Garlic Herb Brined Turkey Recipes

LEMON, GARLIC AND HERB DRY-BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• In small bowl, mix salt, garlic, thyme and lemon peel. Place turkey on rack in large roasting pan. Rub turkey inside and out with salt mixture. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 24 hours. Stand up turkey to pour out any collected liquid in cavity. Pour off liquid collected in pan; return to refrigerator uncovered 12 to 24 hours longer.
• Heat oven to 325°F. Pat skin and interior cavity dry with paper towels. Fasten neck skin to back of turkey with skewer. Fold wings across back of turkey so tips are touching.
• Place turkey, breast side down, on rack in large roasting pan. Brush entire back side of turkey with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Turn turkey over. Brush entire breast side of turkey with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of inside thigh and does not touch bone.
• Roast uncovered 3 hours to 3 hours 30 minutes, brushing twice with pan drippings during last 30 minutes of roasting. Turkey is done when thermometer reads 165°F and drumsticks move easily when lifted or twisted. If meat thermometer is not used, begin testing for doneness after about 3 hours. When turkey is done, place on warm platter; cover with foil to keep warm. Let stand about 15 minutes for easiest carving.
• While turkey rests, pour drippings from roasting pan into bowl, leaving brown particles in pan. Return 1/4 cup drippings to roasting pan; discard remaining drippings. Stir in flour and pepper.
• Cook over medium heat 1 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Cook 1 minute longer, then stir in broth. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 to 3 minutes or until thickened.

GARLIC HERB ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper and dried herbs together then cover the turkey all over with it and scatter the remaining seasoning in the cavity of the turkey.
• Place the turkey in a large dish (I just used a large roasting dish). Place in the fridge and allow to dry-brine for up to 24 hours.
• On the day of roasting, take the turkey out of the fridge at least an hour before roasting and allow to come up to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F.
• Gently loosen the breast skin then add softened butter and sage leaves under the skin.
• If the butter is soft enough, you can just spread it over the breast by pressing it gently.
• Place lemon slices, fresh sage, thyme and rosemary in the cavity then tie the legs together. Drizzle the turkey with olive oil and place in a large roasting dish.
• Pour stock around the turkey and add halved garlic bulbs and more sage, thyme and rosemary. Place the turkey in a preheated oven and roast until the turkey is golden brown and cooked through.
• If the meat reaches 74ºC/165ºF in the breast, thigh and drumstick, your turkey should be perfectly cooked. Allow to rest then carve.
• Place the turkey on a large platter and add fresh herbs, the roasted garlic and lemon halves to decorate. Orange halves and pomegranate are also beautiful around a turkey. Serve with all the sides and gravy.

HERB-BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• In a stockpot, combine the salt, brown sugar, sage, thyme, rosemary and 2 quarts water. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat. Add the cold water to cool the brine to room temperature., Place a turkey-size oven roasting bag inside a second roasting bag; add turkey. Carefully pour cooled brine into bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible; seal bags and turn to coat. Place in a roasting pan. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally., Drain and discard brine; rinse turkey and pat dry. Tie drumsticks together. Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor; cover and process until smooth. With fingers, carefully loosen skin from turkey breast; rub half of the butter mixture under skin. Secure skin to underside of breast with toothpicks. Rub remaining butter mixture over skin., Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Bake at 450° for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°; bake 3-1/4 to 3-3/4 hours longer or until thermometer reads 180°, basting twice during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly., Remove turkey to a serving platter; cover and let stand for 20 minutes before carving.

GARLIC HERB BUTTER ROASTED TURKEY BREAST

Steps:

• Remove fridge chill: Take turkey out of the fridge 45 minutes before cooking (or 30 minutes if it's super hot where you are).
• Preheat oven to 200C / 390F (all oven types). Put rack in the lower middle position. (Note 3)
• Place garlic and bunch of herbs in the middle of a baking dish. (Note 4)
• Butter: Mix Butter ingredients together.
• Loosen skin: Use an upside teaspoon to help loosen the skin from the turkey flesh (easiest to go under the paper thin layer under the surface skin). Video helpful here.
• Smear butter under skin: Use about 2/3 of the butter, and smear it under the skin on the top half of the breast. Best to smear using hands under the skin (not on surface), to ensure it spreads as evenly as possible.
• Turn turkey upside down. Reserve about 2 tbsp butter for the surface, smear the rest on the underside.
• Place turkey in pan on the herbs, skin side up. Now smear skin with remaining butter - you don't want much on the skin because the herb bits burn.
• STOP HERE for make ahead option - the turkey can be left like this for up to 24 hours. Remove from fridge 45 minutes before serving then proceed.

