Turkey Brine

This is a great way to add some flavor and moisture to your bird.

1.5 gallons chicken stock
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup salt
1 large onion
2 granny smith apples
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 tsp rosemary
1 package (sorry, don't remember how big the package was) frozen cranberries
3-4 bay leaves
1 five gallon bucket

Combine the chicken stock, sugar and salt in a pot and cook to dissolve. Once everything is dissolved, cool the mixture to at least room temperature (I added a bunch of ice, don't worry about diluting it, your going to add more water anyway). Chop the onion and apples and set aside. Hopefully the turkey is defrosted at this point. Remove the neck and other turkey pieces and place the turkey in the 5 gallon bucket, breast side down. Pour in the chicken stock/sugar/salt brine and add all of the other ingredients. Make sure to add water so that the turkey is completely covered. Put in the fridge and let the brine do it's work. It's best to let the turkey sit in the brine for 24 hours, but 12-18 is sufficient. When you pull the turkey out, make sure and wash it down well before doing whatever it is you do to the turkey before cooking it. I rub it down with olive oil and raspberry chipotle sauce, and cook it breast down, covered with foil at 350 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of at least 165. Sorry, that turned into turkey as well. Enjoy. Buon Appetito!

Stuffing

We had some really good dishes in our Thanksgiving feast this past week, with the stuffing being the best, according to my cultured tastes. It was pretty simple, but took a little bit of prep time. Here it is, in all it's glory.

6 cups bread cubes (we bought some good Italian bread and some cranberry bread, cut it up a couple of days before and let it sit out and stale up good and proper)
1 to 1.5 pounds of sausage
1 large leek
1 cup chopped celery
2 granny smith apples
2-3 cups vegetable/chicken stock
1 tsp poultry seasoning
salt
pepper
1/4 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the sausage in a pan, once the sausage is crumbled and browned, spoon out and set aside, leaving the sausage grease in the pan. Chop the leeks, apples and celery and add to the sausage grease, add the butter and saute for about 6-8 minutes, or until the leeks are transparent. Combine with the sausage and bread, add the seasoning, and the stock, making sure not to drench the stuffing and make it mushy. Mix well and put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes (I covered it with foil for the first 15 minutes), serve promptly after sfornandolo. Buon Appetito!