fresh thyme
1 large sprig fresh sage
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 handful fresh parsley
8 cups cold water
8 cups ice

3/4 c. salted butter, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1/2 c. chicken broth
2-3 cloves garlic

1 apple, chopped in half
1-2 small onions, chopped in half
4 stalks celery, cut into thirds

In part 1 we will brine the turkey.  Before today, if you would have put brine and turkey in the same sentence, I would have thought you were telling me that my cousin Brian was coming to Thanksgiving.  So part of my Turkey Journey has also been learning some new cooking vocab. You will need to brine the turkey at least 24hours before you intend to cook it. 

I began by bringing my chicken broth boil.  While waiting to get to boiling point, add in salt, first set of herbs, pepper corn, and 5-6 cloves on garlic.  Once you have brought the chicken broth to a boil with the ingredients added, remove it from the heat.  It will need to be room temperature before you do anything with it.  At this point you should enjoy the wonderful aroma of the brine.  Mmmmmm... Smells good doesn't it?

While you wait for the brine to cool, prepare your turkey.  (This was the part I have been dreading since I bought the turkey)  Remove the giblets and neck.  Rinse the turkey and then allow it to drain.  Finally, place the turkey in the 5 gallon bucket and add the 8 cups of water and 8 cups of ice. 

Once the brine has cooled, pour it over the turkey.  Secure the lid on top of the bucket and place the bucket in a cold place.  Cooler, on a deck if it is cold outside, or in a bath tub with packs of ice are examples of places to keep the turkey. 

Allow your turkey to sit for 24 hours and soak up that salty herbal goodness.  I should be back in about 24 hours to tell you about part 2!  Thanks for joining for part 1 of The Turkey Journey!    Deanna

By the way, if you are interested in the original recipe find it here.