Thanksgiving 2009

I'm doing a brine turkey again, 13 pound beaut, with the only change from last year is that I did the drying period between brine and oven. I don't think I did it last year because I'm pretty sure I hadn't read that far in the instructions until oven time. So this time I was a little more prepared.

Defrosting the bird: We bought it on Saturday, frozen, so it had been in the fridge "defrosting" from Saturday until Tuesday night when I did the washing off and noticed it was still an EFFING BLOCK OF ICE! (I had wondered why there wasn't any juice in the bag!) So while I was washing it off, I spent an hour trying to get it somewhat defrosted, since it was going to be put in the cooler surrounded by ice and I didn't want it to stay frozen.

Brine: Crate and Barrel brine pack, again. Gives you the herbed and spiced brine, the bag, and also an herb rub. Tasted pretty good last year.

Drying the turkey in the fridge between brine and oven: I noticed there was quite a bit of juices in the pan, so I hope it doesn't turn out dry!

Stuffing and Trussing: God I hate doing turkeys. I probably shouldn't have slicked up the bird with olive oil and rub before needing to manhandle the fucker; trussing went not so well. I think I got the bits (carrots, onions, celery) to stay inside a little better than last year, so there's that. Also, I think this bird has an abnormal top hole. I can't get the neck skin to stay tucked inside, and it kind of just glops back out and slips around the string. So the string isn't really doing a whole lot to keep the bird together, I think.

Time for the Oven: It's in, breast side down for 45 minutes at 400degrees.

Still on my checklist:
- Garlic roast potatoes from my favorite cook Ina Garten. Well, OK, second fave after Bourdain, but I don't watch him for the cooking.
- cornbread muffins [don't have time!! :( ]
- dressing [in the home stretch]
- gravy! hope it turns out better than last year [it looks goopy. I poured the rest of the last box of stock in to increase volume, we'll see how that goes...]
- candied pecans


[9am] got my first burn turning turkey. Started the gravy with browning the nasty bits.

[9:40am] turned the turkey two more times, now it's on its final run: cook until done. Nasty bits still boiling in broth for 15 more minutes. Got another burn.

[1pm!!] I'm behind schedule, won't have time for cornbread muffins. Time to take the foil off the dressing and take a shower! and I may have a broken toe. Stupid cat.]

[after dinner] dinner was super yummy. Everyone liked the turkey. Hope it doesn't make anyone sick! There was ham, scaloped corn, and pie. There was others, but I only had eyes for turkey, ham, scaloped corn and ham. The gravy turned out pretty well, except I could have removed a little more fat from the drippings.

We're watching football now.
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