Our Thanksgiving recap continues with the main event.
Roasted Dry-Brined Turkey
Martha Stewart Living (November 2008)
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Needless to say, the star of the show here is the turkey. We opted for a pretty straightforward recipe that included dry-brining. We've mentioned this technique before. (You just rub salt and herbs all over the raw bird. The salt draws moisture out of the turkey, and then the now-salty water gets re-absorbed into the meat before you cook it.) It is a great way to get delicious, moist meat. And if you've been dunking your bird in a vat of water and spices, you'll think dry-brining is a time-saving Godsend.
We made one major diversion from this recipe. Martha Stewart recommends stuffing the bird with a Leek-Celery stuffing. We opted out of this step for two reasons. Mostly, we had our own stuffing/dressing recipe we wanted to use. But also, neither of us ever grew up having stuffing that was actually cooked inside the turkey. Maybe for you that's a must-have, but it strikes us as messy and a little gross.
There were, however, a few moments of insanity in which we contemplated having two stuffings -- one cooked in the bird, one out -- but then we came to our senses.
But you do need to stuff the bird with something to keep it from drying out. We stuffed ours with some random fruits and vegetables we had on hand that we need to get rid of -- apples, onions, celery, lemons, rosemary sprigs.
Buttermilk Cornbread Sage Dressing
As for the dressing, well, this was really the only must-have recipe for our Thanksgiving table this year. It's the recipe Zach's mom has always used -- a delicious, rich, sage-scented cornbread dressing that's got almost a cakey, brownie-like consistency. We've tried many others, but this one still ranks at the top of our list.
The dressing recipe calls for four cups of buttermilk cornbread. (We, uh, well, doubled the recipe, so we needed eight.) We made our cornbread a couple days in advance, which cut down on the cooking time. It was just as delicious as we had remembered.
(Keep reading for our gravy and cranberry sauce!)
Pan Gravy
Martha Stewart Living (November 2008)
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As you'll see in the recipe below, we made the gravy that accompanies Martha Stewart's Dry-Brined Turkey. As with the main dish, the gravy was simple, classic and fantastic.
We made the Simple Giblet Stock a couple nights ahead of time, just to get it out of the way. The final product was rich and silky smooth -- and absolutely delicious. Plus, we loved the parsley stirred in at the end, if only for aesthetic reasons.
Roasted Cranberry Sauce
Saveur (November 2008)
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This was one of a few "experimental" recipes we prepared this year. Not experimental in the sense that we made them up, but they were new recipes to us, and a few of them were a little "out there." We'll report on the others in our next post.
This cranberry sauce was a major, major hit! The addition of jalapeño and cardamom (to what is otherwise a pretty basic cranberry relish) makes for an incredible, refreshing twist. It's punchy without being overpowering. It's got zing but it's not what you'd call spicy. It really dances on your taste buds!
And roasting all the ingredients together gives them a real depth of flavor that is just amazing.
The only drawback to this recipe is that after it's made, you need to fish out the cinnamon sticks (a breeze), the cardamom pods (findable but not easy), and the cloves (pretty difficult to spot). It's a tiny bit of trouble, but well worth it for this delicious sauce.
Here are the recipes we used for our turkey, gravy, dressing and cranberry sauce.
Roasted Dry-Brined Turkey
Martha Stewart Living (November 2008)
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(This Photo: Martha Stewart Living)
Serves 12 to 14
FOR THE TURKEY
* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* 14 dried bay leaves, 10 crushed, 4 left whole
* 1 whole fresh turkey (22 to 24 pounds), giblets and neck reserved for Simple Giblet Stock
* 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for baking dish if needed
* 1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
* Leek-Celery Root Stuffing
* 1 cup water, plus more if needed
FOR THE PAN GRAVY
* Pan drippings, reserved from turkey
* 1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* Simple Giblet Stock, or 4 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium turkey or chicken stock
* 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
1. Make the turkey: Combine 2/3 cup salt and crushed bay leaves in a small bowl. Rinse inside and outside of turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Rub 2 tablespoons salt mixture evenly inside turkey cavity, 2 tablespoons on each leg portion, 1 1/2 teaspoons on each wing, and 2 tablespoons on each breast. Place turkey in a large oven bag and seal tightly, removing any trapped air. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate for 48 hours.
