My Uno story has nothing at all to do with Thanksgiving, but it’s still funny. About 20 years ago, the Spawns were teaching me how to play Uno. They and Mrs. ricepad had played it before, but it was new to me. We got into it. Really into it. And at the point of the game when you’re supposed to be the first person to call out, “UNO!”, my brain turned to shit. I remembered I was supposed to yell something, but in the moment I forgot what. Never mind that it was the name of the freakin’ game, I drew a blank. So what did I yell? “BLARGH!” Yes, friends, I actually said, “blargh”, loudly and clearly. Everything went quiet for a split second, then all three of them nearly wet themselves from laughing so hard.
For the better part of two decades now, that card game has been known in our family as “Blargh”.
I rarely spend Thanksgiving with my parents/siblings, but when I do, there is often a game of Euchre to be had after dinner. Other Michiganders (and some upper Midwesterners) will understand.
Speaking of make-ahead, I worked on my gravy today. I roasted about six pounds of turkey wings for two hours and then those wings went into the stock pot for stock. I deglazed the roasting pan with white wine and poured it all into a bowl which is in the fridge as the fat rises to the top. The stock is on hour six and smells amazing. I’ve done this method the last couple years I’ve hosted and having it done ahead of time really takes the pressure off on the actual day.
I need to go back the wonderful Latinx market near me tomorrow. They keep necks and wings and offal instock all the time. Gravy and cranberry sauce are easy make aheads
Anybody who has a Bravo! near them should make a trip. Great produce and terrific prices (and they play salsa music over the speakers…so much more fun than Muzak)
Yes, only one store I know near me carries the turkey parts, and only around the holidays - it’s a local chain called DeCiccos. Just tasted the stock and it’s wonderfully rich and is a beautiful golden color. One less thing to do on Wed and Thurs…
At the Publix I went to there was only Butterball and Publix own brand. I ended up with the Publix brand, which Unfortunately “contains up to 15% of a solution of turkey broth, salt, sodium phosphates, flavorings (extract of pepper & celery.”
No more turkeys at all at the local Aldi, and they were getting any more.
I’m looking through the ones on WOL, but haven’t gotten to that part yet; I did see an opinion on the term “dry brining” on the Grandad one, and notice they “marinate” (2 Tb salt for a 12 pound turkey) the day before.
Are you marinating the Butterball with that much salt?
I think I will skip some of my usually successful 3 day pre-salting process this year, but will keep the 24 hour before seasoning and air drying. Not confident about the best amount of salt for that at this point.
ETA I think I see what you do here, but I can’t tell if you are using the marinade.
Here’s Woks of Life recipe, breast side down for the first hour:
Here is Petrini’s recipe … I still do the Chablis/Cognac part:
Petrini’s Ultimate Turkey Recipe
Get a Butterball, 14 lbs or less
Petrini’s was a small, upscale grocery chain in San Francisco area that no longer exists; I really miss it.
They had a printed sheet on how to cook turkey and I’ve used this with success so I’d like to pass it on.
Remove turkey from the bag. After removing neck and giblets from body cavity (BOTH ENDS), rinse bird with cold water. Pat all over (inside and out) with paper towels. Rub body and neck cavities with salt and, if desired, stuff loosely.
Rub entire turkey with a paste made of the following:
2 oz. Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter (soft)
2 Tablespoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Paprika
2 Tablespoons White Pepper
Place bird in open pan, breast side up. (I put it on a rack; this year, I might try breast side down the first hour.) Add 8 ozs. water and 8 ozs. Turkey or Chicken broth. Place in a 325 oven. (I ALWAYS take a large piece of doubled cheesecloth and wet it with water, wring, then dip into a cube of melted butter and place this over the top of the turkey and tuck inside the pan. Later, I baste with drippings over the cheesecloth. Near the end, I lift up the cheesecloth as I baste so that it won’t stick to the turkey. Sometimes, you need more broth in the pan.)
When turkey is half done, heat, DO NOT BOIL, one cup of white wine (I like a dry wine like Chablis) and 3 ozs. brandy and pour over turkey. This is the secret to a marvelous gravy.
I also make a thick foil ring for the turkey to sit atop after it cooks breast side down for the first hour.
So you can use a marinade with 2 Tbsp of salt on the 12-14 pound pre brined Butterball turkey (and the WOL recipe says “allow to marinate overnight”) and it comes out well (rather than too salty or spongy)!
That was my question. Not so much the specific recipe, but how much salt, and when, on a pre brined turkey. Different opinions out there, but I like HO opinions!
I am responsible for the turkey with my MIL calling the shots on a meal for 28! I am staying in my lane .. until I get back home.
Even today, I keep hearing, seeing, smelling the kitchen hard at work, and when I ask how I can help, am told “nothing to do”.
I tried woks garlic marinade once … I liked it. But as I said, I sorta combine the recipes. I like the paste mixture from the Petrini recipe. I said cognac before but recipe says brandy so that’s ok. It does make the gravy very special. Even though it was hours of work and dirty dishes to wash, I made 5 quarts of turkey stock from 5 lbs of turkey wings, carrots and onions, roasted then simmered in a big stockpot. I gave one to a neighbor and froze the rest (she used it for soup). Now today defrosting 2 in fridge, the other 2 will be for Christmas. Makes the gravy even better.
I used to work at a very stressful job, long hours. I don’t know how I ever put on even a halfway decent Thanksgiving dinner. I’d like to go back in time and tell myself I didn’t have to do all that. I don’t have a job now and preparing for this is taking up a lot of time, going to various markets … one just to buy fresh WATER CHESTNUTS that I think I MUST have for the dressing (I no longer stuff the turkey).
