12.18.2008

faux thanksgiving dinner

my turkey turned out fantastic.
the preparation was a bit nauseating. and i am still questioning the decision to shove the turkey neck up the body cavity and the giblets in the neck cavity. seems like you're swapping parts just for fun...

i dry brined it with 1/3+ cup of kosher coarse salt with approximately ten crushed bay leaves. the recipe called for twice as much salt but the reviews i'd read said it had been too much and that it was about twice as much as other dry brine recipes call for—so i decided to play it safe. it brined for about twelve hours, not the forty-eight i had been hoping for, simply due to lack of effort.

i let it sit out for about an hour before hand to come to room temperature and then rubbed it down with butter. i have to admit, that rinsing the turkey and rubbing it down with butter gave me the feeling of caring for a baby or the elderly at times.

it was about thirteen pounds, cooked for about two hours and was delicious. i didn't stuff it but put some onion, carrot and celery in the cavity, and some in the pan drippings as well. it was super moist, delightfully golden and salty enough that i had no need to add salt—which is unusual for me.

on a whim i made cranberry sauce. not nearly as delicious as the one julie makes at baker and spice. the delicata squash were tasty but unremarkable, the presentation left a little to be desired i think.

the sausage-apple-parsnip-sage stuffing was okay.
the apples were a little too sweet for my tastes. but all in all, tasty.
though, in the left-over experience, apples are not always the best choice.

the final point was the apple-cranberry pie.

very simple: apples, dried cranberries, a half cup of sugar, a touch of brandy and some allspice. i adored it. tuesday night it got ho-hum reviews, but was well liked in the office the next day.

all in all pretty decent...!

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