The best darn turkey, this side of the ocean…
We don't like to boast about just anything, so trust us when we promise that this recipe will deliver a moist, succulent bird that is full of flavour. It will not only be a pleasure to eat, but a joy to serve as well. The recipe comes originally from a chef instructor at George Brown College’s Culinary Arts program. It has since gone through some evolution – mainly to make it easier for the amateur chef, but the results are just as fabulous. Allow for 6 1/2 hours of preparation time, mostly unattended.
The first stage is to brine the turkey. This retains more of the moisture and also adds extra flavour.
Brining ingredients:
1 15- to 18- pound turkey, neck, heart and gizzard reserved for gravy
9 litres water
2 cups coarse salt
1 cup of brown sugar
2 heads garlic; cut in half (no need to remove skins)
½ bunch fresh thyme
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon nutmeg
Roasting ingredients:
1 onion quartered, skin on is fine
peel of 2 lemons, halve the fruit and set aside, can use a vegetable peeler to remove the peels
6 cloves garlic, roughly crushed
½ pound of unsalted butter; cut ¼ pound in smaller pieces and melt the rest
¼ cup honey
1 bunch fresh thyme
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly cracked pepper
1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
Stir all the brining ingredients on high heat until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Let the liquid cool down. You can do this part overnight and just leave the brining liquid in the refrigerator or cold storage. Once the brining liquid has cooled, submerge the turkey in the stock pot until all the liquid covers the bird. Place the stock pot back into the refrigerator and let it brine for 3 ½ hours.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove the bird from brining liquid and pat turkey dry inside and out with paper towels. Using your hand, gently lift the skin from the bird. Tuck the lemon peel, thyme and unmelted butter pieces, throughout the skin cavity. Add lemon halves, onion and garlic into main cavity of the turkey. Tuck wings under the turkey and truss the legs. Rub the salt and pepper over the outside skin of the bird, and generously brush melted butter over the entire turkey.
Place turkey on rack set in large roasting pan. Pour broth into roasting pan so that any drippings that fall into pan will not burn. Roast turkey for 45 minutes (depending on your oven, this may be adjusted, just make sure that the skin does not burn). This stage helps crisp up the skin. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, and continue roasting the bird for another 2- 2/12 hours or until the thickest part of thigh registers 170°F and the juices run clear (many sites/references indicate 180°F, by then the breast portion will become dry and tough). Mix the remaining melted butter and ¼ cup honey. Take the bird out and brush the skin generously with the honey mixture. Place back into oven for another 10 minutes. Transfer to platter and tent loosely with foil for at least 30-45 minutes before carving.
JAMES SO REALTY LTD. AND ITS ASSOCIATES WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR THE RESULTS OF THIS RECIPE. THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED FOR THE SOLE ENJOYMENT OF ITS READERS..