"Turkey Trot Trot Trot across the Lot Lot Lot, Feeling Fine Fine Fine, Until Thanksgiving Time"

Friday was the first of several Thanksgiving events for our family.  Actually Friday way the first 2 of several Thanksgiving events.  The Air Force picked Friday to be turkey day so we went to Bella's preschool (on base) for Thanksgiving lunch and then went over to the hanger where Tony works for a 2 hour (really? two hours?) Thanksgiving celebration (it actually turned out to be 3.5 hours, whoa I mean whoa that's a lot of male bounding over some turkey folks, though I think I may have made friends with a girl in Tony's shop, so yay for new friends)

I happen to think I make one of the BEST Turkeys out there (ego I know but I PROMISE it's AH-MAZING) and since I got up at 7:30 AM on my day off, with no kids to take to school, to roast a turkey, I figured I'd share with you.

So what are the secrets to the perfect turkey you ask.  There are two, the brine (if you've never brined your turkey, this is why it comes out dry no matter what you do to prevent it) and the Turkey Triangle (Alton Brown you are a genius!)

So for the brine.  I use the recipe from Chez Panisse because their turkeys have been rated the BEST in the country for years.  So here's what you need:

A large Stainless Steel Stock Pot (the brine contains A LOT of salt which may pit aluminum pots)

2 1/2 gallons cold water

1 1/2-1 3/4 cups kosher salt

1 cup granulated sugar

2 bay leaves

1 bunch fresh thyme (or 1/4 cup dried)

1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled

5 whole crushed allspice berries

4 juniper berries, smashed (I can NEVER find these in the stores here in eastern NC so I know from experience picking them straight off the bush is totally FINE)


What to do:


Mix everything together in your pot, making sure that all of the salt and sugar has dissolved.  Then add your turkey. (do I need to tell you to remove all packaging and organs? yes? ok do that first).  Make sure the turkey is COMPLETELY submerged


Let the bad boy refrigerate at least 12 hours but no more than 24 hours ( I've been known to fudge it and only do 6 hours and it's worked out just fine).  Another good lesson learned, if it's cold enough outside and there is no room left in the fridge cause well it is Thanksgiving, you can toss everything in a cooler and set it outside.


When you're ready to roast the turkey remove him from the brine and give him a good rinse in cold water, and pat dry. 


Here's where the genius of Alton Brown comes in.  I saw his Thanksgiving special (Romancing the Bird, I think it was called) a few years ago, the man is kooky but brilliant none the less.


Rub your turkey down with Canola oil (doesn't change the flavor but promotes browning)


Take a large piece of aluminum foil and form it into a triangle over the Turkey's breast leaving the legs exposed, remove and set aside


Place aromatics inside the cavity.  Alton suggests seeping a whole cinnamon stick, apple (sliced), and onion (quartered) in hot water for 8 minutes before placing inside.  I use a quartered apple and onion, skip the seeping and the cinnamon, I did it by the book one year and had cinnamon flavored turkey, not bad but definitely not what I was going for.


Place your turkey in a roasting pan, breast up (VERY IMPORTANT, messed this up one year too).  Tuck the wings under themselves so the tips don't burn, and place your turkey feet first into a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes.


When your 30 minutes are up you'll have a beautifully browned breast but a mostly uncooked bird.  

Here in lies the genius of the Turkey triangle.

Place your triangle back over the breast.  (This prevents burning).  Drop your oven to 350 degrees and continue roasting for 2-2.5 hours or until your turkey reaches 161 degrees in the thickest part. (if you're measuring the temp use a digital meat thermometer and NEVER remove the probe, if you do you'll release all those lovely juices that we've been working so hard to save.


When your turkey is ready to come out of the oven remove and cover with aluminum foil, another pot, a lid whatever you have on hand, until you are ready to serve (at least 10 minutes though if you're ready right as he comes out).  These lets the meat rest and keeps everything nice and hot too.  I left mine covered for over an hour Friday and he was still PERFECT by the time we got around to eating him.

Now of course me being me I forgot to take a picture of the finished bird but here's one from Alton's page on FoodNetwork.com  My presentation wasn't quite up to par but my bird was almost an exact match.

Happy Roasting Folks!