A Turkey Spa- The secret to succulent TURKEY

Hey all you turkey virgins! Don't worry, Thanksgiving this year will not be at Boston Market. I have your answer to dry turkey!

Prep (24 hours in advance): A Lesson on Brining
A DAY before roasting, treat your turkey to a little TLC, a spa day if you will. A day where it gets to soak its little body in a salt bath, so that its meat can get nice and tender. Still not sold, take it up with Alton Brown

Brining:
Emerge the turkey in an ice bath
Add 1 cup sugar (brown or white we're not racist)
Add 1 cup salt
Optional (bay leaf, cloves of garlic, peppercorns, chiliflakes, get fancy if you want)

Prep: T-Day
The turkey can't wait to get a tan, but first, you must take it from the bath and be sure to remove any excess water. Then rubb it generously with oil, salt, and pepper. Give it a nice massage.
Then you must decide whether to stuff your bird.

Stuffing the turkey
Why stuff? In this case, I'm in favor of false advertising, aka stuffing. Stuffing does add to cooking time but it's damn delicious. So you have two options- stuff the bird with stuffing (bread dressing as they say in England, I know gross) or place aromatic citric fruit and herbs inside. Your choice. I SAY STUFF.

Roasting the Turkey
Place the turkey breast side down in a pan and tie its legs shut.
Then roast it uncovered for 20 mins at 450 degrees F.
After, cover it with foil and turn down the heat to 250 degrees F, adding 20 additional minutes for each pound.
MAKE SURE SOMEONE DOUBLE CHECKS YOUR MATH.
Remove the turkey from the oven, keep it covered, and let IT REST!
This allows the juices to stay within the meat.
Make the gravy from the drippings by whisking in butter and flour.

Grilled Cheese Revisited-Mediterranean Style

There are two things I crave at 2am and drunk from a night out, those being fried eggs and toast, OR grilled cheese. As much as I love grilled cheese, it can get a little monotonous. Luckily, the name of the dish lends itself for a wide array of interpretations as grilled cheese can pretty involve anything so much as it has melted cheese on bread. Am I right?

Using my left overs from last night's meal, I made this....
Goat Cheese, Sage, and Red Pepper Grilled Cheese, with a drizzle of honey!
I call it my Mediterranean Grilled Cheese

Mediterranean Grilled Cheese
5-6 thinly sliced slivers of roasted red peppers (I roast mine but bought are fine)
3 tbs goat cheese (creamy)
4 pieces of sage
tsp honey
1 tb olive oil (butter is fine, but olive oil is "healthier")

Directions....figure it out.

Try my Italian Grilled Cheese as well: buffalo mozzarella, tomato, and pesto.

Anyhow, this is just an idea, but feel free to get creative and give this American treat a non-reality show makeover!

Warning: Do not attempt this while drunk :-)
(Last time I tried to cook drunk I tried to make fried eggs. Got the cracking down, the landing however, not so much. Each egg ended up on the floor. Mind you, I repeated this 6 times. :-/)

Pork Pot Pie

Why pork? I am in Spain after all, plus why should chicken get to have all the fun?
Pork Pot Pie is an easy way to warm up on a cold rainy day like today.

Crust
BUY IT! It's so much easier if you do.
I used my biscuit recipe for a topping but honestly, but a pre-made crust.

Filling
1 medium potato
1 medium carrot
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
2 pork chops
1/2 an onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1tbs butter
1/4 cup flour
1 bay leaf


Assembly
Put all the vegetables and meat in a pot. Fill with enough water to cover. Add salt, a bay leaf, and boil.
Remove the pork chop and shred with a fork.
Remove the vegetables and set aside. Throw away the bay leaf.
Add butter to the stock. Slowly whisk in flour. (If the gravy isn't thick enough add more flour)
Add salt to taste.
Place the vegetables in the gravy and cover with the pre-made crust.
Bake at 350F/180C until the crust is golden brown.

