Turkey is a funny thing. Most of us avoid the oversized bird 364 days of the year, but when Thanksgiving rolls around, turkey gets its moment in the spotlight. If you're staying home this year (and you should be), you might be faced with the daunting task of roasting a turkey on your own for the first time. Fear not: Vice president-elect Kamala Harris is here to help.
In a viral video from 2019, Harris divulges her turkey tips to Washington Post opinion columnist Jonathan Capehart in a speedy, off-air conversation.
How much does @KamalaHarris like to cook? She answered my husband's ? about brining a turkey about 1 min before going on @PoliticsNation from Columbia, SC (after I was on). I recorded her response 'cause I don't cook and she was speaking a foreign language. 😂 #kamalacooks pic.twitter.com/IZiQ6iOnTQ
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) November 26, 2019
The first thing you need to decide is if you're doing a wet or dry brine. Harris insists that a dry brine is easier, but has a few tips for Team Wet, too: "Do it like a pot of water, a couple bay leafs, a little sugar, a little cup of peppercorns—you could even do a little slice of orange, something like that." If you need an exact recipe to follow, The Kitchn's is fairly true to Harris's instructions.
"But a dry brine is easier," the future VP confirms. Depending on how much time you have, Harris says a 48-hour brine is best, though 24 hours will suffice in a pinch. From there, you're going to rub the bird in salt and pepper: "Just like lather that baby up, right? On the outside [and] in the cavity," she says. Once the turkey is sufficiently seasoned, combine butter, salt and chopped thyme into a delicious lotion that will be applied under the turkey's skin before you stick it in the oven.
Before she gets cut off, Harris notes that you'll also want to get a "nice big bottle of cheap white wine to baste with butter." The New York Times and Epicurious both have highly rated dry-brine recipes that closely match Harris's tips if you're interested in giving this method a go. Next year, we're going after her stuffing recipe.
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