Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Brined and Herb Roasted Turkey Part I

Look!!! It’s my first turkey!


Her name is Jasper.


Isn’t she pretty???

Jasper is sexually confused. Her parents (me and my mother) named her Jasper before we knew it was a girl and now she has gender identification issues.

That’s why it took us so long to find her giblets.

My mom wanted to name her Henry. Then I pointed out that that is my uncle’s middle name and that might be a little weird to eat a Henry.

We came to an agreement that Jasper was way more fitting.

Doesn’t she totally look like a Jasper?

She is quite large. Probably because my mom got confused between price and weight. I asked for a turkey under twenty pounds and instead got a turkey under twenty dollars.


Oh well, more leftover Jasper!

Since this is my first turkey, I decided to go all out and brine my turkey.

Brining your turkey does some crazy chemical stuff that I don’t understand that but it keeps your turkey nice and moist during the cooking process.

Something about the salt water.

And if you add some tasty aromatic veggies and herbs, it gives the turkey extra flavor.

While you should brine your turkey for two to three days, some brine is better than no brine. So if you haven’t yet, brine that turkey!

Here is what you will need…

7 quarts water
1 quart apple cider


3/4 cup kosher salt


1/3 cup granulated sugar


1 large onion, diced


1 large or 2 small carrots, diced


3 ribs celery, diced


1 head garlic, cut in ½ equatorially


½ bunch fresh rosemary


½ bunch fresh sage


½ bunch fresh thyme


6 bay leaves


In a large pot, cooler or trash bag (or trash bag inside a pot like me) mix all of your ingredients.


Make sure the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.

Remove the innards and giblets from your turkey, rinse well. 


Plop your Jasper or whomever else into your brine.


Cover and let sit in your brine for 2-3 days. Make sure to remove the turkey from the brine 3 hours ahead of time so it can dry out before roasting.

Yes, I know that naming my turkey is odd. I’m odd. I got it from my momma.

Love and Beer Floats
Angela

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