Roast turkey

There are many ways to roast a turkey.  I'm sure there are a number of ways to get good results.  There are also many different kinds of turkey, which react differently to different methods.  We had a 19.3 lb. fresh turkey from Ashley Farms.  I was reading up before Thanksgiving on the recipes I'd used before, and other advice on the web.  There are a number of decisions to make: to stuff or not to stuff?  To baste or not to baste?  To truss or not to truss?  Cover it with cheesecloth?  High temperature or low temperature, or high and then low?  Some recipes may be suitable for an injected supermarket turkey but not a natural bird.

The main methods I considered were from the Joy of Cooking (1975 edition), which has you put the bird into a 450°F oven and immediately turn it down to 350°; Barbara Kafka's high temperature recipe which has it at 500° F the entire time; and Alton Brown's brined roast turkey which starts at 500° for 30 minutes before being reduced to 350°.  The other common method, to keep it at 325° the entire cooking time, is also mentioned in the Joy of Cooking, where it is said to be foolproof and "has been rumored to entail much less shrinkage", but that the flavor is superior when starting with high heat.

I decided to go with 450°F for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°, unstuffed and untrussed.  The Joy of Cooking says 13-15 minutes per pound, but since I would keep the oven hot a bit longer and was aiming for a lower temperature (the USDA recommendation is now 165°F interior temperature, it used to be 180°F), I was ready for it to be a bit shorter than that.  I wasn't prepared for how fast it went.

Since I had just acquired a remote temperature probe, I recorded the internal temperature at irregular intervals throughout the cooking.  It turned out to have been done in just over 2 hours, about 6½ minutes per pound!  I then had to keep it warm for a couple hours and warm it up before serving.  It was very good, though, tender and juicy with a nice skin.

This is not something I do often enough to do systematic experiments, but here is the time series data for this trial:

Cranberry Chutney with Tart Green Apple

Getting ready for Thanksgiving, and thinking about recipes.  This is an old favorite we've used since the mid-90s.  I don't have the original source, but it's likely that I got it from The Boston Globe.

Cranberry Chutney with Tart Green Apple

Makes 1 quart.

¾ lb. cranberries, fresh
1½ lb. peeled, cored, chopped tart green apples
¼ cup chopped onions
2 tsp. minced ginger
½ cup cider vinegar
1 cup granulated white sugar
¼ tsp. salt
⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper powder
1½ cup sliced celery

Combine all ingredients but the celery in a 3-quart pot.  Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until mixture is thick (15 to 20 minutes).  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.  Add the celery and cook 5 more minutes.

Serve while still warm.

Keeps several weeks in the refrigerator.

Poppy seed muffins

As Alton Brown would say, these aren't really muffins, they're cupcakes.  But they're good.  It's a very runny batter, like a cake batter instead of muffin batter.  I didn't realize what a huge recipe I was making until I was already too far along to back out, so I made a dozen muffins and two small loaves.  The glaze is nice, but so sweet that I wish I had backed off on the sugar in the muffins themselves.

Poppy Seed Muffins

3 eggs
2½ cups white sugar
1⅛ cups vegetable oil
1½ cups milk
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1½ tablespoons poppy seeds
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup orange juice [I used lemon juice]
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons butter, melted

1. Beat together the eggs, 2½ cups white sugar and vegetable oil. Add in milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond flavoring, and flour. Mix well.
2. Bake in paper lined muffin cups (filled ¾ full or 3 small greased loaf pans) at 350° F (175° C) for 15-20 minutes for muffins and 50-60 minutes for loaves. The tops should be browned and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
3. Remove muffins as soon as you can while still warm/hot and dunk tops into glaze. Turn right side up and cool on a cookie rack. With loaves just pour the glaze evenly over the three loaves while still in pans. Let cool to a warm temp. and remove from pans. Yes, it is a little messy but it is really good.
4. To Make Glaze: In a saucepan over low heat, combine ¾ cup sugar, orange juice, ½ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon almond flavoring and 2 teaspoons melted butter. Warm in pan until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over loaf pans or dunk muffin tops into glaze when cooled to room temperature. (Omit the glaze altogether if you don't like the mess.) 

Allrecipes.com

Final week

This is our final batch of farm vegetables for the year.  Right now, that's OK with me as far as arugula, radicchio and radishes go, and we have enough sweet potatoes to last a while, but we will miss the rest of it until next spring.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• 12 sweet potatoes (only 6¼ lbs., less than half last week)
• Radicchio
• Rutabaga
• Scallions
• Turnips

A metric ton of sweet potatoes

OK, only 6.13 kg (13½ lbs.)  There was a whole extra bag of 19 sweet potatoes outside the box this week.  Luckily, they keep.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Radicchio
• Sweet potatoes    
• Rutabaga
• Spinach

Daikon and carrot pickles

Using a recipe from the NY Times and a recipe from Epicurious, I made some daikon and carrot pickles tonight. Very simple and good. The daikon is still a little bitter, but the sugar and salt helps cut that.

