Champagne Juniper Brined Holiday Turkey

Photo: HypFoods

Ingredients

2/3 cup kosher salt

cup local honey

6 leaves of fresh sage

6 sprigs of fresh thyme

4 bay leaves

10 whole cloves

1 teaspoon dried juniper berries (crushed)

1 teaspoon black peppercorns (crushed)

2 teaspoons allspice berries (crushed)

1/2 jar LuLu Meyer Lemon, Fennel, Sage M

2 bottles Segura Viuda Spanish Champagne (runs about $8.99 per bottle) or other bubbly

2 juice oranges, quartered

2 large shallots, quartered

1 fresh or thawed chemical free turkey (up to 25lb-er can be prepared from this recip

1 large, heavy duty ZipLoc or other sealable, culinary grade plastic bag

Preparation

Place all ingredients (up to the LuLu marinade) in a large saucepan.

Add 8 Cups of filtered water, stir and bring to a boil. Continue stirring until honey and salts have thoroughly dissolved.

Boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat.

Add the LuLu Marinade (available from Amazon) OR your favorite gluten free salad dressing and stir to combine.

Add 4 cups of ice cubes and stir until melted. Squeeze the juice from the orange quarters into this, then add champagne.

Test brine temperature by hand. If it is the least bit warm, place in fridge to cool down further. You don't want to parboil or precook the protein when the turkey goes into the brine.

Bring out your container and line it with the culinary grade plastic bag. Open the bag wide.

Remove all papers and plastics from the turkey. Remove giblets, neck, etc. Set these aside for stock or gravy. Rinse the bird thoroughly with cold running water, inside and out.

Place the turkey in the bag, neck down and ankles up. Stuff the cavity with shallots and orange quarters. Pour the cooled brine into the cavity and allow the bag to fill.

Draw up the bag close around the bird, eliminating as much air as possible. If the turkey is not covered by the brine at this point, add enough water to make it so.

Secure the bag closure with a twist tie. Double-bagging is recommended, in case the brining bag springs a leak.

Refrigerate for 12 - 24 hours, turning the bird every 6 to 8 hours.

Remove the turkey from the brine about 30-40 minutes before roasting and allow to come up to room temp.

Discard everything that remains from the brining process. Do NOT try to re-use or re-process any of these items, as they have been in contact with raw poultry and could conceivably contaminate other foods and other surfaces.

Rinse the bird once again under cold running water.

Stuff the cavity with quartered fennel bulbs, quartered oranges, and chunks of fine Parma or Tasso ham. Turkey is now ready to be roasted until delectable.

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About

I have prepared my chemical-free turkey this way every year for the last 5 or so. It is ALWAYS an amazingly flavorful treat.

TIPS:

Whatever you do, don't buy a commercial turkey that has been artificially treated with hormones and antibiotics or waterboarded at the farm to pump up the profits by cheating the scales with false pounds that provide no nutritional benefit and may, in fact, be harmful.

Buy the best turkey you can afford, even if it means that you buy a portion of turkey rather than a whole bird. Purchase organic breast or half-breast and some drumsticks for the kids if it saves you time and money.

The trick to successful brining is to place the brining bag INSIDE a container that closely supports the protein so that liquids cover the meat and flow into crevices. Simply setting a bag of meat and liquid in the fridge is not going to yield an optimal result. Use a large bowl, a dishpan or a Cambro from your local restaurant supply.

Remember that brined poultry will finish with a pink tinge to the meat. It doesn't mean it isn't done. Use your instant read thermometer judiciously and be sure to rest the roast for 20 minutes or so after is comes out of the oven at the perfect temperature.

Don't oversalt. This will make an otherwise delightful protein completely inedible.

Don't over-brine! Leaving the bird in brine for days is dangerous at a microbial level and will also cause the meat to become spongy and unappetizing.

This recipe was adapted from a Juniper Brine recipe posted at RecipeZaar.com in Sep2002 by Sue L. id=39506

If you are roasting turkey weighing less than 16 lbs, you probably want to halve this recipe.