Monday, November 22, 2010
Ina Garten knows how to jazz up turkey and gravy
Just a quick post since it is so close to Thanksgiving. Last year, Jim's family came here for a kind of potluck meal. Since I only really had the turkey, stuffing, and gravy to make, I tooled around on the internet for ideas to zing things up a bit. Ina Garten, of Barefoot Contessa fame, has several simple, yet interesting recipes.
I used her recipe for Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast. In addition to rubbing a delicious lemon/herb pesto under the skin as Ina suggests, I filled the inside of the turkey with onion, herbs, and lemon. The turkey was moist and flavorful throughout. Her Homemade Gravy, which calls for a little cognac and cream, was one of the best turkey gravies I have ever tasted.
This year we are eating at the Vincent's house. I haven't decided what I will bring, but I am pondering some Brussels sprouts with bacon or maybe a savory root veggie crumble/gratin. That, and maybe a pumpkin roll, a tradition at my sister Cheryl's that is truly irresistable.
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Do you brine yours? We started brining several years back using Alton Brown's recipe and it is the best turkey ever- reliably moist.
ReplyDeleteJim is a fan of brining every meat he cooks. I generally don't. I think the rub under the skin (variations of which I have been doing for years, altho' Ina's is definitely the best), which includes butter or oil, herbs, lemon and salt does a good job of flavoring and keeping it moist. What do you use bring a whole turkey in-a big bucket? I had friends in MD who would grill whole turkeys. I have been toying with that and maybe adding a tray of applewood to smoke it a bit. Who knows if I'll ever get around to it.
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