New Year's Day Meal

Alton Brown has a great recipe for turkey that's been in a brine solution overnight prior to roasting. Find the recipe at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html We're glad that we can purchase (and we did!) the peppercorns, whole allspice, and cinnamon sticks at our local Rancho Market which just opened a few weeks ago in a brand new bigger location. We were really happy with how beautiful the turkey looked after a trip in a 500 degree oven for a 1/2 hour (that was later reduced to 350 for the duration of the journey of an additional couple of hours.) Such a Norman Rockwell golden brown! And, just as promised, the turkey was moist, tender and flavorful thanks to the brine mixture from before baking and the red apples, onion and cinnamon stick that roasted in the turkey.


We also made a batch of stuffing. The next day we fixed some baked yams with brown sugar and mini-marshmallows, toasting them under the broiler for a few minutes and served them with the turkey and stuffing leftovers. Perhaps we've stumbled upon a new tradition for the new year! It all depends on if we follow through with the idea next year and the next and the next...