All in all - we ate about a third of the bird, which is pretty good for 5 1/2 people! (the 1/2 person was a late arrival)
I had a mini turkey dinner for lunch and then a delicious open-faced turkey sandwich for late dinner - what did I use?
Rye bread topped with mayo, cranberry sauce, caramelized onions, warmed turkey. Mmmmm. It was awesome.
Unfortunately I didn't make my zucchini & carrot pasta, but I'm looking to recover this week with some veggies! Perhaps with some turkey soup? Hahahaha! I did save the carcass of course and I have about 3 cups of drippings (I used a premade restaurant gravy mixed with some fresh drippings) that I can make gravy with. After reserving 7 turkey lunches for tomorrow, I don't actually have too much leftover! I pretty much managed to use up all the sides and have just a bit of onions and brussel sprouts left. It's mostly the 'post' turkey preparations - making stock and gravy really. And finishing up the rest of the turkey meat - but it's terrific protein, so I'll probably be happily snacking on it for the rest of the week.
So did I learn anything? Oh yes. Don't use 2 cups of salt in your brine. Even if the recipe says so. The meat was a touch salty (but then again, I find most things oversalted) so I would also recommend a very thorough rinse. If you can - empty your brining container and fill with fresh cool water for maybe a quick 10 minute soak/rinse to get all the residual salt off. A meat thermometer is key. An instant read for insurance as well. I don't cook large pieces of meat without both. As I mentioned previously - try to integrate as many 'make ahead' dishes as you can - the turkey is work! You don't want to be fussing over your carrot gratin while your "main attraction" is needing some TLC! I purchased a gravy separator and a baster just for the occasion, they definitely came in handy, although not completely essential.
So would I make a turkey again? For sure! But...maybe not a 20lb one. For those who are a little intimidated of making a turkey - don't be! If anything, start small with a chicken and work your way up. A chicken is a perfectly good small-scale test for a turkey - it's basically the same - but a lot (a LOT) smaller. The cooking time is shorter, there's less meat to carve, less juice to process and less leftover to worry about. If there are any leftovers at all!
Thanks for reading!
Showing posts with label turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turkey. Show all posts
Monday, October 11, 2010
Turkey Tales Pt. 4 - The Big Day!
They came. They saw. They ate.
It was goooood.
The bird was lifted out of the brine at around 9am to chill in the fridge uncovered until it was stuffed & loaded into the oven around 11:30am for 6pm eat time. I always underestimate how awesome my oven is. It's gas - btw, top AND bottom, so yes, it's a little frightening to hear the "click click" of the ignition, but once it gets to a certain temperature, it STAYS there. Only one mishap to report too - so with an oven thermometer, I've had very good luck. I mention this because even at 375F, my turkey cooked exceptionally fast - and browned nicely about halfway, so it was tinfoil tented for the rest of the time. I had some leftover stuffing, so it got put into a loaf pan as a side.
My side dishes didn't get started until about 4:30pm - potatoes (whole, unpeeled) were put in a large pot and boiled until tender and them mixed with cream cheese, butter, and cream. My onion bake was assembled and heated up in the last 45 minutes and I decided to skip the zucchini & carrot dish altogether as it would have been too much. Another guest brought a delicious brussel sprout dish and J (of T&J) prepared some roasted butternut squash.
What was served:
Cider brined turkey with stuffing (2 ways)
Dried cherry & cranberry sauce
'Big Martha' mashed potatoes
Roasted onion, crouton & gruyere bake
Brussel Sprouts with bacon & walnuts
Roasted butternut squash
Oh, and gravy too. Not homemade though. More on that tomorrow!
Happy Thanksgiving!
It was goooood.
The bird was lifted out of the brine at around 9am to chill in the fridge uncovered until it was stuffed & loaded into the oven around 11:30am for 6pm eat time. I always underestimate how awesome my oven is. It's gas - btw, top AND bottom, so yes, it's a little frightening to hear the "click click" of the ignition, but once it gets to a certain temperature, it STAYS there. Only one mishap to report too - so with an oven thermometer, I've had very good luck. I mention this because even at 375F, my turkey cooked exceptionally fast - and browned nicely about halfway, so it was tinfoil tented for the rest of the time. I had some leftover stuffing, so it got put into a loaf pan as a side.
