Posted on 11/27/2015 3:56:50 PM PST by Jamestown1630
I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving, and is now enjoying plenty of leftovers!
We took the advice of 'boatbums', and did a dry brine for the first time - just salt. It turned out wonderfully, despite a near disaster.
We began with a fresh turkey, and my husband salted it a few days ahead, dried the turkey naked in the fridge overnight, and started it in the oven at 450 degrees on The Day.
A couple of hours later, the probe thermometer went off, and we stared at each other: something was wrong, and there was no way the turkey could be done!
It turned out that my husband had gotten busy and forgotten to cut the temperature down after the first half-hour! We took it out and it looked perfect; but we prepared ourselves for a pretty dry turkey.
This must be a very fool-proof way to cook a turkey, because it was fabulous: I've never eaten breast meat that had this texture, and the skin was done to crispy perfection.
I don't suggest that anyone do purposely what we did accidentally; but I think that we, too, will always do a dry-brined turkey from now on.
We used to do both a turkey and a ham on Thanksgiving, but we don't have that many people come nowadays, and we've learned the truth of the adage that 'Eternity is a ham and two people'. But when we do bake ham, the following is my favorite use for leftovers: it comes out just like the potted ham in the cute little paper-wrapped tin with the red devil on it:
Deviled Ham
1 1/2 cups cooked ham (about 1/2 pound), chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
3 tablespoons onion, chopped
1 teaspoon whole capers, drained
3-4 tablespoons curly parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or your favorite hot sauce, to taste)
1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse in one second bursts, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Pulse until very well combined, but not quite a smooth paste (some texture here is good). Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld. Serve on crispy crackers or on white bread.
-JT
Leftovers! I’m sure you all have lots of recipes for leftover turkey, so here’s one for ham.
(If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking ping list, please send a private message.)
-JT
A few months ago my market had bone-in ham shanks and shoulders for 77 cents a pound, which was too cheap to resist. I laughed at the “Eternity is a ham and 2 people”, even though it was a smaller ham I took, ai am only one guy... I ate nothing but ham sammiches, ham and eggs, and ham, bean, and potato soup for the next 2 weeks.
I’ve learned now to freeze some of the leftovers from those long-lasting hams; the deviled ham recipe works just fine with frozen ham.
-JT
How come no one never comes up with enjoying eating a large meal and how to really enjoy after the meal?
“”How come no one never comes up with enjoying eating a large meal and how to really enjoy after the meal?””
How come no one ever comes up with what it takes to get a husband in the kitchen to begin with....I should have started 60 years ago as it ain’t going to happen now and I’m tired of cooking!!!
I think that’s what we’re all doing now (???)
-JT
I love turkey and turkey broth makes awesome soup. A freezer is your friend; just pick the meat off the carcass. Freeze what you don’t plan to use within the next 5-7 days. The carcass itself can be broken down and frozen. You can make it into broth when its convenient; a lot easier than freezing large amounts of broth.
LOL!
I’m the cook in our house. You could start your hubby making his own beer. That involves cooking and might get him interested.
That’s a good tip. Most people have bulging freezers at this time of year anyway.
But there’s a way to do broth/stock that takes up very little space; you concentrate it down to where 1 T. added to a cup of water makes a cup of broth; you can save the measured 1 T portions by freezing them in ice cube trays, and then bagging them up. It takes a lot of time, but I once got almost a year’s worth of stock out of a marathon weekend of cooking down the broth; and it took up very little space in the freezer. Helen Witty called it “Chicken Extract”:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1990-04-19/features/9001030683_1_chicken-broth-pot
-JT
Thank you for the Deviled Ham recipe!!!
You’re welcome! I grew up taking those deviled ham sandwiches to school, and I was so glad to find a recipe! (Those little cans are spendy!)
-JT
“”I’m the cook in our house. You could start your hubby making his own beer. That involves cooking and might get him interested.””
You missed the part about my cooking for 60 years - a hint about how long we’ve been kicking around. The only time my husband is in the kitchen now is to see what dinner is going to be and how long it’s going to take to get it to the table. That’s what old age does to a person. 10 years ago, it wouldn’t have mattered. I’d have to find him to tell him dinner was ready. And making beer - nope; gave it up when he came from the Arctic in the ‘50’s....but I guess that was the hard stuff to kill the boredom at an AF isolated radar station. Off duty, of course!
when he came from the Arctic = when he came HOME from the Arctic....
Be careful that you don’t create a ‘monster’!
Early in our partnership, my husband and I discovered ‘Cooking Together’. He got so into it, and into all the instructional cooking shows on TV, that I’ve now got Jacques Pepin and Alton Brown looking over my shoulder in the kitchen all the time; and we can’t buy a gadget unless it’s got the official approval of Chris Kimball and crew ;-)
-JT
“”I’m the cook in our house””
Too late for me now but how did you wife manage that????
She didn’t really need to. I grew up cooking. Some years ago I came to the blunt conclusion that I enjoyed cooking more than DW did and was possibly better at it. So I just took it over for the most part. There are a few dishes that she’s better at, and she cooks those.
Can you please repost the dry brining recipe? I missed it and it sounds so much easier than wet brining.
I love, love, love canning broth! Maybe it’s my imagination, but I think the broth flavor intensifies with the canning. And having a shelf-stable product is always rewarding;)
Had pumpkin pie for breakfast & made us turkey sandwiches for lunch. Getting ready to put turkey, dressing, & mashed potatoes all covered w/ gravy in the oven to warm for dinner. Yum!!!!!!
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