Try This for Your Thanksgiving Turkey This Year

Steve’s Roast Turkey and Stuffing

 

Turkey Brine

By Rachel Buchanan Savicz

 

7 quarts (28 cups water)

1 ½ cups coarse salt

6 bay leaves

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

1 tablespoon dried juniper berries

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds

1 18 to 20 pound fresh whole turkey, patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver reserved for stuffing

1 bottle dry Riesling

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bunch fresh thyme

 

Bring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved. Let cool for 5 minutes. Line a 5-gallon container with large brining or oven-roasting bag. Place turkey in bag. Add salt mixture, remaining water, and the other ingredients. Tie bag; if turkey is not submerged, weight it with a plate. Refrigerate 24 hours, flipping turkey once. Yield: Brine for an 18 to 20 pound turkey.

 

Roast Turkey

By Rachel Buchanan Savicz

 

1 18 to 20 pound turkey

Melted butter

Wine

1 teaspoon each, salt and pepper

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Stir together melted butter and wine in a medium bowl. Fold a very large piece of cheesecloth into quarters so it is large enough to cover breast and halfway down sides of turkey. Immerse cloth in butter mixture; let soak.

 

Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan. Fold wing tips under turkey. Sprinkle salt and pepper inside turkey. Loosely fill body and neck cavities with stuffing. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Fold neck flap under; secure with toothpicks. Rub turkey all over with softened butter; season with salt and pepper. Remove cheesecloth from butter mixture, squeezing gently into bowl. Reserve butter mixture for brushing. Lay cheesecloth over turkey. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Roast 30 minutes.

 

Brush cheesecloth and exposed turkey with butter mixture. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Roast, brushing every 30 minutes, 2 ½ hours more; cover with foil if browning too quickly. If making gravy, add giblets and neck to pan 1 ½ hours after reducing temperature; roast 30 minutes more and reserve.

 

Discard cheesecloth; rotate pan. Baste turkey with pan juices. Roast, rotating pan halfway through, until skin is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 180 degrees and stuffing reaches 165 degrees, about 1 hour. Transfer to a platter. Set pan with drippings aside for gravy. Let turkey stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes. Garnish, if desired. Yield: About 12 servings.

 

Stuffing

By Virginia Schonbachler

 

2 16 ounce packages Brownberry stuffing mix

2 16 ounce cans chicken broth

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

1 8 ounce packaged sliced button mushrooms (may substitute chopped onions and celery for the mushrooms)

 

Mix together. Add hot water if dry. Spray aluminum pan with vegetable spray, scoop stuffing in pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

 

From the official BryonySeries cookbook, "Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony."

 

Proceeds donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties (www.bbbswillgrundy.org). Order the cookbook at http://www.bryonyseries.com/Dalton_s_Dry_Goods.html