Thanksgiving 2011 Tips, Queries, Trucs

[Chris Amirault]

Like last year, I'm doing prep all day and night today and of course busy tomorrow too. So, once again, I thought it would be good to start a topic on all this prep and cooking we're doing. We can share ideas, ask questions, all that.

My menu is here -- sans the green beans, which I've removed from the list. I've decided to go a whole new way with the dark meat, making meatballs instead of roasting or braising the legs & thighs. I'll report as I go.

What tips do you have this year? Or do you have any questions that Society members can answer? I've got the window open all day!

[Mjx]

. . . .

What tips do you have this year? Or do you have any questions that Society members can answer? I've got the window open all day!

Please tell me that you are not using a standard/authentic Danish frikadelle recipe... although their density and resilience are admirable, even remarkable, texture and flavour tend to be, well... not so festive.

[Chris Amirault]

I'm combining my usual sausage/meatball approaches with the spices in the frikadelle recipes I've been reviewing. Too bouncy and bland, is that your concern?

[Mjx]

Yep. What seasonings are you using?

[rotuts]

some time ago i saw a PBS show with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Im blocking the name but one of the best ever: they each did the item in question their own way and talked about it.

Julia did a 'deconstructed' turkey with J. : cut out the back, take out the wish bone ( key to any roasted turkey) and then bone out the thigh and then make your stuffing of choice, place it on the roasting pan and put the breast carcass on the and the leg that you filled with some stuffing.

I also learned that the sausage I use can be placed in the stuffing raw and roasts with the whole thing. I used to cook it first and then add to the stuffing: bad bad. you use less butter with the suffing and get a lot more flavor.

then I decided to bone out the breast, Why not? this was a two day prep: bone out the turkey save the pieces in a fresh plastic bag(s) in the coldest part of the refirg.

roast the carcass and stuff. i dont like the sweetness of roast veg for turkey gravy but you might. I like roast veg 'on the plate'. then add the roast carcass to water and your veg and simmer the strain and pick the meat off. be careful here no bone pieces in the stock!

Roasting day: use the stock you make for the moisture you need for your stuffing. season first.

place the boned out breasts ( no tendons, please! ) on top of the ample stuffing (2 'bags'?) your choice here with the legs and wings.

roast take abou 1:30 min to 2 hrs

make your gravy your chose here too.

in the end you just cut the turkey as they are very few bones!

[Chris Amirault]

What seasonings are you using?

Cardamom, clove, black pepper, nutmeg, allspice, and a bit of fresh thyme. 80% turkey meat/20% pork belly (mostly fat), minced onion, plus some bacon ground in for good measure; milk/egg/breadcrumb mixture as well. They're really tasty. Going to finish in the oven in 1/2" of hot stock.

[Mjx]

What seasonings are you using?

Cardamom, clove, black pepper, nutmeg, allspice, and a bit of fresh thyme. 80% turkey meat/20% pork belly (mostly fat), minced onion, plus some bacon ground in for good measure; milk/egg/breadcrumb mixture as well. They're really tasty. Going to finish in the oven in 1/2" of hot stock.

They sound really good (unlike what I've had in the dozen or so years I've been visiting/staying in Denmark); I've reached the conclusion that if they're not boiled briskly for half an hour, they're not 100% Danish

[Chris Amirault]

Well, then I guess it won't be the first time I've sacrificed authenticity. Perhaps, in this case, for quality.

[patrickamory]

I also learned that the sausage I use can be placed in the stuffing raw and roasts with the whole thing. I used to cook it first and then add to the stuffing: bad bad. you use less butter with the suffing and get a lot more flavor.

Really! No worries about the stuffing and/or the bird not being all the way cooked this way (since so many people are worrying about precisely that already)?

I've been meaning to try Andie's tip about putting the metal tube from a bulb baster into my stuffing to ensure that it cooks at the same rate.... but my baster gave up the ghost earlier this year, and looking in the stores, all the baster tubes are now glass

[kayb]

I watch the weather forecast like a hawk. When it's cool enough (a crap shoot, here in the Sunny South), I can do a lot more prep the night before, because my grill and my patio table become auxiliary refrigerators. I currently have my turkey breasts brining on the patio table, and two casserole dishes in the (cold) grill.

[rotuts]

about that sausage: it seems in the past to work fine. JP does it that way and he's still enjoying life! I use and prefer Jones' sausage that comes in a roll. I tried Jimmy Deans and it had way too much fat.

what i do for '1 bag' of dried stuffing, and in my case i use Arnolds CornBread ( i used to bake my own .. no longer.){

1/2 stick of butter/ liquid as indicated ( personal stock )

1 cup dried cranberries (TJ's) 1 cup pecans, roasted and cooled, 3 - 4 tart large "stay together when cooked apples" ( granny smith? sliced in chunks with the skin) and 1/2 Jones sasauge 'roll'

here is the secret: thaw that roll. cut in 1/2 then put back in the freezer for a few minutes until 'firm' then cut into small chunks. if its very very cold it will cut much better than when its just cold. toss in the stuffing crumbs and coast each piece: why? as you then mix the batch up it does not stick to itself!

then you mix everything up and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hrs about a similar time as the deconstructed turkey which might or might not be on top!

(the turkey may take 2 hrs .... just cover the stuffing land turkey loosely and take the alluminum off for the end to ert some browning on the top

best suffing you ever had. you can change gthe Bread/seasoning/etc as you wish.

