Turnip and Maple Puree Soup

Thanksgiving for 2011 is now over and I was privileged to have friends and family share dinner with Geoff and me yesterday.  The weather was beautiful, although I could have done with the temperatures at a slightly lower degree. The company was wonderful.  The menu was Turnip and Maple Puree Soup, Brined Turkey, Tofurky (many thanks to Melissa) Carrots with Onions and Lemon Pepper, Brussel Sprouts, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  I was overwhelmed by the number of desserts that came through the door – cookies, coconut cream pie, carrot cake, pumpkin spice loaf.  All made with love by my guests.  This is really a season for being thankful, and I have so much to be thankful for.

Wandering through Old Quebec

Yesterday, I found myself reflecting on a number of other Thanksgiving meals. One in particular is when I got inspiration for the Turnip and Maple Puree Soup recipe. In a recent job, I travelled a LOT! I was a rare week when I was not on an airplane going somewhere. I was not uncommon for me to travel to Ottawa or Calgary from Toronto for the day.  It was a crazy time.  The few months before Thanksgiving of 2009 were particularly awful and I was exhausted. Geoff also travels a lot for work and he was in the same place. We decided to go against the grain and escape to Quebec City for the weekend.  Geoff organized us to take the train from Kitchener and stay at the Manior Victorian. It was just what I needed. The train ride is one of the best way to travel, totally relaxing. The hotel was in old city, so we spent the weekend walking around the city, finding adorable little restaurants and places to be warm and cozy.  The weather was rain drizzle and fog but this did not damper our spirits.  



I like to garnish with a few croutons



Now back to the recipe...one of the restaurants we enjoyed was at the Hotel Clarendon. On the menu was Turnip and Maple Soup!  I thought it was a unique and brilliant combination.  I immediately wanted to replicate the recipe at home.  I talked with the waiter to see if the chef would release the ingredients or recipe but I was not quite as lucky as for the Parsnip Pear Cake. Thankfully, I have been able to get this as close as possible in directions below.

Turnip and Maple Puree Soup

This all can be a little more or less....		My comments....
1	Turnip (med to large)
1	Lg Potato
3 tbsp	Butter
1 med	Onion, chopped
1 tsp	Minced garlic
4-6 cups	Chicken Stock	I know this is not specific but it will depend on the amount of turnip you choose
½ cup	Maple Syrup
¾ cup	Light Cream	Or heavy cream for a richer taste
	Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp	Dried Thyme or Savory	If you like...it adds a nice flavour but I would try it without first to see what you like

So here are the directions...

In a large pot/dutch oven sauté onions and garlic in butter.  Keep the temperature low as you do not want them to burn or get brown.  This will take a little time, so be patient.

Then add the chicken stock, turnip and potato.  The stock should come about an inch or so above the veggies.  You can use your finger – up to the first knuckle is about an inch. Not to worry if this does not seem like enough as you can add a little more liquid later in the recipe.  Let this boil until the veggies are cooked.  Then using a food processor or handheld blender (the thing that looks like a nasty sex toy) to puree the veggies and stock until smooth.  Add maple syrup, and cream.  If this is really thick you can add a little more stock or even just some water to get to the consistency that you like.  I tend to prefer the consistency of instant oatmeal.  Taste to see if you want to add salt (generally the stocks can be salty so I tend to taste before I add) and pepper. Add a little dried herb if you like.  Return to the stove and heat gently.  With the cream in it you want to keep the temperature low as the cream will not scorch. 

ENJOY!

Dry Aged Beef - Part 3

My experiment in dry aging beef is now over.  We tucked into the last piece 22 days after it started its journey in my little bar fridge.  I had hoped to go to 30 days but when I checked on it the prosciutto smell was being replaced by something slightly more “lemony”, which from what I had learned from my guy at the “Five Dot Ranch” in Napa, California was not a good thing. 

I have learned a number of things from this experience

·         There are things that are worth the wait.  I was quite surprised at how letting the meat age this way made it more tender and savoury. The flavour of the beef really becomes concentrated as time progresses. 

·         Get good equipment.  The little fridge that we have is probably better suited to keeping beer cold in a dorm room than aging beef for up to 40 days.   The temperature can swing and thus never gets consistently low enough for longer term aging. Up to 14 days is perfect but after that it can be a little sketchy. I am going to check the temperature consistency in our regular fridge with regular use.  It is currently set at 3C, so I am optimistic that if we place it in the back of the fridge and time it right we should be good to go.

·         Fancy food can be more about patience than other value.  I know most people are not a silly as I am to try such a thing but it is worth the effort if you have a special meal that you are planning. And it can be done with equipment at home.

·         Keep an eye on your guest list. People will want to be invited over if you start pulling things like this off the grill. And when you realize you have not intentionally left people out, just remember there is always a next time.

The last 2 pieces

Grilling

Brining a Turkey

Brining a Turkey



This is the result of my efforts yesterday!

