Turkey Tricks

I will say I was a newby to making a turkey this last Thanksgiving. I was terrified I would ruin it. I really wanted our feast to be perfect so I read online tutorials and asked around went to town. It really turned out perfect!!

I started thawing it a couple days before in the refrigerator. ( I took a Safety and Sanitation class and you must thaw meat & poultry in the refrigerator or cool water ) The day before I prepared the brine and let it soak up all the flavor. I found a few recipes online and complied some ideas and made a brine more my style.

Thanksgiving day I took it out of the brine and got it all ready and popped it in the oven upside down for a few hours. You will obviously have to decide on time and temp according to your oven and turkey size. I put chicken stock in the bottom of the pan for moisture. Tons of options out there for how to cook a turkey but this was a great way for a newby like me. I'm convinced The key is upside down. I have had dry turkey before and it is so gross. Above is our turkey and I don't think the pictures do it justice because it was SO moist and tasty. I recommend also seasoning the bird with whatever seasonings you prefer to let the flavor cook in. I have heard a lot of people do just salt and pepper and that's great to keep tradition going but we like a lot of stronger  flavors so we seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic salt, pressed garlic, basil and thyme. Be adventuresome it really makes cooking more interesting. You never know, you just might like it.

Julien's Citrus Brine

• 1 cup salt
• 3 lemon, cut into wedges
• 2 orange, cut into wedges
• 1 medium onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoon garlic salt
• 3 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 gallons cold water