Ingredients:

1 gallon water
5 whole lemons
1 whole bulb garlic (trim base of bulb) cut through the equator
6 bay leaves
Bouquet Garni: ½ bunch fresh parsley, ½ bunch fresh thyme, and ½ bunch fresh rosemary tied with butcher’s twine.
1 large tablespoon  whole black peppercorn
1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup honey

Directions:

Add water to stock pot
Cut lemons in half and add to the stock pot, extracting a few. Add the peels from extracted lemons to the pot.
Add garlic, bouquet garni, peppercorns, bay leaves, salt, and honey to the stock pot.
Bring pot to a boil stirring to make sure salt and honey dissolve. Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat and cool completely. Do not skip the cooling process.
Once the brine has cooled, pour over your turkey in a brining bucket (or if using a brining bag) make sure the turkey is fully submerged. Let the turkey brine for 8 up to 24 hours depending on the size of the bird.
After desired brine time, pull the turkey out of brine and place on a baking tray lined with a rack. Pat the turkey dry and place it in the fridge uncovered for 24 hours. Once dried it's ready to roast.

For the Turkey

Pull turkey from fridge and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour
Pre-heat oven to 450

¾ cup butter melted and mild solids separated (for clarified butter)
4 medium onions peeled and cut into 2 inch wedges
6 medium carrots cut into 2 inch pieces
4 ribs celery cut into 2 inch pieces
1 medium leek white and pale green parts only cut into 2 inch pieces
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch thyme
2 bay leaves
1 garlic head sliced in half crosswise

Place vegetables in a roasting pan (pan should be as shallow as possible) and toss in canola oil. Place a roasting rack on top of the vegetables. Stuff cavity with rosemary, thyme, bayleaves, garlic and tie legs together with kitchen twine. Place the turkey on the roasting rack, breast side up.
Brush the turkey skin with the clarified butter and season the skin generously with salt. Roast the turkey for 1 hour. Rotate the pan and cook until the thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 155 degrees F, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours more. Allow the turkey to rest out of the oven lightly tented for 30 minutes before carving. This will allow the juices to redistribute and carry over cooking time to reach 165 degrees F.

Emeril Lagasse Andouille Cornbread Dressing

Ingredients: 

¼ cup olive oil
1 pound andouille sausage or other smoked sausage, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green onion
½ cup chopped celery
½ cp chopped green bell pepper
3 tablespoons minced garlic
9 X 12 baking pan of cornbread recipe of choice (cooked and crumbled) approx 6 ½ cups
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper
¼ tsp cayenne
2-3 cups chicken broth or stock
6 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and add sausage. Cook, stirring as needed until browned, about 3 minutes. Add onion, green onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and continue to cook 5 minutes longer, or until the vegetables have softened. Remove from heat.
Add the crumbled cornbread to a large bowl. Stir in the sausage and vegetables, creole seasoning, salt, pepper, cayenne and chicken broth. Mix thoroughly. 
Brush a 2 quart baking dish with some of the melted butter. Drizzle remaining butter over the cornbread mixture and stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to the casserole and bake in oven for 50 minutes, stirring a few times, until browned on top.

(This recipe is easily scalable. Use 1.5 of this recipe for a 13-15 pound turkey)

Thomas Keller’s Ultimate Brine Recipe

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