California wine actually beat French wines in a Paris-based tasting.
Chateau Montelena's Napa winery
This week: Appetizers (including make-ahead ones), and Turkey!
(If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.)
Happy Thanksgiving!
-JT
We have been dry brining our bird for at last the last 15 years. Besides the salt hubby takes fresh poultry herbs and chops them up and mixes in with the salt. Probably have the same LA times recipe. We also get a fresh bird from a local turkey farm.
These are very quick & easy Cheese Crisps...using rice crispy cereal...
Cheese Crisps
Yield: 2 dozen
Ingredients:
7 tbsp butter, at room temperature
8 oz gruyere or cheddar cheese, shredded
3.5 oz all purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup crispy rice cereal
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat together the butter and cheese until combined. Add the flour, cayenne, and salt and beat until you get a crumbly dough. Add the rice cereal and beat briefly just to combine (don’t overbeat or you might break up the rice crisps).
Use a disher to portion out 1 tbsp amounts of dough, and place onto a sheet pan (it will look like a pile of rubble). Use a fork to hash and compact it down. Bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Let them cool, and enjoy!
These are also great finger food & easy to modify...
Roll-Ups
Cranberry & Feta, Onion & cheese, Blue cheese and nuts, and cream cheese and lox. All use flour tortillas. Burrito size are quicker and make bigger rolls, but any size will do.
Cranberry & Feta:
8oz cream cheese (room temperature)
4-6oz crumbled feta (room temp)
6oz bag dried cranberries(chopped)
Cream the cheeses in a mixer or food processor and mix in cranberries. spread on tortillas and roll tight. wrap in saran and refrigerate or freeze (will keep for 3 months in freezer.) 15 minutes before serving unwrap and slice.
Blue Cheese & nuts
8oz cream cheese (room temp)
4oz crumbled blue cheese (room temp)
4 oz chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Chopped apple (optional)
Same as above
Cream Cheese & Lox
8oz cream cheese (room temp)
3-4tbs sour cream
3-4oz smoked salmon/lox (chopped)
1-2 TBS of capers (drained & chopped if large)
chopped scallion(optional)
1-2tsp lemon juice
Same as above
Cheese and onion
3 large onions - chopped
1 stick butter
8oz cream cheese - cut in pieces
6-8oz shredded swiss cheese
Put onions and butter in frying pan and saute for about 20 minutes until they are limp, but not burned. Stir in cheeses until melted. Spread on tortillas and roll tightly. Wrap in saran and refrigerate overnight.
To serve: Preheat oven to 375. Grease baking sheet. Cut rolls into 1 inch slices. Place upright on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Ham Roll Up
diced ham (use either leftover cooked ham or luncheon slices)
diced onions
cream cheese, room temperature
flour tortillas
Stir first three ingredients together. Spread onto tortillas and roll up. Refrigerate. Slice into pinwheels.
That dry-brining idea comes from the Zuni Café——so it has to be delicious.
I have several of Zuni’s recipes........each one a gem.
Chateau Montelena's Napa winery
This recipe never FAILS to please. I bring it to our Family Christmas every year...and people beg for more!
Crock Pot Mushrooms
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/230775/crock-pot-mushrooms/
There is not a single thing healthy about them, but it’s a once a year treat. :)
NOTE: If you decide to double or triple the recipe, cut back on the dry Ranch Dressing. I’ve found that ONE packet easily flavors 3 pounds of mushrooms, otherwise it’s way too salty, at least to my pallet. I mean, you’re clogging up the arteries of your guests - don’t want to over-salt them as well, LOL!
Posted this else where today but probably belongs on the cooking thread.
HTB Top Secret Dry Brine (now in the hands of the Chinese Government)
Zest of three lemons
Zest of three oranges
Four tablespoons salt
Four tablespoons brown sugar
Two teaspoon poultry seasoning (get a new bottle Not the one that has been sitting in your cupboard since Clinton was in office)
One teaspoon allspice.
One teaspoon Zatarains Creole Spice
One teaspoon Beau Monde.
One medium turkey.
Mix together and then rub on turkey UNDER the skin. All over, get the breast the legs the back don’t forget the inside the cavity and under the tail. (You did take the gibbles, neck, gravy pack and silly pop up thermometer out, right? Good)
Remove the skin from the oranges with a knife leaving the flesh exposed and stuff the oranges inside the cavity.
Now get a very large bowl, you can even use the turkey roaster if you like, cover the bird and pop in the refrigerator.
Keep it there for a couple days (Honestly you can do it up to four with no loss of quality of the meat) turning every twelve hours.
Now the drying portion, uncover the turkey, place on a rack and let the skin dry (still in the refrigerator naturally). 24 to 36 hours. Do not skip this step. The skin will not crisp as nicely without doing this.
