My First Turkey!

This Thanksgiving, we had some family come in from California, bringing our total number in the house up to seven!  Because we had so many people and we were bringing them to our friend's house that day, we decided to have more than one turkey--three to be exact.  And I was panicky.  I mean, this was the first time I'd ever made a turkey.  I mean, my mom was always the one who made the turkey!  And this was one of the few times I hadn't been home for Thanksgiving. 

So, in my search for easy turkey recipes, I stumbled upon this one on Jes' blog, Bleu Dress and Dress Blues.  It's a brined turkey recipe that she'd found and apparently, it's an Emeril recipe.  No wonder it turned out soooooo good!  It was tender and juicy and just plain delicious.  Although the process was time-consuming, I'm going to be making my turkey this way for years to come. 

For the brine:

5 gallon bucket

1 cup salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 oranges, quartered

2 lemons, quartered

6 sprigs thyme

4 sprigs rosemary

1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey

Dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water. Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary. (Note: if you have a larger turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water. You want to be able to submerge the entire turkey in the solution)

Remove everything from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water. Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

For making the turkey:

1 large orange, cut into 1/8ths

4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

Salt and pepper

1 large yellow onion, cut into 1/8ths

1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

1/2 bunch sage

3 or 4 sprigs parsley

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or turkey stock, for basting

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels both inside and out. Place turkey, breast side up, in a large, heavy roasting pan. Rub breast side with orange segments and rub on all sides with the butter, stuffing some underneath the skin. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, remaining orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup chicken or turkey stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Note: All of El Paso was out of rosemary, sage and thyme. So I substituted with the dried herbs and placed them in some cheese cloth and then put that in the brining solution/turkey.

For the gravy:

4 cups turkey broth (from the roasting pan)

1 cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pour the reserved turkey pan juices into a glass-measuring cup and skim off the fat. Place the roasting pan on 2 stove top burners over medium heat add the pan juice and 1 cup turkey broth and the white wine to the pan, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining 3 cup of broth and bring to a simmer, then transfer to a measuring cup. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, to make a light roux. Add the hot stock, whisking constantly, then simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

I'm mainly making this post so that I have this recipe saved somewhere.  I'll be thinking about having this turkey again for the next year, it was so delicious!  And thanks to Jes for sharing this recipe.  I am eternally grateful!

Thanksgiving with Dorie: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

Wow! It's been forever since I've made a post. With school being busy just before Thanksgiving break, working for my mom this entire week and having hordes of family members come in from all over the U.S. (and having them stay over at my place), I just haven't had the time. Until now! And I'm happy to be back. This week, we were given an extension for this week's recipe challenge since everyone would be busy preparing their Turkey Day feasts. This week's recipe--a pumpkin and pecan pie combo (hence, the "twofer" nickname) chosen by Vibi of La Casserole Caree --was the perfect dessert for my family's meal last night. The recipe is featured on her blog and received pretty good reviews from my family, even though it shared counter space with my more-favored Macadamia Nut Pie (which I'll post about later).

I know a lot of people can't stand pumpkin, but I love, love, love it...especially at this time of the year. I thought it would make a sensational accompaniment to the traditional pecan pie. This is what the pie looked like after filling the partially-baked pie shell with the pumpkin filling and then topping it with the chopped pecans.

Here, the pecans are soaking in a bath of the pecan filling, which consisted of dark corn syrup, eggs, brown sugar and some other yummy goodness!

As rude as it was, I insisted on having the first slice. I have a HUGE family and I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to take a test test so I could make a proper review. Now even though this pie was outdone by the aforementioned macadamia pie, it was delicious in it's own right. Others agreed. The pecan crust as well as the pie crust were so nicely crisped and the pumpkin neutralized the sweetness of the pecan filling. Perfecto! I'll definitely be making this one again!

Please stay tuned for more thanksgiving recipes. I've been doing so much cooking and baking lately that I'll be making posts for the next few days!

TWD Break & Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

Folks, I'm going to have to bow out of TWD for the next two weeks, only because they will be busy and I won't have time to make the recipes. I have a friend visiting from North Carolina this week, not to mention I have two exams, one of which is a midterm! Arghh! Then, this weekend, I'll be out of town to find a place to live in El Paso, Texas-my next duty assignment. I won't be back until Tuesday evening. So please forgive me! Who knows, I might feel guilty and actually make the Rugelach post tomorrow after all...even if I do have to study!

Anyway, on Halloween I made a Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie. I found the recipe in this month's issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I took one look at the picture and decided that I had to make it. Halloween was the perfect opportunity since I had company over and it was so simple to make and well worth the effort, as you can see in the pictures. I love cheesecake and the addition of the pumpkin is not only perfect for the fall season, but was a perfect complement to the sweetness of both the chocolate and the cream cheese. It was creamy and delicious and I will definitely make this for Thanksgiving! Oh, and I must admit that I "cheated" by using a refrigerated pie crust. It sure helped to speed the process, since I'd prepared the pie about an hour or so before company arrived.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, November 2008)

For Deep Dish Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablsepoons shortening

5-6 tablespoons cold water

For Pie Filling:

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

3/4 cup finely chopped semisweet chocolate or mini chocolate pieces

1 15 oz. can pumpkin

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

4 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup half and half, or light cream

Chopped Chocolate (optional)

1. In medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour and 1/4 tsp. salt. Using pastry blender or two forks, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-size. Sprinkle 1 tablespoons of cold water over part of flour mixture; gently toss with fork.
2. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until all flour is moistened. Form into ball. On lightly floured surface, flatten dough and roll pastry from center to edge into a 13-inch circle.
3. Preheat oven to 450. Transfer pastry to a 9 1/2 to 10 inch deep-dish pie plate. Trim crust edge 1/2 inch beyond pie plate. Flute edge high. Line pastry with double thickness of foil. Bake 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 6 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 375.
4. In medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 egg; beat on low speed until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture into cooled pastry shell. Sprinkle with chopped chocolate.
5. In bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar and spice. Stir in 4 eggs. Gradually stir in half and half. Slowly pour pumpkin mixture on chocolate layer. To prevent overbrowning, cover pie edge with foil.
6. Bake 60 to 65 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove foil. Cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. Top with chopped chocolate. Serves 8.

The pie was a hit. Ask Jacques; he was there. Lucky for me, I didn't have too many visitors, so I had some leftovers. My visiting friend, Heidi, and I had some for a snack yesterday and for breakfast this morning and it is still so delicious! So try it! You'll love it!