Star anise, chocolate chip muffin bread. Heavy on the chocolate chips! 😊 [I Love Cooking and Baking]
I don't bake very often. Not that I can't. My father was the true baker in the family. I took more after mom in that respect and she was definitely far more the cook!
As always, no recipe is done exactly the same with me! Hense the star anise and extra chocolate chips! 😊
Believe me the ground star anise makes it simply scrumptious! 😋
The key to this turkey is the brine. Which is normally just a water and salt solution. Yet with all the added spices you must let it sit for a minimum of 12 hours. Some even say as long as a full 24.
I settled on 14 hours for this brine. How much of the brine to make depends on the size of the turkey. This turkey was a small 12.25 lb. one so I only made two gallons of brine according to the following recipe:
It's quite lengthy so I haven't included it. Please follow the above link.
Note on the above! Add two or three trays of ice to cool it quicker before letting it settle. And why I was able to do it in 14 hours.
While you are brining the brine might as well thaw out your turkey at the same time!
Once your brine is prepared there's still a few things you must do.
Remove neck and other organs is one. Thoroughly wash inside and outside the turkey.
Now your are ready to brine the turkey itself. Now here comes the problem that many just can't deal with.
In what do you brine the turkey in?
This is why I had a small turkey. My three gallon steel soup pot was perfect for 12.25 turkey... just barely! 😁 Don't forget to brine the neck and gizzards!
Now there's no getting around the time length of the turkey brining. The longer the better, yet at least 12 to 14 hours.
If you happen to notice the color of my turkey that is because after I brined and drained the turkey, I also buttered it in a butter and squeezed orange juice mixture. The rinds I turned inside out and put in the center.
The whole thing I placed on a grill and tray arrangement (see above image) and baked that as well as the accompaniments below at 325°f for three hours.
Taking it out at 2.5 hours to get a temperature reading, of course it wasn't quite done, yet it was close.
The accompaniments below of course were done.
Accompaniments:
Idaho potato halves, Carrot splits, Red pepper slices, Celery slices, Large sliced mushrooms.
With garlic, rosemary, onions spices and baked in Riesling wine
2020-03-15 Nothing like breakfast for lunch! Ham, parmesan, tomatoe and avocado omelette anyone?
Actually a bit more than that!
Ham, Parmesan, Tomatoe, Avocado Sweet onions, Shredded carrots, Chopped red peppers, Mushrooms, Basil, Coriander, Garlic, Freshly ground pepper and Of some salt!
Sauerkraut and 100% beef hotdogs partially cooked in Riesling wine with rice. Garlic and onion powder salt and pepper on the rice. I was in a rush so I had to forego chopping garlic and onions
