Good Eats Roast Turkey-by Dr. Clay’s wife
… Thanksgiving brings fabulous memories in the kitchen, and some not so fabulous memories – but we can laugh about them now (mostly). So as tribute to the virtue of gratefulness for all memories, please enjoy a family favorite Thanksgiving recipe – and a family favorite memory of the first time I made it.
As a fan of Alton Brown’s show waayyyy back in college, I was super-duper excited about the year my mom asked me to make a turkey for the family Thanksgiving gathering. Clay was a little less sure. Since newlywed-hood, our kitchen had been decked out with a meat thermometer and a roasting pan. But the funny part was, now we couldn’t fit the pan and the turkey in our eensy Houston apartment oven! ha Regardless, I was not about to give up the adventure and the privilege, so off to Grandma’s house in College Station we went . On the morning of T-day Eve, I cooked up the brine, cooled it in several randomly-saved-and-cleaned-for-the-purpose glass containers, and later soaked the turkey overnight in a soup pot that was so large it had been given to me as a joke years before (perfect!). The roasting part the next day was dreamy; I finally understood why the dad in “A Christmas Story” goes gaga over the turkey. The perfume in the air was a crazy good combo of roasty toasty aromatic yumminess. (Please pardon me if you’re vegan, but it was really really nice.) And when it was done, what a beautiful centerpiece for the feast it was – and it tasted even better, moist & flavorful! Ta-daaa!! If you don’t know just what I mean, you might want to try a new recipe this year, so here’s the link!
Good Eats Roasted Turkey ***+ videos***
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html#!
(The only thing I do differently these days is use parchment-paper-lined foil for the “turkey triangle” — keeps the aluminum off the turkey.) 😉