Roasted Heritage Turkey With Aromatic Brine Recipes

BRINED AND ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey and reserve for the gravy. 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.
• 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, inside and out. Place breast side down in a large, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with the butter. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, and thyme. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string.
• For the turkey broth: Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add the turkey neck, heart, and gizzard to the pan and saute until just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add the chopped 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 medium-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.
• Strain the stock into a clean pot or large measuring cup. Pull the meat off the neck, chop the neck meat and giblets, and set aside.
• 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 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.
• For the pan gravy: Pour the reserved turkey pan juices into a glass-measuring cup and skim off the fat. Place the roasting pan on 2 stovetop 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. Add the reserved neck meat and giblets to the pan and adjust seasoning, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Pour into a gravy boat and serve.
• To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, plastic garbage bag.) Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.

ROAST HERITAGE TURKEY AND GRAVY

Steps:

• A day ahead of roasting, remove neck and giblets from turkey. Mix cider, salt, lemons, bay leaves and 3 quarts water together in a large bowl or stockpot; stir to dissolve salt. Submerge turkey in the bowl or pot, cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours. Alternatively, put turkey and brine in two clean, unscented plastic garbage bags (one bag inside the other), tie well and place in a cooler with ice or ice packs.
• When you are ready to roast, heat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse turkey and pat dry. Stuff apple, onion, garlic and most of the thyme into turkey. Lift skin at neck and gently use your hand to separate skin from breast meat. Rub half the butter under skin and slip in remaining thyme and two rosemary sprigs. Use remaining butter to rub outside of bird, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
• Set a rack into a roasting pan and place four rosemary sprigs on top of the rack. Place bird on top of rosemary. Add turkey neck and giblets to bottom of pan. Take two pieces of heavy foil cut to the length of the pan. Fold the two together to create a single sheet to tent the bird.
• Transfer to oven and roast. Roasting time will be 3 to 3 1/2 hours for an 18-pound bird. Add 10 minutes per pound for larger birds. Subtract 10 minutes per pound for smaller birds. Midway through cooking time, remove giblets and neck and add wine and 1 cup water. Twenty minutes before roasting time is complete, begin to test for doneness with a digital probe thermometer inserted at the deepest part of the thigh. It is done when thigh registers 160 degrees. Remove bird from oven and transfer to a serving platter.
• Place roasting pan over low heat on the stovetop and add 2 1/2 cups stock. Scrape all the browned turkey bits from bottom of pan. Skim 2/3 of the fat from top of drippings and discard. Bring drippings to a boil; reduce to a simmer. You may wish to strain at this point to remove stray bits, but they add character to the finished gravy.
• Finely chop giblets and neck meat. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/2 cup stock. Add slurry to drippings, stirring constantly, until thickened. If gravy seems too thick, whisk in a bit more stock. Add chopped egg and giblets and neck meat. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

THANKSGIVING PIONEER-STYLE HERB ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• For the turkey: Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.
• Combine the butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with half of the carrots, celery, and onion. Rub the entire turkey with herb butter and season liberally with salt and pepper.
• Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
• Place the remaining vegetables on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven, and roast in the oven until lightly golden brown, 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 160 degrees F, about 2 to 2 1/4 hours longer. Remove the turkey from the oven, transfer to baking sheet and tent loosely with foil, and let rest 20 minutes before slicing.
• For the sage gravy:
• Strain the cooking liquid from the roasting pan into a medium saucepan (should be about 4 cups, if not, add more stock to make 4 cups). Add the neck, bring to a boil, add the sage leaves, remove from the heat, and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove the sage leaves.
• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced. Whisk in the stock and cook until thickened and smooth, about 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and chopped sage.

ROASTED HERITAGE TURKEY

Steps:

• Rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry with paper towels. Transfer to a large roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack, and place breast side up. Bring to room temperature, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Tuck wings under turkey. Gently separate skin from breast, and rub butter under the skin on each side. Season outside of turkey generously with salt and pepper. Fill cavity with herb sprigs, bay leaves, apple cores, and onion; tie legs together with kitchen twine. Scatter apples and celery around rack. Place neck and giblets in pan. Add water to pan.
• Roast turkey for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Baste with pan juices, and tent with foil. Roast, rotating pan, adding more water if pan is dry, and basting halfway through, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 160 degrees, about 2 1/2 hours more. Let turkey stand for 30 minutes before transferring to a platter and carving. Reserve pan with contents if making gravy.

