Simple Chinese Style Fish and Greens with Scallions, Ginger and Garlic

When shopping I mostly go looking for the freshest looking products and then try to figure out what to do with them. When I saw the locally caught rock cod fillets in the case I bought one with the Fuchsia Dunlop “Steamed sea bass with ginger and spring onion” recipe in mind. Then I saw the ubiquitous bag of baby bok choy at 99 Ranch Market with clean white cut ends and went to my new “The Wok” cookbook by by J. Kenji López-Alt to see how he approaches greens and riffed on “Smoky bok choy with garlic sauce”. The combo was fantastic and amazing and easy!

The fish is marinated and steamed with scallions and ginger then fresh shitaki mushrooms and greens are sautéed in a garlic – only a few other staples needed. Serve with white rice (get it cooking before you start)! Here is the process:

Prep the favors –

• Partition 5 scallions
  • Cut ~ 1/2 inch of white ends off all and mince for greens
  • 1 pounded with the back of a knife for marinading fish
  • 1 cut in half for steaming fish
  • 3 in fine slivers ~2 inches long for serving fish
• Partition 2 oz ginger (2-3 inch long piece)
  • Peel by cutting off large strips and save for marinading fish
  • shave some into bowl with minced scallions using microplane
  • finely sliver the rest and add to slivered scallions
• Finely slice 3 large cloves of garlic and add to minced scallions/ginger

At this point, start the fish marinating. I used a cleaned fillet skin on. The recipe calls for using a cleaned whole fish. Any chunk of white fish works here – the basic idea is to

• make 3-4 deep slashes through the meat
• rub with salt
• sprinkle and rub in ~ 1 Tbs rice wine
• now rub the ginger peels and crushed scallion into the flesh (fish cavity) and let marinate at room temp

Finish veggie dish prep

• clean bok choy and slice into large pieces if necessary and then blanch in salted water for 30 seconds – dry in single layer on towel (I used the pot for steaming the fish to boil the greens)
• destem a few handfuls of shitake mushrooms – cut large ones in half (want large chunks not slices) – put aside in final serving bowl
• gather
  • the chopped scallion, ginger, garlic above
  • a slurry of 1/2 tsp cornnstarch in 1 Tbs water
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • salt and white pepper
  • a wok

Finish fish dish prep

• put ~4 Tbs. canola / cooking oil in a small pan to heat later
• dilute 3 Tbs soy sauce with 2 Tbs water in a small microwave proof bowl
• gather slivered scallions and ginger
• serving plate

Have the table set before you start to cook – only takes 15 minutes to plating

• Prepare steaming pot with water. Remove scallion chunks and ginger from fish and place on steaming tray along with the scallion cut in half. Place fish skin side down on top of the scallions/ginger. Cover, and start to cook. Fish is done when cooked through and flaky – depending on thickness – 5-10 minutes.

• Start bok choy while fish is steaming.
  • Heat some cooking oil on high in the wok then toss in the shitakes. When they start to sweat, add ~1/4 of the ginger/scallion/garlic prep taking care not to burn. Sauté a bit more with a few char marks but still firm then remove to serving dish.
  • Add more oil and rest of garlic mixture. Bring heat to high again and once garlic starts sizzling add bok choy. Sauté until starting to char but not burn and still crispy. Add sugar, cornstarch slurry, salt and white pepper and stir. Add shiitakes back to the pan and stir. Sauté ~30 more seconds then remove to a serving dish.

• As fish is getting close to done, heat soy sauce mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds as well as start heating the oil in the small pan. When fish is cooked, put it on a plate (discard the steamed scallions/ginger), and cover with the slivered scallions and ginger. Then, when the oil is smoking (make sure it is hot and you see it smoke) slowly pour the oil all over the top of the veggies releasing their aroma (if the first drops of oil don’t sizzle, back off and heat oil some more). Pour the warm soy sauce mixture around the fish and serve.

Serve fish and greens with rice and enjoy!

Pan Fried Salmon

It is impossible to count the number of times we have had salmon prepared this way it’s that’s good and easy. It is not technically fried as I don’t add any extra oil, although oil is rendered as the salmon cooks. This technique works with just about any other fish too, but salmon is so good and oily it really doesn’t need any extra sauce or marinade or fluff. This is a nice simple preparation, although smoky, and does make a mess of your pan!

