Turkey Countdown, Day 6

As I mentioned in the first installment of the Turkey Countdown diaries, Thanksgiving has been hosted by my brother and his wife for the last two years. Being that my sister-in-law is preggars, my brother wanted my Mom to host this year. Fine. Dandy. However, in typical-my-bro-fashion, he neglected to communicate this to my mother, who assumed that turkey day would, again, be hosted by he and his wife. Apparently, there are plans for my parents' kitchen to be torn up next week, so we either have it at Steve's or go to a restaurant. And I aint' comin home to go to a restaurant. Fine. Dandy. My mother and I will go over to his house the day before TG and start cooking.

THEN my brother says "Oh, and since there will only be 5 of us this year, we're just going to get a turkey breast."
Pause.
A TURKEY BREAST?!?!?!?!?! No, Steve: no. I said, "OK, Rachel Ray. This isn't 30 minute meals- it's Thanksgiving. I want a whole turkey. It can weigh 2 lbs for all I care (are there 2 lb turkeys? Probably not), but it BETTER be a whole turkey and not just the breast."
"Whole turkeys are a lot of work! Especially for only 5 people", he says.
"Fine, I will come over to your house that morning at 7 AM and start preparing the bird. Seriously. I'll do it. I've been looking forward to this meal/vacation/family time for MONTHS. We're not half-assing it."
Pause.
"I'll consider it."

I'm calling my mother tonight to make sure she purchases the bird.

And since the topic of last night's convo was turkey, let's get to it. The main event. The reason for the season. The fowl of the festivites. Tom himself:



There are hundreds of ways to prepare the turkey. Roasting, deep frying (Robert can't WAIT to do this), brined and roasted, marinated and grilled...
Here is a more classic recipe:

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
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.


Here are a few more ideas that are making me drool:

Maple-roasted turkey with sage, smoked bacon, and cornbread stuffing
Cranberry glazed breast of turkey (THIS is what my brother wants to make)
Turkey with Herbes de Provence and citrus
Roasted Turkey with Pomegranate Sauce and Wild Rice and Goat Cheese Stuffing



Man, how do vegetarians do it?