When it comes to the turkey say good bye
to the thighs! The dark meat has almost twice the amount of fat as the breast
meat.
Turkey breasts and thighs vary moderately
when it comes to calories. A 3-ounce serving of breasts contains 170 calories,
while this same amount of thigh contains 210 calories. In similar fashion to
carb content, the calories will change if you apply some form of sauce or
topping to the turkey. Skip teh gravy – it’s just fat and white flour. Here’s a
hint – if you brine the turkey before cooking it will be juicy and not need any
gravy! Gravy equals about 100 calories a serving and it’s mostly sodium.
Yo just saved about 150 calories! We’re
down to about 2600 calories and dropping! Remember it’s important to plan
ahead! And for a juicier turkey - brine it! See brinng below.
Doctor Lynn
How to brine a turkey from my favorite
chef Alton Brown
- 1 (14 to 16 pound)
frozen young turkey
For
the brine:
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup light
brown sugar
- 1 gallon
vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon
black peppercorns
- 1 1/2 teaspoons
allspice berries
- 1 1/2 teaspoons
chopped candied ginger
- 1 gallon heavily
iced water
For
the aromatics:
- 1 red apple,
sliced
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup water
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 6 leaves sage
- Canola oil
Directions
2 to 3 days before roasting:
Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.
Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:
Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.
Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.
Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.
