Brine that bird

In my pre-Thanksgiving "yes I am still alive" post I mentioned that I was thinking I might finally try brining the Turkey. Well I did it, roughly following Alton Brown's method, and it was amazing. Completely worth a little effort to do it - best turkey I have ever made. One thing to note is that rather than the cooler mentioned in Brown's recipe, I found and purchased very large food grade heavy duty zip top bags. One large enough for a 16 lbs turkey and a couple gallons of brine. We brined over night because of the size of our bird, roasted for 4 pm meal and really ate a lot.

Oh and we did cook the bird grill again. It just makes it tasty all around while freeing up my oven for all kinds of other stuff (potato casserole - yum!). It isn't really all that different from roasting in the oven. Get the grill to a nice roasting temp, keep it there till the turkey is done. We don't baste, or really mess with it at all. One thing we do is roast the first hour breast down, then flip it and roast until done in the standard orientation. Flipping can be tricky - our method involves a pair of rubberized, heat proof gloves. My husband dons them, then just picks the bird up and turns it over. Done. (Uh, by the way we use a v shaped roasting rack which make that whole thing a little easier.)

Another thing I did differently this year is the dressing. I used my standard recipe but instead of casserole I used one of my dutch ovens and about 3 cups of broth. It was the best I have made yet & the closest to from the bird stuffing (the brine + grill cooking means no stuffing the bird).

Overall the food was great, it was good to have family around and it was a nice break from rehearsal. The only down side was that my general level of tiredness meant that I was falling asleep on the couch at 7 pm. Or maybe that was the wine...

Pumpkin Cake

Yes, it is time for all things pumpkin. I personally don't understand the fascination, but I do like pumpkin spice cake and this is my personal recipe, which has more spices that most.

What you need:

For the cake:
1 16oz can of pumpkin puree
2 c AP flour
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 c Vegi oil
2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 Tbls pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice

For the frosting:
1 8oz package cream cheese at room temp
4-5 tbls button at room temp
1.5 tsp vanilla
2 c sifted powdered sugar


How to do it:
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Stir together the dry ingredients, set aside.
Combine eggs, pumpkin, sugar, & oil. Beat until combined.
Add dry ingredients, beat until just combined.
Pour into a 13 x 9 pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. You can also bake in round(2 8" for about 25). A toothpick should come out of the center with a few crumbs attached. If you bake this in a pyrex dish it will take longer.

Let the cake cool for at least 2 hours before frosting.

Making the frosting is incredibly easy.  When your butter and cream cheese are soft, sift the cream cheese over and whip together (yes sift. Do you want lumpy frosting? Don't sift your sugar ad I promise you will get it.) Now whip it all together with your hand mixer, then whip in the vanilla and put it on the cake. This recipe make plenty for a sheet cake, or 8" rounds.

Nom.

Dutch Apple Pancake

This is basically a Yorkshire pudding variant (think toad in the hole but with apples - um,  right... I'll explain toad in the hole some other time). It is a little but fussy but still reasonable enough to manage for brunch. 

It does take a bit longer than a batch of pancakes, so if everyone is starving go for those. Otherwise give this a try as it is rich and tasty. 

What you need:

2 granny smith apples sliced ~1/4" thick (any tart apple with do as long as it holds shape when cooked)

3 tbls brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbls butter

3 room temperature eggs*

1/2 cup milk at room temperature

1 tbls sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 oz flour 

*If your ingredients are cold you won't get as much puff but the recipe will still work. 

What to do:

First turn your oven on to 500 degrees (yes really)

Then prep the apples. Slice them up, then toss them with the brown sugar and the cinnamon. When the over is hot put a pan in the oven to get hot. This time I used my oven safe 10" frying pan. Sometimes I use a 9" cake pan. There are those who say that the thinner the pan the better because you want the pan to transfer heat into the batter rapidly. Use what you have and don't worry about greasing because... 

When the pan (and oven) are up to temperature put the butter in the pan and then back into the oven just long enough to melt the butter completely and get it hot (but not burnt). Quickly pull the pan, put the apples in and then back into the oven with it until the apples are just softened, about 20 minutes. 

Mine looked like this when they were ready for the next step.

Notice the carmel-y butter yumminess in the pan with the apples. Mmmmm. 

While the apples are cooking make the batter. Nearly all recipes for popovers/yorkshire pudding variants call for making the batter in a blender. I do it this way too, but I have also made it by hand just be ready to really whisk the heck out of the batter. So that said... put the eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar and flour in the blender and blend until thoroughly integrated. If you are whipping by hand do the liquids first until they are well blended and then add sugar, then flour. 

Ok, now the batter is done. Don't worry about it sitting around waiting for the apples to finish, it will be just fine. Some even say you get better puff if the batter rests (Alton Brown says you don't; I am inclined to agree with him). Anyway... when the apples are done, QUICKLY open the oven, pour the batter in and shove it all back in - definitely don't stop to take pictures... This is all about max heat so the less heat you lose from the oven during this process the better. 

Yeah so speed = bad focus but you get the idea.

Now close the over door and cook until GBD**. DO NOT open the door for at least 20 minutes. If you do, the pudding will fall prematurely and not be nearly as light and airy to eat. Total cooking time will range from 20-30 minutes. Even in my oven it seems to range from time to time depending on how many/what apples I use.

Let cool slightly when you take it out, and it will shrink. Don't panic, it is suppose to fall. This isn't a souffle, you didn't break it (some of the same chemistry at work though). Slice it up, sprinkle on the powdered sugar. EAT! 

Look! I remember a plating photo this time. Now if I could just find my real camera...

** Golden brown and delicious. So yeah, Good Eats fan. 

Turkey taco, burrito, whatever filling

I made my taco filling the other night and as promised I actually noted down how I make. This recipe is admittedly rough. I have been making this stuff for years based on what I used to watch my Mom make so I have always sort of made it by feel. I think she used some sort of recipe at one point but who knows. I come from a long line of make it up as you go cooks.

This is a really useful thing to be able to whip up off the top of one's head. It can go into anything: tacos, burritos, salad, the taco bites and M and I even used left overs last night for Mexican tortilla pizzas. It is also quite fast so it is a good weeknight meal, so I always have what I need to make this around.






What you need:
1 package ground turkey (these are always about 1 1/4 pounds for some reason)
2 ish Tbls Chili powder (I use a blend, currently New Mexico blend)
1 ish Tbls Ground Cumin
1 ish Tbls Paprika (use a medium heat one)
1/2 a large onion chopped fine (this is about a cup I think)
Several garlic cloves minced (I usually use 4ish, but this is really to taste)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
Cooking oil (I pretty much always use olive unless I am doing high heat)


Notes:

• If I have a container of salsa in the fridge that has been laying around for a while I will mix that in too. It is a good way to use them up and adds a fresh note to the flavor. 
• Also all my measurements are heaping, hence the "ish" 
• Yes, you can use beef, or pork and beef mixed which is in my opinion the best flavor. I use turkey because, you know, saturated fat... 
• Finally, my family is full of spice wimps. On the rare occasion I get to make this just to suit my taste ground cayenne or chipole pepper goes in too, but that pretty much never happens any more so I use Cholula hot sauce on mine. Or I just whine because spice is always better cooked in... 

What to do:
Chop up all that onion and garlic.
Put a nice big pan on the stove, throw in a bit of oil and let it heat up. Now put the onion & salt in there and soften it. Note the dutch oven above. I used it because of the large cooking surface, not the volume.

When the onion is translucent (yes that mysterious state) in goes the garlic. About a minute later (when you smell garlic cooking), the meat & turn the heat up a bit. I break the meat up as I put it in. Now brown it. Put it in there and DON'T TOUCH IT. I know, you want to stir. Don't. Browning, real browning, is what separates good food from great food. When it starts to look cooked from the top, then you may stir (no I don't have a picture - I forgot to take process pictures. Next time).

During the browning period is when I fling all the dry spices in. I just sort of sprinkle them over the top, then they all get tossed in on that first stir. When I do stir, I stir it well breaking up any large clumps, etc. There is probably a bit stuck to the pan. Excellent. At this point your meat should look mostly cooked. When you pour in the sauce, use that to moisten and scrape up those bits (deglaze that pan), which you do now (also that salsa goes in now if you are using it). Really now I just cook until I am sure the meat is done and the flavorings have come together, 5 minutes or so.

Now you probably noticed I didn't include any "turn on the stove to medium high" type instructions. That is because every stove is different. I have a professional stove so I do nearly everything on medium or less because my stove is rocket nozzle hot. For you, the onion might be medium then the meat browning might be high. Also there are no cooking times really, because it cooks until it is done and you shouldn't walk away because this whole thing is going to take maybe 20 minutes.

Turkey Taco Bites are Good

So good we ate all of them with out me getting the pretty "here they are on the plate" final picture. At any rate these are super easy, primarily because they rely on leftovers. Still, they are easy even if you are starting from scratch on the filling.

What you need:
About 2 cups of left over taco filling (I used my turkey taco filling that I will share next time I make it)
1/2c ish Grated Cheddar cheese
Salsa
20-24 wonton wrappers
Muffin tins (ok, not strictly required. You can form these in your hand, seal them and bake on a cookie sheet. Muffin tin is just easier, and if you have a mini-muffin tin that will keep you from overfilling. I don't. I overfill).

How to do it:
Turn the oven on to 350.
Grease the muffin tins (I admit to using the non-stick spray because I am lazy).
Put your wonton wrappers in the tins

Just gently sort of shove them in there. Don't worry about it too much.







Fill with the meat. Ideally you put about a tablespoon of the meat in. To reiterate I overfill...

So pretty much every one in the picture has too much in it. Still tasty.











Sprinkle cheese in next

Yes you can put more than this in. It will ooze out when you bake. You may find this desirable. I like these to be very finger friendly so I at least try to keep it contained.







Add about a teaspoon of salsa to each

Now it is time to seal. I generally just dip my finger in a bowl of water, wet the corners and squeeze together. I am not looking for perfection here. This is the part where I find out that most of mine are overfilled. When that happens I just kind of fold the corners in to cover the filling and call it good.

Into the oven they go for 15-25 minutes depending on your oven and how crunchy you want the wrappers to get. These cooked for 25 minutes in my oven.

In a perfect world they all look like the one on the far left, but I am human so most of them look like the one in the middle.


Last step is to try to not eat all 20 in one sitting. Good luck with that.