brining

so this is perhaps a bit late, given that yesterday was turkey-day, but i wanted to try it out before sharing it. this year we brined our turkey--which means, essentially, that we submerged it in a sugar, salt, and water solution for several hours before cooking it. i could spell out all the details of how it works, but they're kind of boring. so i'll just say that the idea is that brining the turkey makes it both more moist and tender and more flavorful. and having done this to my family's turkey yesterday, i can attest that we had the most delicious turkey ever, complete with moist, tender white meat (which almost never happens). so here's the details:

the best candidates for brining:
CORNISH HEN: whole, butterflied
CHICKEN: whole, parts, butterflied
TURKEY: whole, breast, parts, butterflied
PORK: loin, tenderloin, chops, fresh ham
SEAFOOD: whole side of salmon (when grill-roasting or smoking), shrimp

how to brine:
1. Mix cold water, salt, and sugar in brining vessel and stir to dissolve salt and sugar.
2. Immerse food in brine, seal, and refrigerate. (If not refrigerating, add ice packs before covering.) When brining a turkey or whole bird, make sure the air bubble in the chest cavity comes out.

formula for basic brine:
1 quart cold water
1/2 cup Diamond Crystal kosher
OR 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Morton kosher salt
OR 1/4 cup table salt
1/2 cup sugar

use 1 quart of brine per 1 pound of food, not to exceed 2 gallons brine**

brine for 1 hour per pound, but not less than 30 minutes or more than 8 hours


formula for brine for high-heat roasting, broiling, or high-heat grilling:
1 quart cold water
1/4 cup Diamond Crystal kosher
OR 3 tablespoons Morton kosher
OR 2 tablespoons table salt
2 tablespoons sugar

use 1 quart of brine per 1 pound of food, not to exceed 2 gallons brine**

brine for 1 hour per pound, but not less than 30 minutes or more than 8 hours


**when brining multiple items, time based on weight of single item (for example, use weight of 1 of 4 pork chops being brined)

***when brining a turkey or fresh ham, rinse it well to remove excess sugar (extra sugar can make the outside of the meat burn)


what you'll need:
in addition to the ingredients (water, salt, sugar), you'll need a few other things, including:

some kind of brining vessel. for small pieces of meat, you can use ziploc bags, usually one- or two-gallon size. for larger pieces of meat (whole turkey, whole chicken, etc.), use some kind of tub or cooler. you need to make sure the meat is completely submerged in the brine, which means either expelling all the air from the bag or weighting the meat in a tub/cooler so it's submerged. you can also put a large piece of meat inside a trash bag and tie it off so there's no water left.

a method for keeping your meat cold. when you're working with a big piece of meat, especially for a holiday meal, it's not always possible to store a big tub of brine + meat in the fridge. you can put your brining bird (pig, fish, etc.) in a cooler full of ice packs so it stays down around 40 degrees. we used a trash bag for the turkey and brine and surrounded it in a cooler with ice, which worked great. make sure you don't let ice melt and dilute the brine if you take the cooler option.

after it's brined:
you can put your meat right in to cook after brining. however, if you like crisp poultry skin, you probably won't get it if you cook right away. instead you should brine ahead of time so you can let the bird air dry for at least several hours (best if you can let it air dry overnight) before cooking it. to let the bird dry, remove it from the brine and rinse well (to remove excess sugar). pat it dry with paper towels. place on a rack inside a rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan. refrigerate. the rack allows air to circulate around the bird.


so there it is. how to brine your bird (or pig or fish). it's not effective for red meat or fattier birds (duck, for instance) because those meats have sufficient fat to compensate for the drying that happens during cooking. i can't tell you how much it improved the turkey yesterday. my brother-in-law was carving the turkey and i was stealing snippets of white meat, amazed at how tender and juicy it was. try it for christmas!

ROLLS!!!

