Herb Brined Creole Turkey Recipes

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, combine the first nine ingredients; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat. Add cold water to cool the brine to room temperature. , Place one oven roasting bag inside the other. Place turkey inside both bags; pour in cooled brine. Seal bags, pressing out as much air as possible; turn to coat turkey. Place in a shallow roasting pan. Refrigerate 18-24 hours, turning occasionally., Preheat oven to 350°. Remove turkey from brine; rinse and pat dry. Discard brine. Place turkey on a rack in a shallow roasting pan, breast side up. Tuck wings under turkey; tie drumsticks together. Rub oil over outside of turkey; sprinkle with pepper and, if desired, salt., Roast, uncovered, 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reads 170°-175°. (Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly.), Remove turkey from oven; tent with foil. Let stand 20 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• In a stockpot, combine the salt, brown sugar, sage, thyme, rosemary and 2 quarts water. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat. Add the cold water to cool the brine to room temperature., Place a turkey-size oven roasting bag inside a second roasting bag; add turkey. Carefully pour cooled brine into bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible; seal bags and turn to coat. Place in a roasting pan. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours, turning occasionally., Drain and discard brine; rinse turkey and pat dry. Tie drumsticks together. Place the remaining ingredients in a food processor; cover and process until smooth. With fingers, carefully loosen skin from turkey breast; rub half of the butter mixture under skin. Secure skin to underside of breast with toothpicks. Rub remaining butter mixture over skin., Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Bake at 450° for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°; bake 3-1/4 to 3-3/4 hours longer or until thermometer reads 180°, basting twice during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly., Remove turkey to a serving platter; cover and let stand for 20 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• For the Brine:
• To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a nonreactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, food grade plastic storage bag). Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary. Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.
• Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey and reserve for the gravy. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water.
• Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels both inside and out. Place turkey, breast side up, in a large, heavy roasting pan. Rub breast side with orange segments and rub on all sides with the butter, stuffing some underneath the skin. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, remaining orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.
• Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.
• For the turkey broth:
• Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the turkey neck, heart, and gizzard to the pan and saute until just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add the chopped vegetables and bay leaf to the pan and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Pour the stock and 3 cups of water into the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the stock is reduced to 4 cups, about 1 hour, adding the chopped liver to the pan during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Strain the stock into a clean pot or large measuring cup. Pull the meat off the neck, chop the neck meat and giblets, and set aside.
• For the pan gravy:
• Pour the reserved turkey pan juices into a glass-measuring cup and skim off the fat.
• Place the roasting pan on 2 stovetop burners over medium heat add the pan juice and 1 cup turkey broth and the white wine to the pan, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining 3 cup of broth and bring to a simmer, then transfer to a measuring cup. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, to make a light roux. Add the hot stock, whisking constantly, then simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Add the reserved neck meat and giblets to the pan and adjust seasoning, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Pour into a gravy boat and serve.
• Slice and serve guests with desired sides.

Steps:

• In a large stockpot, combine first 5 ingredients with 6 cups of the apple cider; bring to a boil over medium high heat.
• Reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes to completely dissolve the sugar and salt; stir in remaining apple cider and let the mixture cool.
• Rinse the turkey well with cold water and place in a doubled oven bag (2 bags, one inside the other); pour cider mixture into the bag with the turkey and close securely.
• Marinate the turkey, in the refrigerator, for 12 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.
• Once marinated, remove turkey from bag and rinse well with cold water (discard liquid); pat dry with paper towels.
• Use your fingers to loosen the skin of the turkey being careful not to fully remove or tear; spread 1 tablespoon of the creole seasoning under the skin and another tablespoon of the seasoning in the cavity.
• Sprinkle the outside of the turkey with the remaining creole seasoning; let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees F making sure to leave enough room in the oven for the turkey (I usually have to remove one oven rack).
• Place the turkey on a roasting rack with the breast side up; brush with melted butter.
• Roast turkey until the thickest part of the thigh registers 180 degrees F on an internal meat thermometer, about 3 hours; loosely cover turkey with aluminum foil if it browns too quickly.
• Baste turkey with pan juices occasionally during the last hour of cooking; let stand 15 minutes before slicing.