(Skin splittin' good!)
My side dishes didn't get started until about 4:30pm - potatoes (whole, unpeeled) were put in a large pot and boiled until tender and them mixed with cream cheese, butter, and cream. My onion bake was assembled and heated up in the last 45 minutes and I decided to skip the zucchini & carrot dish altogether as it would have been too much. Another guest brought a delicious brussel sprout dish and J (of T&J) prepared some roasted butternut squash.
What was served:
Cider brined turkey with stuffing (2 ways)
Dried cherry & cranberry sauce
'Big Martha' mashed potatoes
Roasted onion, crouton & gruyere bake
Brussel Sprouts with bacon & walnuts
Roasted butternut squash
Oh, and gravy too. Not homemade though. More on that tomorrow!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Turkey Tales Pt 3 - The Day Before
So. The big day is tomorrow!
I gave in last night and let my turkey soak in a 'pre-brine' - still in the package, but floating in a cool bath in the fridge to speed up the thawing process. It worked because the bird was nice and squishy the next morning - ready for the final brine! I had a couple extra things to pick up, so I joined the hordes of people at the local grocery store to pick up some last minute items. The mothership graciously picked up all the items on my list (that I had meticulously itemized by department and then specified quantity & size with descriptions to aid her) and had packed it all up in my fridge, but there were a few things I wanted to pick out myself. Or that I knew she would have some difficulties finding. I made it home and started the process for my brine - here's what it looked like in the stockpot:
Included in this brine are: 1 sliced apple, 2 sprigs fresh sage, 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, 3 sprigs fresh thyme, 5 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 3 sticks of cinnamon, 2 cups of coarse salt and 2 litres of apple cider.
After bringing this to a boil, I added about 3L of cool water to bring down the temperature. After about 30 minutes, I transferred it over to my brining tub and added more water. You must not soak your turkey until your brining liquid is cool - I forgot why, but it's got something to do with bacterial growth I think. I'll be sure to do some research and update this post.
So fingers crossed it will work out. I'm taking it out at around 8am to dry and chill. At around noon it should be stuffed and ready to be cooked! I also worked on the cranberry sauce - which is super easy. It's basically a cranberry jam. I've done it in the past with dried cherries and it worked out really well so I made it again, although I don't remember which recipe I used so I had to kind if improvise a bit. Here's a picture of it in the saucepan with all the key ingredients:
Included is - 1 package of cranberries, 1 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 cup of water.
Let cook, enjoy hearing the cranberries pop and smush away! The cranberries should release all their wonderful juice and let reduce, like jam! I still had the entire day ahead of me, so under Koi's supervision I also prepared the 'onion part' of a roasted onion/gruyere dish I'm adding tomorrow. It's pretty much different kinds of onions, lightly seasoned and then roasted until soft. Prep some croutons & sprinkle on top and then add gruyere cheese and bake until bubbly! I decided to get ahead of the game and roast the onions, which will save me a lot of time tomorrow. It will reheat in the oven while the turkey is resting before carving.
So T-minus 19 hours until eating time!
I gave in last night and let my turkey soak in a 'pre-brine' - still in the package, but floating in a cool bath in the fridge to speed up the thawing process. It worked because the bird was nice and squishy the next morning - ready for the final brine! I had a couple extra things to pick up, so I joined the hordes of people at the local grocery store to pick up some last minute items. The mothership graciously picked up all the items on my list (that I had meticulously itemized by department and then specified quantity & size with descriptions to aid her) and had packed it all up in my fridge, but there were a few things I wanted to pick out myself. Or that I knew she would have some difficulties finding. I made it home and started the process for my brine - here's what it looked like in the stockpot:
After bringing this to a boil, I added about 3L of cool water to bring down the temperature. After about 30 minutes, I transferred it over to my brining tub and added more water. You must not soak your turkey until your brining liquid is cool - I forgot why, but it's got something to do with bacterial growth I think. I'll be sure to do some research and update this post.
