Chi Wulff’s Friday Feast 18 November: Honey and Allspice Brined Turkey

Unbelievably it’s already mid-November with Thanksgiving less than a week away. Tempus fugit.

For a host of reasons we’re gathering with other Montana and other north country refugees for Thanksgiving this year once again.

(The top reasons for the above include the fact that She Who Must Be Obeyed manages a retail establishment here in town and doesn’t have a second to spare this time of year, mountain folks have a different view of holidays than most and we remain on the extended family black sheep blackest-of-the-black blacklist….)

The consensus determined we’d make it a southern themed Thanksgiving meal this year, combining several Cajun and low country dishes to round out the menu.

After a spirited round of Bullshit (the card game) to determine who got to choose first in the “what do I get to cook this year sweepstakes”, I drew the lucky card so to speak and was assigned the enviable task of being the turkey wrangler. She Who Must Be Obeyed and I will grab the birds today.

The plan at this point is to do two birds, one in the oven and one in the smoker. Given our good turkey fortune over the past two years and this year’s menu plan, both will be brined in this treasure of a recipe – Honey and Allspice Brined Turkey.

Simply put, we’ve experimented with several gently spiced brines for holiday turkeys the past few years and while they’ve all produced damned good birds, this honey and allspice brine recipe has produced amazingly moist and flavorful turkey every time we’ve used it.

The recipe here presumes you’ll be roasting in the oven; we’ll smoke one of these brined birds (low and slow) over hickory for the first hour or so and change over to oak with a little pecan for the rest of the time in the smoker. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Libby says she can make a Vidalia Onion Cream Gravy that will knock your socks off and will fit the southern theme to a T.

Try one of these brined beauties and you might just be able to put up with the in-laws this year. Just maybe.

Honey and allspice brine
1 cup honey
3 ounces (roughly 2/3 cup) Diamond Crystal kosher salt
8 whole cloves
2 tsp crushed black peppercorns
1 tbsp crushed whole allspice berries
3 bay leaves
6 sprigs fresh thyme
8 cups hot water
4 cups ice water

For the turkey roast
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
8 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Fresh ground pepper

Make the brine. Ina large saucepan, combine 2 cups hot water with the honey, salt, cloves, peppercorns and allspice; mix well. Next add the rest of the hot water, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, stirring until salt dissolved and boil for three minutes. Remove from the heat, add the ice water and cool to room temperature.

Brine the turkey. Brining in your favorite big stockpot or brining/oven bags produces the same result from our humble perspective. Back home in Bozeman we could just place the brining turkey in its stockpot in the garage near the door for 24 hours and it would be colder than in the fridge. Down in southern climes we’ll use brining bags (in a roasting pan to catch any leaks) and just turn the turkey 3 or 4 times during its 24 hour soak.

Roast your bird. I know, I know, everyone knows how to roast a turkey, right? (Obviously in reality, most folks have no idea…) Here’s how a chef friend back home taught us to do it several years ago.

Preheat the oven to 500. Combine the chopped vegetables and place 1/2 cup in the neck cavity, 1/2 cup in the chest cavity, then sprinkle the rest in the roasting pan along with a cup of water. Brush the turkey with half the melted butter and place breast side down in the roasting pan; roast at 500 for 30 minutes then reduce heat to 350, roast another 30 minutes.

At an hour, remove from the oven, turn breast side up (it won’t be that hot yet), baste with pan juices and then brush with the remaining butter. Baste every 45 minutes until done (thigh meat at 165); we usually shoot for a 16-18 pounder and that typically takes three hours….

Two useful tips from our chef friend – when thigh meat reaches 125 typically your bird will need another hour – a useful trick for timing finishing touches on other dishes. She also said that birds need to rest a minimum of 30 minutes – with 40 better – before carving; she insists this is the easiest trick to ensure moist, flavorful breast meat.

Carve and go to it. We’ll be serving ours with Libby’s southern style Vidalia Onion Cream Gravy and other low country sides. Hot damn and gobble-gobble.

[Save that turkey carcass for Bib's Turkey Bone Gumbo next week....]

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast