Upside Down and Backwards!! (That’s My Technique)

Roasted Turkey with Herbs Under SkinMy turkey roasting technique that is!!

I recently read a blog post by Darya Pino of Summer Tomato on How to Become a Great Cook Without Being a Chef.  She’s right! You don’t need to be a chef to cook really good food. But, (and this is a big BUT sticking out) you do need a few of Chef’s techniques.

When I studied at the California Culinary Academy the focus was on learning technique, not so much on recipes.  The philosophy is simple: If you understand how and when to incorporate each ingredient into a dish you can create your own recipes.  And it is true!!  By learning HOW to cook, not only was I able to create my own dishes, it became much easier to follow a recipe.  Sounds silly I know, most recipes are well research and clearly written. Yet, when I incorporated my knowledge of cooking with say – Betty Crocker – goodness, the dish took on new textures and flavors.

It is this nuanced change that I am referring to when I say Upside Down and Backwards.  Because that is exactly what I did.  I roasted my turkey upside down and backwards.  Follow me here, this is where it starts to get good.

The challenge for every cook on Thanksgiving is to cook the turkey making sure that the legs & thighs are cooked while keeping the breast meat from drying out and becoming stringy.  Americas Test Kitchen performed a definitive study last year on turkey roasting trying all of the different roasting techniques and endorsed a good, albeit cumbersome, technique for preparing your bird: they cut the turkey into pieces and roasted the legs and thighs separately from the breast.  Boo, I say. That takes away all of the fun of carving for dad!

I acknowledge the reasoning behind this approach but promise you one better. Actually FOUR better!!  Now Darya Pino, this is where being a chef does make a difference. Chef Suzanne and I put our heads together determined to roast a turkey whole while keeping it moist and giving it great flavor . . . and we nailed it the first time out.  Here’s what we did.

BRINING: Brining is a technique where the turkey is submerged in a saturated water mixture containing salt, sometimes sugar and oftentimes spices.  It is a fun technique but takes time and refrigerator space. Sometime in the future I will share a recipe with you but for now I give you this short cut: Butterball.  Yep, we bought a Butterball turkey simply because it was already brined.  Butterball has been in business since before I gnawed on my first turkey leg and I trust their technique.  I was not wrong then and I am not wrong now.  Their birds are flavorful.  But alas, I have had dry Butterballs before. So . . .

Butter On BreastHERBED BUTTER: Here is a technique I just love.  Suzanne and I took a half pound of soft butter and mixed in about 6 cloves of chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and a small bunch each of Sage, Marjoram and Thyme chopped fine.  We then loosened the skin covering the breast of the turkey and rubbed the Herbed Butter directly on to the meat.  A lot of people will season the skin leaving the meat unadorned.  I use this technique nearly every time I roast fowl.  It always amazes!! I suggest that you thaw the bird the night before, pat it dry, rub in the herbed butter and leave it covered with plastic in the refrigerator overnight.  Then it is all ready to pop in the oven on Thursday with a little extra flavor-infusing time.

UPSIDE DOWN: I like this technique a lot especially with turkeys because of their size. Bigger is better may be the American motto but it can play hell when roasting. Three factors come in to play when roasting: Time, Temperature and Gravity. With gravity being the only constant. Since I cannot change the effect of gravity I decided to use it to my advantage.  I roasted my bird Up Side Down!! The effect was simple, all of the juices collected in the breast meat instead of the back of the bird.  Yum!!

Upside Down TurkeyTIME & TEMPERATURE: Here’s the secret sword thrust of roasting. Start your turkey at 450° F. That’s right, low and slow works for BBQ meats that are full of collagen and you want to fall apart. Starting hot and fast . . . well . . . it’s better, that’s all.  Actually this is how I understand what is happening.  Collagen, the ‘moisture’ in the bird, is water soluble. In a slow oven, low temperature, the water temperature in the meat rises slowly and begins to drain from the meat carrying the collagen away with it, essentially drying out the meat.  The longer the meat temperature stays at or near the boiling point of water the dryer the meat will become. Starting in a hot oven will push the meat temperature passed this mark more quickly leaving less time for the collagen to dissolve into the water.

Here’s the trick behind the technique. Start your turkey, upside down in a rack, in a 450° F oven.  Leave it there until the bird ‘starts talking to you.’ That is, until you can here the turkey snap, crackle and pop. About one half hour.  Then turn the oven down to 325° F. About 2 hours in to the roasting process check the thigh meat with a meat thermometer. Your goal is 175 -180° F for the leg and thigh and 170° F for the breast.  My 13 lb. bird took about 3 hours to cook completely through and MAN was it good.

Carving a TurkeyAfter the turkey reaches the desired internal remove it from the oven and let stand about 20 minutes before carving.  Suzanne and I had great success with this bird.  Both the white meat and dark meat were moist and flavorful.

I hope that your bird turns out as great as mine did.  Stay tuned this week for Pan Gravy and Side Dish recipes.

