Apple Flavored Roast Turkey Recipe

For Thanksgiving, you'll need to start the entire process on Tuesday. Figure you need an hour of brining per pound, 24-hours of air-drying, 10 minutes per pound of bringing it to room temperature, 2 to 2-1/2 hours of roasting, and an hour or so to get the stuffing and gravy finished. Work backwards from when you plan on eating. For example, if we were eating at 6p (with 45 minutes alloted for travel time and arranging), I would start brining the turkey on Tuesday at 8:15p. Let the games begin...

APPLE FLAVORED ROAST TURKEY
adapted from Lynne Rossetto Kasper via Saveur

1 15-lb. turkey, rinsed and patted dry

Brining
1 cup coarse (Kosher) salt, plus extra for seasoning (preferably Diamond Crystal)
1∕2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1∕3 cup ground ancho chile powder
7-1/2 cups (almost a half gallon) fresh apple cider (reserve the last 1/2 cup for the gravy)
1 cup (roughly 35) peeled garlic cloves
4 granny smith apples - unpeeled, cored and roughly chopped

Roasting
5 yellow onions, peeled and chopped into one-inch pieces
4 carrots, washed and chopped into one-inch pieces
4 celery ribs with leaves, washed and chopped into one-inch pieces
1/2 bunch parsley, rinsed
2 granny smilth apples - unpeeled, cored and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups dry white wine (the lady at Union Square Wines grabbed Bandit for me)
fresh ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Garnish
10 Lady or Crab apples
1/2 bunch parsley
Rosemary
Sage
1 pomegranate, cut into 6 wedges

If using, fold back the lip of a large plastic brining bag. To the bag or stockpot, add 1 cup of coarse salt, brown sugar, and chile powder. To a food processor bowl, add 2 cups apple cider, garlic cloves and 4 apples; purée until pasty. Add purée to the brining bag and stir. Add the remaining cider and whisk/rock until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add 4 quarts cold water to the purée.

Put turkey in brining bag. Close the bag up so the turkey is completely covered in brine. If you're using a stockpot, weigh the turkey down; if you're using a bag, use packing tape to make the bag "smaller". Refrigerate the turkey or keep it in a cooler packed with ice.

Remove all the oven racks and move one rack to the lowest position. Heat oven to 450°. 

Using a large, shallow roasting pan, place chopped onions, carrots and celery on the bottom. Scatter one apple and two-thirds of the parsley on top. Place V-rack on top and put a zip top plastic bag full of ice on one side of the V. Remove turkey from brine and pat it completely dry with paper towels. Place turkey on the V-rack, breast side down with breast area resting on ice pack (this will help cook the turkey more evenly). Bring turkey close to room temperature for the shortest roasting time. Calculate 10 minutes out of the refrigerator per pound. For a fifteen pound turkey, you'd leave it on the counter for 2-1/2 hours. Stuff the remaining chopped apple and one-third parsley inside the turkey's cavity. Rub the softened butter all over the back, legs and wings. Season back with black pepper. Loosely bind legs together. Add 4 cups of the wine to cover the bottom of the pan with 1∕2" of liquid. 

Baste the turkey once after 30 minutes. After another 30 minutes of roasting, remove the roasting pan from oven and shut the oven door. Using two pot holders or turkey lifter, carefully turn the turkey breast side up. Baste it with pan juices and return to oven. Roast for another hour, basting once. If at any point, the turkey looks medium-dark, loosely cover the turkey with foil. Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thigh (without touching bone). Once it reaches 165°, remove the turkey from the oven and transfer it to a platter. Let it rest for 30 minutes while you make the gravy. 

Place garnish around turkey for display. Enjoy!