How I do turkey…a prelude

Kaye Family Turkey 2007

I talked up our 2007 Thanksgiving turkey recipes way too much last year. Now I have friends asking for the recipes. Here’s what I used for raw information last year. The problems I faced were these:

1. Our turkey was larger than what was covered by the recipes. This meant increasing the quantities of ingredients and reworking the times. Not easy…especially on the fly.
2. I wanted to use the broth and gravy from the dry-brined recipe but wanted to wet-brine the bird

These are life altering issues, no doubt, but they were my problems last year. I won’t go into how to combine these recipes into a fantastic dinner, here, but I will report on this year’s work as I go.

I used this verbatim:
Turkey Brine

This I like, and used, but not the stuffing and gravy:
Martha’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Menu: Roasted Brined Turkey

I used pieces of this recipe in order to get to the gravy…see below:
Dry-Brined Roasted Turkey

This broth becomes the base for my new favorite gravy:
Rich Turkey Broth

Here’s the love:
Silky Pan Gravy with Cream, Cognac & Thyme

Here is the 2008 shopping list for the turkey, turkey broth, and gravy:

1 20-23 lbs turkey from New Seasons Market
giblets (reserved from turkey except the liver)

1 1/2 cups Kosher salt
6 bay leaves
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
2 bunches fresh thyme

5 medium yellow onions
6 garlic cloves

2 med carrots
2 parsnips
2 celery stalks
2 white turnips

4 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream

cheesecloth

1 bottle dry Riesling
1 bottle dry white wine

2 tbs Cognac
1/2 cup dry vermouth

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Yum.

Daddoo!