Steps:

• Brine the turkey: Combine 2 gallons water with the salt, sugar, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary, sage, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves and crushed red pepper in a container large enough to accommodate all the ingredients and the turkey. Stir to combine. Submerge the turkey in the brine and refrigerate for 3 days.
• The night before you roast the bird, remove it from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels. Make the herb butter: In a small bowl, combine the butter, rosemary, sage and some salt. Using your fingers, carefully work your way under the skin of the turkey to separate it from the breasts and legs. Massage the butter under the skin, then all over the bird. This acts like suntan lotion to create a lovely, crispy brown skin. Tie the turkey legs together with twine to keep the bird nice and compact for even cooking.
• In your roasting pan, for the gravy, combine the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme bundle and bay leaves. Season with salt. Plunk the turkey on top of the veggies and put it in the fridge overnight uncovered. Yes, that's right...uncovered. This allows the skin of the turkey to dry out, which will create a gorgeous brown crispy skin. Now a bunch of your prep work is out of the way, so all you have to do tomorrow is toss the turkey in the oven!
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Pour the wine into the roasting pan and put the turkey in the screaming-hot oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it becomes beautifully browned. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. Baste with the pan juices and rotate the pan every 30 minutes for the remainder of the cooking time; think 17 minutes per pound...you do the math. If the turkey starts to get too brown, tent it loosely with foil.
• Remove the turkey from the oven when an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. (Be sure the thermometer is not touching a bone.) Transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet, cover with foil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Make the gravy: Using a mesh strainer, strain the veggies out of the pan juices over a large bowl and allow the fat to rise to the top. Discard the veggies. Skim the fat from the pan juices, add it to a large saucepot and bring it to medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook until it has the consistency of wet sand, 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk the pan juices and stock into the flour mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until it is thick, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt, if needed. Carve the turkey and serve with the gravy.

Steps:

• To make brine, combine all ingredients in a large pot and stir until the salt and sugar have completely dissolved. Line a large bucket or pot with a food-safe plastic bag, and add turkey to the bag. Pour brine over turkey, making sure it is totally immersed in brine and seal bag tightly with a knot. Place turkey in bag in bucket or pot and keep in a cool place (or refrigerate) for 6 to 12 hours, turning occasionally to evenly brine bird. (I do this right before I go to bed the night before and keep it in the garage.).
• On the day of serving, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove turkey from brine, rinse and pat dray. (You can discard the bag and the brine.) Squeeze lemon halves all over turkey, top and bottom, as well as in the cavity. Add apple, onion, lemon halves, and herbs to the cavity. Gently loosen skin from breast and rub breast generously with butter, as well as outside of turkey. Season with salt and pepper, then truss turkey, pinning back wings.
• Using a large deep roasting pan with a rack, spray rack generously with non-stick cooking spray. Place turkey on rack breast-side down and loosely cover with foil. Add about 2 cups of chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting pan and cook for 1-1/2 hours, basting often.
• After 1-1/2 hours, remove foil and flip turkey over so it is now breast-side up. Continue cooking for another hour, basting often. After 1 hour, remove turkey and cut drumsticks loose so that when they are done, they will move loosely in their sockets. Cook for about another 1/2 hour, checking temperature for doneness (180 degrees for thigh and 170 degrees for breast). When turkey is done, remove from oven and cover with foil. Let stand for 1 hour (very important). Reserve drippings for your gravy, if desired.
• While turkey is standing, heat remaining broth and keep warm on low heat. After 1 hour, you may carve the turkey and arrange in a large roasting or baking pan. Pour a little chicken broth over all, cover pan with foil, and keep warm in a 250 degree oven until ready to serve. While the turkey is keeping warm, you can finish off your side dishes, etc. When ready to serve, arrange carved turkey on platter.