EASY ROASTED THANKSGIVING TURKEY RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large stock pot large enough to fit the turkey, stir together 2 gallons (7.5 L) of water and 2 1/2 cups (128 g) kosher salt. Submerge the turkey in the brine. Refrigerate for 10 to 12 hours.
• When the turkey is done brining, drain the water and pat dry. Place the turkey onto a roasting pan with a roasting rack.
• In a small bowl, mash together the softened butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, minced garlic, lemon zest, sea salt and black pepper.
• Use your hands under the skin of the turkey to separate the skin from the meat underneath. (Be careful not to tear the skin.)
• Spread half of the butter all over the turkey underneath the skin. Spread the other half over the skin all over.
• Position the oven rack on a low position, so that there is enough room for the turkey. The top of the turkey should end up just slightly higher than the middle when placed in the oven later. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees F).
• Place the turkey in the oven and roast. Check the roasted turkey time chart in the blog post for the amount of time to roast without foil and the remaining time with foil. For a 12 lb turkey, that's 45 minutes uncovered followed by about 2 1/4 hours covered. To cover, tent the top of the turkey with foil, shiny side out, making sure no turkey is peeking out, and return to the oven.
• Check that the roasted turkey is done with a meat thermometer - it should read 165 degrees for the safest option. For the most juicy turkey, aim for 150-155 degrees, and then cover in foil immediately after removing from the oven. Let the turkey rest, covered in foil, for about 20 minutes to come up to 165 to 170 degrees before serving.

GARLIC HERB-BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove neck and giblets from turkey cavities; discard or reserve for another use. Place turkey in plastic brining bag or turkey-size oven bag.
• Bring 3 qt. water, salt, garlic, onions and herbs to boil in 8-qt. stockpot on high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add ice water and dressing; stir until ice is melted. Slowly pour over turkey in bag; tightly close bag. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 16 hours.
• Remove turkey from bag; discard bag and brine. Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Let stand at room temperature 30 min.
• Heat oven to 425ºF. Place turkey on rack in roasting pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 20 min. Reduce oven temperature to 375ºF. Melt butter; brush onto turkey.
• Bake 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until turkey is done (165ºF). Transfer to cutting board; tent with foil. Let stand 15 min. before carving.

DRY-BRINED HERB & GARLIC TURKEY WITH PAN GRAVY

Steps:

• Pat turkey dry with paper towels. Place on large rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. Mix salt and pepper; season inside and outside of turkey. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hr.
• Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Again, pat turkey dry with paper towels. Make the garlic herb butter by mixing together the butter, chopped sage, chopped rosemary, garlic and paprika. Loosen the skin from the turkey breast with your fingers; rub the garlic herb butter onto the breast meat under the skin. Tuck the remaining onion, sage sprigs and rosemary sprigs inside the turkey. Tie legs together with butcher's twine and tuck wings under to prevent tips from scorching.
• In bottom of clean roasting pan, place the 3 onion halves, celery, carrots and garlic cloves. Set turkey, breast-side up, on top of the vegetables. Roast in lower third of oven for 30 min. Reduce temperature to 160°C (325°F) and roast 3 hr. Cook until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of inner thigh registers 82°C (180°F). Transfer turkey to serving platter and tent with foil for 20 min. before removing twine and slicing.
• Meanwhile, strain vegetables and skim fat from pan drippings. Put drippings back into roasting pan. Place on stovetop over medium heat. Whisk 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the chicken broth with flour until smooth. Whisk mixture into the drippings. Stir in remaining chicken broth, scraping bottom of pan to incorporate into sauce. Simmer 10 to 12 min,. or until thickened. Stir in parsley, if using. Serve pan gravy with the turkey.