fifi

I take it that those lovely pictures of the fruit trees were taken in your garden... the garden to die for? I will be trying the grapefruit peel for a holiday treat. We should be getting the Texas ruby reds in soon. Have you ever tried to candy peppers? I have tried many methods and they always collapse into stringy ugly things. I saw some candied red jalapenos used as a garnish (I think it was in a Martha recipe) and they looked like strips of ruby. Mine always look like shriveled bird droppings. Any suggestions?

project... that is the best. I had come up with just about the same technique but you have really clarified it. I was wondering about doing this ahead (like today) and putting the gratins in the fridge so that I could just pop them in the oven tomorrow. You answered that one nicely. Your tip about using a wooden spatula for making roux is absolutely brilliant... of course, that is what I use. It is that kind of helpful detail that is so valuable. I think this is going to turn out rather pretty. The scallops will be in white LeCreuset small gratins set on a large white porcelain plate with the roasted asparagus on the side. I may finely dice some red bell pepper for garnish on the asparagus. I have to think about the flavor, though. I haven't decided. I just seem to want a touch of red. Maybe I will just garnish the rim of the plates. *still thinking* Thanks for the great post.

Jin... Fried turkey is the only edible form. If properly injected, it doesn't even taste much like turkey. My sister just reminded me of our stroke of brilliance. We put the turkeys in the oven and pre-warm them. That way, the oil temperature doesn't drop as much and the outcome is much better. Also, we inject the turkeys and don't put rub on the outside. This keeps the oil cleaner and the flavor is better. I find that the rub on the outside gets a little too toasty.

tommy... We didn't refrigerate it but we did filter it really well... through coffee filters, I think. We were running low on oil after about the tenth turkey. Instead of going to the store, we remembered the bottle of oil from the past year. It was pretty dark and we were skeptical. Then we tasted it. It was fine. Delicious, in fact. Back to the safety thing... As the oil is used be aware that the flash point may decrease. WATCH THAT THERMOMETER! On the other threads issue... I searched but I am not very good at it. I think I remember that the software upgrade will improve my searching skills. I started this because I read on another thread that someone was going to fry a turkey for the first time. It bothered me that all of the hazards may not be well known.

Yeah, Toliver, this is the most fun. We throw all sorts of things into the seasoned oil. Even brocolli is good! Pretty soon, the whole "crudite" platter gets dunked.

At 360 to 375 oil a 10 to 12 pound turkey will take 35 to 45 minutes to get done. It isn't critical. Don't try to fry one over 14 pounds. It just doesn't work well. You do this by time and don't try to use a temperature probe in the turkey. The thermometer you are interested in is the one monitoring oil temperature. Remember, you are using a high BTU burner that you probably don't have a lot of experience with. We have reused oil multiple times without any problem. We have even kept it from year to year by filtering it before storing.

You are absolutely right. The best solution for doing turkey frying, shrimp boiling, BBQing, etc. is an area away from the crowd (not on the deck, sorry). What I am going to do is have an area covered with crushed granite (available here) that any spills can just linger and decompose without bothering anybody. Sand would work as well. You could contact some landscape companies in your area and see what options are available. Covering a concrete surface with cardboard or other stuff to keep the grease off is just nuts.

slbunge... your recommendations are right on. I can't imagine trying to do this indoors. This is an outside... away from the house... on a nonflammable surface... enterprise. Yes... keep a fire extinguisher rated for grease fires handy. The thermometer that I use is a probe thermometer, no cable, that is clipped to the pot. We have fried as many as 12 turkeys in the one pot of oil. Peanut oil is expensive. I wouldn't want to set up to do this for just one turkey.

Fried turkey, in my opinion, is the only reason for the turkey to exist on this planet. However, frying a turkey can be a hazardous proposition. I am going to post some safety tips that I developed for a safety presentation at my company. These tips are not comprehensive and there may be other issues in your particular situation. My only point is that you are dealing with large quantities of hot oil and a fire source. Some attention to detail is warranted. You need to keep these operations out of traffic areas. Look for a short legged propane burner. I have seen some on taller legs that look positively hazardous. You have a big pot with several gallons 360F oil. You want that puppy STABILE. Another reason for short legs… You can more safely lift that turkey rack out of the oil. If it is too high, you are in an awkward position, it is heavy, and you could catch the bottom of the on the edge of the pot and tip it over. If you are frying turkeys, use a thermometer. You are probably not used to that high BTU burner and you can get oil to the flash point really fast. Oil fires are nasty! Use a rack for frying turkeys. Trying to use a basket for frying turkeys slops too much oil around. Carefully measure the amount of oil to put into the pot so that when you immerse the turkey there is still plenty of room at the top of the pot to keep the boiling and bubbling oil in the pot. If it boils over, you are guaranteed a spectacular fire. One way to do this is to put your biggest turkey on the rack, lower it into the pot, pour in oil until it is covered by a couple of inches, leaving plenty of room at the top of the pot. If you don’t have at least 6 inches, get a bigger pot. Pull the turkey out and drain the oil off, setting it aside for later. NOW start to heat the oil. (It is better to stick to 10 – 12 pound turkeys then always use the same size. That way you only have to do this once and mark your pot for next time. Bigger turkeys don’t work that well anyway.) Turkeys MUST BE FULLY THAWED AND PATTED DRY INSIDE AND OUT. Chunks of ice on the inside of the body cavity turn to steam pretty quickly in 360F oil => Turkey Launch! Wet turkeys make for a lot of bubbling, foaming and potential run overs. Pat ‘em dry then put the rub on, inject them or whatever. Slowly, VERY slowly immerse the turkey into the hot oil. This allows some control over the initial bubbling and foaming. Watch that thermometer. Lifting out a turkey is better accomplished as a two person operation. (So is immersing it, come to think of it.) I put a piece of rebar through the loop at the top of the rack. Me and my lifting partner SLOWLY lift the turkey straight up. Then you should hold it over the pot to drain before moving it sideways to the receiving pan. That way you are not dribbling hot oil everywhere, maybe too close to the flame. (Do this one time and you will be convinced of the wisdom of that low burner.) Let the bird sit at least 15 minutes before cutting it up. Hot juiciness can spurt. Now… Go fry that next turkey. (You aren’t going to go to all of this trouble for just one, after all.)

