Or is it too late? I’ll be hosting a few friends for Thanksgiving and it will be my first kick at the turkey (the store didn’t have any cat).
My first question is, are any potatos good to use for mashed potatos?
Second, I have a 5.5 LBS turkey breast and was looking for input on cooking it. I had planned to rub a little olive oil on it and add some herbs like rosemary, tarragon and sage. Should I add anything else? Should I go in a different direction? The meal isn’t tied to being “traditional”.
I should also add that I’ll be making stuffing, but that will be coming out of a box. Michelle and John will be bringing some sort of roasted red pepper soup and some tofurkey.
Please feel free to share your holiday menus and any tips that would be helpful to us Thanksgiving newbies.
That’s not a bad way to do the turkey, but it runs the risk of being unevenly done throughout. Less of an issue with a smaller turkey like the one you have, but it’s a valid concern.
I’ve only ever found two surefire ways to do a turkey in a conventional (not smoker or convection) oven:
The first is from The Joy of Cooking:
Cover the body of the bird with some cheesecloth that has been throughly saturated with melted butter or vegetable oil. Insert the bird into a 450 degree oven, and reduce the heat immediately to 300-325. Baste above and underneath the cloth
throughout the day, you may remove the cloth to assist browning in the last hour or so. Cook until the breast interior has reached a temperature of 180 degrees.
This method also works very well, my family has used it for years:
Take your turkey, and stick it whole into a pot filled with brine. Allow it to marinate in the brine for 15-24 hours (this can be a b*tch with a small fridge - I just leave frozen turkey out overnight in it on the counter). when you’re ready to cook, cover the entire pan with foil and roast at 325 until the internal temp is 180. Baste throughout the cooking cycle. You can also remove the foil in the last half hour (once the temp is around 175 or so) and jack up the oven temp to 375-400 and really nicely crisp the exterior of the bird too.
Both methods are wonderful - the first is a little juicier, but much more labor intensive during the cooking process. The brine turkey does have a wonderful flavor though, and it’s a pretty easy wya to go.
Hope this helps.
Oh yes, and most any potatoes will work, although Russets are the traditional. Red Bliss and new potatoes are much more fashionable these days, but the best and simplest Masher recipe I know:
peel and boil potatoes (say 6 good size russets)
mash with a mixer, adding 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
(use lower speed settings to avoid lumps)
add approx. 1/3 cup milk (buttermilk is best)
s&p to taste.
You can also add ranch dressing for a little kick, but I personally consider that barbaric.
Thanks KTM. For the mashed potatos I’ll be tossing in some roasted garlic and using half & half.
Overnight marinading probably isn’t going to happen, I’d be afraid of doing something that would alter the taste too much, or even start the cooking process by using an acid in the marinade.
Potatoes: Use Yukon Golds. They’re really tasty and hold their shape.
Add only WARM milk and room-temp, softened butter when mashing or they’ll get mealy. Never add cold dairy to potatoes for mashing.
My turkey is brining as we speak. I’ve made several side dishes already (the ones that just need to be reheated), and am taking a break. I need to run out and get fresh oysters for my Scalloped Oysters.
I will now do something I thought I’d never do: I will give you all my mashed potato secrets.
There are two, both my invention, but for all I know not unique:[ul]
[li]Don’t boil the potatos: steam them. Chunk em up and toss em in the pot, then put in just an inch or so of water. They’re generally done when the water’s gone, but keep an eye out. A little dry browning, if you miss it by a minute or two, is OK and only adds to the flavor. But a full on burn will necessitate tossing and restarting. But doing it this way leaves all the flavor in the pot; it always saddened me to toss out that lovely potato water. (Though I’d usually save it to make bread, but I’d still rather have it all concentrate in the mashed.)[/li][li]Add a brick of cream cheese (and of course a whole stick of butter). No one has ever been able to identify the flavor in my masheds, but everyone remarks on the richness the cream cheese adds.[/ul][/li]Other important reminders: use a masher, not a mixer: some texture is good; I even like my masheds a little bit lumpy. YMMV.
Sometimes I toss a diced onion in with the potatos to steam. It dissolves right into the mash and adds a nice flavor. Also try slipping in some sweet potatoes or jerusalem artichokes for lovely flavor variations.
Lots of good stuff. Warm dairy with the potatos, check. Steam the potatos and add cream cheese, check.
A follow up question on the brine: Just water and salt, or what else can be included, and how long should the turkey soak? I only have a 5.5 pound breast. It is thawed, but I won’t be getting home until late tonight.
Add some rosemary to the brine, and add some to the breast for cooking. Rosemary and poultry are great together.
The brine needs one full cup of kosher salt, a gallon of vegetable stock, and some whole black peppercorns, a little ginger, some rosemary, sage and fresh garlic.
It should be brought to a boil and then chilled before adding the meat. I made my brine yesterday, and chilled it in the fridge overnight. I added it to a gallon of cold water in a 5-gallon bucket, and dunked the bird in. It’ll sit in the brine overnight (in the cold garage). I’ll prepare it for the oven in the morning.
Okay, it looks like I have to pass on the brine for this year. I won’t be home until 11:30 tonight and I don’t think I’ll have enough time to pull it all together.
Cooking a whole bird is hard, because the white meat gets done faster than the dark meat, and once it’s done it starts to dry out.
Brining the turkey keeps the meat moist all through the cooking process, ensuring both the dark and white meat get cooked thoroughly, but staying juicy and flavorful.
Even the leftovers stay incredibly moist.
No more flavorless, dry turkey that has to be swimming in gravy in order to be choked down!
It is more work, and if you’re only doing a breast you can skip it.
I like cooking, and I like finding new ways of cooking and “doing it right.” I got the recipe from Alton Brown’s show Good Eats.
You have to boil it to dissolve all the solid stuff (I forgot - it also has a half-cup of brown sugar), and then cool it because you can’t pour hot liquid over cold poultry and then let it sit or the unwelcome guests Sam n’ Ella will come and visit.
I’m also an anal-retentive obssesive freak who can’t leave well enough alone, and actually enjoy following lots of steps.
I spent today making Whipped Sweet Potatoes, Scalloped Oysters, Corn Souffle, Green Bean Casserole, and Cranberry Relish (from scratch). They’re all easily reheated while the turkey rests before carving.
I’ll spend the morning getting the turkey out of the brine and prepared for cooking. Then I have to get my husband and kids to straighten up the house and set the table.
I’ll need a beer by noon.
