Turkey Injection & Rub

Here's what I came up with for the turkey this year.  This is in addition to the special brine and baking tricks...... well, what do you think? We like our turkey to be all juiced up, so I increased the recipe just a bit after trying it out, and my best recreation is in the below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestion: wash and brine turkey first. Place turkey on lifting rack in roasting pan. Stuff rub under the skin, then inject turkey.
 

Injection:

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth (use the whole boullion cube)
1 tbsp Cooking Sherry or White Wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce –OR–  Liquid Smoke

Spices
2 tbsp minced garlic –OR–  1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp fine ground black pepper
3/4 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground sage
2 bay leaves
(If not brining turkey in advance, add 1 tsp salt)

Rub:

1 tbsp cup olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp white wine
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder –OR– 1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp fine ground pepper, black or white

Preparation:

Thaw turkey in advance. Remove giblets and neck from turkey: reserve to cook for pets or gravy.  Brine the turkey the day before.

Bring the injection ingredients to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for just a few minutes.  Cool. Strain so that only liquid will be sent through your injector needle. Inject turkey in many, many spots so the juice will cook through the meat during baking.

Put rub under turkey skin prior to baking.

If using the Alton Brown method, now you will rub oil over the outside of the turkey and bake it on 500 degrees for 30 minutes to lock those juices in, before turning down the heat to continue baking for the duration of the required time for your size turkey.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Stuffed

Well, I only had to send David to the store twice (I thought I had bought it all!), and everything came out as planned... the brined, injected, spice rubbed 12 pound turkey who roasted over the open pan of gravy - in the oven for 2 solid hours with NO opening the oven - turned out maybe even juicier than last year.  Definitely more tasty, since the recipe has been improved upon!  The oiling and searing at 500 for 30 minutes really locks in the moisture so basting is NOT needed. The gravy in the pan retains humidity in the oven so basting serves no purpose.  


So I went with everything linked in the previous blog entry, and I intend to repeat exactly the same again next time.
Om nom nom.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Turkey Time!

I know, I know, I have to wait 1 more week.  But just remember to get all your ducks in a row THIS week, so that NEXT week you won't be stressing and fretting.  :-)  Get your recipes out, start your shopping list, and all that good stuff, NOW!

As for my holiday cooking plans, well, they're not much different from last year, though the turkey gets a few tweaks:

The Bird:
-Alton Brown's Good Eats: Roast Turkey is the base plan since it has been SO DELICIOUS the past few times now! But I am going to make use of the gravy and wet rub sections from The Ultimate Turkey. I wish I could incorporate the smoking wood but I'm doing it all in the oven. It will still get injected though, bwahaha. I believe I am going to try this Turkey Injection Recipe unless I can come up with anything better. This one sounds good.

-Butternut Squash Casserole - It's so good you won't ever make sweet potato casserole ever again after trying this. Seriously. I have to make a whole casserole separate for my dad every year!

-Cranberry Apple Pear Chutney - A step up from the canned gel glop garbage. So good you can eat it on the side with a spoon! ;D

-Chicken & Dressing - my family has always done the "stuffing" on the side like this. (Here's a decent recipe, minus the apples and raisins, eww.. Plus, you need to use cornbread, not loaf bread! Just a few slices for consistency.)

-Green Bean Casserole - a requested staple.

And for dessert:
-Fat Man's Pie - Another annual prerequisite.
Maybe some of you would prefer the Mystery Pecan Pie. I might save that one for Christmas.

-Maybe I will mull some apple cider, too.  Mmm...



Refrigerator thawing. This is the easiest method. Leave the meat in its packaging in a pan deep enough to catch drips. Allow one day for every four pounds, so if you have a 20 pound turkey to cook on Thursday, you need to start thawing it on Sunday.

8-12 lbs. 1-2 days
12-16 lbs. 2-3 days
16-20 lbs. 3-4 days
20-24 lbs 4-5 days

Cooking Time:

At 325°F, a 15-pound bird will be done in about 3 to 3.5 hours.  A 20-pound bird should take a total of about 4 to 4.5 hours.  The total time depends on how well you control the oven temp, and how often you open the lid.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Mmm, corned beef & taters!

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

World's Best Blueberry Pie

I found this recipe and decided to make use of some of the blueberries I picked when me and Leslie headed out to the country at the end of June.

World's Best Blueberry Pie!




This picture doesn't look nearly as good as the pie tastes!

