Ten recipes for the table: two roast turkeys, gravy, cranberry sauce, two stuffings, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie.
Brined overnight and roasted hot, or butter, broth and foil in about two hours.
Good Eats Roast Turkey
5.0 ×158920 min16 servings
1 frozen young turkey
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berry
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon ice water
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
canola oil
Method
Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stock pot and bring to a boil.
Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature 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 500F 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°F.
Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161°F.
A 14-16 pound bird should require a total of 2-2 1/2 hours of roasting.
Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.
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Moist and Tender Turkey (Or Turkey Breast)
5.0 ×136130 min1 turkey
1 fresh or frozen turkey (thawed) or 1 (5 -20 lb) turkey breast (thawed)
1/4 cup butter, melted
12 ounces chicken broth (can use part beer or white wine)
1 -2 tablespoon mayonnaise
Method
Place turkey or turkey breast in a roasting pan.
(I use a disposable roasting pan) Combine melted butter and chicken broth.
Pour over turkey.
Rub mayonnaise all over turkey's exterior.
Salt and pepper lightly if desired.
Roast at 300°-325°F until internal temperature reaches 170°F on an instant read thermometer. (I raise the temperature to 350° for the last approximate 30-45 minutes to crisp skin).
(I roast my 18-20 lbs. fresh turkey at 250°F in a convection oven. It takes about 4 hours to reach the correct temperature.).
Remove from oven and let sit for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Note: because the butter and broth are for making gravy, if you need to make a lot of gravy, double the amount of both.
To make gravy: pour pan drippings into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add 1 Tbls. cornstarch per cup of broth/drippings to 1/4 cup cold water. (You'll usually need 2-3 Tbls) Mix well to dissolve. Stir cornstarch mixture into broth and stir until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. If too thin, dissolve more cornstarch in water and add until desired thickness. If too thick, add water or more broth to thin.
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Kittencal's Easy No-Fail Make Anytime Turkey Gravy
5.0 ×22820 min5 cups (approx)
1/2 cup butter (can use hard margarine)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (more is better, I use freshly ground pepper)
4 cups pan drippings (or see options below the recipe)
Method
Drain the pan drippings for the roasted turkey through a fine strainer.
Let sit and then remove any fat from the top of the drippings.
Add in chicken broth or water to make 4 cups if necessary.
In a medium saucepan, melt margarine or butter.
Add in lots of black pepper.
Add in 1/2 cup flour plus 3 tablespoons; constantly whisk for about 3 minutes over low heat.
Slowly add in the 4 cups turkey broth/drippings; whisk constantly over medium-low heat until bubbly and thickened (about 3 minutes).
Use right away or keep warm over lowest heat setting, whisk again before serving.
**OPTIONS** to make this gravy using all chicken broth prepare as directed using 4 cups low sodium chicken broth and 1 tablespoon chicken boullion powder ---- or you may add in low sodium chicken broth omitting bouillon powder to pan drippings to make up 4 cups.
The brined turkey takes a day. Its time includes the overnight brine. The second turkey is the one to pick on the morning of.
Head counts are the source's. The brined turkey serves sixteen, the stuffings eight and ten, the pie six. Ask your agent to scale any of them to your table and the ingredient list follows.
Ask for the order of work. "Plan the day so everything is ready at four": every ticket carries its prep and cook time, so the timetable is one question.
