By Chef Justin Antiorio

My biggest pet peeve with Thanksgiving is eating dry turkey. Often the breast gets dry while waiting for the legs to finish cooking. My advice is to cook the breast and legs separately. I choose to confit the legs. That process will result in the juiciest turkey legs (in my opinion) you will ever taste. Brining the breast will also reintroduce juices to ensure juiciness. I use fresh turkey from Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff, NJ to ensure fresh turkeys and also to purchase duck fat. Also when I think of Thanksgiving, I think brussels sprouts, so here is my recipe for sprouts with applewood-smoked bacon.

Ingredients
1 (12- to 15-pound) fresh turkey

Turkey breast brine
1 gallon plus 1 quart water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 whole head garlic, sliced in half horizontally
2 bay leaves
2 juniper berries, crushed
Vegetable oil, for roasting

For the confit
12 medium unpeeled cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
4 cups duck fat
2 cups vegetable oil

Mushroom sauce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup button mushrooms
1 cup portobello mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 small shallot, minced
1 quart (4 cups) low-sodium chicken broth, reduced by half
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

To prepare the turkey
1. Remove giblets and neck and freeze for some other use or discard. Rinse out cavity and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Trim most of excess fat and skin from neck and cavity.
2. Remove legs by cutting where thighs meet the body. Reserve legs for confit and remainder of turkey breast piece (breast and body) for brine.

Brining the turkey
1. Place all brining ingredients, except vegetable oil, in a large stockpot over high heat and bring to a boil. Remove and cool to room temperature.
2. When brine is cool, submerge turkey breast in brine. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
3. To roast, heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove breast from brine and thoroughly dry. Rub skin with vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper and then place breast on a roasting pan. Roast in oven until breast reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving. For the mushroom sauce, reserve 1/4 cup pan drippings.

For the confit
1. Place turkey legs on a large platter and heavily salt both sides of each leg. Sprinkle garlic, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns over top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 12 hours or overnight.
2. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove salt from legs. Place legs, skin side down, with confit flavoring ingredients (except salt) in a Dutch oven or a large heavy-bottomed pot with a secure lid and cover with duck fat and vegetable oil.
3. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, making sure legs don’t stick. Cover, turn off heat and place in oven. Cook until meat is very tender, about two hours.
4. Remove casserole from oven and cool on a rack. If not serving immediately, place cooled casserole in the refrigerator until ready.
5. To brown legs, heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove legs from casserole. Place a large nonstick frying pan on the stove over high heat. Carefully set legs skin side down in the pan and cook until skin is brown, about two minutes. Place in oven and heat through, about 12 minutes.

For the mushroom sauce
1. In a medium frying pan on medium-high heat, place butter and sauté mushrooms in batches; season to taste. Reserve cooked mushrooms in a bowl.
2. Add shallots and cook on low heat for three minutes, then add stock. Add 1/4 cup reserved pan drippings from turkey.
3. When ready to serve, bring shallot mixture to a simmer and add mushrooms, foie gras and parsley. Mix well and serve immediately.
4. Tighten this mixture to your desired consistency with Wondra flour.

Roast Brussels Sprouts with Applewood-Smoked Bacon
Ingredients
8 ounces applewood-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch lardons
8 ounces butter
1/2 cup canola oil
3 pounds small brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved or quartered, depending on size
2 oranges, juiced and zested
Salt

Instructions
Place the bacon in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Cook over high heat until the water evaporates, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the bacon in the fat until it is crisp. Set aside on a paper towel. Add the butter to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until it starts to brown; remove from heat. Heat a large cast-iron pan over high heat until just smoking, add 1/4 cup oil and half the sprouts, and cook for about two minutes until the sprouts start to caramelize, stirring occasionally. When caramelized (a little black on the edges is fine), add half the bacon, half the orange juice and half the brown butter, and stir together. Reduce the heat to medium; cook until the sprouts are fork tender (about four minutes). Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Combine all the sprouts and toss with the orange zest. Season to taste and serve.