A Very Vietnamese Thanksgiving Pt. 3 of 3

Making the Turkey

Since we made so much food on Thanksgiving, I had to share the recipes over several days.

The first dish on the list that needed to be prepped was the turkey (I started this the day before Thanksgiving). I quickened the thawing process of the turkey by following Alton Brown’s tip from his show, Good Eats. What you need to do is place the turkey in a bowl and run cool water over it, ensuring that you rotate the turkey throughout the thawing process. Cool running water is ideal because you are preventing the bacteria from growing (WPI taught me that bacteria love warm and moist places!).

Once the turkey was thawed out, I began the brining process for 12 hours. This process helps keep the meat moist when baking in the oven for extended periods of time. I always say, if you put time, attention, and love into your food, it will love you back (when you eat it, of course).

On Thanksgiving Day, I woke up on my own at 5:30 AM since I was SO excited to start cooking.

After 12 hours of brining, I dried the turkey, stuffed the cavity with carrots and celery, massaged it with a homemade herb butter, and put it in the preheated oven (350 degrees F) for 3 hours. The end result is B-EA- UTIFUL.

 

Brine Recipe (adapted from Alton Brown’s brine recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/traditional-roast-turkey-recipe.html):

1 cup of salt

16 cups of chicken stock

1/2 c brown sugar (I used ½ c white sugar with 3 tbsp of molasses)

2 tbsp whole black peppercorns

2 slices of candied ginger

1 gallon of ice water + ice and water to cover the turkey

I small red apple, sliced

Turkey Butter Recipe:

¼ c unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tsp of dried thyme

1 tsp of adobo seasoning

1 tsp of Italian seasoning

Directions:

Brining:

1. Combine salt, chicken stock, sugar, whole black peppercorns, candied ginger, and apple in a stockpot big enough to hold the turkey. Place on high heat until it boils for 2 minutes.
2. Once it boils, remove from the heat and cool down with ice water.
3. Place turkey in brine, breast side down, cover, and place in fridge for at least 12 hours.
4. Once the time is up, remove from brine and dry the turkey.

For the butter:

Combine all ingredients until well combined.

For the Turkey:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place turkey on a roasting rack and carefully massage herb butter under and over the skin.
3. Roast in oven for 2-2.5 hours for an eleven pound turkey, until the juices run clear.
4. ENJOY!