Herb Butter Roasted turkey with Pinot noir gravy

Jill, another colleague from work, sent me this recipe below. It's from the finecooking website: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/herb-butter-turkey-pinot-noir-gravy.aspx

I've tasted her baking before and I can attest that she's got good taste. So I can only assume that this is good too!

Herb-Butter Roasted Turkey with Pinot Noir Gravy
by Ris Lacoste

To brine the turkey you need space for a 5-gallon pot in your refrigerator. If you have neither the room nor the pot, you can cook the brine in a smaller pan and proceed with one of our alternative brining methods.
Serves twelve, with leftovers.


For the brine:
2-1/2 gallons water
2-1/2 cups kosher salt
1 cup maple syrup
24 bay leaves
24 cloves garlic, peeled
1/3 cup whole black peppercorns
2 small bunches fresh flat-leaf parsley (about 4 oz.)
1 small bunch fresh sage (about 1 oz.)
6 medium sprigs fresh rosemary
Zest and juice of 4 large lemons (remove the zest in long strips with a vegetable peeler)

For the turkey:
14- to 16-lb. natural turkey (preferably fresh)
1 recipe Three-Herb Butter, softened
2 Tbs. kosher salt
2 Tbs. freshly ground black pepper
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted

For the gravy:
2-1/2 oz. (5 Tbs.) unsalted butter
2-1/2 oz. (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
4 cups Three-Herb Turkey Broth or low-salt chicken broth
1-1/2 cups Pinot Noir
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper


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Two days ahead, prepare the brine:
Put all of the brine ingredients in a 5-gallon stockpot with a lid. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool to room temperature, cover the pot, and refrigerate the brine until cold, preferably overnight.

One day ahead: brine the turkey:
If already loose, trim the tail from the turkey. Otherwise, leave it attached. Remove and discard the giblets. Keep the neck and tail in the refrigerator. Rinse the turkey and put it in the pot with the brine. Refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours before roasting the turkey.

Prepare and roast the turkey:
Position a rack in the bottom of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Remove the turkey from the brine and discard the brine. Rinse the turkey well, pat it dry, and set it in a large flameproof roasting pan. Gently slide your hand between the breast meat and skin to separate the skin so you can apply the herb butter. Slice the herb butter into 1/4-inch-thick rounds and distribute them evenly between the skin and breast meat, completely covering the breast. Maneuver a few pieces between the skin and legs, too. Next, with your hands on the outside of the turkey, massage the butter under the skin to distribute it evenly and break up the round pieces so the turkey won’t look polka-dotted when it’s done.

Sprinkle 1 Tbs. of the salt and 1 Tbs. of the pepper in the cavity of the turkey. Tie the legs together. Fold the wings back and tuck the tips under the neck area. Flip the turkey onto its breast, pat the back dry, and brush with some of the melted butter. Sprinkle with some of the remaining salt and pepper. Flip the turkey over, pat dry again, brush all over with the remaining butter, and sprinkle with the remaining salt and pepper. Put the reserved neck and tail in the pan with the turkey. Cover the pan very tightly with foil and put in the oven, legs pointing to the back of the oven, if possible (the legs can handle the higher heat in the back better than the breast can). Roast undisturbed for 2 hours and then uncover carefully (watch out for escaping steam). Continue to roast, basting every 15 minutes with the drippings that have collected in the pan, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of both thighs reads 170° to 175°F and the juices run clear when the thermometer is removed, 45 minutes to 1 hour more for a 15-lb. turkey.

Remove the turkey from the oven. With a wad of paper towels in each hand, move the turkey to a serving platter, cover with foil to keep warm, and set aside. Discard the neck and tail; reserve the drippings in the roasting pan. Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes while you make the gravy and heat the side dishes

Make the gravy:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add the flour and quickly whisk it into the butter until it’s completely incorporated. Cook, whisking constantly, until the roux smells toasty and darkens slightly to a light caramel color (see image below), about 2 minutes. Watch carefully, as you don’t want it to get too dark. Remove from the heat and set aside.


Pour the reserved turkey drippings into a clear, heatproof container, preferably a fat separator cup. (Don’t rinse the roasting pan.) Let sit until the fat rises to the top, and then pour out 1 cup of the juices (or remove and discard the fat with a ladle and measure 1 cup of the juices). Combine the juices with the turkey or chicken broth.

Set the roasting pan on top of the stove over two burners on medium heat. Add the Pinot Noir and simmer, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to release any stuck-on bits, until the wine has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the broth mixture and simmer to meld the flavors, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the roux a little at a time until you have reached your desired thickness (you may not want to use it all). Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Strain through a fine sieve and transfer to a serving vessel.

Make Ahead Tips
The brine should be prepared 2 days before the Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey should be brined the day before. The roux may be prepared on Thanksgiving day and left at room temperature; whisk to recombine before using.

Sour Cream Banana Bread

I *LOVE* sour cream. And I love moist banana bread. So what better than to combine the two? I did some research on the net and it appears that sour cream is the secret to a good, moist banana bread. so here goes...


Sour Cream Banana Bread

SERVES 12 , 1 loaf (change servings and units)
Ingredients

* 1/2 cup margarine or butter
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup mashed banana
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (omit if you don't like nuts)
* 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

1. Grease 1 large loaf pan.
2. Cream margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
3. Add dry ingredients, then bananas, nuts and sour cream.
4. Mix well.
5. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour.

