In all of my 34.97 years...I have had the privilege of enjoying my Thanksgiving Meal at my Mom's house. Year after year, the meal is ALWAYS so absolutely delicious & perfect! My mom is such a fabulous cook & I have always learned so many wonderful recipes & cooking tips from her...she just knows how to take a meal to the next level.
So - where am I going with this, you ask? Well - in all of those years - Jen has never had to prepare a TURKEY! No, I am NOT joking. I have NEVER prepared an entire turkey in all of my life. Are you shocked? I am! I DO know, that in all of those years, I never remember my mom "brining" her turkey before roasting it.
OK - so...guess what? I am having the Thanksgiving Meal at MY house this year & guess who will be attending? My parents! Yay! *holy guacamole - what am I thinking* Obviously, I am NOT an experienced bird baker - and that is where Pioneer Woman and YOU come in to play. I was reading Pioneer Womans blog yesterday & I clicked on her Holiday Recipe section. She goes into great detail (with awesome photos) of how to prepare, brine, & roast a turkey. I am in awe of Pioneer Woman!
CLICK HERE to check her out!
My question to all of you, my friends, is this:
"To Brine, or NOT to Brine?"
Do you brine your turkey before roasting it? If so, what ingredients do you prefer to use for brining? Please, if you can spare the time...share some Turkey Tips with me so that I can "1-up" the "Smoked Turkey" that my husband has vowed to kick my butt with this year! Yes - there is a healthy competition going on here - and the stakes are high! Greg has been so bold as to make statements insinuating that his turkey will reign far superior over mine - hmmmm - we shall see! My dad, who promises to remain impartial, will be the judge of who's turkey takes all - I am relying on all of you to help me prepare the MOST Fantabulous Turkey EVER!
Let's talk turkey, shall we?
So - where am I going with this, you ask? Well - in all of those years - Jen has never had to prepare a TURKEY! No, I am NOT joking. I have NEVER prepared an entire turkey in all of my life. Are you shocked? I am! I DO know, that in all of those years, I never remember my mom "brining" her turkey before roasting it.
OK - so...guess what? I am having the Thanksgiving Meal at MY house this year & guess who will be attending? My parents! Yay! *holy guacamole - what am I thinking* Obviously, I am NOT an experienced bird baker - and that is where Pioneer Woman and YOU come in to play. I was reading Pioneer Womans blog yesterday & I clicked on her Holiday Recipe section. She goes into great detail (with awesome photos) of how to prepare, brine, & roast a turkey. I am in awe of Pioneer Woman!
CLICK HERE to check her out!
My question to all of you, my friends, is this:
"To Brine, or NOT to Brine?"
Do you brine your turkey before roasting it? If so, what ingredients do you prefer to use for brining? Please, if you can spare the time...share some Turkey Tips with me so that I can "1-up" the "Smoked Turkey" that my husband has vowed to kick my butt with this year! Yes - there is a healthy competition going on here - and the stakes are high! Greg has been so bold as to make statements insinuating that his turkey will reign far superior over mine - hmmmm - we shall see! My dad, who promises to remain impartial, will be the judge of who's turkey takes all - I am relying on all of you to help me prepare the MOST Fantabulous Turkey EVER!
Let's talk turkey, shall we?
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Hi!!! How are you lovely? Ok.... enough with the pleasantries, let's talk turkey.
ReplyDeleteI have never brined a turkey. I do know that it helps, but cannot attest to it. It's going to be hard to beat a smoked turkey, (thats how I do it!) But, there are some things you can do to enhance flavor, and texture. Chop some herbs, Thyme, parsley, whatever you like, and combine with some soft butter, then, carefully loosen the skin from the breasts with you fingers, and rub the herb/butter mixture in between the skin and breast. Massage as far as you can with your fingers all over the breasts. ( I love this part!! yes, I'm 13!) And cook as per moms recipe. Make SURE you use a thermometer to check you temp in the thigh... Don't overcook it lovely!
Cheers!
Oh WOW!!! Eman!!!! You have NO idea how happy I am to see you here -seriously! I was so hoping you would visit me over here & I'm really sorry that I had to abandon you on Myspace. I've missed you bunches & look forward to catching up really soon! Thanks for the instructions...this is definitely something I will do to the turkey, although...I may not get as much personal enjoyment from it as YOU do - haha!
ReplyDeleteEmail me sometime & let me know what is new with you - Please?
I would use motor oil, instead of butter then add dandelions in place of herbs, then heavily coat entire bird with a dusting of sawdust for texture. The men & the smoked turkey will prevail!
ReplyDeleteI have prepared a turkey several times, and I don't even know what "brine" means. The only thing I can figure out is that you're talking about my cousin "Bryan" who often carves our turkey and you just spelled his name wrong?!?
ReplyDeleteOh Jen, you are cracking me up! Yes! Tell cousin Bryan that we would like him to come over & carve our turkey too!! :)
ReplyDeleteOk, so I've had 5 people email me saying that they have never heard of "brining" - so - me, being the information seeker that I am...decided to tell everyone what Wikipedia says about brining:
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In cooking, brining is a process similar to marination in which meat is soaked in a salt solution (the brine) before cooking.
Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells of its muscle tissue before cooking, via the process of osmosis, and by allowing the cells to hold on to the water while they are cooked, via the process of denaturation. The brine surrounding the cells has a higher concentration of salt than the fluid within the cells, but the cell fluid has a higher concentration of other solutes. This leads salt ions to enter the cell via diffusion. The increased salinity of the cell fluid causes the cell to absorb water from the brine via osmosis. The salt introduced into the cell also denatures its proteins. The proteins coagulate, forming a matrix which traps water molecules and holds them during cooking. This prevents the meat from drying out, or dehydrating.
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It's a fancy form of marinating, I suppose! I've brined pork chops several times & they are always SO juicy & succulent - so, I know it works.
We, the employees of Casey Fertilizer, have decided that - since last year we got Greg a chainsaw & Jen towels & lotions - this year for Christmas...we will be getting Jen a chainsaw, and Greg an apron & cookbook.
ReplyDeleteOh, well THANK GOODNESS for that! I'm sure I will need a chainsaw to carve through the tough piece of dried up fowl that Greg pulls off of his grill! Is it ok if you give me my gift a little early this year, guys? Greg will need that apron to soak up all of his tears of defeat.
ReplyDeleteSorry so late in commenting. I've done my fair share of Thanksgiving turkeys and I've never brined. Hope all is well in Jen's world. I'm a busy bee with a Relay For Life event on Saturday!
ReplyDeleteHi Jen! Just wanted you to know I was thinking of you this Thanksgiving day. I am thankful we met and that you shared Thankful Thursday's with me. I hope you and your family had a wonderful turkey day.
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