Kitchen Kapers with Nancy

If you would like instructions on roasting your Thanksgiving turkey from Alton Brown, creator and host of the Food Network television show “Good Eats,” we have his recipe right here for you. It is titled “Good Eats Roast Turkey,” which has oodles of top reviews and is rated as “easy.” It calls for a 14- to 16-pound frozen young turkey. If you have a frozen turkey, you will need to begin thawing it in your refrigerator or cooler with the temperature kept at 38 deg. F. two to three days before you plan to start the actual cooking process. There is not much that will mess up your holiday plans any more than pulling out the turkey you plan to start cooking in a few minutes and finding it is still half frozen! You cannot roast even a partially frozen turkey! So don’t forget to pull your frozen turkey out of the freezer on time to thoroughly defrost. For you to safely consume, the fully cooked turkey must reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. (NOTE: If you are following a recipe from a few years ago, they had the internal safe temperature as 161 degrees, but the Dept. of Agriculture now says the safe temperature for a fully cooked turkey is 165 degrees.)  Reviewer Steve, said about this recipe, “Works like a charm every time. I’ve been doing this roasting approach for over 10 years, and the bird is always crispy and moist.” 

We thank Amanda Thomas-Henke, a long-time reader and contributor to our newspaper, for her Southern Style Cornbread recipe. She makes lots of cornbread at Thanksgiving and Christmas to use in her dressing and shares the recipe here so that you can use it to make your own delicious cornbread. If there are other people in your household when you make it, guard it carefully because it has a habit of “disappearing” bit by bit shortly after you put it on the cooling rack. Maybe that’s why she makes so much prior to making her dressing. 

ALTON BROWN’S “GOOD EATS ROAST TURKEY” 
Recipe from: Food Network 

For the Brine: 

1 14- to 16-pound) frozen natural, young turkey 
1 gallon vegetable broth, packaged, not low-sodium or sodium-free 
1 cup kosher salt 
1/2 cup light brown sugar 
1 tablespoon black peppercorns 
1-1/2 teaspoons allspice berries 
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger 
1 gallon heavily iced water on day of brining turkey 

For the Aromatics: 

1 red apple, quartered 
1/2 onion, quartered 
1 cup water 
1 cinnamon stick 
4 sprigs rosemary 
6 leaves sage 
Canola oil 

PROCEDURE: 

1) Two to three days before roasting, begin thawing the turkey, if frozen. To thaw safely, do so in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38ºF. 2) You can also make the brine at this time: Combine the vegetable broth, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice, and candied ginger in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar and salt. Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least until completely chilled, or until the turkey is completely thawed. 3) Early on the day of or late the night before you’d like to eat, brine the turkey. Combine the chilled brine and the ice water in a 5-gallon cooler. Place the turkey (giblets and other innards removed) in the brine, breast side-down. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, then set in a cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird halfway through brining. 4) When you’re ready to roast, heat the oven to 500ºF. Adjust the oven racks so that the turkey will fit on the lowest rack in the oven. 5) Remove the turkey from the brine, and rinse the inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine. 6) Place the bird on a flat roasting rack on a half-sheet pan or roasting pan and pat very dry with paper towels. 7) Pre-form an aluminum shield (aka turkey triangle) by folding a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil to form a triangle. Grease lightly with canola oil, then place over the turkey breast so that the point is towards the legs. Press on the sides of the foil to form it to the breast and hold its shape. Remove and set aside for now. 8) Aromatics: Combine the apple, onion, water, and cinnamon stick in a microwave-safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add the steeped aromatics (not the water) to the turkey’s cavity, along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin lightly with canola oil. 9) Roast on the lowest level of the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, open the oven and slide the rack out to access the turkey. Working quickly, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, avoiding any bones, and top with the aluminum foil turkey triangle. Slide the turkey back into the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 deg F. Set an alarm on the probe to go off at 160 deg. F.  A 14- to 16-pound turkey should take an additional 90 minutes to 2 hours (or longer) but the temperature of the meat is more important than the time it takes to get to 160 deg. F, so pay attention to the probe. 10) Let the turkey rest, still on the roasting pan and lightly coated with foil for at least 15 minutes longer before transferring to a cutting board and carving. Note: a fully cooked turkey must reach 165 degrees F to be safe for consumption, but you can take it out of the oven as low as 160 degrees F because the temperature will continue to rise as it rests. 

AMANDA THOMAS-HENKE’S CORNBREAD, SOUTHERN STYLE 
Recipe from Reader of The Apopka Chief newspaper 

1 cup yellow cornmeal 
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon salt 
Dash of garlic powder  
Dash of cayenne pepper 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 cup buttermilk* (see below) 
1/2 cup milk 
1 large egg 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 cup butter or shortening, melted 
2 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon cooking oil (to grease the skillet) 

Directions: 

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 2) Mix the dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour, salt, garlic, cayenne, and baking powder together in a bowl; set aside. 3) Combine and mix buttermilk and milk with an egg. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. 4) Immediately, pour this wet mixture into the dry cornmeal and flour mixture. Stir until well combined. 5) Melt the 1/4 cup of butter or shortening and add to the batter slowly, mixing together until just combined. 6) Heat the skillet in hot oven or on top of the stove for a few minutes until hot (be very careful to not get burned.) 7) Add two tablespoons shortening or butter making sure it covers the surface of the hot pan. 8) Pour the cornbread batter into the heated skillet. It will sizzle and make a lovely crispy brown on the bottom and sides that smells so good. 9) Carefully place the heavy skillet back into the oven and bake the cornbread for 20 to 25 minutes until brown. Butter and serve immediately. 

*If you are out of buttermilk, you can quickly substitute by mixing 1 tablespoon lemon juice or distilled white or apple cider vinegar with enough milk to measure 1 cup of liquid. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes to process. This will replace 1 cup of buttermilk.