Pumpkin? Not Over My Dead Grandma's Mac n' Cheese

Breaking Family Tradition for Pumpkin Mac'n Cheese

For those of you who haven't heard about my Grandma's Legendary Mac'n Cheese, allow me to tell you a lil story. (As for the rest of you, who have already heard it countless times, well what's another?)

Once upon a Christmas Brunch my father, in his infinite foodie wisdom, disgraced his own poor dead mother by casually informing my Aunt that my Grandma did not know how to properly cook Mac'n Cheese. My Aunt demanded, "Milk, Butter, Cheese, Pasta, Breadcrumbs... how is that not mac'n cheese?"

"Mom used the recipe from the Old version of the Joy of Cooking, which fails to use a béchamel. Real mac'n cheese calls for a béchamel," my dad defended.

"You think you're a better authority than the Joy of Cooking!" My Aunt replied incredulously.

The man had a point, but would I say that it warranted a scene at our annual Christmas Brunch? Well, no. Nevertheless, my brothers and I understood that when it came to my dad, there was only one real way to make mac'n cheese, with a béchamel. Every so often from that day forth, my brothers and I would be subjected to random questioning by my father on the differences on a rue and a béchamel.

So, you can imagine the courage it took for me to devise and hatch out this recipe. For mac'n cheese is sacred in my family. Some would say, more sacred than, oh you know, blood relatives. Thus you don't alter it; you certainly don't add pumpkin or coconut milk to it. Rather, you make it exactly how my father tells you. Period. With that said, I still highly recommend this recipe for this dish is much healthier than it's predecessor, and a great way to once again, incorporate pumpkin into your diet because it is fall after all.

Pumpkin S'mac
(enough to fill halfway to your container) pasta (i prefer shells or something curved and hollow)
1 cup milk/coconut milk
1tbs butter
tbs flour
1 cup un-spiced pumpkin puree (be careful with canned)
1 quarter wedge of brie
packet of grated parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs
garlic
nutmeg

Steps
Boil the pasta.
Make a rue: melt the butter on low heat, add the diced garlic, and add flour. It should turn into a paste.
Add milk to make the béchamel. Slowly stir with a whisk. Let it thicken. Keep on low heat.
Add the pumpkin puree and the cheese. Keep on low heat
Add the nutmeg.
Add the cooked, drained pasta to the cheese sauce.
Pour into the container and top with breadcrumbs.
Broil until you get a nice crust and serve.
It's effin good and somewhat healthy too!

The Secret to Amazing Pizza Dough

Who doesn't love a great thin crust pizza? I know I do.
As many of you know, I'm currently living in Spain and consequently, missing some good ole Americana.
Thus, as a way to celebrate my new apartment with a proper oven, I decided to make a homemade pizza and play beer pong... I know, almost sounds like I'm reminiscent for college and not America.
As we all know, the most important part of a pizza is the dough and I can proudly say, I've finally discovered the secret to making the perfect dough.
And the secret is...are you ready for it...wait for it....
overnight fermentation.

YOU MUST LET THE DOUGH REST OVERNIGHT!

Trust me, this dough is like a hot girl who's worth the wait.
Obviously this recipe isn't meant for last minute meals, however, the recipe makes 6 batches and you can easily freeze the leftovers. I stole the recipe from this site, should you need further clarification on the dough.

Here's the recipe:
4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, nearly ice cold (40°F)
semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

Mix the dry.
Add the oil and slowly stir the water. Incorporate it into the dough and work for 3-5 minutes, but do not OVERWORK the dough. Finished it should be elastic-y and sticky.
Then in a lightly oiled container cover with plastic and store overnight in the fridge.
Take the pizza out 20 minutes before using it, let the dough rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. Grease the pan and sprinkle some semolina or cornflour on it.
Then with extra flour roll the dough with your hands. The less you work the dough the better.

