Catherines Salted Roast Turkey Food

GOOD EATS ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Two to three days before roasting: Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
• Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
• The night before or early on the day you'd like to eat: Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
• Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
• Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
• Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

NEXT LEVEL ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Up to 48 hrs and at least 12 hrs before cooking, loosen the skin over the turkey breast so you can get your hands underneath it. Season the bird all over, including under the skin, with 2 tbsp sea salt. Put the turkey in a large roasting tin, breast-side up. Leave uncovered in the fridge until ready to cook.
• Remove the turkey from the fridge at least 1 hr before cooking. Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. Melt the butter in a pan set over a low heat, then add the garlic, chopped herbs and lemon juice. Sizzle for 1 min, remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Remove the turkey from the tin and scatter in the onions, carrots, turkey neck and giblets. Put a roasting rack, trivet or ovenproof cooling rack in or over the tray and sit the turkey on top. Stuff the squeezed and whole lemons in the turkey cavity with the herb stalks and extra thyme. Lift the skin and spoon about 4 tbsp of the garlicky herb butter over the meat underneath, then massage the skin to spread it out. Brush most of the remaining butter all over the bird, reserving about 2 tbsp. For a neat finish, tie the wings and legs together.
• Put the turkey in the oven and reduce the heat to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roast for 1 hr, then remove from the oven and brush with more of the butter. Turn the tin around and return to the oven for another 30 mins. Brush again with the butter and roast for another 30 mins. After the turkey has had 2 hrs in total, check its temperature with a probe thermometer. It's cooked perfectly when the thickest part of the breast reads about 65C and the thickest part of the thigh reads 75C. If the temperature is lower, return the turkey to the oven for periods of 15 mins until the temperature is reached. Cool for 10 mins on the rack, then transfer to a board and leave upside down - the turkey should rest for at least another 20 mins and will stay hot for at least 40 mins more.
• Meanwhile, make the gravy. If the roasting tin is flameproof, put it directly over a medium heat. If not, scrape the contents into a large, shallow pan. Scatter over the flour and stir to make a paste. Add the soy sauce and yeast extract, stir, then pour in the wine and combine to form a thick paste. Pour in the stock and turkey juices (if you aren't already cooking them in the roasting tin). Simmer for about 5 mins, stirring to make a rich gravy. Strain into a jug or pan to reheat when needed.
• Put the turkey on a platter, then serve with the gravy and other trimmings of your choice.

CLEMENTINE-SALTED TURKEY WITH REDEYE GRAVY

Steps:

• Rub salt and clementine peel together in small bowl. Sprinkle some seasoned salt in main and neck cavities of turkey. Place turkey in large roasting pan. Reserve 2 teaspoons clementine salt for roasting; sprinkle remaining salt all over turkey. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate turkey overnight.
• Rinse turkey thoroughly inside and out; pat dry. Rinse large roasting pan and wipe dry. Place rack in pan; place turkey on rack and let stand uncovered at room temperature 1 hour.
• Set rack at lowest position in oven and preheat to 375°F. Tuck turkey wing tips under. Cut 6 clementines into quarters (reserve remaining clementines for another use). Stuff cut clementines and onions into main cavity. Tie legs together loosely. Spread butter all over turkey. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon pepper and reserved 2 teaspoons clementine salt. Pour 3 cups chicken broth into pan.
• Roast turkey 45 minutes; baste with pan juices. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Roast turkey until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°F, basting occasionally with pan juices, adding more broth to maintain liquid level, and covering loosely with foil if browning too quickly, about 3 3/4 hours. Transfer turkey to platter; tent with foil and let rest 30 to 45 minutes (internal temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees).
• Pour juices from roasting pan into large measuring cup. Spoon off fat that rises to surface into 1-cup measuring cup. Add enough Turkey Stock to degreased pan juices to measure 5 cups. If necessary, add enough fat reserved from Turkey Stock to fat from pan juices to measure 1/2 cup.
• Heat 1/2 cup fat in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add ham and sauté 3 minutes. Whisk in flour; cook 1 minute. Whisk in 5 cups broth mixture and coffee. Boil until gravy is reduced to 61/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with pepper. Serve turkey with gravy.

SALTED ROAST TURKEY WITH HERBS

Steps:

• Herbed Salt: Rub first six ingredients in small bowl to crush herbs finely, or put in small food processor. Can be made a week in advanced. Cover and store at room temperature. Stir in peel before using.
• Turkey: Rinse turkey inside and out (do not pat dry). Remove excess fat, neck and giblets, wrap and refrigerate to reserve for roast or making gravy. Place turkey in a roasting bag and sprinkle inside and out with all of the herbed salt. Close bag, place on cookie sheet and chill 18 - 24 hours.
• Set rack at lowest position in oven and preheat to 325°F Rinse turkey inside and out; pat very dry. Stir onion and next 5 ingredients into a bowl and stuff turkey in main cavity and neck cavity. Fold neck skin over cavity and secure with a skewer. Tuck wing tips under and tie legs together loosely. Place turkey on rack in roasting pan. Spread butter all over turkey. Place reserved fat, neck and giblets into bottom of roaster and pour 2 cups of chicken stock.
• Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices. Continue to roast until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 - 170°F, basting every 45 minutes and adding additional stock or water if the pan becomes dry. Tent loosely with foil if browning too quickly, roasting 3-3 1/2 hours total. Transfer turkey to a platter and tent with foil, letting rest for 45 minutes. Reserve juices in pan for making your favorite gravy.

SIMPLE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove any giblets from the cavity and reserve for stock or gravy. Pat turkey and turkey neck dry with paper towel; rub turkey all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of turkey, the pepper and the lemon zest, including the neck. Transfer to a 2-gallon (or larger) resealable plastic bag. Tuck herbs and 6 garlic cloves inside bag. Seal and refrigerate on a small rimmed baking sheet (or wrapped in another bag) for at least 1 day and up to 3 days, turning the bird over every day (or after 12 hours if brining for only 1 day).
• Remove turkey from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey, uncovered, back on the baking sheet. Return to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours to dry out the skin (this helps crisp it).
• When you are ready to cook the turkey, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for one hour.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. In the bottom of a large roasting pan, add the cider and enough wine to fill the pan to a 1/4-inch depth. Add half the onions, the remaining 6 garlic cloves and the bay leaves. Stuff the remaining onion quarters and the lemon quarters into the turkey cavity. Brush the turkey skin generously with oil or melted butter.
• Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan. Transfer pan to the oven and roast 30 minutes. Cover breast with aluminum foil. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh reaches a temperature of 165 degrees, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. Transfer turkey to a cutting board to rest for 30 minutes before carving.