Until then,

Eat Well and Smile Often!!

 

tj

 

p.s. I get two turkeys this year ;-)

 

There Will Be Growth In The Spring!!

Overgrown Garden
This Saturday I stuck my head out the back door into what has become a unchecked cacophony of free growth. Imagine that, Free Growth in my back yard. It is like the hippies are back  . . .  and they are growing things . . . I am not sure if I should call my Democrat or Republican representative.  I mean there must be a law against free growth!! We just can not have things growing willy-nilly anywhere they decide to put down roots.  Why, that is just un-natural!!

What? You say it is natural?  Well I do not like it!  I do not like it because . . . well . . .  it is just messy, that is why! All the mess and silliness aside, it was good to be back in my garden.  It always makes me feel like I have control over something (Ha!).  The best part of it all is that I got to see one of my favorite actors again, in a fantastic movie, all in preparation for this year’s planting season. (So I tell myself.)

Now mark my words, I have it from a very reliable source that there will be Growth in the Spring. This clip is one of my all time favorite scenes with Peter Sellers in the film Being There. Heck I believe him every time I watch it. It is the one thing that gets me off of my duff each winter. This time especially, he has given me real inspiration with his refreshing and optimistic statements.  So much inspiration that I attacked my back yard madness with brute force and began beating back the madness.

CrabgrassThe back half of my yard has always been covered with grass.  For the first few years of living here I diligently watered, fertilized, weeded and mowed my little portion suburbia.  It was lush, it was green and it soon became the place where the dogs went first thing in the morning.  After learning that lawn fertilizer might cause cancer in dog paws and watching my water bill skyrocket every summer I took a hands off approach to lawn maintenance.  In the ensuing years the pretty little Kentucky Bluegrass blades gave way to the hearty survivor species . . . Crabgrass.  In truth, after a good rain and a trim, it looked pretty back there.  Nice enough to sit by an open fire, enjoy a bottle of Malbec with some pan-fried brussel sprouts garnished with proscuitto and figs and pan deglazed with balsamic vinegar and maple syrup.

Lawn RemovedSo out it came, but not without a fight. I used a cool tool called a sod cutter to cut the grass right off of the soil. With the help of some handy men we removed all of the grass in a 50′ x 25′ section of the yard and set the cuttings aside to compost. Composting old lawn is not easy. It requires time and plastic.  I am not optimistic but in for a penny . . .
After the easy job of cutting and removing the sod I tucked into soil preparation with a vengeance and a roto-tiller.  As you can see by the accompanying  video I was a little unprepared for just how hard the clay soil is here where I live.  Now, I did wait a month after the last rain so the soil would not be soggy reasoning that it would be soft enough but not sticky.  I guess I underestimated the drainage potential of my crabgrass stricken acreage.  None-the-less I persevered, learned how to properly operate the roto-tiller and was able to sufficiently chew up the remaining square feet needed to place my new planting beds.

Boxes and dirtTen yards of Clodbuster soil, 24 – 2″ x 10″ x 8′ boards and a box of galvanized 16 penny nails later my new planting beds were taking shape. With the addition of six 8′ x 8′ beds I have increased my planting are by 75%.  I am not sure if I am crazy, excited or a little bit of both but I am looking forward to planting rows and rows of onions, carrots and celery.  Mire poix vegetables for those of you in the know. As well as garlic, strawberries (not in the same planter), and four different types of potatoes.

BackyardThere will be growth in the spring I can promise you that . . . and a little more work but I am so looking forward to the fruits of my labor.   Tomatoes are my favorite of all vegetables (technically a fruit but go with me here) with at least one bed will be dedicated to those magnificent Romas, and a sprinkling of heirlooms mixed in just for fun.

Now is a fantastic time to get out in your yard or on to your porch and get your garden started. Even if all you have is a 3′ x 3′ spot just outside your door that gets great sunlight I encourage you to start a tomato plant or two.  Pair that with another pot sprouting basil and you will have some amazing eats in just a few months. Go ahead I say, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.

Eat Well and Smile Often,

tj

p.s. Ah basil,  how I just love basil! and tomatoes, how I just love tomatoes! and mozzarella, how I just love mozzarella!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

Herbed ChickenIn this corner, weighing in at a plump 3 1/2 pounds the current heavy weight roasted chicken champion of the world: Madeline Kamman’s Herbed Butter under-the-skin.
A traditional French technique for chicken that can be used for roasting or Sous Vide cooking. This mighty dish has charmed royalty the world over and stands as the pinnacle of simple poultry preparation.

Mahogany ChickenAnd in this corner, weighing in at a firm 3.25 pounds, the Contender,  made-by-mom-at home Mahogany Chicken. The pride of the borough, this friendly approach to adding flavor should not be underestimated; stylish, smart and sassy. Who will be the winner is anyone’s guess.  Kamman’s herbed champion has the breasts to put up a great fight.  But The Mahogany contender has got the legs to run away with it all.   Marquis of Queensbury rules apply!