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch matchsticks
2 medium daikons, peeled and cut into 2 inch matchsticks
½ cup rice vinegar
2 tsp. + ¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt

Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and 2 tsp. sugar.  Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain, rinse, and drain again.  Dissolve the ¼ cup sugar in the rice vinegar, and pour over vegetables.  It's good right away, better after it sits for a while.

The Pickle Guys

I had no idea there was a pickle district in Manhattan!  A story on NPR tonight about The Pickle Guys made me want to go there sometime soon.

View Larger Map

Winter squash risotto

1 butternut or acorn squash
½ cup olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced
2 large cloves garlic
2 cups arborio rice
6 cups chicken stock (or 3 cups homemade, 3 cups water)
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup grated parmesan
4 T. salted butter
salt and pepper to taste
more parmesan to grate on top

Cut the squash in half and clean out, then roast on an oiled baking sheet until very soft. Scrape out flesh. Mash roughly with fork. Start stock (or stock and water) heating in medium size pan; bring to a simmer and hold it there throughout. Heat olive oil over medium heat, then saute onion and garlic until soft. Add the rice and stir to coat while heating for approximately 1 minute. Add the wine, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. Add the simmering stock, 1-2 cups at a time, stirring frequently and letting the excess liquid be absorbed with each addition, like any risotto. When most of the liquid of the final addition has been absorbed, add the squash, stirring until it is heated through and lumps are broken up. When the risotto is the desired consistency, stir in cheese, butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with more cheese on top.

Linzertorte

From the recipe by Stephanie Jaworski at Joy of Baking.com. I used store bought ground almonds and hazelnuts, and measured most of this by weight. I also used store bought raspberry preserves, and salted butter, and all of it worked well. Some recipes have some cocoa powder in the crust; maybe next time.

1 cup (150 g) ground almonds
½ cup (57 g) ground hazelnuts
1½ cups (210 g) all purpose flour
⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
zest of one large lemon
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
14 T. (195 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
one cup raspberry preserves
confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10 inch tart pan or springform pan. Place the nuts, flour, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking powder in a food processor, and process until well blended. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and pulse until dough just begins to come together. Gather the dough in a ball and divide into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap the smaller ball of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Take the larger ball of dough, and press into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan (or approximately 1 inch up the sides of a springform pan). Spread the raspberry preserves over the bottom of the crust. Remove the smaller ball of dough from the refrigerator and roll it between two pieces of waxed paper, into a rectangle about 10 x 6 inches. With a sharp knife or fluted pastry cutter, cut the dough into 10 ½ inch wide strips. Gently transfer the strips to the tart pan, without trying to weave them. Trim the edges of the strips in the tart pan. Take the leftover scraps of dough, rolll them into a long rope approximately ¼ inch thick, and place the rope/pieces around the outer edge of the tart where the strips meet the bottom crust, pressing in the edges and sealing. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cook on a rack before unmolding. Keeps well cooled overnight in the refrigerator; dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Betsy Zimm's Cream of Carrot Soup

In the depths of Lyme disease despair one time, I drove over to meet Sarah in Minneapolis and stayed a few days. Betsy made this soup. I've no idea if it's a regular recipe of hers, but that's how I forever think of it. I also have no idea where the recipe came from.

1 cup chopped white of leek
2 large yellow onions, chopped
4 T. butter
~2 lb. sweet carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
5 T. uncooked white rice
pinch of sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. crushed dried thyme
1 small bay leaf
pinch of cayenne
1½cups milk
⅓ cup cream
dash of nutmeg

Saute onions and leeks in butter until golden. Add carrots, water, broth, rice, sugar, salt, thyme, bay leaf, and cayenne. Cover and simmer approximately 40 minutes, or until carrots and rice are completely mushy soft. Remove bay leaf. Puree in blender or food processor until velvety smooth. Can be refrigerated or frozen here.

Return to saucepan, stir in milk, cream and nutmeg, and heat through, stirring gently. Correct seasoning with pinch of salt or nutmeg. Sprinkle each serving with chopped fresh chives. Makes 8 to 10 generous servings.

Now that we are getting cauliflower and arugula att the same time, we can make one of our favorite salads. There is also carrot soup and gumbo on the slate for this week.

• Arugula
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Chard
• Kohlrabi
• Leeks
• Radicchio
• Rutabaga
• Turnips