For 2 people we find that sharing 1/2 lb slice of a salmon filet from our fish monger is perfect. For more formal settings maybe go for 1/3 lb filet per person. You can cook multiple pieces at once with a large pan providing there is at least an inch or so between pieces.

Turn on all your fans, close the doors, and/or open the windows! (alternatively you can do this in a pan on your BBQ). Heat a well seasoned (I use cast iron) skillet that will fit the fish on HIGH for 1-2 minutes or until you sense the pan is about to smoke (but don’t add oil and don’t use non-stick).

Add fish FLESH side down and cover with a splat guard. Keep heat on high and cook until you can tell the lower 1/3 of the fish is cooked through (look for a color change between the top and bottom of the fish) and/or the pan facing flesh is dark brown. A few burnt spots is OK.

Flip the fish and continue to cook until the skin side flesh is cooked another 1/3 of the way through – start to test the temperature of the thickest part (should be at least 110 degF) and ensure the flesh isn’t too “wiggly” (unless you are into sushi style salmon which is fine if it’s sushi grade). If the fish is particularly thick and things seem to be getting really smoky and burnt, go ahead and reduce the temperature to finish cooking. Remove pan from the heat.

Remove salmon to a plate skin side down and serve with whatever floats your boat. Like

• slices of salt and peppered avocado
• prepared fresh wasabi
• tartar sauce
• teriyaki sauce (https://gardenandeats.wordpress.com/2017/01/06/teriyaki-sauce/)
• beans
• chopped salad

What do you serve with pain salmon?

Coffee Ice Cream

When it comes to homemade ice cream, my family prefers an uncooked base – not a custard base (cooked with egg yolks). Our goto is vanilla base adding mint extract and/or stracciatella style (https://gardenandeats.wordpress.com/2020/01/22/stracciatella-the-italian-chocolate-chip-ice-cream/)

I haven’t been too thrilled with the few coffee ice cream recipes I’ve tried. Many call for egg yolks (up to 6!), some instant coffee, some brewed coffee, some whole beans, but none feel right. I decided to use our favorite vanilla base and simply seep the milk/cream with coffee grounds and see how it goes. This post is a work in progress to log my attempts and starts with my vanilla base:

• 1 1/5 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 4/5 cups sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• scant / ~1 Tbs vanilla extract
  • why these strange volumes? because this is perfect for my machine to prevent overflow!

Attempt #1: Grind dark coffee on #30 for 30 seconds using Baratza grinder – aiming for a “French press” grind (*weigh next time*). Heat milk & cream in 1.5 liter pot to 200 degF (using an induction cooktop – otherwise just below boiling *don’t boil*). Stir coffee into the milk/cream mixture and remove from heat. Seep for 5 mins stirring occasionally. Using a metal colander, strain into 2nd bowl containing sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Rinse out 1.5 liter pot and strain liquid back into that pot through your finest mesh strainer. Cool in fridge over night and then churn.

Notes on Attempt #1: Delicious, but a tiny bit bitter, maybe over extracted or too much coffee given I didn’t weigh. Also, the final ice cream volume was less than usual for this recipe because I didn’t factor in the fact that the coffee grounds adsorb liquid. Further research on making French press coffee suggests a 30 second “bloom” wetting step before adding the rest of the liquid. Online calculators suggest that to end up with 3 cups of coffee you need to use an extra 1/2 cup of water with 45-58 grams of coffee. So next time, I’ll weigh the grounds and bloom them in 1/2 cup water before adding to the milk and seep for only 4 minutes…

Attempt #2: Grind dark coffee on #30 for 30 seconds. Weigh out 50 grams of grounds. Bring water to a boil and let sit for 1-2 minutes to cool. Heat milk/cream mixture to 200 degF. Add 1/2 cup water to grounds, stir, and let sit for 30 seconds. Scrape into warm milk/cream mixture, stir, and let sit 4 minutes stirring occasionally (**think of a way to “press” foamy top down – maybe a silicon splat cover?**). Strain following the rest of instructions in Attempt #1.

Southwestern Quinoa Bowl

Inspired by a $15 lunch at Barbarella in La Jolla, the family declares “remember this one.”

