Two ways to taste turkey

KAREN WIGHT

This year, it’s my turn to host Thanksgiving dinner -- and my family

is a tough crowd. I have a brother from Nashville who’s a professor

at Vanderbilt and a gourmet cook (brains meets burners), a

sister-in-law from Finland who’s a vegetarian, a mother who’s never

cooked a meal in her life but likes anything fried or pralined, a

sister who’s favorite home is Mexico City and likes her turkey

“mole,” and my own three fussy kids whose idea of a perfect main

course is mashed potatoes and gravy. We’re also throwing in a

teammate of Annie’s from Berkeley. I figure she’s an athlete --

she’ll eat anything.

Obviously, I’m not going to please everyone, at least not

entirely. For my sister-in-law Tiina, I’ll have a killer all-veggie

stuffing. She’s happy with that. For my St. Louis mother, I’ll fix a

chocolate pecan pie with whiskey whipped cream -- she’ll really like

that. The sister will have to go back to Mexico to get her mole, and

my kids will eat mashed potatoes.

It’s the brother who’s hard to please. He makes a great turkey.

His last edition was wrapped in fresh sage leaves and had an amazing

dried fruit and cornbread stuffing. In the past, I have baked in a

bag, slow roasted, fried and barbecued the turkey.

This year, in an effort to come up with something new, I am fixing

a sugar- and spice-cured turkey. It includes all the unhealthful food

groups, so it will be a hit. It was a tie between the sugar- and

spice-cured turkey or the brined maple turkey with cream gravy.

The brined maple turkey was from “Cooking Light” magazine, the

sugar and spice was from “Southern Living.” So with the family

balance heavy on the southern side, I decided that the “Southern

Living” recipe was the best choice.

You can peruse both of them and decide how you’re going to spice

up your Thanksgiving table this year:

SUGAR-AND-SPICE CURED TURKEY FROM SOUTHERN LIVING

1 (12-pound) whole turkey

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons kosher or course-grain sea salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

1 large onion quartered

2 (14-ounce) cans low sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Garnishes: fresh rosemary sprigs, apples slices, nuts.

Remove giblets and beak. Rinse turkey with cold water. Pat dry.

Tie legs together with string; tuck wingtips under. Combine brown

sugar and next six ingredients. Rub over turkey. Cover with plastic

wrap and chill 8 hours.

Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan with the breast side

up. Arrange onion quarters around the turkey. Pour two cans of broth

in the bottom of the pan.

Bake the turkey loosely covered with foil at 325 degrees for 1 1/2

hours. Uncover and bake 1 1/2 hours more until the meat thermometer

reaches 180 degrees. (Cover with foil to prevent extra browning if

necessary). Remove onion; discard, reserve pan drippings. Let the

turkey stand for 15 minutes before carving.

Combine pan drippings and enough chicken broth to equal two cups

in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook five minutes

or until thickened, whisking constantly. Serve with turkey. Garnish.

BRINED MAPLE TURKEY WITH CREAM GRAVY

Brine:

8 quarts water

3/4 cup kosher salt

3/4 cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons black peppercorns

8 cloves crushed garlic

1 lemon, thinly sliced

Turkey:

1 (12-pound) turkey 1 cup cola

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 onions, quartered

Cooking spray Gravy:

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can fat-free chicken broth

1 cup whole milk 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

To prepare brine, combine first six ingredients in a large

stockpot and stir until salt dissolves.

Remove neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse turkey with cold water

and pat dry. Add turkey to brine pot, turning to coat. Cover and

refrigerate 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring cola and 1/2 cup syrup in a

small saucepan for one minute.

Combine thyme, sage, seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Remove

turkey from brine and pat dry. Rub herb mixture over turkey, under

skin and inside cavity. Place four cloves of garlic and onions in the

body of the turkey. Tie legs together and tuck wingtips in.

Place turkey on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at

375 degrees for 45 minutes. Pour the cola mixture over turkey and

cover with foil. Bake an additional one hour and 45 minutes or until

the thermometer reads 180 degrees.

Remove turkey from pan, reserve drippings for gravy and let the

turkey rest for ten minutes.

For gravy, use broth, milk, cornstarch and two cups drippings.

Whisk until boiling, season with salt and pepper.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs

Thursdays.