turkey part deux: wine-ing it up!

This year's Thanksgiving turned out waaaaaay less stressful than last year's over-achievement. I had written just a little blurb of what happened, but in reality, I was freaking out about how much to feed six people. Although that's really not something to panic about, I was really unsure of how much food to prepare since I had a skewed sense of portioning: during Thanksgiving, my parents make at LEAST seven dishes to feed their moderate family of SIX.

Turkey, bourbon ham, lumpia, rice, stuffing, meatballs . . . it was a labor of love that my mom and dad always looked forward to indulging during this time of year. What did that translate to? Feasting for days, of course! But when I applied that to last years cooking, I found people hardly ate at all. To my disappointment, my guests were too drunk to even enjoy (or appreciate) the veggie and cracker platter I put together for them to snack on.

On times like these, I miss my friends in San Diego. *sigh* I could always count on them to not only imbibe, but also to feast!

So this year, I decided that MY turkey day was going to focus on AFTER entertainment was over. I made food that me and the hubby were going to enjoy afterwards and didn't really care who was coming to dinner. . .

And wouldn't you know it . . . if the people from last year were too drunk to eat, these people were too full to eat! What the HECK!?! I never really understood why people eat before going to someone else's house to EAT. Isn't that the point of going to dinner? To EAT?! I was irked when the people we invited finally left . . . The point of making so much food was in order for them to enjoy it and they didn't even eat at all.

Ugh . . . Maybe it's a cultural thing.

My mother always taught me that if you went to someone's house, you had a plateful of food to satisfy hunger, but not gluttony. In other words, enjoy what was being served to you but not to the point where you were eating the whole banquet table. Even the parties that my aunties or uncles used to throw when I was younger had people enjoying food throughout the night until only a few dishes remained. People nibbled because food was prepared to be nibbled on. Isn't that what people are supposed to do if there's food set out for you to eat?

But enough of me whining. I'm just glad we didn't make anything else!

Speaking of whining, I decided to use wine for this year's turkey. I was tempted to use the apple-citrus brine from before, but I like the idea of having an ever-changing Thanksgiving turkey each year. So for this one, I decided to go with a white wine brine. I like that it's different from the orange and apple infused flavors that's popular around this time of year and instead uses plain ol' lemon for the citrus.

Another winning thing about the recipe was the fact that it didn't have a bajillion things to make the flavor profile. It was simple and sweet, and almost a no-brainer. :) I changed a few things based on what I had on hand and scaled down the recipe to fit my dinky nine pound turkey. Also, in order to speed up the process, I used ice instead of water courtesy of the automatic ice machine in my fridge (win!).

Oh, and did I mention that this was a pre-brined turkey? I made the mistake of brining one last year and it turned a tad bit salty (like ALMOST too salty). This year, I learned from my mistake and cut the salt called for in half. It still resulted in a slightly salty turkey, but then again, it might be due to the fact that it was sitting in brine for three to four days. It was still edible, but not like last year. As a precaution, I've halved the salt even further in the recipe below . . . just in case.

Despite that fact, this turkey turned out lovely. I paired it with a compound butter that mimicked the flavor profile to boost all the lovely flavors going on in the recipe. It was awesome. It was tasty. And there were so much leftovers for me to play with afterwords! Ha ha, suckers! Stupid guests . . . That's your loss!

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White Wine Turkey Brine (for pre-brined turkeys)
(adapted from Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen)

2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup kosher salt
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole black peppercorn
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 bunch poultry bouquet (sage, rosemary, thyme)
2 cups white wine
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed but left in skins
1 large lemon, sliced
1 tbsp white vinegar
4 to 5 cups ice
8.5 to 9 lbs turkey, giblets and neck removed

 
Bring the stock, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and poultry bouquet to boil. Stir until salt is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour in the wine, then add the onion, garlic, lemon, and vinegar. Stir in enough ice to cool mixture.

Place turkey in a large enough container to allow for bird to be fully submerged. Ladle some of the brine into container. Slowly lower in the turkey and continue to add brine until turkey is covered, making sure to stuff the cavity with a handful of herbs, onion, and lemon.