In order of “amount per bowl”

• Quinoa, cooked (boil rinsed quinoa in plenty of salted water for 10 mins – drain in fine sieve strainer, return to pot in strainer, cover with tea towel, recover and steam for an additional 10 mins. Fluff)
• Black beans, cooked
• Corn, cooked (from frozen, or if you can charred and cut fresh off the cob)
• Diced cooked meat (chicken/beef or tequila shrimp)
• Diced red pepper
• Diced grilled zucchini (tip: grill long slices of zucchini, 1/2 of the red pepper and whole corn to char, cool, then dice / cut corn off the cob)
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Chopped pickled onion (sliced red onion in cider vinegar with salt, ground allspice & black pepper & oregano)
• Slivered/sliced radish
• Chopped cilantro leaves
• Roasted pepitas

Avo-Lime Dressing (blend on high – this was very stiff – but stirs in nicely)

• 1 ripe small avocado (or 1/2 large)
  • Juice of 1 lime ~1.5 Tbs
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 cup kefir
  • 1/4 tsp each ground cumin and paprika or hot pepper
  • 2 tsp. “moreno spice mix”
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
• S&P

Place ingredients in little piles around large bowl with scoop of dressing in middle. Let diners mix together.

Dumpling Dipping Sauces

Be they frozen, take out or home made dumplings whether boiled, steamed or fried need a delicious dipping sauce to compete the dish. Here are a few I’ve pulled from the internet. What do you use and like?

From The Woks of Life: PERFECT DUMPLING SAUCE

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil

From Taste of Asian Food: Xiao Long Bao – How to make it at home

Xiao Long Bao Dipping Sauce

• 4 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp finely julienne ginger

From Saveur: Pork and Chive Dumplings (Shui Jiao)

• 1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
• 4 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. black vinegar

From Saveur: Pork and Kimchi Potstickers

• 3 tbsp. Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tsp. chile-garlic paste
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. toasted sesame oil
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. sugar

From Red House Spice: SIX DUMPLING SAUCES (ULTIMATE DUMPLING GUIDE PART 5)

GINGER & VINEGAR SAUCE

• 3 tablespoons black rice vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon ginger, julienned
• Dill, to taste

GARLIC & VINEGAR SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pinch ground Sichuan pepper
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon hot oil
• ½ teaspoon light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons black rice vinegar
• Fresh chilli, finely chopped
• Coriander, chopped

SPRING ONION OIL SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1.5 tablespoon hot oil
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce 
• ½ teaspoon black rice vinegar

SICHUAN DUMPLING SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon Sichuan spiced sweet soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon homemade chilli oil, or to taste
• Spring onion, finely chopped

HOT & SOUR DUMPLING SOUP

• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons black rice vinegar / homemade spiced vinegar
• 1 tablespoon spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon papery dried shrimp
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 pinch salt
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Coriander, chopped
• 1 tablespoon homemade chilli oil, or to taste

TACO NIGHT

Bring on the tacos. Self serve taco bar ideas options below then recipes follow.

• Meat (pulled pork, chicken, steak, hamburger, yellowfin tuna)
• Tortillas (we like the La Tortilla Factory Handmade Style tortillas)
• Cheese (shredded sharp Cheddar for us, but Monterey Jack for others)
• Rajas (sautéed onions and peppers)
• Salsa (home made below, or canned – we’ve been liking Green Mountain Gringo brand)
• Shredded lettuce (thinly as possible, any type)
• Hot sauce
• Cream (sour cream, or Mexican crema)
• Avocado (sliced or as guacamole)
• Lime (in wedges)

Rajas

• poblano chiles
• onions
• whole cumin seeds

Cut poblano chiles into long thin strips and onions into thin wedges in ~ 1:1 ratio (~2 poblanos: 1/2 large onion for 4 people). On high heat, add a bit of oil and when hot add ~1 tsp whole cumin seeds or 1/2 tsp ground and some salt. Then quickly throw in the peppers and onions and stir constantly until brown and softened but not soggy. Add salt to taste. At this point you may consider shoving the veggies to the side (or to a plate) and using the pan to cook raw or reheat cooked meat for the tacos – adding back the rajas and mixing together when meat is done.

Chicken

• Chicken (boneless, skinless breasts ~1 small per person)
• Taco or Morena spice mix

If you have time, dry salt brine chicken in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking using ~1 tsp per pound of chicken. Go ahead and add spice to chicken at this time as well also ~1 tsp spice mix per lb. Cook chicken on BBQ or pan fry. When done, thinly slice against grain and cut into bite size pieces.

