Marinating turkey in apple cider helps keep the meat moist
Food writers and chefs are a culinary dream — people with diverse backgrounds and tastes who share a passion for good food and a talent for translating it into recipes.
We prepare to celebrate this Thanksgiving with recipe favorites from three food columnists and Jerry Hanlon, a personal chef who lives in Florida.
Hanlon provided our recipe for the Thanksgiving turkey. He marinates the big bird in apple cider, which adds a bit of sweetness to the meat. The sugar in the cider caramelizes and browns in the heat of the oven to give you crisp, golden skin without a lot of basting the turkey with butter. It also helps keep the meat moist without the salt that soaking the turkey in brine adds.
The turkey is first cooked breast side down at 400 degrees so the dark meat, which takes longer than white meat, gets a head start cooking, and the juices are seared inside. Then the turkey is turned breast side up and finished at 350 degrees.
Although many recipes have you cook turkey at 325 degrees, Hanlon prefers high heat to keep the bird moist and brown the skin. With this method, a 10- to 12-pound turkey is ready to serve in only about 2 1/4 hours of cooking.
The turkey is roasted over a bed of chopped onions, garlic, thyme sprigs, chicken broth and lemon zest. This liquid is flavored by drippings from the cider-marinated turkey and can be used to make the caramelized onion gravy. Vidalia onions are browned and then pureed with the flavorful pan juices. The puree is used in place of butter and flour as a healthful way to thicken the gravy.
Apple Cider and Rosemary Marinated Turkey With Caramelized Onion Gravy
Marinade:
1 (10-12 lb.) fresh turkey or fully thawed frozen turkey
6 cups apple cider
2 cups water
6 sprigs fresh rosemary (rub between your hands to bruise for added flavor)
Roast turkey:
2 onions, coarsely chopped, plus 1 or 2 onions, quartered, optional
6 garlic cloves
8 thyme sprigs
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cans (14 oz. each) low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
1/4cup butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
To make marinade: Place a turkey-size oven bag inside another oven bag of the same size so it is double thickness. Remove neck and innards from turkey neck cavity; discard or save for another use. Rinse the bird inside and out.
Place turkey in the inner bag in a large bowl or deep pan (we used a disposable foil roasting pan), breast side down. Add the cider, water and rosemary sprigs. Remove as much air as possible from bags and seal each bag separately so as much of the turkey as possible is covered with the liquid (at least the entire breast should be submerged). Refrigerate 8 hours to overnight (you can turn the turkey if you wish).
To roast the turkey: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain marinade. Lightly rinse the cavity of your turkey but not the outside skin. Pat the turkey dry (if you drain the turkey in the morning and aren't planning to roast it until the afternoon, let it air dry, uncovered, in the refrigerator until roasting time), tie the legs together (or place under clip on turkey) and tuck the wing tips over the back and underneath the turkey.
When ready to roast, place the chopped onions, garlic, thyme, lemon zest and broth in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place a rack over the liquid in the bottom of the pan (we used two stacked wire cooling racks). Salt and pepper the turkey cavities. Place turkey, breast side down, on rack; turkey should not be sitting in liquid (you can hold the turkey in position with the onion quarters and later serve the roasted onions).
Combine butter and parsley. Brush the back of the turkey with the butter mixture. Roast 45 minutes; if the turkey begins to brown too much, carefully tent with aluminum foil.
Remove the turkey from the oven (the oven will be very hot and there may be some steam so open it carefully) and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Using tongs, carefully turn the turkey, breast side up, on the rack in your roasting pan. Brush butter mixture over the breast and legs of the turkey and return to oven. Roast about 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into a thigh registers 165 degrees — make sure it is not touching a bone. You should start checking the temperature after about 1 hour.
Periodically brush the turkey with butter mixture while it roasts and rotate the pan if one side of turkey browns more than the other. It the turkey begins to get too brown, tent it with a piece of aluminum foil. Remove the cooked turkey from the oven, tent it with aluminum foil and let it sit 15 to 20 minutes before carving. (You can use the pan drippings to make caramelized onion gravy; see accompanying recipe.) Makes 6 to 8 servings.
The Wichita Eagle—11/10/10
Caramelized Onion Gravy
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large Vidalia onions, cut in half and sliced thin
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4cup water
About 1 cup strained and defatted turkey pan drippings or unsalted chicken or turkey stock
Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add onions, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat 5 minutes, stirring to be sure they don't burn. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook 5 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce and water.
Cover the pan and cook over low heat an additional 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Place onion mixture in a blender and puree until it is thick and smooth like gravy. Add turkey pan drippings or stock and puree until combined and smooth. Add enough stock to be of the consistency you like for gravy. Return to skillet and warm through over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve like gravy. Makes about 3 cups.
The Wichita Eagle—11/10/10
Ginger, Lime and Squash Soup With Ginger Cream
The soup can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. If you love the flavor of coconut, use unsweetened coconut milk in place of the half-and-half.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegetable oil
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
3 lbs. butternut, calabaza or other hard-shelled squash, peeled, seeded and diced
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Ginger cream (optional):
1/2cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon minced candied ginger
Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onion, ginger and garlic about 5 minutes. Stir in the squash and broth; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, partly covered, about 25 minutes, until squash is very tender.
Strain the broth into another container. Working in batches, puree the solids with a little of the broth in a blender or food processor. Whisk the puree back into the broth.
To make the ginger cream, beat the heavy cream until it holds soft peaks, and fold in the candied ginger.
Just before serving, whisk the half-and-half into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Stir in the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls and top each portion with a spoonful of ginger cream. Makes 6 servings.
Recipe submitted by food columnist Carole Kotkin.
The Wichita Eagle—11/10/10
Pan-Braised Carrots With Orange and Rosemary
Be sure to get carrots with the tops on them, if you can, to make a prettier presentation.
1 lb. carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
Juice of 1 orange
1/2cup cold water
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Peel the carrots and trim the tops, leaving about an inch of the green stem attached; wash thoroughly.
Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the carrots and cook, turning them with tongs from time to time, until they are tender and have a little color.
Add the rosemary and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, turning carrots once or twice.
Add the orange juice and water. Cover and reduce heat to low. Let carrots simmer until almost all the liquid has cooked off, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Makes 6 servings.
Adapted by food columnist Nancy Ancrum from "Fresh Every Day" by Sara Foster.
The Wichita Eagle—11/10/10
Kale With Fennel, Cranberries and Walnuts
1/3cup walnuts
1 fennel bulb
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs. kale (about 8 cups, packed)
1/4cup sherry
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/3cup dried cranberries
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, chop coarsely.
Remove stalks and fronds from fennel (save for another use). Chop bulb into bite-sized pieces. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute chopped fennel until tender, about 10 minutes. Add kale by the handful, stirring until wilted but still bright green, about 8 minutes. Stir in sherry, pepper flakes and cranberries. (May be made to this point up to a day ahead and refrigerated.)
Reheat kale if necessary, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in walnuts and serve. Makes 8 servings.
Submitted by food columnist Ellen Kanner.
The Wichita Eagle—11/10/10
This story was originally published November 10, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Marinating turkey in apple cider helps keep the meat moist."