Thanksgiving Turkey (by Brandon)

Brandon amazes me by the tasks he sets for himself. He stepped up and claimed the duty of cooking the Thanksgiving turkey this year. I on the other hand, get freaked out if I have to cook something that everything else centers around. Brandon is always confident that whatever he cooks will come out fine. For me, I like to test cook dishes before bringing it to a party or cooking it for a special holiday. Not Brandon! I was nervous about him cooking the turkey since he had never done it before, but it came out awesome. Juicy and flavorful. I was very impressed, and I am lucky to be with someone who can cook so well.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 lb)  frozen young turkey

For the brine

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1/2 tablespoon allspice berry
• 1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
• 1 gallon ice water

For the aromatics

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage
• canola oil

Directions

1. Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stock pot and bring to a boil.

2. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

3. Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5 gallon bucket.

4. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours.

5. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

6. A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees.

7. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

8. Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water.

9. Discard brine.

10. Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels.

11. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage.

12. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

13. Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500F for 30 minutes.

14. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350°F.

15. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161°F.

16. A 14-16 pound bird should require a total of 2-2 1/2 hours of roasting.

17. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.