My Favorite Toppings:
fresh buffalo mozz
black kalamata olives
proscutto
arugala
fresh basil

BREE bree's Biscuits

makes 12 biscuits
ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1cup cream/buttermilk
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 stick of butter


1. mix dry ingredients

2. chop cold butter into dry ingredients with your hands. (you should see butter chunks, it should NOT be a smooth batter. The butter chunks help the biscuits to pop).

3. make a well in the flour butter and SLOWLY incorporate the milk a little at a time with a spatula. The dough should be a bit dry and again, you should see chunks of yellow butter ☺

(From here I separated the dough into two piles, in order to make two different varieties: chive parmesan and orange. If you don’t want anything fancy skip to step 5).
(keep the batter cold as you do this)

4. to make parmesan chive biscuits: slowly fold in parm and chives by taking your two hands and folding the dough on top of itself like a sandwich.

in a separate bowl:

to make orange biscuits, slowly fold in the orange zest into the biscuit mix and add a tsp of orange juice from the orange.

5. take the biscuits and separate into small silver dollar pieces. Slowly, and gently make them into biscuits with your hands and place on a slightly buttered pan. Brush the tops with milk/buttermilk/cream. Add honey also to the tops of the orange biscuits.

6. bake for 10-15 at 475F. Let them rest for 2 minutes before you trying to take them off.

Arepa Arepa!

Reason No. 634 to have an international potluck:
You get to learn how to make amazing food from all around the world by pros.


Exhibit A: Arepas de Venezuela as per mi amigo Nacho :-)




Arepa (are-a-pah): According to my favorite arepa bar in NYC (CARACAS), an arepa is a dense yet spongy corn pancake that can be stuffed or topped with a melange of other delicious foods.







Receta (recipe)
1. Mezclar 1 taza de harina y un poquito de sal con agua caliente hasta lograr una masa consistente.
2. Hacer las bolas (esferas) de masa y achatarlas hasta lograr un circulo, del tamaño que quieran.
3. Calentar un sartén con un poco de aceite regado uniformemente, para evitar que se peguen las arepas.
4. Colocar las arepas en el sarten a medio fuego y darles vuelta costantemente para que se cocinen por dentro.
5. Sacarlas del sarten cuando ya estén duras.
6. Rellenarlas con cualquier relleno (jamon, queso, atun, etc)

TRANSLATION?!!
1. Mix one cup of corn flour with a pinch of salt with a cup of hot water until the dough is stiff and NOT sticky.
2. Coat the pan with a VERY thin layer of olive oil on a medium heat.
3. Ball the dough and slowly press between your palms to flatten it out to create perfect small circles (silver dollar pancake size)
4. Fry on both sides until golden and crispy
5. Make a topping or stuffing (Nacho likes to make tuna salad. I, however, have given up tuna due to overfishing. So I would try black beans!)


Other honorable potluck mentions: Elena's Lasagne (best lasagne of my life, sorry grams) recipe to come!
In the meantime, check out her friend's blog for legit italian food! Pentole e... coperchi!!!

Sweet Potato Poutine

Canadians are known for many things, their sense of humor (or in some cases lack thereof), their mounties, Celine Dion, their crazy wild sexual positions. The list goes on and on. However, one of the best kept secrets from us Americans is the delightful food poutine, french fries smothered in gravy and cheese.

The dish is generally used with regular spuds. Taking creative license I chose to use sweet potatoes because, well do you really need a reason? It's sweet potatoes. For gravy, most people will use a chicken gravy. I used chicken gravy myself, yet only because I couldn't find beef broth. Traditionally, poutine is served with cheese curds. However, should you find yourself fresh out, please feel free to substitute some other soft white cheese of your heart's desire. The recipe for poutine is simple, but clearly, open for interpretation.

Regular PoutinePoutine




My Poutine= Sweet Potato Fries + Chicken Gravy + Mozzarella Cheese!




How to make the gravy
Melt a tablespoon of butter.
Add a tablespoon of flour to make the the rue.
Slowly add stock and whisk over a low heat.
Do this until it is to the texture of your liking.