Thanksgiving 2011's Good Eats

I feel like I blinked, and Thanksgiving is already over. Heck, November is already over too. I was just putting away all my Halloween decorations, and now it's time to get down to business with Christmas shopping.

I was excited for this year's Thanksgiving too - for the first time ever, I was allowed to play a small part in making the turkey. Actually, I can't even say making since I only did about a third of the work - more like, I got to help flavor the turkey, courtesy of my Food Network husband's brining recipe:

It's no secret I'm kind of in love with Alton Brown - even post-public shaming. So when I asked my mother if this year I could do the turkey...and she said yes...I was a bit surprised but more thrilled to try out another AB recipe.

I love AB for two reasons: he makes things simple and he makes you laugh. Oh, and I have yet to screw up one of his recipes - I don't think it's possible to do so.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I got cookin', preparing my brine for our Thanksgiving bird. Here's the recipe if you want to bookmark it and give it a try at Christmas or next Thanksgiving.

The software, as AB calls it. I know the veggie broth probably gives things an earthier flavor, but if I were to try it again, I might go with chicken broth or stock. I also left out the candied ginger - not the biggest fan of the flavor unless I'm cleansing my palate between sushi rolls...and even then, there's a big gulp of water after I eat it.

Pouring in the kosher salt. It was the best salt I've ever tasted in my life. I understand now why AB worships it, and I may never go back.

Before the boil...didn't smell so great.

And after - smelling much more Thanksgiving-y.

Wednesday night, my mother was kind enough to do the dirty work for me since I didn't get home until late in the evening:

Turkey in a brine. The AB recipe calls for putting the turkey in a cooler...but since 1. Texas is rarely cool, much less cold, in November; 2. we weren't sure how ice would fare overnight; and 3. we didn't feel like getting food poisoning we opted for a brining bag in the fridge - which kept my mother up all night, worried she was going to wake up to a busted bag and brine all over her fridge. (Sorry, Mom!)

As for the final product...

I was quite happy with it. (We also skipped AB's aromatics - I don't have a family of super adventurous eaters.) Overall the meat had a good flavor to it - honestly, not a whole lot different from how our turkey normally tastes. As AB preaches, brining is a quick and easy way to assure a delicious bird. However, next year I think I'll focus on learning the tricks from my family's turkey master, aka my mother.