CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Thanksgiving Bump! Anyone got some family food traditions (and recipes) that they would like to share?
Yet Another Food Thread
I've posted this elsewhen on this site...
"Steam-Roasted" Turkey
Instead of the usual tricks everyone comes up with for making a tasty, juicy bird for their Thanksgiving supper, I tried something else.
After cleaning your bird and placing him in the proper pan:
1) Select a bunch of raw veggies, cut coarsely into pieces (no smaller than your fingers) for stuffing your bird. I typically use baby carrots, red/purple onions, white or yellow onions, green onions, whole garlic cloves, and celery. I've recently started adding sliced mushrooms (portabellas, large or small) and sliced squash (zucchini, but any would do) to the mix, with good results.
2) Mix a bit of melted unsalted butter with an equal amount of a nice dry white wine- you want something good enough to drink on its own, not the cooking "wine" they sell in the groceries. Add the juice of a single lemon. You want at least a 3/4 cup in volume.
3) Into that mix, mix your dry seasonings. I use powdered onion, powdered garlic, black pepper, and red pepper.
3) Cram every nook & cranny of your bird with the coarsely cut veggies.
4) Coat your turkey with your butter/wine/lemon/spice mix, inside and out.
5) Sprinkle bird with some paprika for flavor AND to aid browning.
6) Pour enough additional white wine into the bird's pan to have a 1/2"+ of liquid in the pan. Don't skimp. You want a lot of wine in there to really boost the humidity in the oven.
7) Cook your bird uncovered. You should preheat the oven to 425F, then cook your bird at that temp for 15-20 minutes to sear it, then drop the heat to 325F, cooking it for the remainder of the proper time for its mass (consult a cookbook). Don't remove the bird while the oven adjusts to the lower heat.
Don't flip your bird- you really don't want to open the oven at all.
The extra wine you placed in the pan will boil off a bit, making the oven into a steam bath, which not only cooks the turkey, it reduces the risks of drying out- the bird's moisture has nowhere to go because the air is already super humid. You'll lose that humidity if you keep opening the oven and you'll risk drying your bird out.
However, check your bird about 30-40 minutes (for a big bird; check at 45-60 minutes for smaller ones) before the cookbook says your bird should be done. Because of the steam and the transition from 425F to 325F, it is probably done. It should also be quite juicy.
When you finally get down to eating your bird, you have a couple more options to consider.
8) After carving and serving your bird, don't stop carving! De-bone your bird. You'll save yourself a lot of work in the long run. By doing all of the carving the night you first serve the bird, you only need wash your carving utensils once. In addition, you'll find that a de-boned turkey takes up a lot less room in a Tupperware container than in its pan. You can even set some aside for freezing immediately. Its best to do this de-boning early if you wish to proceed to step 9 below.
9) Again consulting a cookbook, make stock. Take the turkey bones, whatever veggies and pot drippings you don't care to eat or save and place in a biiiiig pot of water, enough to cover the bones. Heat to a high simmer, being careful not to let the pot boil. Boiling your stock could ruin the taste. Then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Let this pot cook for a long time, until you've gotten all all of that flavor and nutrition locked up in the meat and bones of the turkey and the flavor from the other ingredients. Remove the bones & veggies using tongs or a strainer ladle or wok spider, then increase the heat in order to reduce the stock. It should fill just a few ziplock bags. This stock, properly done, will add so much to your homemade soups and sauces that you won't believe it, and it freezes nicely.
"Steam-Roasted" Turkey
Instead of the usual tricks everyone comes up with for making a tasty, juicy bird for their Thanksgiving supper, I tried something else.
After cleaning your bird and placing him in the proper pan:
1) Select a bunch of raw veggies, cut coarsely into pieces (no smaller than your fingers) for stuffing your bird. I typically use baby carrots, red/purple onions, white or yellow onions, green onions, whole garlic cloves, and celery. I've recently started adding sliced mushrooms (portabellas, large or small) and sliced squash (zucchini, but any would do) to the mix, with good results.
2) Mix a bit of melted unsalted butter with an equal amount of a nice dry white wine- you want something good enough to drink on its own, not the cooking "wine" they sell in the groceries. Add the juice of a single lemon. You want at least a 3/4 cup in volume.
3) Into that mix, mix your dry seasonings. I use powdered onion, powdered garlic, black pepper, and red pepper.
3) Cram every nook & cranny of your bird with the coarsely cut veggies.
4) Coat your turkey with your butter/wine/lemon/spice mix, inside and out.
5) Sprinkle bird with some paprika for flavor AND to aid browning.
6) Pour enough additional white wine into the bird's pan to have a 1/2"+ of liquid in the pan. Don't skimp. You want a lot of wine in there to really boost the humidity in the oven.
7) Cook your bird uncovered. You should preheat the oven to 425F, then cook your bird at that temp for 15-20 minutes to sear it, then drop the heat to 325F, cooking it for the remainder of the proper time for its mass (consult a cookbook). Don't remove the bird while the oven adjusts to the lower heat.
Don't flip your bird- you really don't want to open the oven at all.
The extra wine you placed in the pan will boil off a bit, making the oven into a steam bath, which not only cooks the turkey, it reduces the risks of drying out- the bird's moisture has nowhere to go because the air is already super humid. You'll lose that humidity if you keep opening the oven and you'll risk drying your bird out.
However, check your bird about 30-40 minutes (for a big bird; check at 45-60 minutes for smaller ones) before the cookbook says your bird should be done. Because of the steam and the transition from 425F to 325F, it is probably done. It should also be quite juicy.
When you finally get down to eating your bird, you have a couple more options to consider.
8) After carving and serving your bird, don't stop carving! De-bone your bird. You'll save yourself a lot of work in the long run. By doing all of the carving the night you first serve the bird, you only need wash your carving utensils once. In addition, you'll find that a de-boned turkey takes up a lot less room in a Tupperware container than in its pan. You can even set some aside for freezing immediately. Its best to do this de-boning early if you wish to proceed to step 9 below.
9) Again consulting a cookbook, make stock. Take the turkey bones, whatever veggies and pot drippings you don't care to eat or save and place in a biiiiig pot of water, enough to cover the bones. Heat to a high simmer, being careful not to let the pot boil. Boiling your stock could ruin the taste. Then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Let this pot cook for a long time, until you've gotten all all of that flavor and nutrition locked up in the meat and bones of the turkey and the flavor from the other ingredients. Remove the bones & veggies using tongs or a strainer ladle or wok spider, then increase the heat in order to reduce the stock. It should fill just a few ziplock bags. This stock, properly done, will add so much to your homemade soups and sauces that you won't believe it, and it freezes nicely.
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