Favorite Roast Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving ten days early! :)

This recipe is my absolute faaaaavorite for turkey.  I first brine the turkey overnight and then I roast it, based on Marcella Hazan's chicken method - starting out breast side down and then flipping it over partway through roasting.  You would not believe how juicy this makes the white meat.  Seriously.  It's unreal.

As you follow through the recipe below, at first it looks like there are a lot of steps.  But nothing is complicated and there's zero guesswork - which I love.  I've been roasting turkey for ten years now, but I still always get a little nervous, and there's something reassuring about having a list of steps to follow.

If you have questions, definitely ask them!  Next up - Sage Stuffing.  AKA Sage Dressing.  What does your family call it - stuffing or dressing??

Turkey Coma!

Brined turkeys don't generate as much drippings as you might be used to, but oh my lands, it makes for incredible gravy.  It's so flavor-packed that you can add broth and it still tastes just amazing.

Roast Turkey

brine:
32 oz. vegetable stock, unsalted
56 oz. vegetable broth
1 c. kosher salt
1/4 c. Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
(or 1 Tbsp. each: dried rosemary, sage, thyme, savory)
1 gallon ice water

aromatics:
1/2 onion
1 carrot
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 leaves fresh sage

Brining the turkey:
In a large saucepan, combine the stock, broth, salt, and spice(s).  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to ensure the salt is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.  When cooled, pour the brine into a clean 5 gallon bucket lined with a brining bag. Stir in the ice water.

Remove the giblets from the turkey's cavity and reserve in a container in the fridge (to use for making stuffing).  Rinse and pat dry the turkey.  Place the turkey - breast side down - into the brine, making sure the cavity is filled with brine.  Place the bucket in the fridge (or equally cold place) overnight, 8-16 hours.

Roasting the turkey:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, with the rack on the lowest level of the oven.

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse completely with cold water, including the cavity.  Place turkey onto roasting rack in a large roasting pan and pat dry.  Put the aromatics into the cavity.

Roast the turkey, breast side down, for:
2 hours if it weighs < 18 lbs.
2.5 hours if it weighs 18-21 lbs.
3 hours if it weighs > 21 lbs.

Then, using silicone pot holders, flip the turkey over.  Insert probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, and return the turkey to the oven until it reaches 155 degrees, about another hour.

Open oven door and quickly rub butter over the skin and raise oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Finish roasting until the probe thermometer reaches 161 degrees, about another 15 minutes.

Remove turkey and roasting rack from pan and loosely cover with foil and let rest for 15-30 minutes before carving.  Note: While turkey is resting, use roasting pan and its drippings to make gravy.

         

        

Brine Ingredients:

Allow brine to cool completely.

Pour brine into a brining bag, submerge turkey - breast side down, 

and top off with additional ice water, if necessary.

(There is no brining bag in this photo.  In my rush to get turkey done 2 weeks early, I forgot to buy a bag.  Next year!)

To tuck the wings under:

Fold wing tip upward:

And tuck the tip under the bulk of the turkey:

Aromatics:

Put the aromatics into the cavity and first roast the turkey breast side down:

Then, lift the roasting rack up out of the pan, and use silicone pot holders to flip the turkey.

Insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast:

Probe thermometers are super handy.  Just magnet to your oven door and set the beeper for

your desired temp.  No need to open the oven door until it beeps.

(Note: the 187 is leftover from something else.  Don't roast your turkey to that temp!)

Quickly rub skin with butter and raise oven temperature to 400 degrees.

When turkey reaches 161 degrees, remove from oven and loosely tent with foil for 15-30 minutes.

Then, carve and eat!

Pecan Pie

True Story:

I pulled this pie out of the oven the other night around 9pm and promptly told Bo that he couldn't touch it until I got some photos taken.  He knows by now that the photo magic happens during mid-day, when natural light is at its peak, so he put up a bit of a fuss and may have even stomped his feet.  I reminded him that he's already had a pumpkin pie to sample this week and that he could just hold his darn horses for another 24 hours.

I took my photos during lunch yesterday and wrapped the pie back up and threw it in the fridge.  Knowing that he'd immediately dig in when he saw it, I tucked a note into the plastic wrap: "Call me before you eat this."

You see, one of my most favorite things is to hear him gush about my cooking and baking.  It's a total ego boost, and I eat it right up.  I knew that if he sampled the pie - which, by the way, is his favorite kind of pie - I'd hear his review four hours after the fact.  And you know how it is when you relay a story hours later - you gloss over details, the story loses its pep, it becomes a little cut and dry.  (Do you see where I'm going with this?)

So, he dutifully called me and asked about the pie, full of intent and concern.  My response?  "Great!  Go ahead and try it now.  Yes.  While I'm on the phone."  So, yeah.  I got to listen to him gush and ooh and ahh over the phone about this pie, and now one of my friends has taken to calling me a sly little wench.  :)

By the way, Bo's review of this pie?  "The best pecan pie I've ever tasted.  It's really, really, really, really good."  Oh, and he specifically wanted me to tell you that part of what makes this pie so good (other than the secret ingredient - cinnamon!) is that it's got just the right amount of filling and nuts.  Not too gooey, yet full of flavor.