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

P. F. Chang Style Lettuce Wraps

I had to have something Asian to go with the ribs for July 4th, and this seemed like a natural to go along with them. Hah, I was right. This recipe is awesome.

I think I could have done a bit better on cooking the rice noodles. :P They were still tasty, though!

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Five Spice Spare Ribs

,

Yum! Maybe I will make these for July 4^th, lol!

http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=102636

700	gm	pork spareribs
570	ml	peanut oil
		marinade
1	tbl	dry sherry or rice wine
1	tbl	light soy sauce
1	tbl	cider vinegar or Chinese white rice vinegar
1/2	tsp	sesame oil
		sauce
1	tbl	garlic finely chopped
1	tbl	five spice powder
1 1/2	tbl	spring onions finely chopped1
1	tbl	sugar
1	tbl	light soy sauce
2	tsp	fresh orange peel finely chopped
70	ml	cider vinegar or Chinese black rice vinegar

• Have your butcher cut the spareribs into individual ribs and then into chunks which are approximately 7.5cm long.
• Alternatively do this yourself using a heavy sharp cleaver which can cut through the bones.
• Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and steep the spareribs in the marinade for about 25 minutes at room temperature.
• Heat the oil in a deep fat fryer or large wok.
• Slowly brown the marinaded spareribs in several batches until they are brown.
• Drain each cooked batch on kitchen paper. (Leave the cooking oil to cool. Strain it through a filter once it has cooled if you want to keep it for re use when cooking pork.)
• Put the sauce ingredients into a clean wok or frying pan.
• Bring the sauce to the boil and then reduce the heat.
• Add the spareribs and simmer them slowly uncovered for about 40 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Add a little water to the sauce if necessary to prevent it from drying up.
• Skim off any surface fat and serve.
  
  Can be easily re heated and the taste improves if it is cooked the day before it is eaten.
  

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Giving Thanks to the Turkey

Okay, so there actually wasn't a turkey this year. But... I cooked a small feast, and since this is a food blog, I figured I should post it here... to um, let the blog fulfil its food destiny, or something.

I spent over 5 hours in the kitchen today, straight, and tomorrow we shall feast!!!

Behold.

Potato Salad. No recipe. I couldn't tell you how much of what to put in it, either. It's just one of those instinct things, thanks to my mom for that. :P

Butternut Squash casserole. recipe here:

Chicken & Dressing. I get a little bit better each time I make it... Again, no recipe here...

"Killer Cranberry Chutney" recipe is here:

And, I had some apple cider just sitting in the fridge. It was not the best and so I thought I'd spice it up a bit. Mmm!

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Ribs for the 4th of July

Usually it's fall that kicks my cooking instincts into gear, but for some weird reason, this year the 4th did it. I'm currently prepping some food to go along with the cheap bag of fireworks I bought for tomorrow.

Oops, out of marinade sauce. Man! That sucks. Due Well, time to make my own concoction. Let's see how this works...

Take 1 slab of pork spareribs out of the package and rinse.
Put them in a pot and boil them, just until the outside of the meat starts to turn that "cooked" looking color. (This is supposed to help cook out a little of the oils and help make the meat more tender.)
Take it out and throw into a big pan.
Salt both sides down with meat tenderizer and rub it in.
Douse both sides with worsterchire sauce and let sit for 5-10 minutes or so, to soak in.
Douse both sides with soy sauce and let sit for 5-10 minutes or so, to soak in.
Cover the entire slab in marinade sauce. (Since I was out of the usual Dale's or Moore's, the "quick marinade" stuff that I use cuz it tastes sooooo good, I used a honey-terryiaki w/ sesame seed marinade sauce I found in the 'fridge!)
Sprinkle on some garlic powder.
Cover, and let sit in 'fridge overnight.

Aw crap! I forgot to buy a can of baked beans.

The next day, I took them out and slapped them on the grill.
Then I slathered them with BBQ sauce, after a while flipped 'em and slathered the other side too. Moved 'em off to one side where there was no heat while 1 of the 3 burners at the opposite side was on to let them slow-cook all nice and done. I put them directly over the heat for a little while to give them that pretty grillmark, hehe.

It was my first rack of ribs. I have the right to be a little happy, right? :)


------------------------

I didn't have the baked beans, but I had the potato salad. And yes, I'm that big of a dork - I took a picture of it. ;) (what else is a digital camera for, if not to take pictures of random stupid stuff??)

Yes, yes, I know. The plates wreak of the 70's, or something. What can I say? My mom gave me her old set of dishes.

• 
• 
• 
• 
•