I brined my turkey for Thanksgiving this week and it came out GREAT. I'd recommend it for almost anyone. I used Alton's Brown's recipe for the most part:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html
I used a 20lb fresh, natural(no injections or solutions) foster farms turkey instead of a 14 to 16lb frozen. I kept the brine solution recipe the same.
I brined my turkey for Thanksgiving this week and it came out GREAT. I'd recommend it for almost anyone. I used Alton's Brown's recipe for the most part:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html
I used a 20lb fresh, natural(no injections or solutions) foster farms turkey instead of a 14 to 16lb frozen. I kept the brine solution recipe the same.
I brined on Tuesday night, took it out of the solution Wednesday afternoon, patted it dry, then put it on a rack over a cookie sheet on the bottom rack of my fridge until Thursday morning, to air dry. This I did on the advice of some experienced briners, who suggested that letting it dry out would help give me a nice, brown skin. Which is did. For the first time ever I had a turkey that looked like something from a Norman Rockwell painting. And it tasted sensational too.
I don't know if the drying period was neccessary, since I used alton's high heat method, so maybe it would have been just as brown without that drying period.
That high heat method requires you to start the turkey at 500 degrees for the first half hour, then reducing the heat to 350 ( the turkey was done in just about 3 hours!) This made for a perfect color..and maybe sealed the skin early to help with the moisture. BUT.. it filled most of my house with smoke just about the time the guests were arriving. Most of the smoke was in the kitchen, because I shut all the doors. If I do this again, which I will, I'll bring my upright fan into the kitchen and vent the smoke out of the house during that time. It was ten degrees outside while I was doing this, so it was problematic, but it's pretty rare for us to be that cold on Turkey day.
Anyway.. it was a MAJOR success for all of you who are curious. I used a 5 gallon igloo beverage cooler to do the brining, brined for 16 hours, turned the turkey over halfway through. That was the hardest part, as I managed to spill turkey brine on the floor while doing the turning. Hard to get the turkey OUT without spillage. BUT.. I had moved that ice chest into the basement (coldest part of the house) where the floor is concrete, so clean up was easy. Also,..in addition to the brining solution and ice water, I had a couple of frozen bottles of water in there to help keep that water the right temperature without diluting the solution.
That's about it for the Turkey Brining report!
I also tried a new sweet potato recipe, also from the food network, Guy Fieri's Whiskey Glazed Sweet Potatoes. It was a major hit with the guests. Here's the recipe: (I'd recommend doubling the whiskey sauce recipe)
Ingredients
- 3 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 large)
- 1 cup pecans
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for preparing baking dish
- 3/4 cup agave syrup, preferably amber
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup whiskey
- 2 cups crisp apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1-inch pieces
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and cook the potatoes whole, do not pierce. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Lightly squeeze the potatoes – if they are soft, they are done. Let cool.
In a small saute pan over high heat, add the pecans and lightly toast. Add 4 tablespoons of butter, reduce the heat to medium, add the agave and spices, and allow to simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the whiskey and continue to simmer for 5 minutes more.
Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8-inch baking dish. Arrange the sweet potatoes, alternating with the apples. Pour the whiskey-pecan mixture over the top and place in the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes, basting the top with the whiskey sauce once at 15 minutes.
Remove and serve immediately.
OH..and that was a great make-ahead recipe. I roasted the Sweet Potatoes on tuesday, and kept them unpeeled in my fridge. I cored, peeled and sliced the apples the day before, and stored them in a plastic tube coverd in apple juice (to stop them from browning) then put the dish together in just a few minutes while the turkey was cooking..made the glaze and poured it over the casserole during the last hour, and popped it in the oven when the turkey came out.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
dian
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