woodburner

This year for me is exciting. It's normally, thanks to my wife, tradtional, with family. But I'm taking an extra step, even though small, cooking for a not so fortunate co-worker. My ever so giving boss and friend, (thankfully) offers locally farm raised turkey's to all employees, as a Thanksgiving gift. (about 50). I'll be custom smoking a 13lb bird for him to enjoy as he see's fit, only because he is not a fortunate to have such a giving and caring close family. I'll cook the bird, supply all the trimmings, vaccuum pack the balance and let him enjoy his holiday, and the day's to come as he see's fit. It's just a small gift, to a friend that may mean so much. Back on topic, hopefully this will be one of his most memorable Turkey's ever. woodburner

Showing age here, I conclude that in the era of 1960-1965 or so, there was a horrid urge to cook fowl for many hours, I suppose to kill purported bacteria. Things have changed much for the better in the past 30 years. woodburner

Well Gifted Gourmet, we may not be siblings but we were certainly neighbors. I think your kitchen lights were always on Thanksgiving morning when we started our Turkey. Yeah, when they turkey was sliced, or maybe I mean shreded, I think back now and think, WTF?? Possibly we should have been eating Turkey taco's. Uugh. woodburner

As a young child, I recall my mother waking at 6 am Thanksgiving morning, to cook the turkey for a minimum of 6 hours it seemed. Somehow after we all ate, a victory was always proclaimed for such a great meal. What were they thinking. Why is it that generation thought roasting meant, overcooked, dry, stringy turkey? Any stories? woodburner

Len Poli does some great craft sausages in my opinion. My favorite is his Bauerwurst, which is a German Hot Dog. No question that craft sausage is much better than most if not all store bought. woodburner

Arugula pesto spread lightly on grilled Tuscan bread and topped with onion confit, wonderful bruschetta. It grows so easily in the herb garden, we can never eat it all. My guess is that it could be grown inside for apartment dwellers. woodburner

Do tell. Craft Sausages are a great food hobby of sorts. Were you able to grind your own meat mixture? I've been dabbling for a few years, with some very good success, but my goals are always shifting upwards, which is a good thing. woodburner

Excpert from the Times Union, Sunday Edition, November 7, 2004 Dinner and a massage Geri Freeman, a Saratoga Springs personal chef, and Carol Wooden, a licensed massage therapist from Ballston Spa, earlier this year began combining their specialties for a new business: Dinner & Massage. The two women will come to your home with everything from salt and pepper to body oils and a massage table and provide a pre-dinner massage followed by a meal. On top of that, they do the dishes and clean up afterward. Freeman calls it "the ultimate pampering." Different packages are available, depending on the menu a client wants and the length of the massage. A basic dinner for two with a half-hour massage for each person costs $190. They can accommodate up to four. Details: 312-7163. woodburner

Esperanza, I love your name! I'm patiently holding, but do hurry! There's beef bacon & some Hebrew Nationals in the fridge, I want to try it using them, please please please don't tell me that they need oink in them to duplicate what Chris Cognac is trying to achieve! ← yetty Beef Bacon?? More please woodburner

Brining denatures (cooks) meat. That's a fact. Whether or not this 'cooking' makes the meat tough is up for debate. My experience has shown it to be true. ←

It adds a certain amount of creaminess to the mositure inside the meat. I first read about this in The Foods of France by Waverly Root. Somewhere around page 211 (book isn't with me at the moment... shhhh... I'm at work!) he talks about the chicken from Bresse and how they are the finest in France. If I recall correctly, they feed the birds milk pellets in their final weeks to add a certain "quality" to them. This along with the genetic makup of this specific breed including flavor and color (red head, white body, blue feet = colors of the French flag) make the Bresse chicken the most prized chicken in all of France. After reading that passage I decided to brine a bird in milk. We were overwhelmed at this significant improvement in flavor. Since then I've done a little testing and have found that adding more than 25 percent milk is a waste of milk. We can't tell the difference between a bird brined in 100 percent milk or 25 percent; but we can tell the difference between 100 percent water and 75 percent water/25 percent milk (all other things being equal). ← Thanks. I will surely give this method a chance on a few chickies. woodburner

I've found the 5 gallon Igloo Beverage cooler (the kind with the spigot on the bottom) work wonderful for Turkey's and Chicken brining. woodburner