Round 1

Round 1In the left corner prepped with just a rub of salt and pepper on the skin: The Mahogany Contender.  In the right corner with an herbed butter rubbed under the skin directly on the breast: The Herbed Champion.

The judges score this round evenly. An equal effort from both birds.

The Contender’s basting marinade is 1 part brown sugar, 1 part balsamic vinegar and 1 part dry vermouth applied after the first 45 minutes of cooking then every 15 mins after that until done.The Champion’s herbed butter is 1/4 cup butter, salt, pepper, garlic. rosemary, thyme and basil.

Round 2

Round 2In the left side of the oven The Contender holds its own against The Champion.  But don’t count out the slippery moves that Herbed Butter can bring to this fight.  The heat is up for both of them and so far neither is backing down from a basting.

Uh Oh! The Champ is showing signs of melting down while the challenger, showing great poise under all this heat, is just crackling away.  The crowd is silent watching these to birds go head to head in headless combat. Never before have we seen such fancy footless footwork.  Ding!  Saved by the bell.

Round 3

Round #The final round and The Contender is putting on a show.  Evenly browned after multiple bastings She’s showing no sign of legging off.  The Champ, a little unevenly used from the butter directly under the skin, is still in the fight. Her delicious herbs giving off the airs of a true champion, one who never quits.

 

The Fight is Over!!

End of FightAmazing!! Never before is the history of Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner have we seen anything like this before.  Who would have guessed it?  Folks, just who could have foreseen the outcome of today’s match up? Not you, not me, nobody could have predicted this!!  After 1 hour and 25 mins in a 350°F oven the judges score the final numbers equally at 170°F. I still can’t believe it. My hats off to both of these plucky fighters.  I guess we’ll just have to wait until after they cool down before we can get a taste of what happened here today.  My oh my! I’ve never seen anything like it before.  No sir- ee.

 

Judge’s Decision

In a 2 to 1 vote the new Roast Chicken Heavy Weight Champion of the World is . . . . an upset!!

Madeline Kamman’s age old classic recipe proved feisty but it’s moves were a bit outdated and predictable.  The Contender, made-by-mom Mahogany Chicken takes the title with it’s even browning and moist marinaded flavor.  Our hat’s off to both the fighters in this matchup.  What?  What’s that I hear?  A rematch??  That’s right folks you heard it here first.  These two birds aren’t done flapping their wings yet.  Until next time . . .

Eat Well and Smile Often,

tj

p.s. Run Chicken Run!!

Originally posted 6/11/12

Rice Right?? . . . Wrong!!

Catherine de MediciI recently got called on my cooking BS.

“Rice pilaf,” I exclaimed, “is purely a dish of western creation.”  You see, I received formal training in classical French cooking techniques and  . . .  well . . . all the best food and cooking techniques come from France. Right?!  I was caught in my little white lie by two very talented female chefs  who replied, “That doesn’t sound quite right.” They were right, I was wrong.  Um, it seems I forgot one part, the one where Everyone-Else-In-The-World cooks too. To state it correctly, Rice Pilaf is a Middle Eastern dish and our word Pilaf comes from the Turkish word Pilav. Oops, my bad.

Now to the title of this piece and how Pilav became Pilaf. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Catherine de Medici of Italy married Henry II, king of France.  Henry, to our benefit you’ll soon discover, was much more interested in his mistress Diane de Poitiers than his new bride. Catherine as a result was excluded from politics and all things court like.  Instead of staying by her husband’s side she traveled the country with her entourage. Here comes the good part. The Italians, being the great travelers and traders they are, brought back not only goods for commerce but great heaps of culture from around the globe.  In Catherine’s entourage were chefs schooled in cross cultural cooking techniques and the dishes they inspired.  As they progressed around France, Catherine chefs would require the assistance of local cooks to prepare the Queen’s meals.  Catherine moved on but the cooking techniques remained, Pilaf included. While there has been some trifling debate as to whether Catherine actually had this much effect on French cuisine, those of us who study it can precisely time its rise to the Renaissance period. So there!

Did she or didn’t she?  I believe she did. Is it wrong of me to be grateful of the King’s infidelity?

 

Eat Well and Smile Often,

 

tj

 

p.s. I thought all the best chefs were men!  Ooops, my bad.

 

Simple Rice Pilaf

1  cup               Rice

3 Tbsp              Butter or olive oil

2  cups             Water or broth

2 Tbsp              Parsley, chopped

 

Place in a sauce pan water or broth and bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt if water only.

In a sauté pan heat butter or olive oil over medium heat and add rice.  Cook for about 4 minutes.

Add rice to boiling liquid, stir, reduce heat to very low and cover.  Cook until all the liquid is gone.  Remove from heat, mix in parsley and serve.

 

Originally posted on April 30, 2012