House leaders talk turkey with holiday recipes

An apron-wearing House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has shared his turkey brine recipe in a YouTube video. He said he found the base of the recipe online several years ago but tinkered with it for about five years before getting it just right.

“I take about eight of quarts water, half a dozen bay leaves, Kosher salt, a palm full of peppercorns, take a big head of garlic, cut it in half,” he explains in the video.

But the “real secret,” he said, is 16 ounces of pure maple syrup.

Here’s the full recipe for “the Boehner Brine:”

• 8 quarts water

• 6 bay leaves

• 2 cups Kosher salt

• 3 tbsp peppercorns

• 1 head of garlic

• 16 oz pure maple syrup

Bring the brine close to a boil, then let it cool. Put a bag in a five-gallon bucket. Wash the turkey and remove the insides. Put the turkey in the bucket. Pour the brine over to cover the turkey. Keep the turkey submerged. Let it stand overnight in the refrigerator or outside if it is cool enough. After 24 hours, take it out and rinse it off. At that point, it’s ready to be cooked.

“You can’t beat it,” Boehner boasts.

Not to be outdone, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., shared on Twitter a recipe for her family’s chocolate mousse recipe.

Pelosi promises dessert is “quick, easy and good for you too!”