Salts: Many good articles have been written regarding the use of Kosher Salt in brines, versus table salt. One must also remember that of the two most popular Kosher salts available, Morton's and Diamond Crystal, the volume measurement between the two, should not be interchanged. In other words, one weighs more by volume than the other, which could result in a higher salinity brine than the other. If anyone has questions regarding this, please ask. woodburner

Brine (avoid unfiltered tap water) products which have not been previously soaked in solution, or otherwise injected by the processor. Boil the brine, and refrigerate prior to adding your fowl. Rinse the product completely, after removed, with fresh clean water. Always worth the added step. Gobble, Gobble woodburner

I've never eaten bacon wrapped dogs in Mexico, but possibly Chris could comment on this photo?? Bacon Wrapped click on this As seen in the photo, the bacon, when wrapped around the dog, needs to be sliced very thin, in order for both the dog and the bacon to fry up "done" at the same time. My version of "par cooked" bacon works well with most pre-pacakaged, and pre-sliced bacon, predicated that both will become done at the same time. By the way, my slow smoked hot dogs done in a 200ºf cooker, can be done in a toaster oven, for those without a smoker. When the dog is cooked at low and slow temperatures, it plumps, in appearance as if pumped with air, without splitting, to which it retains all that wonderful dog juice. woodburner

I've rolled bacon which was partially roasted and then wrapped around good German Franks. Place the Bacon wrapped franks into the smoker at 200ºF for about 45 minutes, indirect heat, man these things will just about take your head off, they are so good. Do stick bologna the same way, sans the bacon. For a special treat smoke the bologna for about 45 minutes, slice into 1/2" thick slices and then hit it into the deep fryer for a minute. Slap the slice covered in mustard between two slices of bread, and bite. woodburner

Click this link to see a picture and read the Times Union review. woodburner

Sorry Jason tater tots border compressed cardboard. woodburner

Which rib cut, will you be cooking? woodburner

With all due respect to avoid hijacking this great Saratoga Eateries thread, I've heard about the "Bears" restaurant in that general vicinity, maybe Galoway/Schenectady County area. A beef house situated in converted home, maybe. Any takers or help? woodburner

Digging a bit deeper into the catacombs of my memory, was Lillian's beginning, a start up sister restaurant of an Albany place? Maybe on Deleware Ave?? I know it no longer exists, but the name escapes me. woodburner

Rectangular pans and square slices have been around the upstate ny area for many years. My guess is that generally speaking, you could fill more surface area with rectangular pans than round, in a square pizza oven. woodburner

My wife's corporate Holiday Party is being held at Lillian's this year, we cannot attend due to previous commitments. I have not been to Lillian's in a few years, but it never seemed remarkable to me. Has anything changed? woodburner

Originally, Peking Duck (served in Beijing) the duck was roasted and the crispy skin was served first, sans the fowl. Jeff Smith (I know) The Frugal Gourmet offered us this: Peking Duck 5 lb Fresh duck or completely defrosted 1/4 tablespoon Salt 1/2 tablespoon Five Spice 1/4 tablespoon MSG (optional) 1/2 tablespoon Sugar 3 Lemon, sliced thin with rind 4 c Water 3 tablespoon Honey 3 tablespoon Dark soy sauce 3 tb Red wine vinegar OR 2/3 c Chinese rice wine Preparation: Mix the salt, 5-Spice, MSG and sugar together and rub inside of bird with the mixture. Fold up the tail into the bird and using an upholstery needle or turkey skewers and string, close up the duck sealing all openings. Blanch the duck in 3 qts of boiling water pouring the water over the duck about 8 times. Hang up to dry for 3-4 hours. Combine red wine vinegar (or rice wine), water, honey, soy sauce and lemon in a pot and bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Using a ladle, pour this mixture over the duck several times until it is completely coated. Hang duck in front of a fan for 4-5 hours or overnight sans fan. Place duck on a greased rack and roast for 20 minutes in at 400 F. Turn oven down to 375 F and continue to roast - 25 minutes per lb. total time. This includes the first 20 minutes. (A 4 1/2 lb duck would take approx. 1 1/2 hrs.) The food police will surely come a knocking on your door, if you hang any meat or poultry in your kitchen for more than 15 minutes today. Personally, in favor of crisp skin, I follow the method of chicken and turkey, allowing them to air dry in the icebox for a day or two, in helping to dry the skin, before roasting. Rubbing acidic orange or lemon juice on the fowl chicken will also help develop a criper skin, but I am not sure why. woodburner