Salsa

• Tomatoes
• Onion
• Cilantro leaves
• Avocado (optional)
• Ground cumin, garlic salt (or scant amount of fresh garlic), salt

Finely chop tomatoes and onions in roughly equal quantities and then add ~1/2 as much minced cilantro. Season with ground cumin, a tiny bit of minced garlic or garlic powder , and salt to taste. Best if left sitting in a fine strainer to capture liquid that will accumulate. Use ~2-3 medium tomatoes and 1/4 large onion, 1/4-1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, and one whole diced avocado for 4 people. This is great when everyone wants tomatoes, onions and cilantro on their tacos – if some folks don’t want one of those ingredients it may be best to put all of these things into separate bowls.

Meringue Kisses

Guest post from Carol Hassler

The original recipe was found in Chocolatier Magazine 1985 (I think Vol. 8, but not sure as recipe has faded over the years). This may not be exactly as printed in the magazine, but I have been making this recipe since 1985 and it has been successful.

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 ounces mini chocolate chips*

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees**

Line two sheet pans with parchment paper

Using a stand mixer is best with whip attachment, hand mixer works well but takes longer to get best results.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and salt.

When whites get foamy and start to form soft peaks, then it is ok to start adding sugar a little at a time. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold in chocolate chips and vanilla extract.

Put batter into piping bag with large tip. Pipe onto parchment in small kisses lifting bag as you reduce pressure to get a nice tip on cookie.

Bake 25 minutes until you can lift one cookie off pan, and it stays together.

 

Notes:

* I use only one half a bag of mini chips for 3 egg white recipe. The whole bag, in my view, is too much.

** Every oven is different. I like my meringue kisses whiter, so I tend to set oven around 250 degrees. Best to check your oven temperature before starting this recipe. Don’t worry though if they are a little brown, they still taste great! Lower oven temperature may take more time to bake.

*****One more thing – Meringue recipes do not work in wet or humid weather as they will never get crisp. Also, do not use liquid egg whites as they do not whip well for meringues.

 

 

 

 

Stracciatella – the Italian Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

There is a new dessert favorite in the house, stracciatella.  Stracciatella is similar but somehow better than chocolate chip.  It is vanilla ice cream with melted chocolate mixed in after churning. The chocolate shreds into a million little pieces upon freezing and the ice cream is studded throughout.  The consistency of the melted chocolate is key to getting it right – melt just before the ice cream is done and let cool a bit but not too much or it will freeze too quickly and into hard chunks when it hits the ice cream.  While the idea of pouring warm chocolate onto your frozen ice cream might bring visions of melted ice cream – don’t worry – the ice cream suffers not.

My hands get cold quickly handling frozen dishes so I wear gloves with cotton liners to keep my hands warm during the chocolate mixing process.  I should also note that I have tried to add the melted chocolate to the ice cream while it is mixing and if the ice cream isn’t firm enough the chocolate mixes in too much so that it becomes chocolate ice cream.  If the ice cream is too firm the addition of the quickly hardening chocolate gums up the motor and the ice cream stops churning with most home machines.  So – you can try – but the timing is clearly key and hard to establish.

My family prefers the “raw” and, luckily, easy version of vanilla for this so no cooking required!  Try with mint or coffee flavored ice cream as well.

Mix together until sugar is dissolved then chill for a few hours or overnight before churning.

• 1.5 cups whole milk
• 2.5 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract

Freeze ice cream.  When the ice cream is just about done, melt 3-4 ounces of chocolate*. I very gently melt in the microwave and take it out when there are still large chunks and stir until it is all smooth.  When the ice cream is done I find it easiest to remove the paddle and then to start mixing in the melted chocolate into the churning bowl with a heavy duty spatula 1-2 tablespoons at a time, spreading and mixing the chocolate into the bulk of the ice cream after each addition until all is incorporated and evenly distributed. A helper makes this easier as well.

Transfer to your freezing container.  Let firm up for at least 2-4 hours.

Makes ~5 cups.

• hot tip, Trader Joes 1 lb. block chocolate is a good value for the price – I use the dark chocolate for this.

Thanksgiving 2019

11 people  (it was going to be 18 then 2 dropped out then the others cancelled due to huge winter storm forecast)

Potluck!

• Guests bringing: appetizers, green beans, 3 pies (apple, chocolate, and nut), gluten free biscuits
• I’m making: turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, gravy, Best American Dinner Rolls, cranberry sauce, Maple-Glazed Brussels Sprouts, Moroccan sweet potato salad (3 lbs), vanilla gelato and vanilla ice cream.

