Let's Talk Turkey

I love Thanksgiving. I love everything about it. I love the fact that our entire nation has an entire 24 hour holiday dedicated to one meal. How fantastic is that? I love that I had a bottle of wine open by noon, that in 15 different recipes ranging from cranberry apple stuffing to ranch carrots to green bean casserole I used 9 sticks of butter. 9. Yes, 9. If I thought sausage meatballs would cause fits of joy in my minorly clogged arteries I had another thing coming. But I've decided to dedicate an entire post to the star of the show: The Turkey.

I had an affair this year. Truly, I did. At one point this Thanksgiving season my husband was unconvinced that I could spend one more second cleaning, tying, brining, buttering, basting, roasting, carving, stuffing or unstuffing a turkey. My love affair with the piquant poultry began more than 72 hours before the big day. And BELIEVE-YOU-ME, every second of every hour of every one of those three days was worth it. I'm going to apologize in advance for the lack of photos and while I'm at that for all photos in general. While cooking may be a minor forte photos certainly are not. All of the flurry of Thanksgiving activity and my mismanaged timeline caused an absolute onslaught once the timer went off. All I have to show for my labor is a photo of the prepped poultry, naked as the jay bird he was.

For the most part I followed this recipe but made some changes where I thought I could improve. My add ins are marked with **s.

Brined-Herb-Crusted Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy
Anne Burrell, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef

Brine
7 Qts water
1 Qt apple cider
3/4 Kosher salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced**
3 ribs celery, diced
1 head garlic, sliced in half
1/2 bunch fresh rosemary
1/2 bunch fresh thyme **
6 bay leaves
13 lb turkey, thawed giblets and neck removed

Herb Crust & Turkey Aromatics
1 bunch fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 bunch fresh thyme, finely chopped**
1/2 tsp dried basil **
1/2 tsp dried oregano **
3 sticks butter, room temperature

2 lemons, cut into quarters**
1 orange, cut in quarters**
1/2 bunch rosemary **

Gravy **
1 large onion, diced
2 large carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 granny smith apple, diced
5 bay leaves
1 cup apple cider
2 cups chicken stock

To brine the turkey: Combine all brine ingredients in a large container. Add the turkey and let brine overnight (2-3 nights prior to cooking), stirring occasionally.

The prepare the turkey for cooking: Remove turkey from brine and pat dry. Combine the rosemary, thyme, dried herbs, butter, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Work the butter under the skin massaging into breasts and legs. Lacquer that sucker on the outside as well. Let marinade in the refrigerator overnight. Be sure to keep raw food away from the turkey.

To cook the turkey: Remove the turkey from the fridge and stuff the with aromatics, lastly tying the legs together with kitchen string. Place all veggies listed under gravy in the bottom of a roasting pan and place the roasting rack on top of them. Place the turkey on the rack, breast side up. Roast covered at 325-350 degrees for 4 hours. Uncover the last hour to allow the turkey skin to brown. Be sure to baste the turkey every 30 minutes (secretly basting the turkey in melted butter DOES NOT HURT!). Add more chicken stock to the roasting pan if necessary. Allow turkey to rest, covered for 30 minutes after removing from the oven.

For the gravy: Gravy scares me. Intensely. As in night sweats. Ergo world's fastest gravy. After removing the turkey from the roasting pan strain ALL juices and veggies over a fine mesh strainer. Put all drippings into a pan. Boil over medium - high heat until reduced in half. Mix one tblsp cornstarch with 1 tblsp water. Whisk into the gravy mixture until mixture is smooth and creamy. VOILA!! Rich, flavorful gravy.

Go buy a turkey. NOW! Seriously! If you didn't cook this very turkey on Thanksgiving you just didn't do ol' Tom justice.