Thanksgiving 2005: The Revenge - Arrr! The Briny Deep!

So being a regular watcher of a certain television food program, I've had it
beaten into me that brining meat does good things for its finished texture.
Really good things.

So I tried it out last year, and I'm recreating the same. Except this time
I'm cooking the brine first (which was a step I missed in my haste last
time. This year's model should actually accentuate the flavor some as well.)

Let's begin:

Put the following in a reasonably sized stock pot:
Two quarts vegetable broth
2/3 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 sprig rosemary
1T whole Peppercorns
1T whole Allspice Berries
1t ground ginger

There, just like this:

Well, close enough anyhow.

Bring that to a boil, and stir it a bit to make sure everything's dissolved.
Take it off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Note that the brine has a rather pleasant aroma that should help you forget
about the part of the day you spent exorcizing demons of meals past from
your refridgerator.

Be sure to remove the neck and organ sack from the bird, and put your turkey
in a large enough container so that you can cover it with liquid and still
get the lid on. Pour the brine over the bird. Fill up any remaining airspace
with ice, and then top it off with water until everything's covered. Put it
in the refridgerator for at least 6 hours.



I wanted to put an eyepatch on it, or some other pirate theme, but I decided
it wouldn't do anything for the food, and probably ruin a perfectly good
eyepatch. Save that guy for workplace antics.

I settled on the turkey being a distant relative to the parrot.

Be sure to wash your hands frequently. Raw poultry's got great potential for
really bad mojo.

So I'm left with some extra turkey parts. Look how unhappy they are:



Ok, so that was probably totally uncalled for. Just be glad I didn't arrange
them in an obscene way (and you know I totally could have)

Well, the cat's got to eat as well, and seeing as I haven't yet washed the
pot from the brine yet, I put some water on to boil and threw them in for
about 15 minutes.

If you're familiar with my cat, you'll know that she both has a serious
turkey and gravy addiction (I never should've given her some scraps last
year) and that she is a total slob when she eats. I don't give her this sort
of thing very often, as it's probably not super-healthy for her, but if I'm
eating well, she might as well too.

So once the extra parts cooled down enough that I could rip into them by
hand, I pulled apart anything that would come loose into smallish pieces
(about the size of a marble) and gathered that all up to give to her
tomorrow. I figure any piece I can break up that way she's less prone to
leaving in the middle of the kitchen floor for me to step on, with bare
feet, late at night. There was about enough to fill up an old single-serving
yogurt container. I'll probably keep it limited to about 1/3 of that
tomorrow.

The remainders of that were tossed. Oh sure, I could've made turkey stock,
but my freezer is already pretty full, I've still got the carcass for that,
and when all is said and done, the raccoons that live in my dumpster need to
get fed as well.



Everyone wins.

Thanksgiving 2005: The Revenge - Cranberry Sauce

One of the things I really do prefer made from scratch rather than a can is
cranberry sauce. (You'll see plenty of other ingredients from a can later.
Not this time.)

When I was growing up, my mother found a recipe for "Cranberry-Orange
Relish" on the back of a bag of fresh cranberries. So we tried it out (one
of the not-so-many occassions I actually was involved in the kitchen as a
lad), and it became a tradition of sorts: Thanksgiving morning, I'd get
yelled at to get in the kitchen to help out, we'd take a couple halved
oranges and a couple bags of cranberries, dump in the food processor, and
then start adding sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. When we finally got it to a
taste that was deemed acceptable, it was gritty with undissolved sugar and I
was tired of the whole affair. The final part of the tradition was the
discovery that through too many tastings, we'd desensitized ourselves and it
was still supremely puckering to the ill-prepared diner.

I made it last year. In a moment of regret, I must say that it got forgotten
in the fridge. Made a good condiment for leftovers (especially turkey
sandwiches)

I also made regular cranberry sauce, and it too, shamefully, was forgotten.

So I said "screw the relish!" this year, and just went for the sauce. Amanda
said she wasn't overly fond of the bits of skin and seeds in last year's
model, so I did it a bit differently. This recipe came off a bag of a major
cranberry producer.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 12oz bag fresh cranberries.

Combine sugar and water and heat until boiling. Add cranberries. Reduce heat
and stir occassionally for 10 minutes.

That's about it.

This year I passed it all through a fine mesh strainer.