OK, here is the roll recipe:

1 package yeast (1 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup milk, scalded (warm it up but take it off the heat when it is steaming but not boiling)
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
3/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups of flour (This is an estimate)


Dissolve yeast and 1 Tbsp sugar in 1/3 cups of warm water. (I use pretty warm water) Set aside. Scald milk and butter together and set aside to cool a bit. In a mixing bowl place 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and eggs. Add cooled milk mixture (It will still be a bit warm, just don't scramble the eggs!) and yeast. Add part of the flour and beat in until thick. Add additional flour to make a soft dough. (It will still be pretty sticky at this point). Let rise until double-usually about two hours depending on how warm the room is. Roll out dough on floured surface (I usually have to add quite a bit of flour here because the dough is so sticky. I actually add flour to the dough in the bowl and then dump it out on the counter and knead it in). Roll out and cut to the shape you want. I use a big cup/glass and cut the rolls into circles. I then dip half the roll in melted butter and fold it over on itself. If you do it this way you don't have to grease the pan since the rolls have butter on them. Let rise until light and the right size...use best judgement! Don't let them get too big. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I usually start checking mine around 12 or 13 minutes.

The flour isn't an exact measurement but just put in enough so it looks right! The secret to these rolls is not using a ton of flour. That way the rolls stay light and fluffy! Good luck and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. Let me know if you have any questions!

Do Not Peek Chicken

Chicken to serve your family...I always use bone in chicken for this recipe
1 C. rice...not instant
2 cans cream of chicken soup...can be reduced fat. The original recipe calls for one can cream of celery/1 can cream of mushroom...but we like the chicken soup
1/2 soup can of milk
1 envelope of dry Lipton onion soup mix

Sprinkle rice evenly over a 9x13 pan. Mix milk and soup together and pour over the rice. Sprinkle half the onion soup over rice. Place chicken pieces over rice and cover with pieces of chicken. Sprinkle remaining onion soup over the chicken. Seal with foil and back for 2-2 1/2 hours at 325 degrees. Enjoy. This is actually one of M's favorite meals.

Creamy Black Bean Salsa Chicken

2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 c. salsa
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 c. cheddar cheese
1/2 c. sour cream

Put chicken in crock pot. Pour in broth, salsa, corn, beans and taco seasoning. Cover and simmer on low for 6-8 hours. Once done, shred chicken, add cheese & sour cream. Heat until cheese is melted. Serve over rice.

Crock pot season is upon us. I love crock pot cooking. Here's a recipe our family LOVES. Hope yours does too. This goes great with a green salad or spinach salad!!

A few requests...

Zeeny - Do not peek chicken (because I always forget)

Brandi - Breakfast burritos

Carrie - Spaghetti (when you made it at Wolf Creek)

Zippy - Guacamole

Whitney - Taco Soup!!

Zucchini Bread

I have been making tons of this, my husband and I are now addicted!
Mix:
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. apple butter OR apple sauce
2 c. grated Zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla
In another bowl mix:
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
*IF you are using apple sauce and NOT apple butter than add
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Add dry ingredients to wet and stir well. You can add 1/2 c. nuts if you want.
Add to 2 greased bread loaf pans and bake 325 for 1 hour.

A good friend gave me the idea to make a dinner menu weekly and stick to it. So far its working and I'm hoping now that classes have started back up I'll be able to stay on top of dinner with this method! So every Sunday night I get input from the family and we make our choices for the week. This week we are having:
Mon-Chicken Alfredo
Tue- Homemade chili and cornbread
Wed- Am for Pm (pancakes, eggs, bacon)
Thurs- Spaghetti with maple sausage and garlic bread
Fri- Homemade pizzas, one with Hawaiian, another with the works
Sat- Chicken Chili
Sun- Lasagna and garlic bread

Pepper Steak

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 bell peppers any color (red, green,orange)
1 medium onion cut into wedges
2 cloves garlic
1 pound of thinly cut steak
1 can of campbells condensed beefy mushroom soup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ginger
hot cooked rice

In hot skillet with oil stir-fry peppers onion and garlic then set aside. Then brown the steak and combine the soup soy sauce and ginger when hot, put peppers and onions back in heat through. serve of rice.



I usually don't like bell peppers but this is really good!!! Scott and i tried it a couple of weeks ago and we loved it. The first time i tried it with white rice and the second with brown rice and I think i prefer the brown rice. This is a really easy recipe and hardly takes any time and bell peppers are supposed to be really healthy!! I hope you enjoy!!!