Thanksgiving Day Recipes/Tips

I first "brined" my Thanksgiving turkey about seven or eight years ago...I am completely sold on this technique.
Scientifically, brining works by using osmosis to cause water to enter and stay inside the cells of the meat (turkey). Because osmosis also lets salt into the cells, you'll end up with a saltier, but much more juicy bird. One "downside" is that you can't cook the stuffing inside of the bird...it gets too salty. But I happen to think that cooking the stuffing inside of the bird is not a good idea in any case. Cooking the stuffing inside of the bird allows the stuffing to soak up liquid from the turkey...resulting in drier meat. I always mix up my stuffing and cook it in a pyrex baking dish at 350 degrees for an hour or so. Whenever I baste the turkey, I take a few spoonfuls of the "drippings" and drizzle that over the stuffing while it cooks.

RECIPES...both of these recipes for brine were printed in the Detroit Free Press in 2002.

Molasses Brine
8 quarts water
2 cups Kosher Salt...important, do NOT use regular table salt
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup mild (or light) molasses
Mix all of the ingredients together in a pot big enough to hold the turkey and the brine. Mix until everything is dissolved. Add the turkey and refrigerate overnight (10-12 hours). Two hours before you plan to start cooking the turkey, remove it from the brine and rinse it for several minutes, inside and out, under cold running water. Dry off the turkey and cook as usual.
Some suggest adding a cup of Bourbon to the brine...haven't tried that, but it sounds great.

Apple Cider Brine
2 quarts Apple Cider
6 quarts water
2 cups Kosher Salt
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
Follow the same directions as above for Molasses Brine.

Other Suggestions...you can add some herb/spices/vegetables to the brine (onions, carrots, peppercorns, thyme, etc.).
If you don't want the added flavor of the molasses or the cider, you can do a simple brine with 8 quarts water, two cups Kosher Salt and 2 cups regular sugar.
Also, if you don't have a pot big enough to hold the turkey and the brine, you can use two garbage bags and a bucket or large bowl to hold the turkey and the brine.


"Fool-Proof" Gravy Method
Next to overcooking the turkey itself, making the gravy is usually the biggest problem on Thanksgiving. I learned this method, and it always works for me...
While the turkey is roasting, put the "giblets" (neck, heart, kidneys, etc., but NOT the liver) in a small saucepan and add three or four (or more) cups of regular old chicken stock). Bring that to a mild simmer and let it cook for an hour or so, then strain out the "turkey stock". When the turkey is finished roasting, take it out of the roasting pan. Pour all of the liquid in the pan into a measuring cup (they make special ones that have the spout at the bottom so that you can separate off the "juice" from the fat, but a regular measuring cup works too). Use a spoon to remove the top layer of fat, leaving behind the "juices". Put some of the fat in a saucepan and, when it's hot, start adding flour a tablespoon at a time (1 tablespoon of fat to 1 tablespoon of flour is the ratio). One or two tablespoons of flour/fat is usually enough to thicken one cup of turkey stock to gravy consistency). Cook the flour/fat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn (this gets the "raw" taste out of the flour).
Now, put the roasting pan right on top of your stove burner and start heating it up. When you see the residue in the pan start to sizzle, add your turkey stock and the "juices" from the measuring cup...stir, scraping up the "brown bits" from the bottom of the pan. When that is at a simmer, start adding the flour/fat mixture a tablespoon or so at a time and stir hard with a whisk or spoon. After adding each tablespoon of flour/fat, let the mixture simmer for thirty seconds or so to "thicken". When it gets to the consistency of the gravy that you like...you're done...no lumps!