Delicious Thanksgiving Turkey

The idea of making a Thanksgiving turkey can be quite intimidating but don't worry, your favorite Nina is here to help you. My first year hosting Thanksgiving for family was quiet nerve racking and I spent a few weeks researching the best way to make my Thanksgiving turkey. I considered a number of methods and ultimately this what I came up with.

The first step to the perfect turkey is the brine. If you're not sure what a brine is, you are essentially soaking your meat in salted water. Because turkey is a very lean meat, brining helps ensure that you don't have a dry bird when carving time come around. Doing this helps bring extra moisture and flavor to the meat because the turkey absorbs the salt and water. Additionally, the salt helps break down the some of the turkey's muscle protein, helping to prevent a tough turkey, while infusing moisture to the bird.

Brine:

Peel from 1 orange

Peel from 1/2 lemon

1 large onion

5 tbsp. kosher salt

5 sprigs thyme

4 large bay leaves

4 cloves garlic

10 black peppercorns, smashed

Warm 4 cups of water and add 5 tbsp of kosher salt, stir so that salt dissolves in the water. Place your turkey in a large pot; be sure that the pot is large enough to contain a completely submerged turkey. Add all of brine ingredients to the pot. Allow the salted water to cool before pouring over the turkey, top off the brine with enough water to completely submerge the turkey. Place pot in refrigerator and brine overnight.

The next step for this delicious Thanksgiving turkey is the dry rub and butter, after all "butter makes everything better."

Start with preheating your oven at 350 degrees. After removing the turkey from the brine, pat it dry. Be sure to dry the turkey as much as possible because you are going to slather butter all over the bird to crisp this skin. I hope your mouth is watering because the thought of a moist turkey with crispy skin is absolutely ideal to me.

Butter:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tbsp. garlic paste

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

2 fresh thyme sprigs

In a bowl add garlic paste, thyme leaves, black pepper, and salt to softened butter and mix together.

Dry Seasoning:

1 tbsp. adobo all-purpose seasoning

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. ground oregano

1 tsp. celery salt

1 tsp. onion powder

1 packet sazon

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Turkey Aromatics:

1 onion, cut in half

1 orange, cut in half

5 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of oregano

4 cloves of garlic

Using a teaspoon of the dry seasoning, season the cavity of the turkey. With the breast side down fill the cavity with the aromatics. Season the turkey with dry rub and rub all over with the butter. Rub butter underneath the skin, being careful not to tear the skin, this will help to ensure crispness.

Place the turkey on a rack inside a large roasting pan, tucking the wing tips under. Season the neck of the turkey as well and place in the roasting pan to cook along with the turkey.

Place turkey in the middle of the oven and bake for 3 1/2 hours. After 3 hours of roasting, remove the turkey and cover the breast portion with foil like a tent. Place the turkey back in the oven and continue roasting. Remove turkey from oven when internal temperature of the breast and thigh region reaches 165 degrees F. You need about 15 minutes of cook time per pound of turkey, so be sure to adjust cook time based on weight of the turkey.

Remove the turkey from the roasting pan and place on a cutting board allowing to rest a minimum of 30 minutes before carving.

We are nearing the end! The last thing to complete our Thanksgiving turkey, the pièce de résistance; the gravy. DO NOT throw away the drippings at the bottom of your roasting pan. The drippings from the turkey will be the main ingredient for your gravy. Before making the gravy however, taste the drippings to be sure it's not to salty or has acquired a burnt taste. Skim as much excess fat off the top of the drippings before starting the gravy.

Gravy:

2 tbsp. cognac or brandy

2 cloves garlic

1/2 onion

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. water

Turkey neck

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Place your roasting pan over the front and back burners of your stove. With the heat set on low, whisk in cognac or brandy, allow to simmer for 3 minutes to allow the alcohol to burn off.

Using garlic cloves from the roasted turkey, smash them into a paste and add to drippings. Remove one half of onion from the turkey and thinly slice to add to drippings. Whisk in chicken broth and continue simmering.

Using a roux to thicken gravy is probably the most popular method, however I prefer using cornstarch. Mix cornstarch with water and whisk into the gravy. Simmer for 5 minutes or until gravy thickens. Please don't skip this step, adding plain cornstarch to any hot liquid will make it lumpy and cause it to not emulsify properly.

I have not forgotten the turkey neck. You are going to strip the meat from the neck, chop into pieces, add to gravy along with black pepper.

Be sure to taste gravy as you go along to adjust seasoning levels as needed.

I hope this recipe serves you well and it's all you want and desire in your Thanksgiving turkey. If you have any questions, feel free to email me and I'll try to answer as best as possible.

Love Always,

Nina

#turkey #meat #Thanksgiving