Better Flavor With No Hassle (Turkey Stock, Braised Brussel Sprouts)

Just a quick note here, since Thanksgiving is here and for some reason I took a catering gig on Friday.  The Fresh Fun Foods kitchen is a busy place and the Fresh Fun Foods fridge is stuffed to the gills.  When you are cooking tomorrow, be sure to make a quick turkey stock from the neck and wing tips of the bird.  Use peelings for flavor.  Why throw them out?  That’s what chefs do.  There is really nothing that you can do to help out your meal like making stock and using it in your gravy, to baste the turkey and to braise brussel sprouts.  

Turkey Stock

turkey neck and wing tips

1 gallon cold water

1/2 cup onion peelings

1/2 cup carrot peelings

the trimmings from celery, bottom and leaves

1 clove garlic, crushed

pinch fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

This is a quick stock where clarity is not paramount, so we’ll take a few shortcuts.  It will be perfect for our Thanksgiving needs. 

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot.  Turn the heat on medium and bring the stock to a simmer in about 30 minutes.  Skim off the froth that rises to the top.  Reduce the heat and simmer lightly for 60 minutes.  Strain the stock through a fine strainer and pick the meat from the neck to chop and use in your gravy.

Baste your turkey with this stock by pouring a 1/2 cup over the turkey every 30 minutes (or when you think about it).  This way, you will have a deeply caramelized bird and a pre reduced pan juice to magically turn into gravy using Grandma’s flawed recipe.  At least this way you’ll have concentrated flavor to start out. 

Additionally, consider braising your brussel sprouts in turkey stock.  Score the bottom of the sprouts and blanch them as you normally do.  In the mean time, peel and chop a carrot and some onion.  Sauté them in a large pan.  Maybe add some bacon?  Drain the sprouts and add them to the pan, season with salt and plenty of fresh black pepper.  Cover the bottom of the pan with about 1/2 inch of stock and braise them uncovered in a 350° oven for 20 minutes. You can do everything except the braising the day before.  Resist the temptation to roll sprouts in olive oil and char them all to hell in a blazing oven.  I don’t know where this came from.  It is a poor technique that produces dried out veg coated in bitter ashes.  Drizzling them with Balsamic vinegar doesn’t make you Mario Batali.

…and no matter what the experts say about brining turkeys, don’t do it.  It’s evil, immoral and wrong, a tacky fashionable trend that ruins the pan juices that you need to make a proper gravy.  Just use a thermometer and take the turkey out when it reads 160°.  Rest the thing for 20 minutes before carving.  That’ll give you plenty of time to eat the crispiest skin before your jerk brother does.

A Facebook Request (Wilted Dandelion Salad)

We eat weeds at our house.  Really, I graze the back yard like a ruminant and grab up all sorts of tasty things.  There’s one weed that makes a nice tea to settle the stomach.  We just finished mulberry season and the blackberries are about to come in.  Oyster, puffball and bricktop mushrooms bloom after a rain.  The hops are for tea and beer.  The best thing we gather is dandelion.  It is probably the best reason not to take care of your lawn.  Richly flavored, a mix between arugula and watercress, dandelions eat well stewed with butter and white beans or raw, sliced thinly, topped with orange slices and walnuts, dressed with Balsamic vinaigrette.   

During the hot midsummer, dandelion is scarce, but I did find enough in the yard this morning for a lunch salad.  Try to pick the greens when they are still tender, about 6 inches long, when the flowers are bright, before the heads turn to seed.  After that, the greens toughen and are only good with long cooking.  To make our Wilted Dandelion Salad as an appetizer for 4, you’ll need about 1/2 pound of dandelion leaves.  You’ll have to make some real croutons and a warm bacon dressing.  Double the recipe if you want to serve it as a main course.  You can also locate dandelion greens in many grocery stores in the produce section. 

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Wilted Dandelion Salad (serves 4)

1/2 pound young dandelion leaves

1/2 red onion, sliced

4 slices of Italian bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tbs. unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 slices of smoked bacon, thick slice

3 tsp. salad oil

2 tsp. cider vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 350° F.  Heat a sauté pan on the top of the stove that is large enough to hold the bread in one layer.  Melt the butter, sauté the garlic for just a minute, then add the bread cubes.  Season with salt and pepper, toss the bread to coat it evenly with the seasonings.  Toast the croutons in the oven for about 20 minutes, until they are toasted through.  Keep warm.

Roughly tear the dandelion leaves into 1 inch pieces and put them in a large salad bowl.  Add the red onion.  Set aside while you make the dressing.

Slice the bacon into matchsticks.  Heat a large sauté pan, add the bacon slices and cook them on high, stirring constantly, until they crisp.  Remove the bacon slices from the pan and put them on top of the salad.  Do not dump out the bacon grease.  It will be used to make the dressing. 

Return the pan to the heat.  Add the cider vinegar.  Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen all those crispy bits.  Add the salad oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add the warm croutons to the salad bowl.  Pour the dressing over the salad and quickly mix the greens.  Divide the salad onto 4 plates and serve immediately.