Thanksgiving, Part 2: Big Bad Voodoo Birdie

This is the year I learn to carve.

In the first part of this series, we had a little something to whet our appetite. Now... it’s on to the main event: Das Turkey and Gravy!                                   

Now that my beloved Cook’s Illustrated magazine has dashed every last one of my images of the superiority of the Deistel Ranch Free Range Turkeys (voted best tasting by the SF Chronicle), by essentially telling me in their latest issue that – Hey... a frozen bird is just as good, and besides, buying a Kosher bird means no need for brining! – I am obviously re-evaluating my very existence.  Be that as it may, I am so hoping to still convince Christopher to order our fresh Deistel Ranch range-grown bird (at a mere $2.99 a pound!) from Bi-Rite again. I think I’ll try to convince him that we’re really supporting green agriculture and a local store.  Yeah, that’s the ticket.

When you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner, it’s pretty much expected that the bird is up to you.  I remember the year back in North Beach when we did the turkey in the bag, and later I accidentally flushed $15 worth of gorgeous demi-glace from our neighborhood butcher down the drain because I got too distracted and put the strainer in the SINK instead of into a bowl. Ah, memories – and not all happy ones.

 Each year I’ve pretty much cobbled together my methods from experience, what’s available, and various recipes from Cook’s Illustrated, Everyday Food, foodnetwork.com, and other strange and questionable on-line sources, like the one that showed me how to make a pan gravy without flour, so Miss Kay, our gluten-intolerant Gal Friday, could eat some.  
I wouldn’t recommend this method to everyone as it can be fraught with error if you are also providing the rest of the meal, or even big portions of it. Has the turkey been in for 2 hours or 3?  Was I supposed to have added the slurry of corn starch and water NOW, or right before serving?  Have  the crescent rolls been in too long?  And what is this half-cup of chopped rosemary supposed to have gone into?  You get the idea.

So... I’ve done the work for you, by combining instructions from several sources, including my own touches, into the methods you see here. As long as you can really really really prepare ahead of time, make a timeline and stick to it (with allowance for the unexpected) and really keep your shit together, you can definitely pull it off. I’m not exactly the picture of grace under pressure, so if I can have fun and want to do this again and again, you shouldn’t be afraid to try.

Squat and Gobble

BRINED ROASTED TURKEY with SAGE, BUTTER, HERBS and LEMONS
Prep time: 16-30 hours
Total roasting, with resting time while gravy is made: 5 ½ hours

The turkeys we have here in the US for wide commercial distribution have often been bred for size and the lowest common denominator of taste.  That means that cooks are usually trying to add more moisture and taste to turkeys, especially the ever-popular white meat, which is often grown overly huge and can be dry and even bland.  Brining a fresh or frozen (and completely thawed!) turkey makes a big big difference, but I wasn’t always convinced.

The first year we did it, we just tried a simple salt-water brine, and, while not terrible by any means, it lacked that special “it” factor we were hoping for after we’d spend 15 minutes trying to measure out the water and salt, 8 hours of the think taking up most of our fridge with a shelf removed, and another 24 hours drying out in the same spot.  

Last year, though, I added more than just salt, and the results were delightful.  The finished turkey had a stinging onion and pepper snap, and was juicy as all get out, with savory goodness in each bite. The bright and rich flavors of the lemons and herbs from inside the bird not only add to the flavor of the meat, but to the flavor of the good stuff in the pan which will eventually become delicious gravy.

If you’re not using a Koshered bird (which has already been salt-cured), try brining. I really now think it’s worth the bit of added hassle.  If you’ve got the time, don’t skip the air-drying step... it produces a really crisp skin.  Just build an extra day into your timeline and you’re golden.

C'pher diving into the briny deep

For the Turkey and Brine:

• 1 12-14 pound turkey (easily serves 8-10 with leftovers), rinsed thoroughly, giblets and neck reserved for gravy, tailpiece, liver, and any hard plastic shipping collars removed and discarded.

