Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving brings thoughts of Black Friday deals and more importantly a complete family dinner. The main constituent of a traditional thanksgiving dinner is a turkey. Cooking a delicious turkey involves a number of steps.

Thawing
Get the turkey home on Tuesday evening and place the packaged bird in a bucket full of cold water for thawing. Change the water every 30 mins.

To give turkey the delicious taste, some prefer brining, others prefer marination. I on the other hand choose to use both since I have observed that the combination of the two works really well

Brining


Ingredients
5 cups veg broth
1 cup salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
10 cardamom pods
1 handful cloves
1 stick cinnamon
4 bay leaves
1 handful pepper
10 dried red chillies
1 handful coriander seeds

Method
Add salt and sugar to the vegetable broth and bring to boil
Add the rest of the spices and let simmer for 15 mins

Remove from heat and completely cool down. Refrigerate to make it really cold.

When ready to brine the turkey, remove the package. Rinse the turkey thoroughly and place it in a large vessel lined with a oven roasting bag. Place the turkey in the bag, breast first and pour the brine in. Add cold water & ice till the turkey is completely submerged. Tie the mouth of the bag tightly and place it in a refrigerator.

Brine the turkey for atleast about 1 hour per pound. The salt gets absorbed by the turkey resulting in  succulent flavorful meat when roasted

The turkey is brined from on the night of Tuesday till Wednesday evening.

Marination


Ingredients

1 bunch coriander
1 cinnamon stick
15 peppers
15 cloves
10 garlic
10 green chillies
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp butter

Method
Mix all the above and grind into a thick paste

If the turkey has been brined remove it from the brine and rinse thoroughly. Excess salt or sugar on its surface can cause it to be burned.

Pat the turkey completely dry both on the surface and in the cavity.

Now rub the marinade under the turkey skin and inside the cavity

Wrap the turkey and place in the refrigerator overnight.




Roasting

Remove the turkey from the refrigerator and let it sit on the kitchen top for atleast an hour.

Preheat the oven at 350 deg F

Melt some butter and rub all over the turkey surface

Prepare the pan by smearing a thin layer of oil.
Place a rack in the pan on which the turkey can rest
Pour about half cup chicken broth in the pan which will help keep the oven moist during the roasting

Place the turkey pan on the lower most rack of the oven 

Let the turkey roast for about 2 hours, bast it every 30 mins during this time.
It will be browned on the top. 

Place an aluminium foil on the turkey to prevent further browning and let the turkey roast till the thermometer pops.
It takes about 15-20 mins per pound of turkey

Remove the aluminium foil, bast the turkey and let the turkey brown for the next 30 mins

Remove from the oven once it has the desired color

Let it stand for atleast 30 mins before carving.

Decorate the plate with greens & tomatoes