I don’t know why I do the whole shebang for the two of us…guess it’s because I love to cook, and this is an excuse to spend a couple of days playing with our food. I think I’ve cooked a turkey almost every way imaginable, with the exception of deep frying. I’d love to taste one done that way. I’ll bring anything you like if you invite me! I’ve cooked it overnight in a paper bag, upside down, draped in cheesecloth soaked in butter…tented with foil, and so on and so on. For the past 5 years I’ve been brining my birds. In the past few years the salt water has been replaced with a brining solution. The first time, it was a purchased mix. These days, it’s our own concoction, and the one this year…oh my!
This year we used 1 cup of salt to each gallon of water, with 1/2 cup of sugar added to smooth it out. Heat that solution to dissolve the sugar and salt, and add in….2 Tbsp. pickling spice, 1 Tbsp. juniper berries, 1 Tbsp. peppercorns, 1/2 an onion – sliced, a whole head of garlic – cut in half, 2 bay leaves, 2 large springs of rosemary, 2 springs of thyme, a few sage leaves-sliced, 1 orange-thickly sliced, a bouquet garni, and a stalk of celery-sliced. Sprinkle on a generous dose of poultry seasoning just in case we left anything out, and bring just to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Soak turkey at least 24 hours. Roast, breast side down for 30 minutes at 425º, reduce heat to 300º and flip bird over. Roast until done. We lifted the skin and seasoned the meat with poultry seasoning and a few pats of butter. There was a big piece of fat in the body cavity, and it went up under the skin too.
Errors…well…I tried to keep the bottom of the pan moist, as it was full of carrots, garlic, onion, and so on and so forth…that didn’t work out as well as I would have liked. The turkey cooked so long that the veggies went way beyond carmelized, to charcoalized. The fat had incredible flavor, but we couldn’t use the pan drippings. Next year…add veggies at 140º. Also, don’t reheat the brussel sprouts for the same amount of time as the rolls. Add them half way through. Although they were really dark roasted, they were still good, because they weren’t burned, just super concentrated in flavor.
Good things…mashed sweet potatoes thrive and sparkle with flavor if you add just a wee bit of balsamic vinegar. Go figure. A tiny bit of chicken demi-glace can intensify the flavor of the gravy. We really liked the flavor of the meat with this brine recipe. Not only did it smell heavenly at all stages, it gave the turkey a lot of flavor. The breast meat was very moist when I cut into it.
Everything came out just fine. As soon as Turkey-Lurkey cools down, I’ll strip the carcass and start our annual batch of turkey something soup. I’m just too stuffed right now. Cleaning the carcass means I’ll end up eating at least a few bites…I can’t eat a few bites of anything yet. And oh, I want to!
We had them with ham, the kids had their with the previously detailed menu. The recipe went smoothly for me up to the point of layering them into the dish. How do you know how they’ll taste if you season in the pan? Mine needed more salt all the way around. I wasn’t about to toss out all that milk, so I scooped my potatoes out with a straining spoon, and drained them before I layered them into the pan.
Each year a little more is added to the Society’s stash of materials. Last year they purchased the dinnerware and utensils, this year, tablecloths were added, next year more linens, and perhaps covers for the chair backs. There are 20 students in the group, we fed 19 of them on this occasion.
Step 1, get them in and seated…get them something to drink, and start taking their orders. That’s our principal in the back, she’s acting as the manager.
These are 5th graders, and those are NOT clip on ties. This time it’s easy…there aren’t really choices, but they get a look at what real dinner house menus look like. The Leadership Society advisers are their servers. It gives the kids an opportunity to learn as they go. They’re comfortable with their advisers, so there’s no problem learning how to ask for something, the proper way.
Over in the prep area, a nearby classroom, 19 Caesar salads are prepped with salad and croutons; Parmesan and pepper were available from the servers at the table. The salads were easy. The entrees took a little more work! We had chicken…next year it needs a sauce, gratin dauphinois,
And yes, I got 20 servings out of that pan! We had a very colorful mixed vegetable…green beans, carrots, red bell peppers, and seasoned with rosemary. Rolls and butter were on the tables for them. Dessert was a purchased pumpkin cheesecake (a challenge to turn out 20 servings of) with orange glaze…it was so yummy! The kids did great! They at least tasted everything, and most cleaned their plates.
I reheated the milk, added a bit more so there would be enough, sliced potatoes as for the gratin and simmered them in the milk until they were tender (again, achieving a browned crust at the bottom of my saucepan, that lifted away in one piece (YAY!). I sauteed thinly sliced leeks, added a bit of chicken stock and a bay leaf for additional flavor, then pureed the whole lot with an immersion blender. I also added a bit of blond roux and cream to thicken it slightly more than it came out. We’ve learned so much, it’s easy to fix little things now.