• 1 large food-safe plastic container, big enough to hold the turkey submerged in 2 gallons of water without overflowing.

• 2 gallons water
• 2 cups kosher salt (or 1 cup table salt)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large yellow onions, quartered, the outer dry layers peeled and discarded
• 1/3 cup black or mixed peppercorns
• 1-2 bay leaves

Fill the container with the water. Add salt and sugar and stir for several minutes to dissolve. Place the turkey in the solution, being sure to have the open cavity facing up so the inside fills with liquid and can be submerged. Reserve half of one onion, and add the rest of the quarters, the peppercorns and bay leaves to the solution. Mix to distribute.

Place a heavy, non-reactive plate or bowl atop the turkey to keep it submerged. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator. Let sit for 6-8 hours, mixing the solution once or twice during the brining, if possible, just to keep the flavors distributed.

Prime real estate, Turkey!

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse inside and out with cool running water. Pat dry inside and out, and place breast-side up on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet (or some other configuration that will keep it from sitting in moisture).  Refrigerate, uncovered, for 8 to 24 hours.

To Prepare the Turkey:

• 1 stick (¼  lb.) softened unsalted butter
• salt & pepper
• 2 large lemons, cleaned and quartered
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled, trimmed, and quartered
• sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage, cleaned
• 1 head of Garlic, topped, and cut in half
• 4-6 large carrots, topped and halved cross-wise
• 2-3 stalks celery, cleaned and halved cross-wise

Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position, and pre-heat the oven to 350º F. Bring the turkey to room temperature while you prepare the vegetables, herbs and lemons.  Reserve several whole sage leaves, a sprig or two of rosemary, half of the onion, and half the head of garlic.  Also reserve half the carrots and celery with about 1 Tbsp of all the fresh herbs. Keep them with the onion half you used for the brine (if you still have it).  Tie the remaining herbs in a bundle with kitchen twine if you wish.

With the turkey on a flat work-surface, carefully work your hand under the skin of the breast, thigh and drumstick areas, taking care to tear the skin as little as possible. Once loose, transfer the turkey to the roasting rack you’ll be using.

Take the butter a couple of tablespoons at a time and rub it under the skin of the turkey, on the outside of the skin, inside the cavity and all around the bird. Distribute salt and pepper the same way. Take the whole sage leaves, coated in a little bit of butter, and slid them under the skin in as decorative a pattern as you can manage, especially over the breast.

Take the herb bundle, onion, garlic, and lemons and stuff them inside the cavity – stuff a few pieces into the neck cavity and close it up by folding the remaining loose skin and fastening with skewers or trussing needles.  Bend the wing tips, snapping the bones a little if necessary, under the main body of the turkey to prevent them burning too much. With a trussing kit or kitchen twine, tie up the legs and close the opening so the stuffing won’t fall out, making sure the string is well coated with butter.

Place the reserved rosemary, the remaining onion quarters, and the remaining half head of garlic (individual cloves broken up) in the bottom of the roasting pan with the 2-3 carrots,  and 1-2 celery stalks, keeping herbs and vegetables close to the middle of the pan.  Place the roasting rack atop them, being sure it’s stable and not actually sitting directly on any of them. (If you do not have a roasting rack, use a few extra whole large carrots to fashion one for the turkey to sit on.)

Tent turkey loosely with foil, but leave a space big enough for adding water to the roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and then add 4-6 cups water.  Close oven and roast without disturbing for 1 hour. Then, remove from oven and baste every 30 minutes with pan juices, adding extra water if necessary, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (avoiding the bone) registers 125º F, about 3 hours.

Remove foil; raise oven temperature to 400º F. Continue roasting, basting occassionally, until thigh temperature reaches 180º F, 45-60 minutes more. Tent with foil if the turkey browns too quickly.

Remove pan from oven, and transfer turkey to cutting board (or serving platter if presenting it whole at tableside before carving), cover loosely with foil, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before carving.

