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Holiday Bird recipes


Cunning Linguist
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Last year we talked about brining birds for the holidays and there were alot of great recipes posted.

For the newbs or in case anybody missed it, here is one that i've used many times.

 

I use a combination of Alton Browns and Wolfgang Pucks Brine recipe with a few of my own additions like honey and cinnamon, but use the same basic steps/measurements as above recipe. Wolfgangs veggie base is a must and his neck gravy makes the dish.

 

I highly recommend trying this if you haven't already. I'm sure Bier and other pros will be along with more twists to this.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Alton Browns:

 

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1/2 tablespoon allspice berries

1/2 tablespoon candied ginger

1 gallon iced water

For the aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

Canola oil

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

 

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

 

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

 

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

 

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

 

************

 

Wolfgangs Recipe: ( I like Altons cooking part better, it seems to seal the juice better)

 

Brine:

1 gallon water

1/2 ounce ground cloves

1/2 ounce ground ginger

4 ounces cracked black peppercorns

12 bay leaves

1 pound kosher salt

24 ounces honey

24 ounces maple syrup

1 (10-pound) whole fresh turkey, giblets and neck removed and reserved for stock

1 stick butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

2 apples, quartered and cored

1 onion, peeled and quartered

2 rosemary sprigs

3 sprigs sage

Olive oil, for drizzling

 

1 cup cubed carrots

1 cup cubed celery

1 cup cubed onions

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup Madeira wine

4 cups turkey stock, recipe follows

1 sprig thyme

2 sprigs parsley

Beurre manie (2 ounces butter mixed with 2 ounces flour until it forms a soft dough)

Salt and pepper

 

In a large stockpot, bring the water, cloves, ginger, black peppercorn, bay leaves and salt to a boil. Lower to a simmer and stir in the honey and maple syrup until well blended. Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Rinse the turkey inside and out with cold tap water. Reserve the neck and specialty meats for pan gravy. Set the turkey in the brine, making sure that the turkey is fully immersed in the brine. Place a weight on top of the turkey to make sure it is always covered with brine. Marinate for at least 4 hours to overnight, depending on the weight of the turkey, in the refrigerator.

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

 

In a shallow roasting pan, place the carrots, celery and onions. Remove turkey from brine.

 

Mix together the butter, garlic, chopped rosemary, and sage to make a compound butter. Using your hands, loosen to the skin from the breast by gently inserting your fingers between the skin and the flesh. Rub the compound butter underneath the skin. Insert the apples, onions, and whole rosemary and sage into the cavity of the turkey.

 

Place the turkey over the vegetables, breast-side up, in the roasting pan. Tuck the wings back and under the turkey. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together. This will make a compact shape and will create a great presentation. Drizzle the turkey with olive oil and rub it into the skin. Roast the turkey to at least 165 degrees F in the breast, about 2 1/2 hours. If the skin gets too dark during roasting, tent with foil.

 

Transfer turkey to a platter and allow to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the pan gravy.

 

Tilt the pan and skim as much fat as possible off the juice with a spoon. Set the pan on 2 burners set on medium heat. Deglaze roasting pan with white wine and Madeira. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any brown bits. Reduce until only a quarter remains. Add the turkey stock, thyme and parsley. Bring to a boil and strain into a saucepan. Bring back to a boil, skim and lower to a simmer. Whisk in the beurre manie until well incorporated and continue to cook until gravy has thickened. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

 

Turkey Stock:

Giblets and neck from 1 turkey

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup port wine

1 cup roughly chopped onions

1/2 cup roughly chopped carrots

1/2 cup roughly chopped celery

2 sprigs rosemary

5 peppercorns

Water, to cover

Heat a saucepan over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and heat. Add the neck and giblets and cook until browned all over, about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and deglaze with the port. Return the pan to the heat and cook until the port is almost completely evaporated, about 10 minutes.

Add the carrots, onions, celery, rosemary and peppercorns. Cover with cold water by 4-inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer for 2 hours, adding a little more water, if necessary. Skim any scum that rises to the surface of the stock and discard.

 

Strain the stock. Use immediately, or cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

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i've done turky a lot of different ways. this year i am not cooking :D

 

i'll post some recipes either tomorrow or sunday.

 

Looking forward. We don't get to fancy with the bird but I am always looking for decent ideas that aren't too hard for the non chef type.

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My wife is talking about brining the turkey before deep frying it this year. Anyone done this before?

 

 

 

I'd be a little concerned about brining a turkey that's going to be deep fried because the increased moisture is likely to go snap, crackle pop when it hits the oil. I always inject my fried turkey with this recipe:

 

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cans chicken broth

2 cups water

3 tbs seasoned salt

3 tbs salt free herb seasoning

2 sticks butter

1 tbs lemon pepper

4-5 cloves of garlic (I usually use 7-8, but I loves me the garlic)

 

Place all ingredients into a pot and simmer for about an hour until garlic is tender. Adjust flavors to your taste. Let cool and puree in blender. Strain thru cheese cloth. Inject the bird. Enjoy.

 

 

If you do brine a fried turkey, let me know how it goes.

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I stopped by the butcher shop today and grabbed the last fresh bird they had. :D I'm not cooking for tomorrow. The gang that will be at mom's is so big there won't be many left-overs, thus the 22 lb. bird in my refrigerator.

 

I'm going to do it up Food Network style, propped up on fresh root veggies. Into the cavity goes various citrus and onion. A butter and herb mixture will be rubbed in both under and over the skin.

 

I just downed a plate of spaghetti and I'm getting hungry thinking about this bird. :homerdrool:

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Well, the brined turkey was fantastic as always. This year, i smoked it slow and low, instead of roasting. My Father-in-law marinated a beef brisket, and we smoked that as well. I made Biers gravy and man was it great!! It was a perfect compliment to the rest of the fixins. I can't wait till tomorow for sammiches!! :D

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