Thanksgiving --- I love it. Drinking coffee and making blueberry muffins, while watching the Macy's parade. Been doing that for the past 25 years.
But, that's just a small part of the T-giving prep in the Restaurant Quality kitchen. The main event is the turkey and gravy. Now, up to about four years ago, I 'just' roasted a turkey (and prayed to Miles Standish, patron saint of Thanksgiving dinner that the darn thing was not raw) and then I'd dump a package of turkey gravy mix into the pan drippings.
A couple of years ago, I started to read about 'that trendy brining' that everyone was talking about. Sounded much to 'chef-ish' to me. But, I tried it and I'll never make a turkey any other way (unless I try 'that trendy salting' that I read about this year). And, made from scratch gravy ---- I could never do that! Until I discovered this apple cider gravy recipe.
Yesterday, from around the table came a boatload (think Mayflower) of compliments. When #2 Son goes on and on about how good the gravy is, I know St. Barefoot Contessa has been watching over me.
These recipes come from Bon Appetit, five years ago.
I'll break it down into brining, herb butter and gravy, roasting. I roasted a 20 pound turkey, and the following recipe amounts worked well. I brine the turkey in a 5 gallon bucket (paint bucket) lined with 2 13 gallon plastic garbage bags (one inside the other).
16-20 pound turkey, with the neck and other stuff removed, of course. Reserve the neck for the roasting process.
The brining process begins on Tuesday (for Thanksgiving Day).
Brining
8 quarts cold water
2 cups kosher salt (don't let that amount of salt scare you)
8 bay leaves
2 T. black peppercorns
2 T. whole allspice
In a large pan, combine 1 quart water, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, and allspice.
Stir, over medium heat, until salt dissolves. Remove from heat.
Add 1 quart water and cool to lukewarm.
Pour into the plastic bags.
Add the remaining 6 quarts water.
Submerge turkey in brine to cover completely; gather bags tightly to eliminate any air; tie bags closed. I used 'twisty ties'.
The brining turkey needs to be 'refrigerated'. Who has a refrig big enough for that? Solution: Place the bucket in the garage. Now, it's going to be very heavy. This is where Mr. Restaurant Quality comes in handy; well, it's one of the many ways Mr. Restaurant Quality comes in handy.
Turkey needs to brine for at least 18 hours and up to 20 hours.
When brining time is up, line a large roasting pan with 4 layers of paper towels.
Remove turkey from brine; drain well. Discard brine. Rinse turkey with tap water, and pat dry. Place turkey in prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Herb Butter and Gravy
3 T. minced fresh Italian parsley
3 T. minced fresh thyme*
3 T. minced fresh sage*
3 T. minced fresh marjoram*
1 t. minced fresh rosemary*
1 t. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
* during the holidays, you can find 'poultry blend' fresh herbs in the produce section of the grocery store. You know, where you see the fresh herbs packaged and on a hanging display. The poultry blend contains thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary. Buy one package of the poultry blend and mince all of it. Use the contents of one package, along with the parsley and nutmeg.
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups apple cider
3 T. all purpose flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 T. Calvados (apple brandy) or 'regular' brandy (from my old-fashioned stock)
Mix parsley, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, and nutmeg in small bowl.
Transfer 1/4 cup herb mixture to small bowl; mix in 1 stick of butter.
Combine broth and apple cider in heavy large saucepan.
Boil until reduced to 3 cups. Pour broth reduction in bowl. Melt remaining 1/2 stick butter in same saucepan, over med-high heat. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Whisk in broth reduction, then cream, brandy, and remaining herb mixture. Bring to boil; reduce heat to med-low and simmer until gravy base is thickened and reduced to 2 3/4 cups, whisking often.
Cool gravy base slightly. (Gravy base and herb butter can be made 2 days ahead. If making ahead, cover and refrigerate. I 'covered' by placing plastic wrap directly on the surface of the herb butter and on the surface of the gravy base.)
Roasting
2 granny smith apples, quartered, cored
2 onions, quartered
1 cup apple cider
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Remove turkey from refrig and remove from roasting pan.
Drain any accumulated juices from main cavity.
Discard paper towels from roasting pan.
Melt herb butter.
Brush bottom of roasting pan with some of the herb butter.
Return turkey to prepared pan.
Place some apple quarters and onion quarters in main cavity.
Tie legs together.
Brush remaining herb butter over turkey; sprinkle with pepper.
Scatter remaining apples and onions around turkey in pan. Add reserved turkey neck to the pan.
Roast turkey for 1 hour.
Baste with 1/2 cup apple cider. Roast turkey 30 minutes. Baste with remaining 1/2 cup apple cider. Continue roasting, basting every 30 minutes with pan juices. Total cooking time: about 3 1/2 hours. If using meat thermometer, roast until 175 degrees.
Cover turkey loosely with foil if browning too quickly. I've made this recipe twice and each time the turkey gets a gorgeous brown --- straight out of a food stylist textbook. But, I have had to cover with foil.
Transfer turkey to platter; cover with foil and let stand at least 30 minutes before carving. (This Fabulous Fowl needs to rest before showtime.)
Discard apples, onions, and turkey neck from pan.
Pour pan juices into large glass measure cup; spoon off fat from surface. Pour degreased juices into the gravy base and bring to boil over med-high heat, whisking occasionally. Boil until gravy thickens and is reduced to 3 1/2 cups. (Had to add about 3 T. flour to get it to thicken; I think I added too much of the pan juices. Ellen was in charge of the whisking and 'saved' the gravy.)
Season to taste with pepper.
Serve turkey with gravy.
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