Posted on 11/27/2015 3:56:50 PM PST by Jamestown1630
I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving, and is now enjoying plenty of leftovers!
We took the advice of 'boatbums', and did a dry brine for the first time - just salt. It turned out wonderfully, despite a near disaster.
We began with a fresh turkey, and my husband salted it a few days ahead, dried the turkey naked in the fridge overnight, and started it in the oven at 450 degrees on The Day.
A couple of hours later, the probe thermometer went off, and we stared at each other: something was wrong, and there was no way the turkey could be done!
It turned out that my husband had gotten busy and forgotten to cut the temperature down after the first half-hour! We took it out and it looked perfect; but we prepared ourselves for a pretty dry turkey.
This must be a very fool-proof way to cook a turkey, because it was fabulous: I've never eaten breast meat that had this texture, and the skin was done to crispy perfection.
I don't suggest that anyone do purposely what we did accidentally; but I think that we, too, will always do a dry-brined turkey from now on.
We used to do both a turkey and a ham on Thanksgiving, but we don't have that many people come nowadays, and we've learned the truth of the adage that 'Eternity is a ham and two people'. But when we do bake ham, the following is my favorite use for leftovers: it comes out just like the potted ham in the cute little paper-wrapped tin with the red devil on it:
Deviled Ham
1 1/2 cups cooked ham (about 1/2 pound), chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
3 tablespoons onion, chopped
1 teaspoon whole capers, drained
3-4 tablespoons curly parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or your favorite hot sauce, to taste)
1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse in one second bursts, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Pulse until very well combined, but not quite a smooth paste (some texture here is good). Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld. Serve on crispy crackers or on white bread.
-JT
Sharing my kitchen would drive me nuts! We have an agreement - I stay out of the garage and he stays out of the kitchen. Except for passing through, if course.
On, I definitely plan to try this. Thanks ;)!
Hubby bought three hams—your recipe looks yummy!
“”I came to the blunt conclusion “”
Well, you certainly learned how to be diplomatic!!! LOL
Our neighbor said when her husband retired, he wanted to do the cooking and she wasn’t about to tell him NO. The best of all possible goals when one retires. My husband and I both retired at the same time but I’ve never seen an end of the kitchen duties and like I say - after 60 years, it is tiring!!! I don’t think the wife ever fully retires but the man does.
“”Be careful that you don’t create a ‘monster’””
Nope - not even going to attempt it. As it is, he’s looking over my shoulder at the same time looking at the clock - Oh! No! it’s six o’clock....Not until the past few years did he even care what was going on in the kitchen or what the meal would be. Now he takes up space between the stove and fridge - room for one person to pass through - and doesn’t understand why I yell when I need to open the fridge or the oven door.
We used the instructions in the article below, using only salt. We had a small, ~13-lb. turkey, and used about 3 T. kosher salt.
Just rub the turkey all over with the salt, and put the turkey in one of those oven-bags, in a tray, in the fridge. Do this early enough that it gets three whole days in the salt. The night before cooking, take it out of the bag, pat it dry all over, and put it back in the fridge with no covering, overnight.
Our plan was to put it in at 450 for 1/2 hour, and then reduce the heat to 350, until the probe in the breast read 160 degrees (we have the kind that constantly monitors the temp, and ‘dings’ when the pre-set temp is reached in the breast.) I don’t know how different it would be starting with a frozen turkey. We used a fresh one, purchased two days before we began the salting. Don’t rinse the turkey before cooking, and don’t add any more salt, just pepper. Hubby rubbed it with olive oil (not EVOO) and peppered it. He also tented it after 1/2 hour, with foil. (That was also the point where he would normally have cut the heat down to 350 for the rest of the cooking. It could be that things worked out despite our error, because we were doing a relatively small turkey.)
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/18/food/fo-calcook18
Boatbums directed us to search on Genius Brined Turkey, which I did; but I couldn’t access it (problems on my computer with some websites.)
You can add herbs, instead of just using salt. Next time, we’ll experiment. The breast meat was the most impressive - not dry and ‘shreddy’, but very firm and moist, a texture you would normally associate with thigh meat.
-JT
Husband just informed that I made a mistake - he didn’t tent the turkey completely, but created a ‘breastplate’ just for the breast, a la Alton Brown.
-JT
I tried the woven bacon strips over the whole turkey this year. Incredible, moist turkey. It was amazing. Everyone loved it.
How does the bacon turn out? (I’d be going for that, before the turkey ;-)
-JT
Bet it was an effective mooslime repellent.. ;-)
Thank you! We didn’t get to cook our turkey yet - we were invited over to some new friend’s house instead. Having just moved, that was a lovely surprise.
I’ll try it though. Brining in our cooler the last 2 years (especially keeping it cool in southern California!) was time-consuming not to mention questionable, LOL!
We did the wet brine many times, and it was superior to non-brined turkey; but nothing compared to this dry-brine. I hope it wasn’t a real fluke -LOL!- and turns out as well when we do it right :-)
-JT
“I don’t think the wife ever fully retires but the man does.”
True, the cooking and laundry still need doing.
But my hubby is still good at fixing anything I break, so I don’t complain. much.
;)
You just might have discovered a great method!
This is simple, maybe silly, but I look forward to turkey just so I can make this. Turkey ‘burritos’. Warm a tortilla, put a but if mayo down the center, but some turkey pieces down the center, sprinkle with salt, put a bit of warmed gravy on the turkey, and roll up. yum!
You can out mashed potatoes or stuffing in it, but I like my food simple (ie, not touching!). More gravy on top is always good.
what us with my tablet today.... bit of mayo, put some turkey ...
I have sausage fingers tonight I guess. blaming the tablet was easier though
I’d be afraid to try it again ;-)
Next turkey, we’ll do it right, and just see...
-JT
Simple things are the best. I’ve never been a great fan of turkey itself at Thanksgiving; I like all the sides, and breads. But I’ve always loved the leftover sandwich of turkey, mayo, salt and pepper on white bread.
-JT
The best! I bought a loaf of white bread just for the sandwiches. I do one side w/ mayo & the other side w/ cranberry relish.
True, true... but the unintended problem with that is that I have a very real weakness for Jewish girls. Oy vey!
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