Brent and I tried our hands at brining a turkey breast yesterday. I won't tell you how it came out just yet. I have to try to keep you in suspense, right? Well, here it goes...
We bought a small turkey breast because it was just the 2 of us. Brent defrosted the turkey breast and removed the gravy packet. We used my largest soup pot for the brine. Then we discovered our first mistake. While preparing to make the brine, I needed to know how much the turkey breast weighed so I would know how much water, salt, etc. we needed for the brine. At this point the turkey breast was already defrosting in water and the ink had disappeared from the price tag, which meant the weight of the turkey breast had also disappeared so we had to guess. We knew the weight was less than 8 lbs because for some reason unknown to us, Less Than 8 lbs was printed on the plastic part of the tag. Sooo, we went with 8 lbs.
Our brine went something like this:
1 1/2 gallons of water
1 1/2 Cups of Morton Kosher Salt
2 1/2 Cups of Orange Juice
1/2 Cup of Honey
3 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper
3 Tbsp. Black Peper
3 Tbsp. Thyme
3 Tbsp. Sage
As you can see from the 2nd photo, the turkey breast was floating in the brine. We had to make sure it was completely submerged in the brine so Brent paced a clean, small, metal pot on top of the turkey breast to keep it under the water and covered everything with aluminum foil. We put the brining pot in the refrigerator overnight.
Que the fast forward music! On to the next afternoon.
After we got back from shopping at Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, Brent took the turkey breast out of the brine and placed it in a large bowl leaning it vertically against the side of the bowl so the excess water can drain off. After about an hour we emptied about an inch of water out of the bowl and let it drain a while longer. Not much more water came off of it after that. Brent mixed butter and Tony's together. Using his finger, he separated the skin from the turkey breast and put the butter mixture between the breast and the skin. He put it in a baking dish and covered it with aluminum foil. He baked it for about 2 hours then removed the foil and baked it for another 30 minutes. So here's a picture of the completely cooked turkey breast and mistake #3. Well, in case you haven't guessed, mistake #3 is that we may have slightly over browned the turkey breast. I know I skipped over mistake #2 but that's coming up soon. This turkey breast was the juiciest turkey breast I have ever eaten! It was even juicier than a fried turkey breast. I tried to capture images of the juiciness but you know photos can only show so much. Regardless, here are a couple photos of some sliced, juicy, juicy turkey breast. (Yes, I meant to say it twice).
Now, on to the flavor. Before I tell you about Mistake #2, let me emphasize that this turkey breast was DELICIOUS! It was juicy (as I mentioned before) and absolutely tasty! The problem, if you even want to call it that, was that the sage and thyme overpowered the other flavors. If we intended to make sage and thyme turkey breast, we would have succeeded. Next time we will either use much less or leave them out all together. So, in case you missed it, Mistake #2 was using too much sage and thyme in the brine (or using any at all?, I'm not sure.)
In my opinion our brining project was a success. I would recommend it to anyone! I told Brent that for Thanksgiving, we are brining a whole turkey! I can't wait till Thanksgiving.
You probably thought I forgot about the scalloped potatoes. I didn't! I want to start out by giving you the recipe exactly as my mom gave it to me. I love my mom and she's a great cook, but like most cajuns, she measures nothing! Here's what my mom told me when I asked for her scalloped potatoes recipe:
Use butter and flour to make a white roux and you add your salt and pepper and stuff in there.
You have to slice your potatoes and boil them then you pour your roux over it and put a little cheese on the top and bake it.
Those were my instructions. Of course, there was a 2nd phone call that involved the question, "Mama, what kind of liquid do you put in your roux?" Her answer was, "Water or milk. I use milk but you can use water. I like to use milk. I think it tastes better with milk but you can use either one". To which I said, "So milk, right". And Mama says, "Yeah milk".
I guessed at the amounts but here's what I did:
Peel and thinly slice about 4 medium size potatoes. Boil until potatoes are tender but not breaking apart. Spread or layer potatoes in a baking dish. Combine 2 tbsp. flour and 2 tbsp. butter. Brown lightly, just barely! Slowly pour in about 1 1/2 cups of milk and stir till mixture begins to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour mixture over potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese (whatever kind of cheese you like. We used cheddar jack cheese.) Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. And here's what my scalloped potatoes looked like:My scalloped potatoes tasted just like my moms! Even without any measurements!
Brent ended up taking half of the turkey breast home. Emily (niece/godchild) and I finished off what was left of my half of the turkey breast and scalloped potatoes for supper tonight. Both were scrumptious, even as leftovers!
I hope you all enjoyed this blog. I am planning to teach Brent how to post on the blog so he can do this once in a while and maybe we'll be able to post a little more often!
Happy Brining my friends. Please leave us comments! Until next time....
