Happy Thanksgiving- Turkey worth eating

I have to say that I am not always a fan of Thanksgiving food. It's okay, but nothing that I really look forward to, and I think that is because I am not a big turkey fan. Turkey is often tasteless, sawdusty, and badly in need of something to moisten it up and give it some flavor (even if the flavor is canned gravy). So this year when I found out it would just be the three of us for Thanksgiving I was thrilled to throw out the turkey and replace it with a roast chicken (which was more the size we needed and much tastier). Bri nixed that idea, he as it turns out, likes turkey, and not only does he like it, but he looks forward to the one time a year that we have it. So I had to come up with a turkey recipe that would satisfy his year turkey craving and have some flavor. I scoured cooking magazines, online recipes, and books, and still had the same questions: would the dark meat cook before the light meat was inedible, how can I preserve moisture, and how can I guarantee a good gravy when my gravy making skills are subpar (to say the least).

Last year I came across a turkey recipe where the turkey was cut up prior to cooking so each section/piece would cook for the proper amount of time without drying out the others. This idea was intriguing, but didnt fit with the Norman Rockwall Thanksgiving feast I had hoped for... then I got over that, because you have to slice the turkey up anyway to serve it, why not cook it that way to begin with. Cutting up the turkey prior to cooking would solve the dark meat/light meat issue.

Then came the "moisture" problem, since I am an avid follower of ATK I decided to take their advice about brining the turkey, I brine other meat so why not this too? This would have been pretty difficult if the turkey was whole, but since it was cut up into pieces it wasnt too big of a deal.

Finally the gravy, because this turkey is "braised" (cooked in liquid over low heat) there was plenty of flavorful liquid to make gravy, all I needed was a roux! The gravy does have a "vegetal" taste, but that might be all the vegetables that contributed to the liquid and it is 10,000 times better than my previous attempts or anything that comes out of a can.

I tested the recipe with turkey drumsticks and it was delicious! Lucky for us our local Sprouts has turkey pieces so we can buy what we want and skip cutting up the whole bird.

So without further ado the recipe (this recipe is a variation of the one found in the December 2011 edition of Cook's Illustrated magazine)

Ingredients

Turkey

salt

pepper

1c sugar

1 (5-7 lb) whole bone in turkey breast

4 lbs turkey drumsticks and thighs

3 onions, chopped**

4-6 celery ribs, chopped**

1/2 lb carrots, chopped**

6-10 garlic cloves, smashed***

2-6 bay leaves***

6 sprigs fresh thyme***

6 sprigs fresh parsley***

4 T unsalted (important) butter

5 c. low sodium chicken broth

Gravy

3 T flour

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Dissolve 1c. salt and sugar in 2 gallons cold water in a large (or several small) container. Submerge turkey pieces and refrigerate for up to 6 hrs. (brining too long will make the meat very salty)

2. Heat oven to 500.

3. Remove turkey from brine and pat dry.

4. Toss onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley together with 2 T butter. Arrange in an even layer at the bottom of the roasting pan.

5. Brush turkey with remaining butter and season with pepper (do not add salt!).

6. Place turkey skin side up directly on top of the vegetables and herbs in the roasting pan, roast until skin is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

7. remove pan from oven and reduce the temperature to 325. pour broth around turkey pieces (should come about halfway up legs and thighs). Cover with parchment paper and then tightly with aluminum foil.

8. Bake until legs and thighs register 175 and breast is 160 (can remove if this happens before other pieces are done).

9. transfer to carving board and let rest for 20 minutes (do not skip this step!)

10. strain vegetables and liquid from pan. Discard vegetables. Remove fat and reserve for gravy.

11. heat reserved fat (3 T)* in a saucepan over medium high heat, add flour and cook until flour is dark golden brown, stir continuously, whisk in 3 c. of cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until gravy is the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper as needed.

*if the reserved fat idea freaks you out, or you cant get any, or you dont want to mess with it, you can substitute 3 T unsalted butter.

** I put everything in the food processor, it turns out to be an orangeish mash but since you are using the veggies for flavor and not eating it is a good option and much easier than chopping

***I tend to add more herbs to my food, if you dont like them as much, reduce the amount.