I have lived in North America since 1991 and have partaken in the annual ritual of Thanksgiving for 18 years. After joining a few Thanksgiving dinners and eating dried out turkey with packaged gravy, I decided that there had to be a better way. I spent the next 5 years trying to convince all my friends that there are tastier ways to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. How about duck? I cooked that one year and half my friends wouldn't even turn up. Roast prime rib got a better reception, but the sad look on there faces told me that they really did want the dried out turkey.
If only I could win this argument
Then I got married to a wonderful american woman with a wonderful american family and it was clear that I was stuck with turkey for good. It was the first time I've ever met people that had warm feelings for canned goods. I mean, how could canned cranberries be better than fresh cranberries. I was at a loss. There was no fighting this. So as the old saying goes, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".
That has led me on a crusade for 9 years now to try and make a bird tasty that is bred to be large (the larger something is, the harder it is to cook evenly), bred to have as little flavor as possible (this part I've never understood), and bred to have close to zero fat on it (less fat = less tasty. Bottomline).
You can see my post from last year that talked about the difference between a brine and marinade. I determined that the brine works better, but it wasn't good enough to make the bird taste good. This year we went into it with a determination to learn what was good from last year and push the flavor to the next level. I have to say, I am very happy with the results. I think we are far from creating the perfect turkey, but what we cooked this week was juicy and well-seasoned. In the world of turkey, that's a revelation. Here's how we did it:
1. Double brine the turkey. We bought the brining bag and brining mix (mixed herbs) from Whole Foods. We added two more cups of salt to the brining mix, and two heads of garlic. Then we brined it for 48 hours. Twice as much salt and twice as long. Keep the brined turkey in the fridge for all 48 hours. Put all innards and extras (neck bones, etc.) in the brining mixture as well. You'll put those in the bottom of the roasting pan to flavor the drippings.
Put the brining turkey in a pan to hold it stable in the fridge and prevent any water from leaking.
On the day - 4 hours before you want to eat:
2. Preheat the oven the 500 degrees. About as hot as your oven can go. Take the turkey out of the brining bag and let it sit in a bowl to allow any water to leak out of the cavities.
3. Chop up a large bowl of carrots, onions and celery. The vegies should cover the bottom of the roasting pan and be about 2 inches deep. Add two heads-worth of garlic gloves. Add two lemons, quartered. The lemons add a nice tartness to the drippings and are a nice aromatic for the turkey (also great when you roast a chicken). Add the innards and extras to the vegies and drizzle everything with olive oil.
4. Stuff the cavity of the turkey with a cup of fresh chopped rosemary, thyme and sage, and some of the vegie mix. Place the turkey breast-side down in the roasting pan. It will go directly over the chopped vegetables. Make sure the breast is not touching the bottom of the roasting pan (it should rest on the vegies). Cook for an hour and 15 min at 500 degrees. Then turn it around and cook it breast side up for another hour - the skin should be nicely browned by now. This was a 25lb turkey. And yes, we cooked it in just over 2 hours. And it tasted great!
Don't ever tie up the legs. Just makes the legs take longer to cook - which means the breast will be even drier.
Note: When turning the turkey, use metal tongs and a large metal spoon (no pokey things like forks - the juices will flow out of the turkey). Put the tongs in the cavity of the turkey, balance with the spoon on the neck-side, and grip, lift and turn the turkey with the tongs.
6. Next up, the gravy. Heat three quarts of chicken stock in a pot to boiling. After you've taken out the turkey, let it rest on a serving plate with foil over it to keep it warm. You should have a roasting pan of vegies, innards and extras, drippings and fat. Put the roasting pan on the stove and cook until the drippings separate from the fat and stick to the bottom of the pan. You can see if this is working when you try and pour off the fat. If it's clear, then the drippings have stuck to the bottom. If not, then the drippings are still in the fat. Keep cooking until you have all the drippings (now solids) stuck to the bottom of the pan. Pour off all the fat and keep everything else in the roasting pan. Add 1/2 a bottle of white wine to the pan and mix it with the solids until the solids have separated from the bottom of the pan. Add half the chicken stock to the pan. Mix and taste. If you like this taste, then stick with it.
The gravy gets its flavor from the drippings and the vegies.
If you want more gravy or you find it too strong in flavor, keep adding chicken stock until you're happy with the flavor. I prefer a strong flavored gravy, but there is nothing worse than not enough gravy! Strain the gravy and put it into a pot and bring to boil. Add flour to the gravy to get to the desired texture. Start with a quarter cup, stir it in for a few minutes, and test the texture. Keep going until you're happy with the texture and flavor. You should not need salt for the gravy, but check it anyway and add salt if necessary.
7. When cutting the turkey, you might prefer the legs to have a little bit more cooking (they'll be cooked, but will have some red in them). The breast should be perfect. Our turkey legs this year was perfect, but don't feel awkward about throwing some of the leg meat into a frying pan and cooking it to your desired temp.
8. Serve the dinner with these brussels sprouts and this stuffing. They are the recipes from my restaurant, The Kitchen's holiday menu.
9. For the potatoes, we used Yukon Golds, peeled them, boiled them in salty water, then riced them (a ricer is the best way to mash potatoes - buy it at any kitchen store), and stirred in cream and butter to taste. We used 12 potatoes, 2 sticks of butter, and 2 quarts of cream. Why not. It's only once a year.
And yes, we used canned cranberries, and they were awesome. :)
