Gin Brined Turkey

I was recently at a lovely party with a literary bent – you know, the type of party where you all sit around and chat about your favorite books and how much you like the smell of old leather bindings and the whisper of crinkly pages.  A favorite poet might have come up… What can I say, Greg and I met in a bookstore and are bibliophiles to the soul.

While we were there I met a librarian who works in our big and beautiful main library here in the Salty City.  We took a detour from the book chat when he said in passing: “I come from a Gin family.”  It sounded so novel – or at least something that would be the opening line of a novel and I had to know more.

Intrigued, I asked him about it.  Turns out his family has been distilling gin for generations and he grew up using it for everything from toothaches to cleaning cuts.  I learned about the quality of juniper berries and the different aromatics used to make it along with the offer to go and learn all about how to brew my own.

I have yet to take him up on the offer, but ever since I have been curious about Gin used as a flavoring for cooking.  Once I met the gents from Beehive Distilling and came across Jack Rabbit Gin my Thanksgiving Turkey 2014 recipe was a sealed deal.

My practice bird was a Dry Brined Turkey, but for the big day I decided to pull out all the stops with an herbal, citrus-y, gin brined bird.  The results? AH-MAZE-ING.

Gin Brined Turkey

Ingredients:

• 12 – 14 lb Turkey (you CAN scale this recipe up or down based on how many people you have coming to dinner and if you want leftovers)
• 1 liter bottle quality Gin
• 1 liter Water
• 2 cups Kosher Salt
• 1/4 cup Honey
• Fresh Thyme – 5 sprigs
• Fresh Rosemary – 2 branches
• Fresh Sage – 3 sprigs
• 1/2 teaspoon Juniper Berries
• 1/2 teaspoon Peppercorns
• 1 Lemon – Sliced
• 1 Lime – Sliced
• 1 Apple – Quartered
• 5 Garlic Cloves – crushed
• 2 cups Turkey or Chicken Broth – for the pan (as well as celery, garlic, carrots, bacon, onions, herb stems – whatever you want to flavor the broth as it cooks)

Method:

In a very large working bowl, combine Gin, Water and Salt.  Stir with a wooden paddle to dissolve the salt.   Add the honey and stir to dissolve as well.

Add all the aromatics to the brine: Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Juniper Berries, Peppercorn, Lemon, Lime, Apple & Garlic.  Make sure the Fruit and the Garlic a slightly crushed so that they will release their flavor.

Put the Turkey in a brine bag and then put it in a food safe large bucket, ice chest or  big bowl.  Pour the brine over the bird, seal the brine bag and put it in the fridge.  If you have the bird in an ice chest, pack it with ice.

Let the bird hang out in the brine for at least 24-48 hours.  4 hours before you are going to roast the bird, remove it from the brine.  Rinse, pat dry with paper towels and place in the roasting pan.

For crispy skin, it is important to return the Turkey to the fridge for a couple of hours uncovered so that the skin has time to dry out.  Bring the Turkey out of the fridge at least an hour before you roast it – your Turkey will turn out better for it.

I always add compound butter under the skin of my Turkeys.  You can see exactly HOW to do just that HERE.  You can also rub the skin with oil and salt and pepper.  Be sure that you have Turkey Broth in the base of your roasting pan for basting.  I added a few shots of Gin as well to flavor the broth and the future gravy.

It never hurts to stuff some aromatics inside the bird – I put an apple, a lemon and an onion inside my bird – all halved or quartered.

BONUS Gin Gravy Recipe:

I knew in my heart that a Gin brined bird would be delicious, but I wasn’t so sure about ginny gravy.  Well, I am please to report success! So, here is the bonus recipe if you want to round up in the juniper department.

Take all the drippings/broth from the turkey roasting pan.  Remove the fat from the top – either skim it off or if you are lucky and have one of those broth separators use that.  I for one am not lucky.  Set the fat aside.

Add enough turkey or chicken stock (unsalted) to bring the total amount of liquid to 3 cups.

Put 4 tablespoons of the lovely buttery fat into a skillet.  Add 3 tablespoons of flour and cook over medium heat whisking constantly until the the two are combined, smooth and starting to turn golden.  Add a shot of gin.  Or two.

The alcohol will cook out and the juniper flavor will stick around,

Pour the broth in slowly, whisking all the while so that you don’t get lumps. Lumpy gravy is the pits.  Simmer and stir until that magic moment when gravy appears out of simple ingredients.  Taste for salt and pepper.  (Usually with a brined bird you won’t need to add salt.

Happy Ginsgiving All!

-Lydia, I did NOT come from a Gin Family