December 27, 2009

Xmas Turkey

I decided to cook a turkey this year for xmas, as we were having a low-key year and wanted to spice it up a little bit.  I read quite a few recipes for it and decided on one which turned out fantastic!

I bought an 11 lb turkey a few days before xmas. The first step was to brine the turkey.  I would have loved to have a clean bucket or large stockpot for this but had to make do with the one-time roasting pan.  I combined 14 cups of water with 1 cup of kosher salt and 1 cup of sugar, then poured in one can of coke and one halved lemon.  I let this sit overnight for about 12 hours, though i'm pretty sure that it could have sat for a bit more. 

The day of, I took out the neck, heart and liver and put them at the bottom of the roasting pan. (I actually used the liver for a bread based stuffing but I think that i'll try something else next time). I put the turkey on a roasting rack inside the roasting pan and rubbed in butter and some salt and pepper, then poured about 3/4 cup of chicken stock that I had made earlier in the week into the pan.  I tied the legs together with fishing line to close the opening.

I put the oven on 500 degrees and gave the turkey about 20 minutes until the top was browned. I turned the oven down to 350 and basted the turkey every half an hour for the next hour and a half, then turned the over back up to 450 for a final 20 minutes to re-crisp the skin.

Once the turkey was out, I used the drippings and skimmed of some of the fat and lighter colored drippings, added 2 tbsp of butter and added some flour to thicken, then added some chicken stock for the gravy.

Everything turned out great, and next year i'll try to add in my brother's rice/italian sausage/herbs stuffing.

Happy Holidays!

December 2, 2009

Damn Top Chef!

My fav Jennifer just got kicked off. That's a shame as she seemed like the coolest one there.. If I ever get the chance, i'll visit her restaurant in Philly.