So there's the before:


And the after:


This left me with a bunch of cranberry pulp to pull out of the strainer, and
in a moment of frugality, decided to use it for mulch rather than tossing
them. Granted, they'd given their all, but in case the acidic content is
still too high, I dumped them in with my collection of dead strawberry
plants. (Note to self: Buy new strawberry plants)

Thanksgiving 2005: The Revenge - Purchasing of foodstuffs

Last year, I ended up hitting the grocery store three times in the day
before and the day of cooking, and blew a pretty substantial wad of cash on
the meal (fortunately, the cost was spread over a week or so of tasty
leftovers)

This year, figuring that I could save myself some dough and some time, I
itemized every stinking thing I though I'd need. And then pruned the list
for duplicates, adjusting quantity as necessary. And then took stock of what
I actually already had. The final list came down to about a page.

Deciding I wanted to miss the better part of the last-minute bloodbath, I
blew off work (this is why I never have vacation time stored up) and headed
out.

But, not feeling so good about the $2.84 Wal-Mart roasting pan from last
year, I upgraded to the $8.44 Wal-Mart roasting pan. I want to paint flames
or racing stripes on it or something, but I don't know what sort of toxic
addition that might add, so it looks like I'm going to pass. Picked up some
cleaning-supplies and a cheap fine-mesh strainer, and counting the 20
minutes in line at the checkstand and I was out of there in half an hour.

Across the street to Albertson's. Grabbed a cart (which Amanda usually won't
let me steer, because I'm a madman, but she wasn't around! Ha!) and started
my first pass of the store. Quickly realized that I should've better ordered
my list, because I ended up hitting the same aisle four or five times. Got
all the nonperishable goods, helped a few other customers, and then started
for pass 2: The perishables. Went pretty quickly except for being waylaid by
a nice asian man in amongst the turkeys that did not understand the sign
saying "Buy One -namebrand- Turkey, Get One Free (must be identical turkeys.
Minimum $25 purchase)". Neither did he understand the employee at the
butcher section's explanation, nor several other customers. I did agree that
wasn't sure how identical the turkeys needed to be, and whether the turkey
had to be minimum $25, or his whole store purchase, but when he started
repeating himself, I showed my cowardice and ran. Off to the checkout.

Total shopping time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

So it's still a bit early to determine if I'll be heading back, but it looks
pretty solid. Had to do some serious excavating in the fridge to get
everything in. Came in just slightly over half the cost of last year's run.

And I think I set a new record on my grocery store loyalty card (saved
$35.38)

Thanksgiving 2005: The Revenge

So I made my first attempt at making the traditional Thanksgiving fare last
year, and with a couple small glitches, it came out reasonably well.

Let us examine the bounty:



The couple exceptions being the mistake at the green bean cannery in which
the sodium content went off the charts. I didn't even add any salt, and it
tasted like green bean casserole jerky. I ended up making it again the next
night (with careful taste testing)

The other was a transcription error that omitted the sugar from the pumpkin
pie. I double checked my sources, and this again was not my fault. It
must've been pretty nutritious, though, because by the time I'd steeled up
the courage to go have a slice as a "squash pie" sort of entree, it had been
entirely consumed by mold. Lesson: refridgerate that sucker.

So I'm going for the same menu this year, but I'm going to document all the
steps this time around. Should beef up the content around these parts,
methinks.

Grissini recipe request

I realize that I've not flexed my baking muscle recently.....well, ever.

I think I'm looking for a good recipe for Grissini.

Anyone got something?

salmon, taters, broccoli

*sigh*

Nothing suggest to me how often I'm actually cooking at home than knowing
that I'm posting everything I cook on here.

And the last post is from almost a month ago.

Anyhow, on tonight's menu:

Packetized salmon
Three Cheese Scallopped potatoes.
Steamed Broccoli.

I admit it. I'm cheating on the potatoes. I'm using a mix. Heap your scorn
upon me. In my defense, I topped them off with some panko and some butter
about 5 minutes before taking them out of the oven.

The Broccoli I'm doing in my standard way: Wash broccoli. Put in bowl. Add a
few tablespoons of water. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Poke holes in
top. Microwave. I don't feel guilty here. The big problem with the microwave
is that it 'taint so good at getting anything hotter than the boiling point
of water (That'd be around 212F or 100C). Browning and caramelization happen
at much higher temps. This makes it lousy for those activities. Steaming, on
the other hand is no problem in my book.

As for the salmon, each packet consisted of olive oil, salt, pepper, 4 thin
slices of lemon, 4 green onions, a couple teaspoons of minced garlic and a
6oz salmon fillet. Wrapped tightly in foil. About 15 minutes in the oven at
450.

Verdict to come in update.

Update:

Tasty. As usual, probably could've put a bit more salt on the fishes.