A week before do some shopping

•  2 turkeys – 12 lb & 19 lb – put in fridge to thaw
• Carrots, celery, onions, leek, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fresh cranberries, heavy cream, flour

Sunday before – turkey time.  Salt brine T-day turkey, make stock for gravy and stuffing

• Dry salt brine 19 lb turkey – 1 TBS salt for each 5 lbs.  Wrap in plastic bag and back in fridge. Remove neck and giblets (toss liver) and add to the “gravy” turkey…
• Roast 12 lb “gravy” turkey foil covered rack poked with holes.  Put 1 cup. each chopped onions, carrots, celery, 3 sprigs thyme, & 1 cup water at the bottom of the pan.  Surround with necks and giblets of both turkeys.
  • Roast back side up for 45 mins at 425
  • Flip and turn down heat to 325 until done. (whoops, forgot to turn down heat so it was done an hour later)
  • Notes – I didn’t brine or salt or butter this turkey as it’s just for stock and leftovers.
• While turkey is cooking – get pot with veggies ready for stock.  This year I added
  • 1 whole yellow onion, 1 leek, 3 large carrots, bay leaf, 3 shiitake mushrooms, kombu, 1 gallon of water.  Let sit while waiting for turkey.  This brings out the kombu umami.  Remove kombu when the stock final comes to a boil.
• When turkey is done – let cool – then
  • pull best meat off of turkey for mole enchiladas and Turkey Tika Masala.
  • Put bones and neck in stock pot – start stock
    • This year I cooked the stock for 4-5 hours then strained – note to self – make stock the day before garbage pick up so bones can go out the door…
  • Strain remaining liquid, vegetables, and giblets through a strainer.
    • Separate fat from drippings, put in fridge to harden and remove fat layer to use for turkey matzo balls.
    • Save vegetables and giblets for gravy – at some point puree with drippings without fat or some stock and strain to use with gravy.

Monday before

• Final grocery run – get drinks in fridge

Tuesday before

• • Make stuffing bread cubes
    • Make 1 large loaf of white bread using bread machine directions – makes about 2.5 lb loaf – remember to “smooth out dough” after kneading and the punch down so it cooks evenly.
      • 1.5 C milk, 4.25 C bread flour, 3 T sugar, 1.5 tsp salt,  2 T butter, 2 tsp yeast.
    • Let cool then thinly cut off hard crusty parts.  Then cut into 3/4″ slices – put on cookie sheet and dry in 275degF oven for ~1 hr. tossing every 15 mins.
  • Make “Ultimate Dinner Rolls” from “Cooks Illustrated All-Time Best Thanksgiving Recipes 2015.”
    • OK whoops – doubled the recipe and spilled some of the milk after it boiled over but did not readjust liquids and dough was VERY dry.  So I cooked one batch that night (and they were still tasty), left one batch in fridge, and made another batch with extra milk (1 cup instead of 3/4 cups – adding a bit more flour during kneading).   So I have 32 rolls – 16 are “dry” and 16 are “wet.”
    • Note – took them out at 8 AM on T-day – the wet ones were already much fluffier that the dry ones.
  • Make cranberry sauce using recipe on bag
    • 12 oz cranberries, 1 C sugar, 1 C water, pinch salt.  Boil till they are all popped.  Use hand held immersion blender to blend out a bit – still chunky.  Cover with plastic wrap in serving dish.

Wednesday before

• • Make Vanilla Gelato in the morning (cool several hours, then freeze)
  • Take turkey out of bag and put on rack in fridge to air dry.
  • Get out serving dishes and table settings

Thanksgiving – plans to eat at 4 PM

OVEN game plan

• Preheat oven to 375 degF
• Cook sweet potatoes ~45 mins
• Turn up oven to 425 degF
• Put in turkey back side up for 1 hr.
• Turn turkey over and oven down to 325 degF
• Put in stuffing covered with foil for 45 mins till internal temp 150 degF, uncover and crisp top
• Turn oven temp back up to 400 degF
  • Bake rolls (14-18 mins) and biscuits (15 min)
  • Take out stuffing

• • 9 AM
    • Take rolls out of fridge
  • 10 AM
    • Prep sweet potatoes and marinade
    • 10:30 turn on oven to 375 deg F
  • 11 AM
    • Cook sweet potatoes then turn oven up to 425 degF.
  • NOON
    • Set table
    • Put in turkey – put wings behind back, don’t tie legs
  • 1 PM
    • Peel potatoes, prep. brussels sprouts
  • 2 PM
    • Make gravy
    • Start mashed potatoes
  • 3 PM – guests arrive with appetizers
    • 3:15 put stuffing in oven
    • Take cranberry sauce, table butter, and sweet potato salad out of fridge
    • 3:30 pull out turkey to rest
    • Make beans and brussels sprouts on range top
  • 4 PM
    • Carve turkey

