One Jive Turkey

I never really loved Thanksgiving turkey.  I loved the things that went with it: fat-laden casseroles masquerading as vegetables, Uncle Dave drinking a little too much whiskey and rolling around on the living room floor with seven kids on his back, spending the whole morning in the kitchen cooking with Mom with the Macy’s Day parade in the background, that amazing dressing that was only cooked on this one day during the year, tabletops filled with pies and cakes and everyone piled up like hostages in the den later watching football and dozing in and out of consciousness.

But, if I’m being honest, the turkey was always lacking.  No matter who did the cooking or how it was cooked, the end result could be summed up in two words: dry and bland.  We baked it, we fried it, we smoked it, we grilled, we shoved apples and beer cans in its cavity, we injected it, we rubbed it and we buttered it but the overall result was always the same.  Eating it without the required smothering of giblet gravy or cranberry sauce often led to contorted facial expressions that could only be likened to those of a Jim Carey character.

And then my world changed forever.  My mother, an artful and inspiring cook, discovered The Perfect Recipe by Pam Anderson.  In this bible – I mean book – Anderson set out to discover the absolute perfect recipes for mostly everyday classic dishes.  She compared hundreds of recipes, compiled composite test recipes, considered scientific aspects of the ingredients and cooking methods (a la Alton Brown) and after years of research published “the perfect recipe” for 20 or so dishes.

Anderson developed a finite recipe for roasting the perfect turkey, writing pages of text of her proofing techniques and findings.  In summary, there are two key factors to heed: brining and rotating.  Anderson explains the science of salt and sugar as they pertain to animal protein and how to utilize gravity to contain the bird’s juices to produce a turkey so moist and flavorful you may, in fact, actually slap your mama. For the love of all things feathered, you absolutely must try this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups kosher salt

1 cup sugar

One 12- to 14-pound turkey—neck, wing tips and giblets reserved, cavity fat removed

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

1 celery rib, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

In a large stockpot or plastic tub, mix 1 1/2 gallons of water with the salt and sugar; stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add the turkey to the brine, breast side down and refrigerate for 10 to 12 hours.

Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse it in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Place half of the onions, carrot and celery in the turkey cavity. Using kitchen string, tie the turkey legs together, then bring the string around the turkey and tie the wings at the breast. Scatter the remaining onions, carrot and celery in a large roasting pan. Oil a V-shaped rack and set it in the pan. Transfer the turkey to the rack, breast side up. Brush the turkey with the melted butter. Pour 1 cup of water into the pan and roast the turkey for 45 minutes.

Baste the turkey with the pan juices and add 1 more cup of water to the pan. Roast the turkey for about 1 hour and 45 minutes longer, basting it with the pan juices every 30 minutes or so and adding another 1/2 cup of water to the roasting pan whenever the vegetables begin to brown. (To ensure juicy breast meat, Anderson rotates the turkey a quarter turn each time she bastes it.) The turkey is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in an inner thigh registers 170F. Transfer the turkey to a carving board, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Reserve the juices in the roasting pan for making the gravy.