(below - brining tub with brine, turkey in brine in fridge!)
So fingers crossed it will work out. I'm taking it out at around 8am to dry and chill. At around noon it should be stuffed and ready to be cooked! I also worked on the cranberry sauce - which is super easy. It's basically a cranberry jam. I've done it in the past with dried cherries and it worked out really well so I made it again, although I don't remember which recipe I used so I had to kind if improvise a bit. Here's a picture of it in the saucepan with all the key ingredients:
Let cook, enjoy hearing the cranberries pop and smush away! The cranberries should release all their wonderful juice and let reduce, like jam! I still had the entire day ahead of me, so under Koi's supervision I also prepared the 'onion part' of a roasted onion/gruyere dish I'm adding tomorrow. It's pretty much different kinds of onions, lightly seasoned and then roasted until soft. Prep some croutons & sprinkle on top and then add gruyere cheese and bake until bubbly! I decided to get ahead of the game and roast the onions, which will save me a lot of time tomorrow. It will reheat in the oven while the turkey is resting before carving.
So T-minus 19 hours until eating time!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Turkey Tales Pt 1
So yes, it's been a long time since I've posted on el blog - sorry to let anyone down!
I've been busy! A 17lb fur baby named Koi has taken up most of my days and nights, and whines incessantly in between. I went road tripping for a weekend and then it was a week of 1:1 dog care (Koi stays at the mothership's full time, I alternate walks and drop by at least once a day for some cuddles) which pretty much ate up my time until now.
Which brings us to this weekend - Thanksgiving!
I am attempting to make a turkey dinner on Sunday for family and friends - my first real foray into turkey! This Spoon's family is quite small, so we've always eaten chicken on holidays or gone to friends' houses for turkey - I've never hosted a real traditional Thanksgiving. Until now!
So join me, dear readers as we count down to turkey day!
Step 1:
Buy turkey - start thaw.
Yes, I bought it frozen. Since it's my first turkey, I opted for the good ol' Butterball variety - I didn't want to do too much research for fresh turkeys and the politics that go into it, as well as the extra hassle in securing a fresh one for the big day! I picked out a nice fat 20lb turkey and it's sitting in my fridge thawing away.
The plan of action is for it to finish thawing by Saturday morning - at which point it will sit in a spiced brine bath until Sunday morning, sit out for a bit and then go in the oven promptly at 11-11:30am to be ready for 6pm. Yes, it will be stuffed - so I'm allotting some extra time and anticipating a 7pm eat time.
So I guess that's it for now. Nothing else to do really until Friday/Saturday. Tomorrow - I'll discuss what is on the menu!
I've been busy! A 17lb fur baby named Koi has taken up most of my days and nights, and whines incessantly in between. I went road tripping for a weekend and then it was a week of 1:1 dog care (Koi stays at the mothership's full time, I alternate walks and drop by at least once a day for some cuddles) which pretty much ate up my time until now.
Which brings us to this weekend - Thanksgiving!
I am attempting to make a turkey dinner on Sunday for family and friends - my first real foray into turkey! This Spoon's family is quite small, so we've always eaten chicken on holidays or gone to friends' houses for turkey - I've never hosted a real traditional Thanksgiving. Until now!
So join me, dear readers as we count down to turkey day!
Step 1:
Buy turkey - start thaw.
Yes, I bought it frozen. Since it's my first turkey, I opted for the good ol' Butterball variety - I didn't want to do too much research for fresh turkeys and the politics that go into it, as well as the extra hassle in securing a fresh one for the big day! I picked out a nice fat 20lb turkey and it's sitting in my fridge thawing away.
The plan of action is for it to finish thawing by Saturday morning - at which point it will sit in a spiced brine bath until Sunday morning, sit out for a bit and then go in the oven promptly at 11-11:30am to be ready for 6pm. Yes, it will be stuffed - so I'm allotting some extra time and anticipating a 7pm eat time.
So I guess that's it for now. Nothing else to do really until Friday/Saturday. Tomorrow - I'll discuss what is on the menu!
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