Holiday weekends are the best, and can mean many different things. To most, it's a chance to relax, enjoy the weather, grab a beer, maybe. For me, it's cooking for an army - and in today's case: an army of 15.
Turkey is always the easiest choice - get a 20 lb bird, brine it, shove it in the oven and come back in 5 hours. Simple, huh? Sure. Except if you're cooking for a chef. One of my cousins is a chef (as in, he must cook well for others or he starves) and today, I found out that he would be sitting down to dinner at my table. No pressure.
So to impress (and because I'm just anal enough to do this), I prepped a meal with appetizers, a zillion side dishes, the main (mmmm...turkey) and a small dessert.
I won't bore you with the details of my day (except that it's now past midnight and I'm still super wired), but I will say the meal turned out well. And was enjoyed by all - even my chef cousin.
I can't take all the credit - Martha Stewart had a hand in it too. After all, it was her turkey brining recipe that I used. An amazing recipe - though I've tried it a few times and tinker every time.
Instead of thyme, I used savoury herbs (I find thyme a little too strong for the Asian palate). And for the wine, I used a Trius Dry Riesling (Hillebrand). Of the different wines I've used, this has worked out the best. I also skipped the juniper berries (used to flavour gin...it has a citrus flavour, which pairs well with the riesling).
Here are the directions (with my tinkered notes)
Makes enough brine for one 18- to 20-pound turkey
- 7 quarts (28 cups) water
- 1 1/2 cups coarse salt
- 6 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried juniper berries - I couldn't find these so skipped it altogether
- 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
- 1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), patted dry, neck and giblets reserved for stock, liver reserved for stuffing
- 1 bottle dry Riesling
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 bunch fresh thyme/savoury
Directions
- Bring 1 quart water, the salt, bay leaves, and spices to a simmer, stirring until salt has dissolved.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Line a 5-gallon container with a large brining or oven-roasting bag.
- Place turkey in bag.
- Add salt mixture, remaining 6 quarts (24 cups) water, and the other ingredients.
- Tie bag; if turkey is not submerged, weight it with a plate.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping turkey once.
Believe it or not, the turkey was the easy part. Brine the day before, rinse the day of, shove it into the oven and forget about it.
It's everything else that took time. I won't get into it today (since I'm now exhausted), but eggs are an important part of Easter. Tomorrow, I'll post my recipes for the appetizers served today. Stay-tuned...and Happy Easter, everyone!
P.S. My cousin the chef ate with gusto. No compliment better than that!
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