Close container and refrigerate for at least 24 hours up to 3 days. Remove turkey from the brine the night before cooking, pat dry, and place on a baking sheet in the refrigerator uncovered overnight. Bring turkey to room temperature before using a compound butter for roasting, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

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Herbed Compound Butter with Lemon and Garlic
(makes enough for a 10.lbs turkey)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large sprig sage
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp onion powder
zest of half a lemon
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of fresh ground pepper

 
Rough chop sage and mince together rosemary and thyme. Add to butter. Add garlic, onion powder, zest, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined then refrigerate for at least overnight before use. Bring to room temperature before applying to turkey.

To use compound butter:
When compound butter is at room temperature, position turkey on roasting rack. Carefully separate the skin from the breasts of the turkey. Spread butter over breast meat under skin until a thin layer forms. Slather additional butter onto the remaining areas of the turkey, as well as the inside cavity. Discard any leftover butter.

Loosely place some celery, carrot, and onion in the cavity of the turkey. Roast at 475F degrees for the first 30 minutes then at 325F for the remainder of the cooking time (fyi: an almost 9.lbs turkey takes around 3 hours to cook at this temperature). If skin starts to brown too quickly, cover problem areas with foil to prevent burning.

Cook to 155F degrees then let rest for at least 30 minutes. Bird will continue to cook and should reach a safe internal temperature of 165F degrees.

orange with a hint of spice.

I've been juicing lately. As a result, there's a whole bunch of fruits and vegetables clogging the counter and waiting to be used. One such fruit are some navel oranges that I got on sale. I went a little crazy and got a little too much...sales on fruit here in Guam is something that I try to take advantage of. I just went a little overboard this time around...

So, what to do? Cook with it, of course! That's where this recipe comes in. I've made orange chicken before but I kind of wanted to do something a little different, flavor-wise. What struck me as interesting was the use of cumin and coriander. Cumin? Coriander? With orange?? I gotta try this!

Obviously I made some changes to what I had on hand. Navel for blood oranges. Chicken thighs for chicken breast. Also, dried rosemary as opposed to fresh. But what I ended up with did not disappoint! The spices gave the orange chicken a hint of exoticness which complimented the sweet orange sauce. The added zest I threw in also really kicked up the yummy orange flavor. I do, however, wished that I had fresh rosemary...my dried herb was starting to lose it's potency. To round out the meal, I paired this with some sauteed green beans and some creamy mashed potatoes. Yummy! Definitely worth making and hopefully again very soon!

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Spice Crusted Chicken with Blood Orange Maple Glaze
(from Simply Scratch)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp toasted and freshly ground cumin
1 tbsp toasted and freshly ground coriander
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp light olive oil
2 medium shallots, sliced
3/4 cup blood orange juice, strained {about 4 blood oranges}
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup maple Syrup
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl; combine the cumin, coriander and kosher salt. Season both sides of four chicken breasts using all of the spices in the bowl.

Add the two tablespoons of butter and olive oil to a large 12-inch oven-safe skillet and heat over medium-medium/high heat.

Once hot add the chicken in {top side down} and cook for 4-5 minutes or until a nice crust forms and it is easy to turn the chicken. If the chicken sticks, it needs more time.

Once the crust has formed, flip and slide the whole pan into your preheated oven. Bake the chicken for 20 minutes. Once the chicken is fully cooked, use tongs to transfer the chicken to a clean plate and tent with tin foil to keep warm

Heat the skillet over medium-high heat and add in the sliced shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally until they're soft and translucent. Next, pour in the blood orange juice, chicken broth and maple syrup. Add in the rosemary and black pepper and simmer until reduce by half to 75 % and a thick glaze remains... about 8-10 minutes.

Taste and season with kosher salt to taste {if needed} and add the chicken back it to warm up a tad more, then spoon the glaze over top of the chicken and serve.

jammin' with apricots.

one thing that i find that sits in my pantry is a bottle of jam or preserves. call me crazy, but i rarely eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. why? i have no idea...probably because it's a little too simple and i like me a challenge. not to say that making a kick ass pb&j sandwich won't be challenging, but i rarely have sliced bread in the house so that adds to the difficulty of things. and so now, i currently have both apricot and strawberry that's slowly inching it's way to expiration. lucky for me, i still have about november of next year before it goes bad.

so what to do? omgoogle, of course! using jam or preserves in cooking isn't a new thing for me. i've cooked with it before and it turned out pretty awesome. this time, after googling "apricot preserves" i stumbled on this recipe for grilled chicken. rosemary? apricot? winner!!

followed the recipe ingredients and added some paprika (just because it's my favorite spice) and deviated from the directions entirely. the result? not too sweet, a little tangy, and very prominent rosemary flavor. definitely a permanent fixture in my recipe repoitoire. and so is the quesadillas i decided to make out of them!!

