We told Greg that we wanted a small one, since Thanksgiving dinner would just be the two of us. We picked up a nice 11.2 pounder one bright Saturday morning and put it in the freezer until closer to cooking time.
Josh got a sinus infection the week before Turkey Day and then I got a head cold early in the week, so our dinner planning was delayed while we worked on getting well.
I was pretty stressed out about Thanksgiving dinner, I have to tell you. And that turkey was not cheap. I did a decent amount of reading about turkeys plus talked with some friends. In the end, Andrew Knowlton/Bon Appetit plys my friend Eric highly recommended Alton Brown's method for turkey, so I decided to go with that.
On Saturday, I took the bird out of the freezer and into the fridge to defrost. I have to say: having a second fridge super comes in handy during the major holidays. Monday I spent completely drugged on NyQuil sleeping off my head cold, so when I emerged Tuesday, I set about making my brine, right on schedule.
Alton Brown's brine calls for salt, sugar, vegetable broth, and a whole bunch of ice. I put it into our cube cooler which, when I put in the bird, only covered it about 3/4 of the way. So I took some plastic cups and added some planting rocks so help lift the level of the brine. Odd, I know. It all took a lot of cleaning afterwards.
I only planned to brine for about 24 hours, so right before bedtime, I flipped the bird so the breast was facing down.
The next day -- Wednesday -- I took the bird out of the brine and set it on a tray to dry in the fridge, Zuni-style. I had read a lot about doing it this way to ensure a crispy skin, but when it came down to it, I ended up not being able to find any at all!
When Thursday arrived, I certainly felt the least prepared of any Thanksgiving. We opted for just a few dishes to keep it relatively simple.
At Alton Brown's urging, I forewent my usual stuffing, putting it into a pan instead. I lathered up the entire bird with a quarter stick of butter (I think I have used more butter on a chicken half the size before...) and put in some chopped carrot, onion, and parsley into the cavity. Not a stick of celery to be had.
For the honor, I finally broke out the All-Clad roasting pan that I bought probably three or more years ago. Damn that thing is shiny. Now there is only a saucepan I haven't opened which I will. I swear. I laid the turkey (with Josh's help) into a v-rack. The turkey just seemed too out there without it. The recipe didn't call for tying or trussing or anything so I didn't.
The roasting pan just fits in the oven. And with the height of the turkey, I had to remove all but the very bottom rack so it definitely messed with my cooking plans. instead of being able to roast and then brown my dressing, I had to settle for just doing it while the turkey was resting.
So all day, I had been idle and then busy, prepping for dinner. I defrosted Silver Queen creamed corn. I parboiled sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts. I scrubbed yukon golds. I made rice and mixed it with the chestnuts I had painstakingly peeled the night before. I defrosted and then reduced a tub of chicken stock. I made Sam Sifton's cranberry sauce. All of these things sat waiting while the turkey did its thing.
Following the recipe, I set the bird into the oven at 500 to brown the breast for 30 minutes. I watched over it carefully and saw that the tips of the wings and drumsticks were starting to burn, so I wrapped them in foil. Then, as the turkey fat and butter dripped into the pan, they were causing a ton of smoke which burned my throat a bit actually. So contrary to the recipe, which said nothing about this smoke, I added in a cup or so of water which let off a ton of steam, but at least seemed to stem the flow of smoke.
After 30 minutes, it was looking beautiful. I then applied an aluminum foil "breastplate" to slow the breast cooking which wisely called for non-stick spray on the bottom. I stuck a meat thermometer into the breast, lowered the heat to 350, and pulled it out at 161 as directed. It came out looking great!
I let it rest for 30 minutes while I scrambled to get the rest of dinner on the table. I sauteed brussels sprouts and topped them with grated parmigiano. I boiled potatoes and topped them with warm milk, sour cream, butter, salt, and pepper while Josh mashed them. I added chicken stock to the turkey drippings and made gravy. I put the assembled apple tart into the oven. I put sweet potatoes and dressing in to roast. I creamed the corn with half and half.
When it was time, I carved the turkey. I took the entire breast off one side and sliced it rather thickly (much owed to the wine I had been imbibing while cooking) and then took off the leg and wing.
We set the table, which was less overstuffed than usual and sat down to dinner.
Dinner! I took a wing and a piece of breast. The breast was absolutely delicious, moist, and tender. The wing end was crispy crunchy good. The dark meat was delicious. Though the part of the wing closest to the body was just undercooked, I think. Perhaps just cooked. That was the only part that made me feel weird.
The mashed potatoes I topped with chopped parsley, dill, and chives. And a lot of tasty gravy. The sweet potatoes didn't quite have the char I wanted but they were good. The creamed corn was good and Josh said it was his favorite. The cranberry sauce was tart and went well with the turkey. The dressing wasn't roasted or toasted enough. Josh was picking out chestnuts to eat. I'm kind of disappointed in how that came out. And the brussels sprouts were good.
All in all, a pretty good meal. We have a ton of turkey in the fridge to which I am actually looking forward to some sammiches.
After a nice rest, I cut off part of the apple tart and baked it in the oven for 10 minutes. We ate it, flaky and sweet, with some egg nog that Josh made.
It was a good Thanksgiving.
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