If you’re like me, you’re not prepared for the Christmas dinners (emphasis on plural) to come… in a few hours! I’m not usually like this, especially with special occasion meals, but this time I’ve just basically let go because I’ve been so ill. I’m happy I could even post this before it’s too late (or is it?).

Well, if you’re like me, then you can still make this. Or at least consider brining your turkey if you’re serving turkey like we are. It’s the best decision I’ve made about the bird. I should have known better because this is what my grandmother used to do with the chickens she handpicks from the farm. [Yes, I won't go there..to that visual place, no, not during the holidays.] We could not wait to have a taste of the pineapple chicken she makes, which has been brined in salt, sugar and pineapple first. Oh, yummy!

I do have a not-so-pretty picture from this year’s Thanksgiving, but I’ll change this as soon as I get pics tomorrow night.

But forget about how it looks…just remember this: we almost didn’t have any leftovers! It was so juicy and flavorful. Give it a try!

Ok…gotta go! Happy roasting!

BRINED ROAST TURKEY

Ingredients

For brining:
1 fresh or thawed turkey, with giblets from cavity removed (at least 13 lbs)
kosher salt
juice of 1 orange*
juice of 1 lemon*

* As an alternative (and a very delicious one at that) you can use a cup of pineapple juice, or whatever light-colored juice you prefer. You can also add brown/raw/demerara sugar, honey, agave nectar or molasses to the solution.

For roasting:
2 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
2 yellow onions, roughly chopped
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
Pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Brining. If you at least 12 hours to prepare: submerge turkey in a liquid solution of 1/2-cup salt combined with 1-gallon water and the orange and lemon juice. You can also brine the turkey for only 4 hours using a stronger solution of 1-cup salt to 1-gallon water, and the juices.

You can use extra large Ziploc bags (double bag it for safety and put on the most bottom area of the fridge in case of spillage) or the specially made brining bags you can buy at specialty stores. You can also use a large pan that can fit the turkey (you might need to turn the turkey halfway through if you use a pan). Keep the turkey in the brining bag/container in the refrigerator or place it in a large cooler with bags of ice – you need to watch out for the temperature. Important: Remember to keep the turkey below 40°F.

2. Cooking the turkey. Preheat the oven to 325°F.** Rinse the turkey thoroughly and pat dry.

3. Mix thyme, rosemary, carrots, celery and onions in a small bowl. Stuff the turkey’s cavity with this vegetable mixture and scatter any leftovers on the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour wine and broth over the vegetables in the pan.

4. Place the turkey rack (flat or v-rack) in the roasting pan, over the vegetables. Transfer the turkey to the rack, with the breast side down. Brush half of melted butter on the whole turkey, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Roast turkey breast side down for the first half of the roasting time.** Remove from the oven and turn breast side up, brush with the rest of the butter and season with salt and pepper. Roast until thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F.

6. Remove turkey from the oven and set aside to rest for 30 minutes, tented with foil. Carve and serve drizzled with pan drippings.

** Most store-bought turkeys will have temperature and roasting times indicated on the packaging. Please follow them.

Here’s a quick reference for roasting (stuffed) turkey at 325°F from the USDA website.

Y’know, I have to say, I have great timing sometimes. (I’m typing that out with a load of sarcasm. :D) And I’ll tell you why: not only did I miss the Canadian elections (for which I tried to vote via fax, btw) in October, I also missed Thanksgiving here because I was in the US. Come November, I’m in Vancouver and where’s Thankgiving? In the US. Brilliant. Needless to say, I was in turkey-envy delirousness. In spite of the fact that the American Turkey Day coincided with the worst day in my weeklong saga of sickness, I forced myself to get out of bed and make this. I shall not be deprived and will take matters into my own hands.

My brother, who’s also in Vancouver with me right now, bought turkey legs the weekend before. I thought he was thinking of Thanksgiving when he got that; but in reality he picked it over the chicken because they were a lot cheaper. He is learning the ropes –haha. What he wasn’t prepared for was finding out that they take longer to cook. He thought he can just fry it quickly like chicken. Uhm.

I was craving for bbq turkey legs from the fair. But we don’t have a grill here, and even if we did, I wouldn’t use it because it’s cold outside. So I thought I’d just cook them in the oven. Next hurdle? There was no barbecue sauce. I just made something by thinking of the taste in my mouth and tried to figure out what would give that flavor and what was available in the kitchen: ketchup, soy sauce, honey, chicken broth powder, cayenne pepper, salt. Don’t ask me how that came about. Heh. All I know was that it tasted good before I put it on the legs. It’s just like when making ice cream: if it doesn’t taste good while it’s in liquid form, it won’t taste any better after it’s churned.

I was very afraid of under cooking it (I’ve battled with learning to cook bone-in chicken legs) so I actually fried the turkey legs before roasting ‘em for fear of feeding my brother something raw.

They sat in the oven for an hour and a half here’s what they looked like after I took them out and I put the last breathe of the soy sauce mixture on them. I swear these are real, but they look like those fake food in the Japanese takeout window/counter.

They came out SO lovely:

Please don’t misconstrue this as me trying to toot my own horn — but it really was SO GOOD. It surpassed all my expectations. It was the perfect taste for me and the extra kick from the cayenne was perfecto. I made homemade mashed potato with a couple of potatoes, butter, heavy cream, salt and pepper to eat with it. The bread is a Filipino bread called “Pandesal” Or “Pan de sal” from the Chinese supermarket.

Not bad for a flu-induced make-shift thanksgiving dinner eh? Sometimes, experimenting with cooking from scratch produces positive results. And so, that is one other thing I can be thankful for.

Make this. You won’t be disappointed. They’re so flavorful and tender and make for leftovers — if there were — you can look forward to. The one leg left was even better the next day!

Here’s the recipe: Continue Reading