Thanksgiving Day.
Take the turkey out and remove oranges. Now chop two parts onion, two parts apple, one part celery, one part carrot and a packet of the fresh poultry herb. (You can use a half teaspoon of dried of fresh is not possible to get but get fresh if you can. So worth it)
Stuff cavity and tail section.
Bush skin lightly with melted butter.
Heat your oven to 450 degrees, pop in turkey (covered, breast side down) and lower the temperature to 350.
Cook until it is a half hour from being done. Now turn turkey and uncover. Lightly brush skin with butter again if you like. Now continue to roast uncovered until done or skin is desired crispness.
Take out, let rest for about 25 minutes (covered).
Eat.
Oh, you want to know what to do with the gibblets, neck and tail?
Ok, slice and fry in a bit of butter (on the day you defrosted the turkey, organ meat decomposes rapidly when raw) boil the neck and tail to make broth. Pick bones out of neck. Store meat and broth until you are ready to make gravy. When you turn the turkey you should be able to get some drippings, add to broth and meat, heat on stove, add arrow root to thicken. Done!
Now can we eat?
You want to know what to do with the gravy pack?
Target practice.
We DO have so much to be grateful for this year!!! I’ll toast to that.
I have wet brined a turkey for about 10 years with Melinda lee’s brine. Best turkeys ever. So juicy and delicious.
http://www.melindalee.com/recipes/brine-ultimate-brine-for-turkey/
Have to get started by Sunday because even the fresh birds need to thaw inside a bit.
Then at least 24 hours in the brine and 24 hours dry in the pot in the fridge.
I have always wanted to try a deep fried turkey though.
Couple of easy things my late father loved. He grew up with traditional meat and potatoes cooking that had German and Amish influence. He always loved when we brought “city food.”
Pepperoni Dip
- 8 oz cream cheese room temp.
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 can Ro-Tel w/ green chili drained. We preferred hot.
- Pepperoni slices cut into quarters. We used around 2 cups.
Stir the cream cheese and sour cream together until blended smooth. Add the Ro-Tel and pepperoni. Serve with chips.
Shrimp Dip
Thaw and pat dry 2 cups of cooked cocktail shrimp. Spread 8oz cream cheese on bottom of serving dish. Cover with cocktail sauce. Spread the shrimp evenly over the top. Serve with crackers or toast rounds.
For those who have one oven and freak out over trying to make Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. It’s all in the timing and is really no fuss.
Wednesday, the day before:
Bake pies
Bake the cornbread for dressing
Turkey Day dinner for noonish so you aren’t interrupting the college game:
7 am - Turn on the oven. Get the giblet bag out. Put the bird in a pan and covered with foil. Put the bird, as is (he’s salty enough from processing), in the oven.
Put the giblets in a small pot with water and let them cook slowly over the NOT turned on back burner that the heat comes out of.
10:30 - Check the bird and remove the foil to crisp the skin. Remove broth for the gravy and dressing. Prep the sides.
11 to 11:30 - Take the bird out of the oven and cover with foil so he stays warm. Put the sides and dressing into the oven. As soon as there’s room in the oven, put in the rolls.
Set the table.
People are eating no later than 12:30.
Mr. T is going shopping for Thanksgiving tomorrow. He’s probably getting a turkey, a can or two of pumpkin, pie shells, cranberries, oranges, Bell’s stuffing mix, sweet potatoes, squash, baking potatoes, onions, chicken stock, almonds and green beans. Anything goes once he gets to the store.
He makes the cranberry sauce and gravy. Homemade cranberry sauce is delicious. Fresh cranberries, orange zest, Cointreau (orange-flavoured liqueur), and sugar or splenda.
This recipe from Food Network looks like it would work:
INGREDIENTS Nutrition
SERVINGS 6-8 UNITS US
12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 tablespoons Cointreau liqueur
DIRECTIONS
Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a boil; add cranberries, return to a boil.
Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat. Add orange zest and Cointreau (or Grand Marnier) and stir.
Let cool at room temperature.
Refrigerate until cold, or serve at room temperature.
I always buy a kosher bird which is always brined through the, well, koshering process. In recent years, they have figured out a way to wash off most of the salt which added such richness and an almost candy-like texture and taste to the meat but it is still delicious.
I just pre-made my pumpkin pie crust. One trouble: I made a pretty leaf border to the crust and I always have a little drooping in the baking process spoiling the effect. Any way to prevent it?
can someone enlightened me about them.....do you have to use lard and why is it important to use dried apples?...
when I am at wifi (not as much as Id like)and have time, this is positively the most fun thread to browse (maybe tied with gardening thread.
Loved everyones offerings.. as I browsed through just now. Printing up a few
Thank you everyone for sharing so much !