Update May 2, 2009: Nica and the folks at work love this recipe (or at least I think they do since they eat it all up). However Flo and Jen have both tried the recipe with unfavourable results. Flo says her bread doesn't rise and Jen says it seemed undercooked. We think it might be due to the fact that I use my Kitchenaid mixer, whereas Jen is hand mixing. Will keep an eye on this... so far it's *my* favourite recipe!

Manny's Heavenly Hash

Manu, a colleague at work, is always bringing in delicious lunches. They're usually leftovers from his dinner the night before and amazingly (yes, I'm being sexist here), he makes them even though he's married. Yes, the husband cooks! In fact, he's usually the one to make dinners.

Here's a recipe he gave me for hashbrowns. His said his aunt gave him the recipe and whenever he takes it to potlucks, it's always the first to go:

1 kg bag of hashbrowns
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup butter
2 cups cheddar cheese
1/2 grated onion
salt and pepper to taste
dash of hot sauce (optional)

Mix it all up in a casserole dish, cook for an hour and a half at 350 degrees. I think it's a heart attack waiting to happen but it's darn good.


Update December 22, 2012:
Woke up this morning and had a craving for something with potatoes and sour cream for breakfast. I thought of this recipe had sour cream in it too! Apparently not. So I bastardized the recipe. Instead of a bag of hashbrowns, I actually used real potatoes (whoaaaa, crazy eh?) and used my new food processor to grate them. BTW, I LOVE my food processor. How did I live without one? I only added one can of cream of mushroom soup, used a whole onion (because mmmm onions!) and tossed in about 1/2 cup of sour cream that was leftover from dinner. I also tossed in some garlic and herb seasoning because I love it and I was too lazy to peel and mince real garlic. No hot sauce since I wanted it to be toddler-friendly. Waiting for it to come out of the oven now...

Mango Pudding

Ahh, the year is almost over and Holiday season is in full swing. This means family gatherings, days off and most of all... FOOD!

My sister-in-law, Vania, has the best homemade mango pudding. In fact, until she told me that she had made it herself, I was convinced that mango pudding was one of those desserts that you could only buy in a store or have magically brought to you at the end of a Chinese meal.

I have yet to try this out myself, but here is the recipe:

Mango Pudding

500 mL whipping cream
4 pkg. gelatin
750 mL mango puree (Alphonso cans - can be found at Superstore, T&T or Indian food stores)
1.5 cup sugar
4.5 cup water


1) Boil 3 cups water and sugar and gelatin. Stir quick until dissolved

2) Add canned mango, and 1.5 cup cold water

3) Pour whipping cream until even

Update March 30, 2011: Jen went to make this and noted that Superstore will no longer be stocking the Alphonso mango pulp that you need to make this recipe.

Delicious Goodness: Choclate Chunk Fudgy Brownies

A colleague of mine at work - Janine - makes the BEST brownies. So good that you think she's bought them and just lied about baking them. However, I can attest that she does in fact make them from a recipe passed down from her grandma. Here it is:

CHOCOLATE CHUNK FUDGY BROWNIES

1 cup margarine 2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup baking cocoa 1 cup flour
2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs 1 package chocolate chunks

1. Melt margarine. Remove from heat.
2. Add cocoa.
3. Add sugar.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating very well after each egg.
5. Add vanilla, flour and salt. DO NOT OVER BEAT!
6. Stir in chocolate chunks.
7. Spread in greased 13" x 9" pan.
8. Bake in 350 degree over for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Since we all know that the ingredients you buy mean everything, she said she uses the Hershey's chocolate baking kisses (smaller than real kisses) for her chocolate chunks.

Update August 30, 2009: I have made these brownies a few times since Janine gave me the recipe and had really great reviews! Plus they're super easy to make. Whenever Safeway has a sale on the Hershey's baking kisses I stock up because I know that I'll without a doubt, make this again.

Baby Back Ribs

Next recipe to try (Thanks to Jen for giving me this!):

Here's the recipe:
3-3.5 Lbs pork country style ribs
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp liquid smoke (I didn't have this)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (I used fresh)
1/4 tsp bottled hot pepper sauce

1. Place ribs in a 3.5 - 4 qt slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine
ketchup, onion, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder,
liquid smoke, garlic powder, and hot pepper sauce. Pour over ribs in
cooker, turning ribs to coat.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours (I did this
for 9 hours) or on high-heat for 5-6 hours
3. Transfer ribs to a platter; cover to keep warm. Skim fat from
surface of sauce; pour sauce into a medium saucepan. Bring sauce to
boiling; recue heat slightly. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 to 7
minutes or until thickened to desired consistency (should make about 1
cup). Pass sauce with ribs.

Update: Have made this in my slow cooker. Thumbs up! the liquid smoke is a definite must. I bought some at the Gourmet Warehouse for $6 and then bought two more bottles from this place called "Deals only" in Bellingham, Washington for 99cents each. I took some leftovers into work once and everyone was salivating over the smell. 9 out of 10.

Tetley's Jasmine Green Tea

The only thing that has survived my "getting healthier" binge has been green tea. So no more milk, no more sugar, just straight green tea.
My friend Flo, a total tea affectionada, recommended jasmine green tea to me. Being easily susceptible to other people's recommendations, I went out and bought some.

Opinion? Yuck! It's really dry and reminds me of the tea you get at Chinese restaurants. I had one bag and I'm hoping I can find someone (maybe Flo or my sister) who will take the rest off me.
Just goes to show that not everyone has the same tea taste buds.

Rating: 1 out of 10
Things to do different next time: Don't buy it.