Thanksgiving Songs & A Roast Turkey Recipe

With Thanksgiving now less than two weeks away, I figured it was about time to repost my tried and true recipe for brined and roasted turkey. So what if I ganked the original recipe from the amazing Alton Brown a few years ago. I’ve made enough delicious changes that it really feels like mine though. I’m still thinking about the possibility of cooking something else a little less traditional for Thanksgiving… something like a Bacon Explosion perhaps. (Yum!) And my mother’s vegan pumpkin pie to balance it all out. Oh yeah! Here’s the recipe:

Start with a 14 to 16 pound turkey, mkay. You can use a smaller bird or a turkey breast, but be sure to reduce the other ingredients proportionally. You’ll also need a 5 gallon bucket.

Brine stuff:
1 cup of salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tbsp allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1/2 cup cognac
1 gallon iced H20

Aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 sage leaves
canola oil

So what you want to do is combine all the brine stuff (except the iced water) in a pot and bring it to a boil. Stir until the solids are dissolved, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until chilled. It is generally best to do this the night before. Save a little bit of the cognac for yourself and have a drink while you’re at it.

Early on the day of cooking, combine the brine (what you made above) and ice water in the clean 5 gallon bucket. Mix it up and place the thawed turkey (breast side down) in the bucket, cover, and refrigerate or set it in a cool place for 6 hours. It is generally pretty chilly here around Thanksgiving so on the back porch works for me.

Just before you are ready to roast, heat your oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water and microwave on high for about 5 minutes. Once you get the aromatics nuking, remove the bird from the brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place your turkey on a roasting rack inside a wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add the aromatics you just microwaved to the cavity of the bird along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck back the wings and coat the bird liberally with canola oil.

Roast that fucker on the lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from the oven and cover breast with a double layer of aluminum foil and return it to the oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound turkey should require 2 to 2-1/2 hours of roasting. Use a probe thermometer if you’ve got one and set it for 161 degrees. Let your bird rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

MP3:
Broke Strang Band - Turkey In The Straw
The Broadways - Everything I Ever Wanted To Know About Genocide I Learned In The 3rd Grade
This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb - Taters, Beans, & Gravy
Reverend Horton Heat - Turkey Gotta Gobble
George Winston - Thanksgiving
Dock Boggs - Turkey In The Straw
Julie Doiron - Snow Falls In November
The Cranberries - Linger
Left Lane Cruiser - Amy's In The Kitchen
Booker T & The MG's - My Sweet Potato
The Hi-Lo's - Turkey In The Straw
The Pogues - Steams Of Whiskey
Christie Front Drive - November
The Ohio Players - Jive Turkey
Left Out - Fuck Thanksgiving
The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up - Thanksgiving Grey
Crooked Still - Come On In My Kitchen
Guns N' Roses - November Rain
Butthole Surfers - Turkey & Dressing
Rocky Votolato - Whiskey Straight
Daniel Littleton - Thanksgiving Day Parade
Ben Weasel - Only In November
Sia - Sweet Potato
The Black-Eyed Snakes - Cornbread
Bill Monroe - Turkey In The Straw