Ill find a pic tomorrow AM from a precious 'batch'

this year: Sous Vide Turks! and stuffing as above baked on its 'own'

Edited November 23, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[Baron d'Apcher]

Cardamom, clove, black pepper, nutmeg, allspice, and a bit of fresh thyme. 80% turkey meat/20% pork belly (mostly fat), minced onion, plus some bacon ground in for good measure; milk/egg/breadcrumb mixture as well. They're really tasty. Going to finish in the oven in 1/2" of hot stock.

If you haven't already, might I recommend roasting the frikadelle from raw in a 450F oven and then finishing them in the stock until tender. Even and efficient coloration.

[rotuts]

here are three pics from Thanks. Past. its not cinerama !: this is a 22 lbs turkey deconstructed on 2 bags of stuffing:

Gobble Gobble!

Edited November 24, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[patrickamory]

rotuts: thanks, sounds yummy!

I bought sausage meat ( what they use in their sweet Italian sausages ) from Ottomanelli's when I picked up the turkey. It's PLENTY fatty, so I may fry it before stuffing. Maybe if I get a leaner sausage next year.

[rotuts]

fry 1/2. use the other as is. cut down the butter though!

[rotuts]

BTW: the 'roasting pan' above for the deconstruckted turkey is Not All Clad!

its from bed and bath. with a 20 % off coupon it might have been ? 25 $$ ?

its not their cheapest. its the next one up.

it light. has non-stick. i take care of it and only use it for this dish 3 x / year.

its lasted 9 + years. good value id say.

BTW: you better work out at the gym for a while before taking this out of the oven!

all you do is slice slice.

Edited November 24, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[patrickamory]

Okay, so here's my dilemma. I'm combining two turkey procedures that have each worked very well for me separately, but one of them has to change aspects of the other and I can't quite figure out how. Any tips appreciated.

Turkey is a 14 lb Bell & Evans.

1. Gourmet recipe from several years ago from a Hungarian-American that involves effectively steaming it inside a buttered foil "bag", tightly crimped all around, for 2 1/2 hours at 450, and then an additional 30 minutes at 375 to brown the breast, till 165 in the thigh, then 15 minutes rest.

2. Dry-brine or pre-salt adaptation of Alton Brown - 36 hours in the fridge exposed on a rack and salted according to his measurements (1 tbs kosher salt per 5 lbs inside and out).

Last year I did #2 and cooked with the convection feature in my mother's Gaggenau, totally open, much faster. That was for a heritage breed. With the Bell & Evans, I want to return to the foil bag method. BUT I'm told the salting will reduce the cooking time and to start checking thigh temp at 2/3 of the cooking time. Obviously difficult with the bird sealed in a foil bag, not to mention the extra browning time at the end.

What is the best way to reconcile the two approaches? any rules of thumb?

[Chris Amirault]

I watch the weather forecast like a hawk. When it's cool enough (a crap shoot, here in the Sunny South), I can do a lot more prep the night before, because my grill and my patio table become auxiliary refrigerators. I currently have my turkey breasts brining on the patio table, and two casserole dishes in the (cold) grill.

Yep: our walk-in/three-seasons room has stock, stuffing, root chips in water, butterscotch pudding, turkey, and a few other things in there. One of the benefits of being in New England!

If you haven't already, might I recommend roasting the frikadelle from raw in a 450F oven and then finishing them in the stock until tender. Even and efficient coloration.

Interesting... already cooked them but an idea worth trying next time.

I've got a sore back but I'm on schedule for tomorrow. Oaxaca Old Fashioned and the couch for now.

[rotuts]

is the Bell and Evens bird 'injected' with the 'standard' 8 % solutions? probably not. Sherlock himself only used a '7 % solution'

Id do the dry brine and rinse and pat dry. not worry about the timings. check the temp with a thermapen near the end.

with the brine the 'jus' may be too salty for gravy. your time and temps seem a little high to me but best of luck!

[patrickamory]

Hi rotuts - no injections in the B&E.

I think the time & temps are a bit high. Gonna play it by ear (and thermapen).

Thanks!

[patrickamory]

Total success - one of the best turkeys, and some of the best stuffing, I've ever made, I think. Thanks rotuts!

Times and temps were exactly as above. I'm not sure whether being tightly steamed in a foil bag for the first segment means that it cooks more slowly, but the thigh was at about 130F when the turkey came out of the foil.

Not a great photo unfortunately.... it looked & tasted a lot better than this

[rotuts]

WoW

that Turk looks good enough to eat!

ive very glad I could help in a very small way.

next year do your stuffing out of the bird!

[patrickamory]

Thanks!

I actually did the stuffing both inside and outside.

The outside stuffing got an extra knob of butter, a generous dusting of semi-sharp paprika and maybe a quarter cup of water. Cooked it stovetop, then browned it in the oven.

Both benefited from your recommendations regarding the sausage meat - half of which was rendered to release the fat (in which the celery and onion got softened, with the addition of a stick bof butter), the other half placed in the freezer for 10 minutes before hand-mixing with the rest of the stuffing ingredients.

Both versions were great.

[rotuts]

Soooooo Good!

[patrickamory]

I'm taking the leftover carcass, bones, some meat and the unused neck to make turkey stock, simmering away right now. Then tomorrow I'm going to make sopa de lima per David Tanis's suggestion in this week's New York Times:

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/what-can-i-make-with-leftover-turkey-besides-sandwiches/?ref=thanksgivingday

Another Thanksgiving tip I discovered this year - throw a star anise in your Ocean Spray cranberries while heating them up with the boiling water & sugar. Also, go a little lighter on the sugar than Ocean Spray recommends - it doesn't need to be so sweet.