 

Apricot Rosemary Chicken
(adapted from A Kitchen Muse)

3 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary, divided (didn't divide mine)
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar (didn't have it, used light brown sugar and closer to 1 tbsp)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (used a peppercorn medley grinder, about 10-12 turns.)
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1¼ lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch cubes (skipped this and left the chicken whole, about 2-3 medium-sized thigh meat)
¾ cup apricot preserves
3 tablespoons soy sauce (didn't have any regular, subbed ponzu soy sauce)
½ teaspoon hungarian sweet paprika

Take chicken and pierce with a fork all over (this is to help with the marinade process). Combine all other ingredients well and place everything in a ziploc bag. Marinate for 1-2 days, turning bag occasionally. When ready, take chicken from bag and drip off excess marinade. Grill until done and let rest ten minutes before serving. Discard marinade or cook in pan until reduced and thickened to drizzle over chicken. (this is where i deviated from the recipe. to see original instructions, click here.)

(serves two to three)  

(not my picture but it looks similar, lol.)

Apricot Rosemary Chicken Quesadilla with Wild Arugula and Marinade Reduction
(serves one)

1 Apricot Rosemary Chicken thigh
handful of wild arugula (i got mine from trader joe's, also labeled "wild rocket salad")
a couple handfuls of mexican four cheese blend
2 medium flour tortillas
½ cup marinade from the chicken, cooked until reduced and slightly thickened
chopped italian parsley (optional, for garnish)

1. roughly chop chicken into bite-sized pieces. set aside.

2. take one tortilla and toast on one side. flip over, add a handful of cheese just enough to cover the tortilla and let melt.

3. when melted, add the chopped chicken. drizzle wih a couple spoonfuls of marinade then add arugula. cover with the rest of the cheese and top with the other tortilla. let sit to slightly melt the new cheese then flip over. toast the bottom tortilla until crispy.

4. remove from heat, cut into fours, and drzzle top of quesadilla with remaning marinade reduction. garnish with chopped parsley if desired. enjoy! :D <

valentine's day.

ah, valentine's day. this valentine's day consisted of a candlelight dinner, cuddling, and spending time with the boyfriend. last year we went out and rather than deal with the hassle of waiting in line to eat, we decided to make dinner at home instead. i've actually posted this dish before. it's one of the boyfriend's favorite and so that ended up being what we ate for dinner yesterday. :)



start off with olive oil, fresh rosemary, minced garlic, paprika, salt and pepper as a marinade for the chicken. stab the chicken a few times to let all that goodness soak in and let stand for about ten minutes in the fridge. afterwards, arrange the chicken in an oven-proof dish (or foil pan if you don't want to wash, lol), top with thin slices of butter and bake at a pre-heated oven for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees. you can forgo the butter if you want, i usually do if i'm just making it as a everyday thing. yesterday, tho, was something special. :D



first things first, cut the potatoes and boil them in salted water. while the potatoes cook, prep the chicken and the brussels sprouts. when they're done cooking, you can let the potatoes sit in the hot water and do the brussels sprouts like i did, or you can do the mashed potatoes. for these, i mashed it, added pepper and garlic powder to taste, added some butter, added milk till i got the right consistency, then finished it off with some spring onions.


you should get something that looks like this. yummm.... when i did the mashed patatoes, i turned the burner on low so that the mashed potatoes could stay nice and hot. hate it when food gets cold. :(




brussels sprouts. these i did between putting the chicken in the oven and before the mashed potatoes. start off with prepping them and cutting them in half. then i tossed them with olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper. put them face down on the pan, then tossed and roasted them until they got a nice little crispness to them. now set these babies aside.


in the same pan, poured in two parts balsamic vinaigrette dressing and one part honey, sprigs of rosemary, onion powder and paprika . brought to a boil and let it simmer until syrupy. took my brussels sprouts and made sure to evenly coat every single one of them with the glaze. if a few ended up in my mouth, that's a-okay! ;D and that's it!


and we had dessert! just something nice and simple. stewed some apples in cinnamon sugar butter then added a bit of spiced rum. mmm..... and how did we have it?


with cinnamon ice cream of course! this actually paired really well with ben and jerry's cinnamon buns ice cream. delicious! all in all, not too bad a dinner. no, what in the heck do i make today?!