BRINED AND ROASTED WHOLE TURKEY

Steps:

• Overnight Brine: Combine Morton®Kosher Salt and sugar in cool water in a large, clean stockpot until completely dissolved. Place the whole turkey in the brine until completely submerged. Cover and refrigerate overnight, up to 14 hours. Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse inside and out under cool running water for several minutes to remove all traces of salt; pat dry with paper towel.
• 4-5 hour Brine: To brine your turkey in less time (4-5 hours), use 2 cups of Morton®Coarse Kosher Salt and two cups of sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours.
• To Roast: Mix the softened butter with the pepper. Place turkey on rack in roasting pan. Rub the seasoned butter under the skin. Brush the skin with the melted butter. Pour the 1 cup liquid (wine, broth or water) over the pan bottom to prevent drippings from burning. Roast turkey at 450 degrees F for 25 minutes, baste and then rotate the roasting pan. Continue roasting until the skin turns golden brown, an additional 25 minutes; baste again. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F; continue to roast, basting and rotating the pan once about halfway through cooking, until the minimum internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Remove the turkey from the oven. Let stand 20 minutes before carving.

SIMPLE TURKEY BRINE AND OVEN ROAST TURKEY RECIPE

Steps:

• Place 1 cup of table salt in the bottom of a large stockpot or clean plastic bucket. Add the water and lemon juice and stir until the salt dissolves.
• Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey. Discard or reserve to use later.
• Rinse the turkey under cold running water. Place the turkey in the brine and refrigerate for 10-14 hours.
• One hour before you're ready to roast the turkey, adjust the oven rack to the lowest position, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F for a 10-16 pound turkey, and 425 degrees F for a 16-20 pound turkey.
• Set a V-roasting rack inside of a large roasting pan, and set it aside.
• In a small microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and lemon zest and melt in the microwave on HIGH power for 20 seconds. Stir and then continue to heat at 10-second increments until completely melted and set aside.
• Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse under cold water. Tuck the turkey's wingtips behind its back, and tuck the drumstick tips into the skin of the tail area.
• Brush the turkey breast, wings, and drumsticks with half of the butter mixture and sprinkle with two pinches of salt and two pinches of black pepper.
• Place the turkey breast-side down onto the V-roasting rack, and then brush the back of the turkey with the remaining butter and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Place the turkey in the preheated oven and roast for 45 minutes for a 10-16 pound turkey and 60 minutes for a 16-20 pound turkey.
• Take the turkey out of the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Use silicone oven mitts or folded clean kitchen towels to flip the turkey breast-side-up.
• Place the turkey back into the oven and continue to roast until the thickest part of the breast reaches 160-165 degrees F. This will take about 1 hour for 10-16 pound turkeys and, 1.5 hours for 16-18 pound turkeys, and 2 hours for 18-20 pound turkeys.
• Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes, and then move it to a large cutting board and carve.

ROASTED HERITAGE TURKEY WITH AROMATIC BRINE

Steps:

• Fill a large stockpot or food-grade bucket three-quarters full with warm water. Add brown sugar and 2 cups salt, stirring until dissolved. Add onions, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, coriander, peppercorns, and fennel seeds. Let cool to room temperature. Place turkey in brine. Add cool water, if necessary, to fully submerge turkey. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
• Remove turkey from brine. Rinse inside and out; pat dry with paper towels. Season cavity with salt and pepper. Rub room-temperature butter evenly over outside of turkey; season with salt and pepper. Tuck wings under turkey; tie drumsticks together with kitchen twine. Transfer to a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Let stand 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees with rack in lower third. Roast turkey 30 minutes. Baste with some of melted butter; lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue roasting, basting with butter every 30 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast near (but not touching) bone registers 165 degrees, 1 to 1 1/2 hours total, depending on size of bird.
• Transfer turkey to a serving platter. Reserve pan with drippings for gravy. Let turkey rest at least 45 minutes; carve and serve with gravy and garnishes.

BRINED TRADITIONAL ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Brine Preparation: Combine all ingredients into a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 15 mins. Remove from heat and place brine to cool. Once it has cooled slowly submerge washed turkey and allow it to sit over night. Next day remove turkey and discard brine. TURKEY PREPARATION: Preheat oven to 350degF Grate zest from both oranges and the lemon into the softened butter mixing them together then squeeze juices thoroughly from each fruit. No sense buying juice when you have fresh right there in your hand. Pluck fresh thyme from stalks and also mix into the butter/zest combination. Mix these ingredients thoroughly. Now place your brined turkey into the roasting pan and pat dry. Take a half of your butter/zest and place on the center breast area of the turkey and pat down. Take the remainder of the butter/zest and place over each leg and wing and pat down so it sticks to the bird (tuck wings under turkey). Now pour juice over the entire turkey. Cover with foil in a tent like shape and put into oven. For a 10-18 lb Turkey roasting time should be 3-3.5 hours UN-stuffed. TIP: DO not stuff a brined turkey until last 30mins since the salt will be released during roasting. TIP: Be sure to baste every 30-45 minutes. UNCOVER the turkey during the last 30mins so that it will turn a beautiful golden brown. Finally allow the turkey to sit for 15-20 minutes in order for the bone marrow to release juices back into the turkey. Carve and enjoy with your family and friends :-)