Dry-brined roast turkey with really good (Cognac!) sauce

The technique for this beautifully browned, crisp-skinned, succulent and flavorful roast turkey, inspired by the late Judy Rodger's Zuni Cafe roast chicken, was developed for the big bird by Russ Parsons at The Los Angeles Times in 2006, when I was Food Editor there. In the annual effort to come up with something original for a Thanksgiving issue, I had a brainstorm: what if you treated a turkey like Zuni Cafe chicken? I asked Russ to investigate, he nailed the technique and Thanksgiving would never be the same.

If you like, you can make the bird without bothering with the Cognac sauce; the turkey technique is almost comically simple, and the recipe has but two ingredients (turkey and salt). What's brilliant about it is you don't have to wrestle the bird into a huge pot of brine. Just rub it with salt three days before you serve it and seal it in a 2 1/2-gallon zipper bag. Take it out of the bag Thanksgiving (or Christmas) morning (or the morning of whatever day you want to serve it), and let the skin dry in the fridge. Into a 425 degree oven it goes for a half hour, then turn down the heat and forget about it – no basting required. It's so much easier than wet-brining a bird – and so much better. 

For the sauce, I like to make the turkey stock ahead of time – using turkey necks, if I can get them, or legs, or a combo, so I can focus on other dishes the day of the event. You could cheat and use chicken broth from a box or cans if you don't want to take the time to make the stock – it won't be as rich and luxurious, but it'll still be pretty good.  Or if gravy is part of your DNA, you may want to do that instead. But to me there's nothing like a deep-flavored, flour-free (and therefore gluten-free) reduction sauce that starts with deglazing the roasting pan with Cognac.   

The best time to get started – by salting the bird – is the morning three days before the event. So if we're talking about Thanksgiving, that means Monday morning.

Bird smaller than 11 pounds? Use this recipe: Roasted Turkey (Dry-Brined) — you can still make the sauce from this recipe, if you like.

Serves 8 to 12 or more. You will need a 2 1/2 gallon zipper bag, a roasting pan with rack and an instant-read thermometer.

Ingredients

FOR THE TURKEY:

One 11- to 16-pound turkey

2 3/4 to 4 tablespoons Kosher salt, depending on the size of the turkey (see instructions)