Sly Indeed,

Pecan Pie

1 c. pecans, quartered
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
1 c. pecan halves

3 eggs
3/4 c. light corn syrup
2 Tbsp. dark corn syrup
3/4 c. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pinch salt

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread quartered pecans over bottom of pie crust. In a medium bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients, except the pecan halves. Pour syrup mixture over top of quartered pecans, then arrange pecan halves on top of pie. Bake for one hour or until firm; let cool for one hour before serving.

          

          

Ingredient Lineup:

Pecan Halves                                            Quarters                                                         Pieces

Pumpkin Pie

Now that you've whipped up dough to make two crusts, you want a super easy filling to try them out, am I right?  It honestly doesn't get much easier than pumpkin pie.  You stir, pour, and bake.  Then top with homemade vanilla bean- and cinnamon-spiked whipped cream and all is right with the world.

I wish that I could be fancy and be giving you an obscure family recipe, but honestly, my most favorite pumpkin pie is the one listed on the back of the Libby's pumpkin can.  It's got just the right amount of spices and it turns out every single time.  No weird rubbery flat store-bought pumpkin pies - we're making ours from scratch!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Thanksgiving,

Classic Pumpkin Pie
from the Libby's can

3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) pie shell
whipped cream (not even close to being optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in small bowl.   Beat eggs in separate large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425° oven for 15 minutes.  Then reduce temperature to 350°, cover pie crust edges with a shield or aluminum foil, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

               

Ingredient Lineup:

The pumpkin mixture will be super runny, but don't worry!

Skip the impossible task of trying to make a circular crust shield with aluminum foil

and pick up one of these puppies - Pie Crust Shields. Reusable and will keep you from going batty.

Can we all just agree that pumpkin pie is one of the best whipped cream vehicles? :)

Perfect Pie Crust

Dear Mom,

Have you ever noticed that we have the same hands?  

Thank you for teaching my hands a zillion things about 

baking.  Especially your bits about pie dough, because 

you're one of the few people I know who makes pie 

completely from scratch.  Not to mention that your pie 

is the best pie in the entire world.  Although my pie will 

always pale in comparison to yours, I'm eternally grateful.  

Love, 

Sara Kay

Dear Everybody!

This is the first of a slew of Thanksgiving recipes - hurrah!  I'm starting with pie because you can freeze the dough, so it's an easy one to make ahead.  Tomorrow, I'll be posting Pumpkin Pie (the easiest pie on the planet) and then on Friday, I'll post a Southern-boy-approved Pecan Pie recipe.  If time permits, I'll try to squeeze in my mom's apple pie recipe at some point.  But I'm dedicating this weekend to turkey, stuffing, and gravy.  Whew.  (Anyone want to come over and take photos for me while I cook?  And wash dishes?)

After researching this recipe, I decided to finally follow all the cool kids and make my dough in a food processor.  I've been protesting for years, proudly raising my metal pastry blender in the air, embracing the old-school way of blending dough.  Ahem.  Until now.  The cool kids were onto something with their new-fangled food processor ways.  Aside from the dough coming together in mere seconds, the food processor really does a superior job of mixing in the fats and water without overworking the dough.  I'm officially a fan.

I posted exactly 14 tons of photos below, hoping that they'll help illustrate the steps of making pie dough.  Please let me know if it's helpful (or overkill), or if you have any questions, or tips to offer!

Pie in the Sky,

Perfect Pie Crust
adapted from Barefoot Contessa

makes 2, 10" crusts:

12 Tbsp. (169g) unsalted butter, very cold
6 Tbsp. (72g) butter flavor shortening, very cold
2 1/2 c. (320g) flour
1 tsp. (4g) kosher salt
1 Tbsp. (12g) sugar
8-10 Tbsp. ice water

Dice the butter and shortening and keep chilled in the freezer while you prepare the flour mixture.

Measure the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor fitted with a blade and pulse a few times to combine.  Add the butter and shortening pieces.  Pulse 8-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas.  Drizzle 8 Tbsp. of the ice water over the mixture.  Process just until the dough starts to form a ball, adding more water - a Tbsp. at a time - if mixture is too dry.  Gather the dough into 2 even balls and flatten into disks.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.  These discs can be frozen for up to a week.  Allow to thaw in your refrigerator and roll as directed below.

Roll each dough ball out on a well-floured surface, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough as needed to prevent sticking.

Note: My original pie crust recipe used all shortening, so I'm betting that this can be made nondairy by substituting shortening for all of the butter.

Ingredient Lineup:

Butter and shortening added to flour mixture:

Pulse until butter is the size of peas:

Add ice water then process until dough starts to form a ball,

adding tablespoons of ice water if dough is too dry.

Place chilled disc of dough onto a well-floured surface:

Roll dough from the center toward the edges, sprinkling with flour to keep from sticking:

Roll dough to a thickness like that of 3 stacked dimes:

Or, hold your pie plate over the circle to make sure you've rolled the dough wide enough:

Roll the edge of the circle over the rolling pin:

As you roll over the pin, sprinkle a little flour on the underside, to keep it from sticking:

Continue rolling over the pin until the entire circle of dough is coiled up:

Lift the pin with dough up onto the edge of your pie pan:

And roll the pin along the top edge of the pie plate, letting the dough circle unroll until it covers the plate:

Lift up the edges of the dough to let it fall into the bottom of the pie plate:

Trim the edge of the dough circle to roughly 1" from the pie plate's edge:

Tuck the cut edge of the dough circle under, creating a smooth rolled edge around the plate:

To crimp the edges, push your inside index finger into a V 

created by your outside thumb and index finger: