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The Many Ways to Cook a Turkey

I find turkey to be so underrated.  Prepared correctly, this bird is delicious and will continue to satiate your  family for weeks to come.  This year we got a 20lb turkey for $9.40.  Can’t beat that for a deal!!!

It has been a whole year since our last turkey so I had to look up some instructions online.  The first task is to properly thaw the frozen bird.  Butterball suggests that you thaw it in the refrigerator, breast up in the sealed package and allow 1 day per 4 lbs of turkey.  So I left the turkey in the refrigerator for 5 days.

The next step is to clean the bird.  I placed it in the sink and removed the gizzard and neck package stuffed inside.  YES!  THERE IS A PACKAGE STUFFED INSIDE!!!  WHO THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA?  I discovered that on my first turkey, many years ago when I actually cooked and served a whole turkey only to find the package inside during carving in full company.  :(

After the bird is properly cleaned, the next step is to season it.  I prepared an herb rub in the food processor with 4 garlic cloves, 5 tbs fresh rosemary, 3 tbs thyme, 5 tbs olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  That smelled heavenly!  If you are going to cook the turkey the traditional way (breast up) you can loosen the skin over the breast and thighs and season the meat underneath.  The difficulty in cooking a turkey is that the breast will cook faster than the rest of the bird so you can cover the breast with a cheese cloth or tent it with foil.

Cooking times from the USDA:
8 to 12 lbs: 2 3/4 to 3 hrs
12 to 14 lbs: 3 to 3 3/4 hrs
14 to 18 lbs: 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hrs
18 to 20 lbs: 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hrs
20 to 24 lbs: 4 1/2 to 5 hrs

As an experiment, I cooked the bird breast down, uncovered  at 350 degrees for 4 hours.  I rubbed the herb paste all over the turkey and lined the bottom of the roasting pan with 1 large sliced onions and 3 carrots.  Once the turkey is done cooking, remove the roasting pan from the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes or so.  This will allow the juices to redistribute themselves back into the meat, keeping the turkey moist.

I used this time to reheat the green bean casserole and jalapeno corn bread stuffing I made ahead of time (recipes to follow in future postings).  Once the turkey was cool enough to be removed from the roasting pan, I drained the drippings, caramelized onions and carrots into a sauce pan and blended it with an immersion blender.  Then I added 4 tbs of flour and simmered it into this delicious gravy.

Needless to say, the turkey came out amazing.  It tasted like a turkey braised on its own drippings, incredibly moist, flavorful and succulent.  The only down side to this approach is that you will no longer have the beautiful skin over the breast for that ‘wow’ affect.  However, I am sure everyone will quickly get over that once they try the turkey.  This is the best turkey I have ever had.

Last year’s experiment was a turducken.  As if a turkey was not enough protein for a single meal, a turducken stuffs a TUrkey with a DUCk which is stuffed with a chicKEN and layered with stuffing.  Get it?

That was the first (and probably the last) time we ever had a turducken.  It was quite delicious but too laborious.  De-boning all three birds and assembling them took all day.

After the meal is done, we traditionally make turkey soup with the remaining carcass in a large pan with onions, carrots and celery.  Fill the pan with water and let it simmer all night if possible.  You can add some additional leftover turkey if you like it a little more chunky.  The next morning, pick the bones out and save the soup for future use.

For dinner that night, I added a can of corn, bok choi and brown rice to the turkey soup.  Both the corn and the bok choi added a nice crunch to the soup.  How delicious is that?  Bok choi, aka Chinese cabbage, is an Asian vegetable in the Brassica rapa family, related to the western cabbage and of the same subspecies as turnip.  It is low in calories and contains a high amount of vitamin A, vitamin C and calcium.

After all is said and done, we still had two 1-gal ziplock bags of turkey meat and 2 quarts of soup left.  There are so many things you can make with these leftovers.  As I lay in bed at night I dream of my next dishes — turkey posole, turkey mole, turkey pot pie, turkey panini…

Can’t wait to get those going!  Yum!!!  What are some of your turkey traditions?

December 22nd, 2011 | Category: Recipes | Leave a comment

What is ‘kombucha tea’?

Kombucha tea is the product of fermentation by a ‘Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast’, aka SCOBY’, in sweetened tea.  The tea is as sweet as you allow it to be based on how long you ferment it and it has a nice fizz.  Below is a picture of one of my SCOBYs.  The culture grows in layers with the newer ones growing on top.

Although both yeast and bacteria require nitrogen and oxygen to survive they consume different elements during the fermentation process created by their symbiotic existence.

In very simple terms, the yeast turns the sugar into alcohol.  Then the ‘good’ bacteria turns the alcohol into acetic acid which is the main ingredient in vinegar.  The ‘good’ bacteria next consumes the sugar, and then the caffeine in the tea as each element is exhausted.  This combination of alcohol and acetic acid makes the culture resistant to most ‘bad’ airborne bacteria or molds.

There is anecdotal evidence that kombucha tea has many health benefits, from detoxing to aiding in recovery and increasing energy, as well as many others.  However, it has been very difficult to verify these claims due to the many differing strains of cultures available.  Kombucha tea is commercially available but can be easily made at home with a healthy SCOBY and sweetened tea.

I keep a ‘SCOBY hotel’ which is a mini collection of separate cultures, some of which are used for my own consumption and others that are for sale.

A fermentation period of 11 days is optimum for a first ferment, in my opinion.  A first ferment utilizes the SCOBY to produce the starter tea.  A second ferment can be done by removing the SCOBY and adding fruit juices and other ingredients according to personal taste.  My favorite recipe includes white grape juice, dried hibiscus flowers and ginger.

Below is a list of some of the bacteria and yeast contained in kombucha:

Bacterium gluconicum
Bacterium xylinum
Acetobacter xylinum
Acetobacter xylinoides
Acetobacter Ketogenum
Saccharomycodes ludwigii
Saccharomycodes apiculatus
Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Zygosaccharomyes
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Acetic acid
Acetoacetic acid
Benzoic acid
propenyl ester
Benzonitrile
Butanoic acid
Caffeine
Citric acid
Cyanocobalamin
Decanoic acid
Ethyl Acetate
Fructose
d-Gluconic acid
Glucose
Hexanoic acid
Itaconic acid
2-Keto-gluconic acid
5-Keto-gluconic acid
2-Keto-3-deoxy-gluconic Lactic acid
Niacinamide
Nicotinic acid
Pantothenic acid
Phenethyl Alcohol
Phenol, 4-ethyl
6-Phospho gluconate
Propionic acid
Octanoic acid
Oxalic acid
Riboflavin
d-Saccharic acid
(Glucaric acid)
Succinic acid
Thiamin
plus 40 other acid esters in trace amounts

I hope this gives you enough information to get you started brewing your own tea or at least  motivates you to further research the subject.  We can all control what we consume and therefore, the impact it has on our bodies.

To your health!

December 18th, 2011 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Heavenly Pumpkin Cheesecake

Notes:

Ingredients: For best results, leave all your ingredients on the counter for at least a couple of hours at room temperature

Crust: For this recipe, you can make the graham cracker crust (recipe below) or a regular pie crust.  Buying frozen pie crust at the store can save you some time and they come out equally delicious.

3 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tsp ground ginger
3 tbs honey
1 stick of butter

Optional:

Graham cracker crust: add 3 tbs wheat germ and 2 tbs ground flaxseed to increase vitamin E and omega-3 content

Process the graham cracker, ginger, honey and melted butter in a food processor
Place it in 3 pie tins, bake it for 8 minutes and set aside

Spice Mix Blend:  Using the spice mix blend is more inexpensive because you don’t have to buy several different spices for one recipe, it is more convenient to store and has many different applications as you will see in my other posts.  However, you can use the individual spices if you rather do so or already have them on hand.

1 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs allspice
1 tbs nutmeg
1 tbs cinnamon

Cinnamon: I use Saigon cinnamon (cinnamomum loureiroi) which is indigenous to mainland Southeast Asia).  According to wikepedia, ‘Saigon cinnamon has 1-5% essential oil in content and 25% cinnamaldehyde in essential oil, which is the highest of all the cinnamon species’.   Consequently, it has the most intense flavor with very complex aroma.

Sweetener: This recipe is on the low end of sweetener added.  You can adjust the amount added to taste.  We always use honey (GI: 30) or agave syrup (GI: 15) when possible because they have a much lower glycemic index than sugar (GI: 64).  The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates according to how they affect your body after consumption.  Foods with a high index causes a spike in blood sugar levels.  These have been know to increase the risk of cancer , type 2 diabetes, acne, Alzheimer and weight gain.

You can google ‘glycemic index’ for more information on this subject and a list of foods and related GI’s.

For this recipe you will need the following:

2 Frozen pie or graham cracker pie crusts (recipe above)
2 8oz packages of light cream cheese (70 cal/4.5g of fat as opposed to 90 cal/9g of fat in regular cream cheese)
1 1/2 tbs pumpkin pie spice blend
1 1/2 tbs Saigon cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp allspice
4 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 tbs molasses
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1 29 oz can pumpkin
2 12 oz cans of evaporated milk

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.  In a separate bowl combine allspice, pumpkin pie spice blend, cinnamon, pumpkin.  Mix well and set aside.

