Easy Turkey Meal

[pictures of this meal coming soon] 

In more than a decade of marriage, I have never celebrated Thanksgiving at my home. Now, it just doesn’t seem right to change what has become our tradition, and to be honest, I don’t mind visiting my husband’s relatives. The food served at their home is great, and the company is even better.  However, I cannot pretend I never wondered what it would be like to host a Thanksgiving meal.  I even bought The Food Network magazine last year, and I drooled over the pictures of juicy, meaty turkeys and scrumptious side dishes. However, it wasn’t until this year that I decided to go for it.

I could not possibly host Thanksgiving at home, but would it be okay to do a pre-Thansgiving/sort-of-Halloween dinner? “Why not?” I told myself.  After all, there is nothing wrong with planning a family meal.

I invited my husband’s parents, his brother and his family, and my mother to join us and eat my very first turkey meal.  They eagerly accepted, and I began to plan the menu. However, there was a problem I needed to overcome if I was going to make this recipe work for my family: proper brining.

I began with this recipe by The Food Network Magazine, but I immediately knew I wanted to make  a few changes. For instance, the choices for liquid brines were too risky for me (this was my first turkey, so I didn’t want to experiment!).   I’ll save these options for next time. The classic brine was perfect, but it was dry, and I want the juiciness of the other choices. I also wondered where I was going ot keep the turkey while I brined it. I realized early on that I needed

• A fool-proof brine/seasoning
• A place to brine

So… I tackled the first issue by making my own recipe for the brine

Ingredients:

• Salt to taste (I used about half a cup, but traditional brine recipes can require two cups of salt or more)
• Two Swanson flavor boost packages – chicken flavored (next time, I might use one or two more)
• Two rosemary branches
• A couple of onions and peppers, cut in half.
• Garlic to taste (you can use cloves or powder; I prefer cloves)

I mixed all of these ingredients in a pot full of water (enough to cover the whole turkey) and let it boil. Then, I let this broth simmer for a bit to mix the flavors. This became my brine.

Brining the bird for 24 hours was the next challenge. There is no way my larger than normal pot would fit in my two-door refrigerator.  The solution came to me by chance.  As I was looking for a thermometer at the store, I came across a basting bag. Can you believe someone makes this item? The bag looks like a giant Ziplock bag for a giant, 20 lbs. turkey.  Jackpot!  I paid less than $3 for the bag – worth every penny.

So, on the day before my big turkey dinner, I made my brine. Once it cooled down, I put the turkey and the liquid brine in the back, and I place this bag in my refrigerator. I had to remove the bottom vegetable drawer to get the turkey in, but other than that, brining took no effort whatsoever.

I followed the mixed and match recipe from Wegmans (link) for the rest of the process, and I used the rosemary lemon butter (I skipped the fennel).  I don’t want to brag, but the turkey was awesome! My six-year-old nephew had seconds.  That is the best compliment I got that night, but not the only one. 

I served three side dishes with my turkey and spent about $40 or $50 dollars (about $20 for the turkey).  However, I was able to feed 7 adults and one child (my kids don’t eat turkey); I also had leftovers to make other meals for the rest of the week.  Not a bad deal!