Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving¶

About Turkeys¶

Heritage: Heritage turkeys are old-fashioned varieties of birds that were common in America until the 1920s. They have a richer, more distinct flavor, more like a game bird, and have a greater proportion of dark meat. Breeds include Narragansett, Jersey Buff, Standard Bronze, Bourbon Red and White Holland. – https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/13-how-to-cook-turkey

Brine¶

1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 pounds of turkey

How to Dry Brine a Turkey for Thanksgiving¶

url: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a34075851/dry-brine-turkey-recipe/

sugar
salt
rosemary
thyme
celery seeds
ground pepper

Jim Ray¶

The ratio is 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 pounds of turkey

https://twitter.com/QuarantineBook/status/1330989675213774850

A Step-by-Step Guide to Properly Brining a Turkey¶

url: https://www.marthastewart.com/274271/how-to-brine-a-turkey

7 quarts (28 cups) water
1 1/2 cups coarse salt
6 bay leaves
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver reserved for stuffing
1 bottle dry Riesling
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch fresh thyme

5-gallon brining container (tub, stockpot, or bucket)
Large brining or oven-roasting bag
Refrigerator (or a cooler with ice)

How to Dry Brine a Turkey for Your Best Bird Yet¶

url: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/cooking/a33832888/how-to-dry-brine-turkey-recipe/

Check the label. Make sure your bird isn’t pre-salted or seasoned, or self-basting. These types of turkey have been injected with a salt solution already, so brining them will make them too salty. We prefer to buy a completely unseasoned bird and add our own brine, rather than relying on processed ingredients.

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-brine-a-turkey-for-thanksgiving-step-by-step-article

Working on a rimmed baking sheet, remove giblets and neck of turkey from cavities. Reserve neck and discard giblets. Using paper towels, pat turkey dry.
In small bowl, combine salt and herbs and rub salt mixture all over turkey.
Place baking sheet and turkey into a large plastic bag (you may need 2) and refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days before cooking.

The basic proportion of salt to water for whole turkey is about 5 percent salt by weight for the quantity of water. This gives you a relatively mild brine designed for a whole turkey.

Some popular brine add-ins include bay leaves, peppercorns, star anise, whole allspice, dried chile, rosemary sprigs, garlic, and orange zest.

Many people like to add white or brown sugar and/or other sweeteners, like apple cider, honey, or molasses to their brine. When roasting, any sweetener will cause the skin to brown more quickly, and you may need to cover the top with foil if it gets too dark. A good guideline for sweetening a brine is to add about 1/4 the amount of sweetener as salt.

To avoid potential bacteria growth, never pour hot or warm brine over a raw turkey.

Pop the turkey into the fridge and let it brine for at least 8 hours (and up to 18 hours). Just don’t leave the turkey in the brine for longer than recommended—over-brining can render the bird too salty and turn the texture spongy. If you still aren’t ready to roast the turkey after 18 hours, you can remove it from the brine, rinse it, and refrigerate it for as long as two days (leaving it uncovered for part of this time will give you a crisper skin, as described below).

If you don’t have room in the fridge for the bird, you have options. You can let the turkey brine in a cooler while covered in ice packs and/or ice, or even let it brine on a garage or porch (where animals won’t get to it) if you live in a cold climate (35°F and 38°F degrees).

Cooking The Turkey¶

Internal temp 165°F

Can do breast side down for beginning of cook (alternative to tin-foil on the brest)

Method / Idea¶

lemon, zested and quartered garlic cloves onions, peeled and quartered bay leaves

onion quarters and the lemon quarters into the turkey cavity.
Brush the turkey skin generously with oil or melted butter.
Cover the bottom of the pan with a ¼ inch of liquid (wine, cider, beer, broth, water) so the drippings don’t burn.
450°F
breast side up, on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan. Transfer pan to the oven and roast 30
Cover breast with aluminum foil. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh reaches a temperature of 165 degrees

Method / Idea 2¶

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/very-classic-dry-brined-roast-turkey

Rubbing your bird down the day before you’re cooking it with a mixture of kosher salt and light brown sugar is the best (and easiest) way to ensure that your bird turns juicy and seasoned throughout, period.
when the breast meat hits 150°, the whole bird is done, no matter what the USDA says
Place oven rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 425°
Place turkey, breast side up, on rack in roasting pan and pour 1 cup water into pan. This will prevent drippings from burning.
Roast turkey, rotating pan back to front halfway through and adding more water by ½-cupfuls as needed to maintain some liquid in the pan, until skin is browned all over, 35–45 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 to finish cooking

Food Wishes - How to Cook Turkey: Part 1 - Prep and Roasting¶

https://youtu.be/bxjFqtfJlMs https://youtu.be/CK3Vm37OIz8

cook 18 minutes per pound
internal temp of 165 (test in thickest part of thigh)

Compound Butter¶

https://www.thespruceeats.com/perfect-turkey-compound-butter-recipe-101448

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 (20-pound) turkey

Poultry Seasoning¶

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/233909/homemade-poultry-seasoning/

2 sage
1.5 thyme
1 marjoram
.75 rosemary
.5 nutmeg
.5 black pepper

Cranberry Glaze¶

Cranberry Glaze | Thanksgiving Recipes | Martha Stewart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGCJQ2r6dU4

Butter Shallot Sage Leaves Juniper Berry Fresh Cranberry Maple Syrup Apple Cider Red Currant Jelly

Sweat shallots, sage, and butter
Add other ingredients
Cook/Simmer for 3ish minutes
Put contents into blender
Strain & Simmer until glaze consistency

Gravy¶

Gluten Free¶

Alternative Starches: How to thicken sauces without flour¶

Adam Ragusea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wndGXOoqRLs

Corn Starch Slurry¶

instead of Roux
have to simmer for a while to cook out the slurry taste

Roux¶

https://youtu.be/wndGXOoqRLs?t=421

Potato Starch or Rice Flower

Rice Flower slightly better (less flavor)

Flour + Butter
Whisk and brown roux
Add Stock

Will be super thick when re-heated, but otherwise a good alternative

Cooking liquid (3 cups)
Stock (4 cups)
1/2 cup cooked onions
salt & pepper
1 tbsp chopped sage

Food Wishes Fancy Gravy¶

https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2011/11/turkey-gravy-with-porcini-mushrooms-and.html

Stock: Onion, Celery, Carrot, Wine (Marsala or white), Garlic, bay leaf
Gravy: Butter, stock, heavy cream, salt & pepper

Sides¶

French Onion Green Bean Casserole Recipe¶

url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRLaPXLjK4w&t=17s