Place the cream cheese in the mixer bowl and mix it at medium low setting until creamy.

Scrape the bottom of the bowl so the cream cheese is completely mixed.  Otherwise, you will have lumps in your pie.

Add vanilla extract, honey (or agave nectar) and molasses and mix well.

Gradually add one egg at a time until they are all fully incorporated.


Gradually add the pumpkin/spice mix until all incorporated.


Add the evaporated milk and mix well.  If you see any lumps, you can run the mix through a fine sieve to make sure it is smooth and creamy.

Place your pie shells in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil.

Pour the mix into the pie shells.


I always have extra mix that I just pour into a baking dish.  It might be enough for a third pie if you have an additional pie crust on hand.

Bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes lower the temperature to 325 degrees and bake it for another 40 minutes.


Once the pies are done baking, leave them in the oven for about a couple of hours with the door half open until they are completely cooled.  This allows the pies to slowly cool, reducing the likelihood of cracking (not a guarantee though…).

Finally, cover the pies with aluminum foil and place them in the refrigerator overnight to set.

Sadly, at our house only one of the pies will get this special treatment as we can hardly wait until it’s completely cooled before eating it.  You will not be disappointed!

December 15th, 2011 | Category: Recipes | One comment

Homemade Yogurt

Homemade yogurt is fun and easy to make.  It is also healthier for you because you can control the fat and sugar content as well as omit undesirable ingredients such as preservatives and thickeners included in the yogurt sold at the grocery stores.

Notes:

Milk – I use fat free milk because we prefer to keep our fat consumption to a minimum and it still produces delicious creamy yogurt. However, you can use any kind of milk you prefer. The fatter the milk, the creamier and thicker the yogurt.

Incubating vessel – I use a small Styrofoam cooler for my incubating vessel. These are very inexpensive and can be purchased at any store.

Heating unit – You will need to keep a constant temperature of about 90 degrees inside of the cooler during the incubating period. An inexpensive heating pad works wonderfully. Just make sure it has at least a low setting.

Glass containers with lid – Any glass container with a lid will do. Recycled spaghetti sauce jars are perfect for this application. They can be easily sterilized, you can fit exactly 6 25 oz jars in the cooler and will store the gallon of yogurt made.

Store bought yogurt – You will need a starter batch of yogurt bacteria to make your own yogurt. For your first batch, just buy a small container of plain yogurt at the grocery store. Just make sure it contains live bacteria. Also, the more strains of bacteria the better. Always read your labels so you know what you are feeding your family. You can save some of your homemade yogurt for starter for future batches. They can be used about 5 or 6 times before you need new starter.

Here’s a list of the items you will need to have on hand:
  1. 1 gallon of milk
  2. store bought yogurt
  3. thermometer
  4. whisk
  5. pitcher
  6. 6 glass containers with lids
  7. large pot
  8. spoon
  9. oven mitts
  10. small Styrofoam cooler (incubating vessel)
  11. an old but clean bath towel
  12. a heating pad

Prep:

It is very important to sterilize all your equipment before making your yogurt because you are dealing with live bacteria.  In a large pot bring a gallon of water to a boil.

Fill the pitcher with the boiling water.


Place the thermometer and spoon in the glass jars, fill with boiling water from the pitcher to sterilize them.

Place the lids in the pitcher, fill with the remaining boiling water and set aside.

Making the yogurt:

In the large pot heat milk to 180 degrees (about 25 minutes) in medium low heat.  Insert the thermometer in the pot occasionally to keep track of the temperature and watch it closely to make sure the milk doesn’t burn.

Once you’ve reached 180 degrees, cool the milk down to 110 degrees in a water bath in the sink.  Again, watch the temperature closely as it will drop fast.

Meanwhile, empty the glass containers, turn the heating pad to low and cover it with a towel to get the incubation ambient temperature set.

Once the milk has been cooled down to 110 degrees, pour about 3 cups of cooled milk into the pitcher.

Add 1/3 cup yogurt and whisk well.

Add the yogurt mix back into the pot with the remaining milk and mix well.  This will make it easier to fully incorporate the yogurt bacteria into the milk.

Pour the yogurt mix into the pitcher and fill the jars.

Lightly place the lids on and place them inside of the incubating cooler.

Place the heating pad over the jars, put the cooler’s cover on and cover it with a towel.

You can incubate the yogurt for 7 to 12 hours.  The longer the incubating period the thicker and more bite the yogurt will have. I find that 10 hours is perfect for our taste.  After the incubation is complete, place the yogurt in the back of the fridge (coldest part).  The yogurt will last 4 to 6 weeks if properly stored.

December 9th, 2011 | Category: Recipes | One comment