2. Remove turkey from bag, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Combine 1 stick butter, the wine, and whole bay leaves in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in lowest position. Rinse inside and outside of turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Tuck wings under turkey. Season cavity with salt and pepper, and loosely fill it with 4 cups stuffing. (To bake remaining stuffing, see recipe below.) Tie legs together with kitchen string. Rub remaining 1/2 stick butter on turkey, and season with salt and pepper. Pour water into roasting pan.
4. Place turkey, legs first, into oven. Roast for 30 minutes, then baste with butter-wine mixture. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees, and roast, basting with butter-wine mixture every 30 minutes, for 2 1/2 hours. (Add more water to roasting pan if necessary to prevent pan drippings from burning.) Rotate pan, and roast until skin is golden brown and thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) and center of stuffing register 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer 30 to 45 minutes more. (If turkey is done before the stuffing, remove turkey from oven, and spoon stuffing into a buttered baking dish, and continue to roast until golden and center registers 165 degrees.) Transfer turkey to a rimmed baking sheet, reserving pan juices and roasting pan, and let rest for 30 minutes before carving.
5. Make the pan gravy: Pour reserved pan juices into a glass measuring cup or a gravy separator, and let stand until fat rises to the surface, about 10 minutes. Pour or spoon off fat.
6. Place reserved roasting pan on 2 burners over medium heat. Add wine, and bring to a gentle simmer, scraping browned bits with a wooden spoon. Whisk flour and giblet stock in a large bowl until combined. Add defatted pan juices, whisking to combine, then pour into roasting pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half and thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Remove pan from heat, and whisk in butter. Strain through a sieve, and discard solids. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
8. To carve the turkey: Place the turkey in front of you, breast side up, and use your hand to hold it steady. Cut through kitchen string, and discard. Remove drumsticks first by placing a knife against the thigh, cutting alongside body, and slicing through the skin to expose the joint. Apply pressure at the joint with the tip of the knife, then twist the knife, and cut through the joint to release the drumstick. Repeat on the other side. (For an illustrated how-to, see Turkey Carving 101.)
9. Use a long-handled spoon to scoop out the stuffing, and transfer it to a serving bowl. Slice the thigh meat from the bone.
10. Place the knife horizontally at the bottom curve of the breast, and slice in toward the rib cage along the length of the breast to create a "guide cut." Then make a vertical slice from the top down alongside the rib cage to loosen the breast meat. Cut the breast vertically into 1/4-inch-thick slices, being careful to preserve some skin. Repeat on the other side. Insert the knife tip at wing joint closest to the turkey, and twist to release wing. Repeat on the other side.
Buttermilk Cornbread Sage Dressing
Serves 8
4 cups buttermilk cornbread crumbs (we used this Buttery Cornbread)
2 cups biscuit, roll or white bread crumbs
2 medium white onions, chopped very fine
4 stalks celery, chopped or sliced fine
1/2 tablespoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 stick of butter, melted
Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl.
3 1/2 cups chicken broth (plus more if needed)
Add chicken broth, stirring to combine, until the mixture is the consistency of cake batter and easy pourable. Transfer mixture to a 9x12 cake pan. Bake 1 hour at 375 degree. Baked dressing should be set firm but still slightly moist. If you prefer a "drier" dressing, bake 10 to 15 minutes longer.
Roasted Cranberry Sauce
Saveur (November 2008)
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(This Photo: Saveur)
MAKES 2 CUPS
The relish featured here employs a novel technique: cranberries are roasted with orange peel, jalapeño, and spices until their skins burst, to concentrate their flavor and draw out their sweetness and juices; then they're tossed with orange juice and port.
1 orange
1 lb. fresh or thawed cranberries
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 green cardamom pods, smashed
4 whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
1 small jalapeño, stemmed and thinly sliced
1 1⁄2 tbsp. port
1. Heat oven to 450°. Using a peeler, remove peel from the orange, taking off as little of the white pith as possible. Cut peel into very thin strips about 1 1⁄2" long. Squeeze juice from the orange; strain and reserve 1 tbsp. juice.
2. In a bowl, combine peel, cranberries, sugar, olive oil, salt, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon, and jalapeños. Toss and transfer to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Roast until cranberries begin to burst and release their juices, about 15 minutes.
3. Transfer cranberry mixture to a bowl; stir in reserved orange juice and port. Let sit for at least 1 hour so that the flavors meld. Remove and discard cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon before serving.
