Brined and Roasted Turkey

Julie Huisingh

Favorite Thanksgiving Bird!

ingredients

10-12 pd turkey
Brine:
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs, thyme
4 sprigs, rosemary
4 T, butter, room temp.
1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
1 large orange, cut into 8ths
1 stalk celery cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
1 1/2-2 cups chicken stock
Broth:
1 T. vegetable oil
Turkey neck and giblets
1 large carrot, chopped
1 onion chopped
1 celery chopped
1 small bay leaf
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
Gravy:
4 cups turkey broth
1 cup dry white wine
4 T. unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper

directions

1
Remove the neck, giblets and liver and reserve for the gravy. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water.
2
Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated for 4-24 hours
3
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
4
Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels inside and out. Place breast side down in a large roasting pan and rub on all sides with the butter. Season lightly inside and out with Salt and pepper. Stuff the bird with onion, orange, celery and carrot, bay leaves and thyme. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with string.
5
Broth: Heat the oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Add the turkey neck, heart and gizzard to the pan and saute until just beginning to brown, about 1 minutes. Add the copped vegetables and bay leaf to the pan and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Pour the stock and 3 cups of water into the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to med-low and simmer until the stock is reduced to 4 cups, about 1 hour. Adding the chopped liver to the pan during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
6
Strain he stock into a large measuring cup. Pull the meat off the neck, chop the neck meat and giblets, set aside.
7
Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour, remove from the oven, turn and baste with 1/2 cup stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until 165 degrees. about 2 3/4-3 hours. Bast the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup turkey stock.
8
Remove from oven and place on platter, tent with foil for 20 minutes.
9
Gravy: Pour reserved turkey pan juices into a glass cup and skim off the fat. Place the roasting pan on the 2 stove top burners over med heat and add the pan juices and 1 cup turkey broth and white wine to the pan. De-glaze the pan and stir to scrape any brown bits from the bottom. Add remaining 3 cups broth and bring to a simmer. Pour into measuring cup.
10
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over med high heat. Stir int he flour and cook, stirring constantly to make a light roux. Add the hot stock, whisking constantly, then simmer until thickened about 10 minutes. Add the reserved neck meat and giblets to the pan and adjust seasoning, to taste with salt and pepper.
11
Brine:
12
To make brining solution, dissolve the slat and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in non reactive container. Add the oranges, lemons, thyme and rosemary.