Before anyone deep fries a turkey I want to insert some safety tips. Deep frying turkey is a hazardous venture. I will start a thread on that alone so that it gets the proper attention. Gravy?... Ain't happenin'.

Not all of New Orleans has this accent. There is an area around Magazine Street called "The Channel" (I have no idea why) where you would swear the locals are from Brooklyn. There is even a term used in NO for somewhat lower class citizens and that is "Yats". That comes from a familiar greeting... "Wher..y'at?" My ex comes from an upper class family that has the typical soft southern accent. Where he gets some "yattiness", no one knows. BTW... The Cajun accent is not found in New Orleans, unless imported.

Cool... I am getting a direction here. And I have an excuse to use those gratin pans. (Lets see... that would make each serving cost about $35, before I buy the food. I loves me toys.)

Damn... Who knew? I thought that Coquille St. Jacques was a defined dish with variations, sort of like Oysters Rockefeller. Lets talk in terms of gratin since I just got these lovely LeCreuset individual gratin pans.

lamb... Amazingly, my ex talks just like that. The kids still tease him about saying "terlet". He is from New Orleans. There are parts of New Orleans where that accent is prevalent. Weird. The kids don't really have an accent but my son can do some wicked impressions of New Orleans accents. He can put us into a total-incapacitation-event of the giggles with some of his routines. My son also speaks excellent French though he never took it as a class. I always call him with pronunciation questions. I took Latin in high school and French in college but he spent a summer there in school so I go with his recommendations. The Parisians were always complimenting him on his "accent".

Oh my goodness... I never thought of grilling mango "cheeks". I never thought of calling them "cheeks" either. What an appropriate name. You have added to my vocabulary. Your menu sounds wonderful. I want to be your neighbor and friend.

Suzanne... I did the "mice" double take, too! Maybe that mouse thread has gone subliminal. But I did notice... no bacon. I would dust my pork butt with turkey powder prior to smoking so that the turkey gets entirely obliterated. I am mad at turkey.

JAZ... that is looking really good. It would be really fun to be able to tell her that it is from St. Julia. I don't have the book (Why is that? I have every other book in the world??? Have to correct that.) but I think I can get it with your description. When I called my friend to invite her last night, she asked if I was going to do something on my smoker since she hasn't had anything off of it since I got it. Ooops. Well... The scallops can be the surprise. But I will smoke a pork butt ahead and we can use it for munchies and one of her birthday presents will be a nice package of pulled pork to take home. Now THAT is an eclectic menu.

I think Squeat may have something there. After all, s'mores are supposed to start with a toasted mashmallow. then the heat from that melts the Hershey Bar and sticks the whole thing together. The graham cracker is not toasted.

My Julia & Jaques book doesn't have it. KateW... Recipe PLEASE.

I am fixing a Sunday Brunch for a dear friend's birthday on Sunday (duh). She is an absolute freak about Coquille St. Jaques. My sister and I have looked at a few recipes and none of them seem just right. We could take what we think is good from each and come up with our own (a successful venture with other dishes) but I thought I would ask this august body of experts for their thoughts. Other items on the menu are likely to be a fruit cup, roasted asparagus (she loves that, too), french bread, champagne... what else? We probably won't do dessert because none of us are dessert eaters. We will probably go out shopping in Kemah and get a snowcone for a sweet later. Your eGullet brilliance, please!

I there any way that this series can be linked together and put up on the Home Page? Sort of like the Rogue River thingy? This is JUST TOO GOOD to be a series in a forum. A "thank you" for sharing this experience is much too weak. This has been some of the most enjoyable reading I have done in years. The only travel writing that equals it is the work of Jan Morris. And I really mean that.

Houston (Hewston) TX is named after General Sam Houston, the commander at the battle of San Jacinto where Texas won its independence from Mexico with the defeat of Santa Anna's army. I dunno about the New York guy. In New Orleans they have strange ways of pronouncing many things. The ones that drive me nuts are some streets in uptown that are named for the muses. For instance, they don't pronounce Calliope Cal-li-o-pi, but say Calli-ope as in hope. Drives me nuts.

Bacon dust!

Thanks for those tips. I haven't read them. They are now on my "to buy" list. Too bad this thread never really go off the ground. I will have to go back and reread it. Maybe it will revive.

Thanks, smogle. I was guessing but you have confirmed what I was thinking. And... Welcome to eGullet.