Being couped up in Camp Quarantina de CoughUpALunga the last few weeks has given me many pleasurable hours of Food Network on DVR...
Although I've lost 7 pounds physically, from eating little to nothing - mentally, I've gained about 100 pounds with shows like Iron Chef, Food Network's Ultimate Thanksgiving Dinner... oh and reading this blog. I "found" Ree one day when I was begging for recipes several months ago and she hopped over and told me about this. It was love at first site. Oh, and she writes some great stories, too. She's pure cooking evil all rolled up in a sweet, endearing package. Because of her, I'm actually going to try this for Thanksgiving.
May it be noted for the record that butternut squash has never crossed the doorstep of this house before. Never.
Anyway.
With all the Thanksgiving goodness I've been absorbing, I kept hearing about "brining" a turkey. Clueless. Me. What the heck. So, I looked it up and lo and behold! The answer to my prayers! No! More! Dry! Turkey!
Hallelujah!
Can I get an AMEN!
See, I've had me some lovely turkey disasters. There was the "dropped on the floor" turkey, the "don't think it was totally thawed before I starting cooking, we ate at 9pm" turkey, the "dry and tasteless who wants hamburgers tonight" turkey ... and the list goes on. Last year, the turkey was awesome- but, it was the "sacrifice your first born" pre-seasoned pre-bagged, freezer to over turkey. And this year, said turkey was out of our budget by a long shot.
So, now we're on the brine wagon. Seems simple enough. Here is the recipe that I'm going to try, and once completed I'll do this:
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 quarts cranberry juice
- 1 quart water
- 1 cup salt (1 1/2 cups Kosher or coarse salt)
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 12 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly smashed
- 4 springs fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 6-8 bay leaves
PREPARATION:
Combine ingredients and place in a large pot. Add turkey to pot, making sure that brine covers turkey, turning every few hours to ensure the whole turkey gets marinated. If not, add more water to mixture. Brine for 1 hour per pound.
I was talking to Shalee about this today, who by the way is a virgin briner this year as well, and she had a great idea! She saw the whole brining thing discussed at, you guessed it, Pioneer Woman's Place and she uses these brining bags. Since neither of us have brining bags, she is going to use ... trash bags!
Sheer genius!
I do love me some Shalee!
So, Tom will be taking a soak in the pool for a good 24 hours before he goes to the spa.
And when he is done, he should be have a healthy, allover glow about him that will last for ...
well, I think you know the rest.
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