something new

Last night we were going to take our turn with the neighbors and host 'the gathering' (I don't call them parties anymore.) I called for March last New Year's Eve and ... well, it's March and we're home from our stay in the city and oh, what to fix. Everyone brings something and we just graze and talk all evening. There were 15 of us.
I decided to fix one of the turkeys Patient Husband bought at Thanksgiving, slice it up and have breads and spreads for sandwiches. Definitely something different.
How about brining? This was the perfect chance to do something I've never done to a piece of meat. The neighbors could be my testers.
I was a bit afraid of it so chose a recipe that looked innocent enough and didn't ask for 24 hours of soaking - oops - brining. Salt, I threw in a handful of brown sugar, bottle of white wine, water, oranges, rosemary. All good things.

I know, I know, it's supposed to completely cover the meat. But remember, I was a little afraid of having to run out to the deli at the last minute.
I decided to turn the bird breast side down so the white meat was the part soaking really well. This recipe called for 5 hours of brining. I could do that. Sure smelled good. A really good tip one of the recipes noted was the use of one of those oven turkey bags to put the bird in. That way you didn't have to go to the hardware store and buy a multi-gallon bucket or clean out the meat drawer in the fridge. Put it in the bag, submerge the bird, put the bag in the fridge drawer. I was afraid of leakage so I put it in a pan first. Lots of fears going on here.

When it was time to bake I drained and dried the bird, massaged in a little olive oil and poultry seasoning, as an afterthought I tossed the orange pieces into the stuffing cavity along with the rosemary and put it in the oven.

Beauty on a plate! It sure smelled good. Turkey always smells good. There should be a scented candle called "Turkey in the oven for 3 hours."

You know the best part? The drippings were to die for. I didn't use them last night because I carved this up for sandwiches, but today Patient Husband and I had a turkey dinner and let me tell you those drippings made the most delicious gravy I've ever had. Even more so than Martha's turkey recipe (a bottle of wine and a pound of butter.) Lick the fingers good.

Next time I won't be afraid of brining, will do it the way they say (submerge the bird!) and will vouch for this recipe.

Today I claimed as my "DO NOTHING" day. I told Patient Husband this morning I didn't intend to leave the house, not even as far as the trash can, and I had a whole list of nothing things to do. Quilt. Nap. Read. Watch Social Network. Not necessarily in that order. It's now 5 p.m. and we still have the movie to watch and reading to do. I had so many nothings to do I didn't have time to do them all. But the nap felt good.