Spiced Apple Brine Turkey and Apple Cider Gravy

From now on I will brine my turkey. It not only cut the cook time of the turkey by a few hours but it also helped keep it incredibly moist and flavorful. What I did when I did the brine was I cut a hole in the turkey bag at the legs and poured the brine in the bag. I don't have a bowl big enough to fit the size turkey we had so I just put the turkey in my biggest pot and had it standing up in the pot to keep the brine in the bag. As for the day of cooking the turkey I just rubbed some butter on the turkey and sprinkled salt and pepper on it. The apple cider gravy complimented the turkey very well so I figured I would add it in with the recipe as well. The gravy recipe if for two people so adjust according to the number of people you will have. Everyone has their own idea of how gravy is supposed to be so play around with it and see what works best for you.

Brine

• 1/2 gallon cold water
• 1 quarts apple cider
• 1 quarts orange juice, low or no pulp.
  
• 1 cup salt (3 cups Kosher or coarse salt)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 5 whole cloves
• 1/2 tablespoon ground nutmeg

1. Pour apple cider and orange juice into a large pot over a medium heat. Add salt, brown sugar, cloves and nutmeg. Simmer for 15 minutes until salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add cold water.
2. Place poultry in a large plastic container. Pour brine over top. Brine poultry for 1 hour per pound in the refrigerator.
3. Thoroughly rinse all the brine from the turkey before cooking. Otherwise there will be a salty flavor to the turkey.

Gravy

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 1/2 c. apple cider
• chicken bullion (optional)
  

1. In a medium size pan add butter and flour and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes.
   
2. Add in chicken broth and cider and bring to a boil. If do not think there is enough chicken taste to the gravy add a tsp of chicken bullion into the pan. Depending on how thick or thin you like your gravy you can add more cider or a flour water mixture (1 tbsp to 1 tbsp) and whisk into the pan to thicken the gravy.