Talking turkey: Fabulous brine and a unique barbecue twist

For years I thawed my turkey, covered it with butter and herbs and foil, and popped it into the oven, always afraid to steer away from what I knew worked.

That was, until I watched Emeril Lagasse on Good Morning America about ten year ago. Now, its all about the brine!

The first year I tried the brine I had the recipe all written out and followed it closely, but since then I improvise with whatever is in the kitchen cupboards.

Since this is Tuesday there is still time to do a brine, but you need to hurry.

The magic of brine is the salt, sugar and water which all allow the bird to absorb flavors and come out tasty and moist.

Paula's Brine

Ingredients:
One large plastic garbage bag, big enough for the bird and water.
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar (white sugar or brown sugar)
1 cup whiskey
2 oranges, cut in quarters
2 lemons, cut in quarters
1/4 bag cranberries
6 sprigs of thyme
4 sprigs rosemary
1 TBS sage
2 gallons of water

Pour the water into the garbage bag. I find it easier to place the bag on the foil turkey pan in case there are any leaks (and makes it easier to move around). Add the salt and sugar and dissolve. Add everything else with the thawed turkey last. Rinse off your turkey, remove the neck, giblets and liver. You can any citrus you have around the house. I have brined without lemons or cranberries and it still comes out just fine. The key is the salt and sugar, so can skimp on those. If you don't have whiskey, you can skip that too...I just love that extra touch of flavor.

Tie the bag closed and put container with bag full of brine and turkey into the fridge.

This must be done at least 24 hours before baking and I am closer to 60 hours prior to baking. About every 12 hours, rotate the bird while inside the bag. Some may find it easier to untie the bag and reach in to turn but I normally just while it is inside. Reminder: always leave the bag opening at the top or you'll have leaking into your pan. Retie and place bag into fridge. Continue until time to bake.

Now you can bake or barbecue your turkey as you normally would. I baste with olive oil, sprinkle on some sage and salt, cover with foil and bake according to directions.

Barbecued Turkey

I love a turkey on the BBQ because it is so quick and easy! These directions are for a gas grill that can have one half of burners turned off.

Need: One turkey, rinsed out with neck, giblets and liver removed. Heavy-duty foil, one bottle of light colored flavored wine like Boone's Farm Apple Blossom, butter or oil, and seasonings. You can brine it prior to cooking with the above recipe if so desired.

Prepare grill for indirect heat cooking according to owner’s guide. Preheat burners on high for 10 to 15 minutes with lid closed. You will be putting the turkey on the side that is turned off.

Turn wings back to hold neck skin in place and tuck legs. Brush or spray entire turkey with butter or cooking oil. Sprinkle on herbs.

Make a heavy duty foil bowl and place turkey inside. Take one bottle of flavored wine and pour into cavity of turkey. Need to use a light colored wine because if you use red it will seep into the meat and appear to not be cooked completely. Leave top of foil bowl open and placed on burners of grill that are turned off.
Turn temperature to 350 and close lid.

At this point you can leave it alone, but if you're like me you just have to check on it. The wine inside the cavity will boil during the cooking process and evaporate. You may see that you need a bit of oil or the dripping poured on top prior to cooking is completed. Towards the end you may want to cover "the bowl" with foil, depending on how you see the coloring of the skin.

Using meat thermometer, cook turkey to internal temperature of 180° F in thigh and 170° F in breast. 10 to 16 lb. turkeys will take 2 to 3 hours to grill.

When done, remove and let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

Warning, you may never want to bake a turkey in the oven again!