Dinner

So here goes:

"Turkey Mignons"
Oversized turkey medallions wrapped in uncured bacon. Picked up prefab from
Trader Joe's for under 5 bucks. Mixed up some shoyu, cayenne, garlic salt,
garlic powder, and worcestershire sauce in a bowl and dipped each on one
side. Threw 'em on the countertop grill for ~10 minutes. Verdict: Probably
could've scaled back the time a bit, and probably should've hit both sides
with the seasoning mix.

Spinach
Picked up a couple bags of prewashed baby spinach for $1.79 each. Probably
could've got it cheaper, but it wasn't a bad price. Washed it anyway. Wilted
it with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Verdict: A bit wet. I really
ought buy a salad spinner or something of that ilk.

Risotto
A couple tablespoons olive oil, a heaping spoon of minced garlic. Saute.
Throw in a cup of arborio rice and toast for a couple minutes. Add some
chicken stock. Stir. Cook. Add more chicken stock. Stir. Cook. Repeat (up to
about a quart of stock total) Finish with salt, pepper, 1/2 cup grated
parmesan, 1 cup frozen peas (there's still enough heat left to not bother
thawing them first) Verdict: Amanda didn't like the peas so much. I didn't
think they added that much, so I'll probably just leave them out next time.

Cheese Toast
Take six slices of white sandwich bread and cut in half diagonally. Arrange
on baking sheet (I threw our silpat mat on first), drizzle melted butter
over each slice, cover with a mix of grated parmesan, cheddar and mizithra.
Bake at 350 until brown. Verdict: This was an afterthought and I threw
together what I had. Sourdough might've been nicer, and I'd consider
mozerella or fontina for the cheese. Maybe some crushed garlic hidden under
the cheese as well. (although I'd already had two garlic-seasoned dishes) A
bit dry, but wasn't too bad, considering.

Overall
Not the cheapest meal I've made, but at about $10-15, hardly the most
expensive, either. Came together pretty quickly, but I need to get better at
timing what gets started when. The turkey finished first, which wasn't too
bad because it gave it a good amount of resting time, but the risotto came
in last. I think I'd rather let the bread item finish last so it's still
nice and hot, because dried-out cold toast is less than ideal.

My kingdom for real food!

I've been living on soups and generic spaghetti-o's for the last few weeks.

The good:
Turns out corn chowder is pretty tasty.

The bad:
I miss real food. I've done a couple forays into more textured dishes, but
every time I expend so much effort thinking about how to eat it, I rarely
get to enjoy it much.

The ugly:
I've got a bit of jawbone (edge of a former socket) poking through my gums
that I fear at tomorrow's checkup is going to have to be "clipped off" Which
might restart the "no chewing diet" once again in earnest. I've got stuff to
make up a decent meal this evening, if the GF gets home in time. Who cares
if I need to concentrate too much.

The potential menu:
Turkey Medallions wrapped in uncured bacon. (grilled)
Risotto (at least a simple one. I already picked up some chicken broth and
arborio rice. already got garlic, parmesan and peas)
Spinach. (probably my usual method of wilting with garlic and olive oil.)

I confess that I got the idea from a television food program in which I
dislike the host, but hey, it sounds tasty.

Still on soft foods and liquids

But I discovered a prefab "Italian Style Tomato Soup with Basil and Garlic"
that's pretty darn tasty. Almost as good as the Tomato Florentine at a
former employer (and I really don't typically like tomato soups). Too bad
it's $3.50/can

I'll have to go look up some recipes. Maybe I can one-up it all (and fill my
freezer with something better than the microwaveables that currently rule
the place)

Meatloaf Sandwich

Tonight, I'm lazy.

About an inch and a half cut from a Trader Joe's pre-fab Turkey Meat Loaf
(cut into about three equal slices)
Two pieces of Trader Joe's pre-sliced sourdough bread.
One Albertson's store brand mini kosher dill pickle, sliced thin.
Some smoked gouda (origin unknown, probably Trader Joe's again), sliced as
thin as I could manage (with heavy crumbling)

Assemble in whatever's the most convenient form for your personal
consumption as a sandwich.

I'm tempted to go add a bit of prepared spicy brown mustard, but I should
probably taste it first.

Update: Sandwich tasted. Mustard not necessary.

Update 2: Cracked a wisdom tooth on the sourdough. No, really. All attempts
suspended until I'm back on solid food (which will probably be a few days
after tomorrow morning's wisdom tooth extraction horrorshow) *sigh*

posted by transiit at 7:43 PM 0 comments links to this post