Damn, I Need a Cheeseburger

I have one thing to say. I love Thanksgiving. I spent two days and night in the kitchen trying to make a meal for just four people. Two of them children. This did not make a difference, as they seemed to eat the adults under the table. I love dressing. I love yams. I did three proteins this year: beef roast, barbecued chicken wings, and a turkey. I wanted mashed potatoes and hubby wanted potato salad. Right now, they are both taking up an amazing amount of space in my fridge.

My secret shames this Thanksgiving were: canned cranberry sauce and yams that tasted as if they had been dipped in heavy olive oil. There was no sweetness to the yams, though I added both brown and white sugar. There was no identifiable flavor and I promise you, olive oil did not make it into the bowl when I whipped them. I called myself condensing everything to make space, attempting to eat through this food before next week. This ain't happening.

All I can think is 'Damn' I need a cheeseburger.'

Schiltz Foods Roasted and Smoked Goose

For those who are not interested in the ordinary turkey(no matter how delicious) for Thanksgiving, Schlitz Farm has just the remedy.

Hickory Chip Smoked Whole Goose.

Tantalizing Turkey Recipe From the Delicious Alton Brown

Only the people in my immediate family know about the crush I have on Alton Brown.
It is the stop and stare in amazement whenever he opens his mouth kind of crush. He was skinny when I first saw him, got a little chunky( barely noticed it) and recently lost some weight. I'll take him in a small, medium, or large.
His wife is a lucky lady.

I have finished drooling. On to the turkey.......

Good Eats Roast Turkey

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Prep Time:

15 min

Inactive Prep Time:

7 hr 0 min

Cook Time:

2 hr 30 min

Serves: 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

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

Directions

Click here to see how it's done.

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.