TURKEY GRAVY
with a gluten-free variation

Reserved from earlier portions of these recipes:

• turkey neck and giblets, roughly chopped
• ½ large yellow onion, chopped (about ½ cup or more)
• 2-3 large carrots, peeled and chopped (about ½ cup or more)
• 1-2 stalks celery, cleaned and chopped
• 1 scant Tbsp each fresh rosemary, thyme and sage, roughly chopped

Additionally:

• ½ stick (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 cups chicken or turkey broth or stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup dry white wine
• ½ cup AP flour*
• salt & pepper

While the turkey roasts, prepare turkey parts, vegetables, and herbs.  In a large, heavy saucepan (big enough to hold 8 cups of broth), melt 3 Tbsp butter, and cook neck and giblets, onion, carrots, celery and garlic until evenly browned, about 15 minutes. Add the broth, herbs, bay leaf; cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 2 hours. Strain off solids, and keep resultant broth warm.

When turkey is done, remove roasting rack from pan, and set rack across two burners on the stovetop set to medium-low heat. Deglaze the pan; pour wine into pan and reduce by half, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon.  Remove any large solids, and pour the liquid through a sieve into fat-separating measuring cup (alternatively, put the liquid in a regular measuring cup and put the whole thing in the freezer for a few minutes to separate the fat from the liquid).  Ladle off ½ cup of the fat and discard the rest. Add the wine liquid to the broth base, and increase the heat if necessary to be sure it is hot.

Return the roasting pan or a large skillet to medium-high heat. Warm the ½ cup of fat (or add some more butter if you don’t have enough fat from the liquid) into the roasting pan, and once heated, sprinkle the flour evenly over it, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the flour begins to bown slightly and smells toasty, about 4 minutes.

Switch to a whisk, then gradually and carefully ladle the hot broth into the pan while whisking constantly, breaking up any lumps you see.

Bring the gravy to a boil, then adjust the heat so it simmers gently. Skim and discard any excess fat. Add any accumulated juices from the turkey carving process to the gravy, and continue to whisk until the gravy is thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

*To make this gravy gluten-free, omit the flour.  Instead, once the excess fat is skimmed from the deglazing, reserve ¼ cup of either liquid and be sure it is cooled off.  Then return the wine mixture to the pan, add the broth and heat to a simmer.

Now you’ll use the reserved cool liquid to make a slurry; a mixture of cornstarch and liquid.  You’ll essentially want 2 teaspoons of cornstarch for every cup of liquid. In this case (about 8 cups of liquid), you’ll need 4 Tbsp plus another 2 tsp cornstarch.   Add this to the cooled, reserved liquid and stir well to dissolve. Then pour the slurry into the pan with the rest and stir until gravy is thick and smooth, about a minute.

(Sources: Cooks Illustrated #77 Nov/Dec '05,  and cooksillustrated.com, Every day Food #27 Nov '05, foodnetwork.com, and post-gazette.com's In the Kitchen with Suzanne Martinson.)

Comments

[Elly]

[this is good] OK, in all honesty, I am not a huge turkey fan. That said, this sounds seriously delicious. I am definitely keeping this recipe handy.

[Kyle Minor]

This is the method that keeps on giving. Turkey lovers like you, Elly, can eat for days afterward on the results.  It might seem like a lot of work... and i in a way it is... but it's well worth it. Good luck!

[ebblack]

[ciò è buono] Ahh yes, I remember the demi-grace slipping into the sink too.  But what I remember most is the good time (and great food!  Shout out to Toph's cranberry-orange relish) we had sitting 'round the table in your old apartment.  I love the series!!  (Though I am also hoping for a series on Christmas party prep next month.)

xoxoxo Tard

[Kyle Minor]

It WAS a great time, wasn't it, Lainey! -- s usual when The Blacks are guests. Watch for the cranberry-orange relish recipe in the next post!