The most remarkable was the big bird, which surprised everyone by its size (24 lbs.) and its price ($11!) and its toothsomeness. Hurray for brining.
Here are the links to some of the dishes.
sweet potatoes with minimarshymallows
unmolding the other pumpkin flan
duck and orange terrine slices (from previous post)
it was big, it was heavy, it was unwieldy...brining made it such a moist and succulent beast
Mix 1 gallon of water, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of kosher salt, 3 tbsps. of whole black peppercorns, sprigs of your favorite herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary) in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Cool completely.
Pour into your container with the fresh or thawed turkey (this is for a 14 lb. size) and let it soak at least overnight.
Store in cold porch/basement, or your large spacious refrigerator...
Before roasting, rinse the turkey well and then proceed with your preferred roasting method.
We have decided to stick to this brining process instead of buying a pre-brined bird, which tends be much more expensive with uncertain mixed results.
It was oohed and aahhed all over and they all wanted to take home some leftovers.
postmortem
