OMG this was truly the best experiment ever!!! Using Top Loin cooked on the grill with applewood for about  20 minutes then finished on the stove with onions and peppers. Now you have a NICE twist on a classic...

Learning to trim these has been a true test of my patience... BUT once you get it - it is never lost...

Testing Blog!! Time has come to bring it back

Testing!!

Here is my take on preparing mouth watering turkey..

For the brine:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar or apple cider
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon of thyme
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage
• Canola or Extra Virgin Olive oil
  

Directions

1 to 2 days before roasting:
Turkey must be thawed before attempting to brine.
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.
The night before you'd like to eat:
Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. If you don't have a bucket ua cooler will work just fine. Just remember to clean it throughly when done. Also, for my apartment dwelling friends don't fret you can put the turkey in a “Oven Bags” and place turkey in veggie crisper.
Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. Make sure bird is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours.
If using oven bags, place the turkey, breast side down, in the bag, but 2/3 of the way through the brining, flip the turkey in the bag to make sure it brines evenly.
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 or pan and pat dry with paper towels.
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 or extra virgin olive 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.

Smoking a turkey

Since we cater, a "ole sckool" friend asked me how to smoke a turkey a few days ago. She was thinking of doing one for Thanksgiving. Does anyone else want to know?