Turkey Problem Solving

Well, one of the major holidays has come and gone since my last posting, but two more are on their way.  I meant to blog all about our Thanksgiving, but a few things got in the way 1) My computer broke down and so downloading of photos 2) I got sick around that time and all I really wanted to do was sleep 3) Mo and I haven't really seen each other due to holiday events, parties, etc. (in general there is a lot going on) so there hasn't been a lot of cooking going on and no Sister Sunday Suppers.  We did do Sister Sunday brunch this weekend, but we went to Noodles and Co.  (although we did bake Gingersnaps - Joy of Cooking recipe - after)

I wanted to share a story about our Thanksgiving turkey.  For her birthday, my sister and I got our mom a subscription to Cooking Light.  We found that she often got the magazine around the holidays and she likes busting out her annual Cooking Light cookbooks - so it was a natural fit.  She's been putting the subscription to good use.  For Thanksgiving she decided that we would make their Apple-Poblano Whole Roast Turkey.  From it's title alone - you know that it has 1) apples 2) turkey and 3)  Poblano Chiles.  Yes, I said Poblano Chiles.  The recipe also called for apple cider, a jalapeno chili, and cilantro. 

You start this recipe by brining the turkey for about 8 hours in a mixture of apple cider, brown sugar, kosher salt, pepper, and the jalapeno.  In order to brine (soak the turkey in a heavily salted liquid), you need a brining bag.  Most of the time you can buy brining bags at your grocery store in the storage bag area.  These bags are really good because you can brine your turkey and then it can go straight into the oven (if that is what the recipe calls for).  That's right - these are plastic bags that can go to the oven.  Our problem was we forgot to pick it up at the traditional grocery store.  Instead, we made a list of all the things that we forgot and went to Target (which no has grocery stores). 

Well, we walked around Target for about 20 minutes trying to find the bags, but couldn't find one.  We asked the man at the meat counter if he knew where they were kept and he pointed us to the storage bag aisle (as we originally looked).  We still couldn't find it, but what we did find a XXL3 storage bags from ziploc.  These are meant to store sleeping bags, toys, sweaters you don't want to wear but don't want to give to goodwill.  They are also big enough to fit 12 pound turkeys.  Seeing that this recipe did not call for the turkey to go into the oven while inside the bag, we figured that it was ok to use for brining.  So we threw it in our cart and headed back to produce because we had forgot something. 

Well, the meat guy saw us and then spotted our giant ziploc bags, and a look of panic invaded his face.  He immediately came over and started explaining the difference between brining bags and storage bags.  We let him go for a couple of minutes before my mom interrupted and assured him that we were only using the bag for soaking the turkey, and that the turkey would be removed and the bag thrown away before the turkey went in the oven.  We all laughed over the misunderstanding - although I could totally understand his panic.  No one wants to be responsible (even indirectly) of a house fire caused by two amature turkey cookers who put a ziploc bag in an oven.  Thankfully we are not amatures.

Anyways - the ziploc bag worked great.  They do have a very plastic smell when you first open the bag, so we followed the meat guys advice and we washed the inside out with a little warm water and dish soap.   And I dare to say that the ziploc bag did have a few advantages over traditional brining bags.  The first being that they stand up on their own and the second is that they firmly seal and easily reopen. 

In the end, our turkey ended up awesome.  My mom even said that it was the juiciest she had ever had.  The taste of the chiles soaked into the meat but was thoroughly mellowed out by the apples.

Dessert First!

Tonight's Sister Sunday Supper featured both a fabulous spaghetti squash side dish and an Apple Tarte Tatin. I'm guessing I'm going to post my picture before my sister posts her squash recipe, so lucky for you, we're getting dessert first!

I still have about a dozen apples from my last few CSA pickups, so I decided that we should use some up by trying a recipe from the CSA weekly newsletter. Most of thier newsletter recipes are also on the Norman's Farm Market website, but this recipe they got from Famous French Desserts. I'm paraphrasing the recipe here, based on what my sister and I really did, but if you want, you can follow the link above to the original recipe.

Apple Tarte Tatin

Ingredients:
~ 3 apples, peeled and sliced into 6ths
dash of lemon juice
2/3 c. granulated sugar
3 tbsp. water
3 oz. butter (~6 tbsp) + ~1 tbsp butter, at room temperature
pre-made pie crust, stored in the refrigerator

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Add lemon juice to apples to keep from browning.
3. Put sugar and water in a small saucepan to carmelize. How to carmelize: melt sugar into water at a very low heat. Tilt and swirl the saucepan to gently mix the dissolving sugar. Once the syrup has turned a light honey color, it's carmelized.
4. Add the 3 oz. of butter to the syrup and melt. Use the remaining tbsp of butter to coat the baking dish (a round cake pan or pie dish works well).
5. Pour the syrup into the buttered pie dish.
6. Quickly arrange the apples on top of the syrup, and then put dish in the oven for 40-45 minutes.
7. Take dish out of the oven and cool for a few minutes. Once cooled, place the pie-crust on top, tucking the edges into the dish. Put back in the oven for ~30 minutes.
8. When crust is brown, remove from the oven, and let cool a few minutes. Place a serving dish on top and carefully flip so that the apples are facing up.
9. Serve warm with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, etc.

Mmm, carmelized apple-y goodness!