POST FEAST NOTES

The turkey was amazing.  For the first time there were comments like “I could have just eaten the turkey while it was being carved.”  In summary it was dry salt brined for 72 hrs then air dried for 24 hrs.  The skin was amazing and the meat delicious – a brief summary of how the turkey was cooked:

On SUNDAY I removed a 18.8 lb non-processed turkey (i.e. 3-5% sodium per serving instead of the 10-15% you see with processed) from the bag, removed the gizzards, then covered with salt inside and out (1 TBS / 5 lbs).  I didn’t rinse the turkey or remove the skin from the breast to salt under the skin.  Then I put it into a garbage bag and into the fridge on a plate.  I turned the turkey over every day as liquid did accumulate so I tried to even out submersion.  Then, on Wednesday around noon I took it directly out of the bag with no rinsing and put it breast side up on the roasting rack and pan and let air dry in the fridge.  At noon on Thursday I took the turkey out of the fridge and pre-heated the oven to 425 degF.  At 1 PM I put the legs behind the turkey back, I did not secure the legs in any way, then turned the turkey over, back side up, and put in the oven for one hour.  (Note to self – this 19 lb turkey was 1 inch from the broiler coils with the bird on the second to lowest rack – the lowest needed for stuffing.  Beware buying bigger bird in future.)  At 1 PM the back skin was looking amazing!  I took the turkey out and flipped it and put it back in the oven at 325 degF, with no basting, until it was done at about 3:30 PM.  We let the turkey sit out for about 20 minutes before starting to carve. It was carved this way http://wapo.st/2fSyl21– a key being to remove the breast and then slice from neck to rear not top to bottom like you would making slices off the bird itself…. I think I’ll go out and get a few small turkeys on sale for the freezer to cook in a month or so with plans to tear it apart at the kitchen table 😉

Other notes:

• We didn’t eat ALL of anything – so leftovers galore.  That said, we were planning on 18 and only had 11 show up!
• I blew it on the stuffing and cooked it in an oval serving dish that was a bit smaller than recommended but it all fit in when the bread was raw… and then it expanded while cooking, and well, didn’t cook quite right.  Remember to use a larger casserole dish next time.
• While I had been thinking the Moroccan sweet potato salad would be good with the meal – it was only just OK and judging by leftovers, the least favorite side dish.
• I really liked the Brussels sprouts.  I stared with ~ 2 lbs and that was a tad too many for the pan to really brown the bottoms of all of them.
• We tried a hybrid mashed potato recipe – basically the one from the America’s Test Kitchen but instead of 1 cup of half and half we did 1/2 cup kefir, 1/4 cut heavy cream, 1/4 cup whole milk (and 1 stick butter) per 2 lb potatoes.  We made 8 lbs potatoes, mashed in the butter, but by the time only about 1/2 of the liquid was added the potatoes were decidedly thin, so we left out about 1/2 of the liquid.  Reviewing other recipes it seems like 1/2 cup of “dairy” to 2 lbs of potatoes is enough.
• Also, the appetizers (fresh veggies with dip) were largely ignored, so maybe appetizers just aren’t needed for Thanksgiving.
• I ended up making a second batch of vanilla ice cream that is just cream, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt, uncooked. This vanilla was preferred to the more laborious vanilla gelato.  It does have a cleaner and lighter taste.

Vanilla Gelato

From the Art of Making Gelato by Morgan Morano 2015

Need to start this the day or morning before you plan to eat it.

Wisk together in a 2.5 – 4 quart sauce pan

• 46 grams milk powder
• 215 grams granulated sugar
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 20 grams tapioca starch
• 250 grams heavy cream
• 600 grams whole milk
• 5 grams vanilla extract
• 33 grams light corn syrup
• 4 egg yolks
• seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Cook and wisk over medium high heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but before boiling ~ 8-12 mins.

Immediately strain (optional) into a 4 cup container and cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit at room temp to cool for up to one hour then put in fridge to cool completely.

Churn in ice cream maker according to instructions.  Make at least a few hours before eating so it can harden up in the freezer.