 Thanksgiving is coming, and coming quickly.  I love this season as it really is all about family and friends spending time together.  When Geoff and I married, it was the first time that I was cooking my own Thanksgiving turkey normally I was heading off to Mom’s or another family members house to enjoy a feast!  I have been fortunate to grow up with a number of very talented women in my family which are also wonderful cooks and are masters of feeding small armies of people.  I have a very large extended family – Mom is one of 6 and Dad is one of 12. We are all close so large family gatherings are common place. It is someone’s birthday – let’s have a party! Someone is graduating – let’s have a party! It is Tuesday – let’s have a party! I am a product of my environment so having a party is one of the best things about cooking. I get to cook for people that I care about and if they are smart they come with their own plastic containers for leftovers!

When I was faced with the challenge of cooking a turkey for my new family, I did what I do best – Google!  So I searched the many ways to cook the bird...regular, deep fry, etc.  The method that appealed to me the best was brining. Marinating the turkey in seasoned salt water makes the bird very moist and flavourful. It is more effort than many other ways but in my opinion well worth the effort.

There are many recipes for brining from simple (just salt and water) to more complex (salt, water and a bunch of seasonings).  This is one of the opportunities when you can truly experiment and make your own flavour combination. Below is what I do, or at least come close to doing every year.  It is hard to do the same thing twice but this is the combination that I work from.  The brining itself takes a little effort but once the bird is out of the brine there is nothing else to do.  This is also a good technique to use with chicken and pork. Generally, I will leave the turkey in the brine for 1 hour per pound, so you will need to start this a day or so before. There is a little math required to figure out when you need to start the turkey in the brine:

·         Decide what time you want to eat

·         Subtract 30-40 minutes to have turkey out of oven to rest and be carved

·         Subtract about 15-20 minutes per pound for cooking on 350F (unstuffed/stuffed)

·         Subtract 1 hour/pound of bird (18lbs = 18 hours) there is a little flexibility here but a good measure

·         Subtract 1 hour to get the brine mixture ready

So as an example if you wanted to eat an 18 pound bird (unstuffed) at 3pm you really want to start this process at least 3pm the day before.

You will need the following supplies:

·         Cooler large enough to hold the bird,

·         A few ice packs, or Ziploc bags that can be filled with ice (2-3 will work) or 2l juice containers (2 is generally enough)  filled with water and frozen

·         Large garbage bag (there are brine bags available on the market but a garbage bag works as well.

·         Cheese cloth and kitchen twine

·         1 gallon apple cider

·         1 turkey

Brine Ingredients

8-10 cups	Water
1 ½ cups	Kosher Salt
2-3 sticks	Cinnamon
2 tbsp	Whole pepper corns
5-8	Whole Star Anise
2 sprigs	Rosemary, fresh
3-4 sprigs 5-10	Thyme, fresh Sage Leaves, fresh
1-2 cups	Dried apple slices
½ cup	Dried cranberries

Place the cinnamon, pepper corns, star anise in a square of the cheesecloth and tie shut (this makes clean up easy). In a large pot, bring water to a boil.  Add boil for another 10 minutes, until salt is completely dissolved. Cool completely.




I learned the joys of putting everything in a grabage bag and cheesecloth after this Christmas Brining experience.

 

Remove the giblets and wash the turkey. Place ice packs, Ziploc bags or juice container in cooler. Place the garbage bag in the cooler, then place turkey in the garbage bag.  Pour in apple cider and brine mixture including the cheesecloth, rosemary, thyme, sage, dried apples and dried cranberries into the garbage bag. Let turkey stay in the brine mixture for about 1 hour per pound.

Remove turkey from the bag and rinse well.  Truss the turkey and place breast side up on a rack of a turkey roaster. Cook on 325F.  I do not stuff my turkey so I cook at about 15 minutes/pound. If you choose to stuff you will need about 20 minutes/pound.

I do not baste or do anything with the turkey once in the oven!  I am, however, a big fan of using a meat thermometer to make sure it is done (reaching internal temperature of 165F).

Remove the bird from the oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.

ENJOY!

Peach Cobbler

Since I started this blog, I have had a number of family and friends share their favorite recipes. I see this as privilege and an honor to be able to share this with those who using this blog as a way to find inspiration for their own Culinary Adventures.  I share the recipes as I make them so that I can make my own comments and take a few photos to add to the blog.  The challenge is that I don’t always get them up as fast as they come in. In an ideal world I would not have a day job and I would have a small army of people wandering through the house to eat all that I create. Alas, a girl can dream!

Diane sent me this recipe about 2 months ago and I really wanted to make this before peach season came to a close but needed to have an occasion to make it. Today was that day.  My artist step-son, Ben (http://thebenclarkson.com/?cat=3) is in the house and needs to be spoiled just a little.  Peach Cobbler is definitely a comfort food.

Thanks so much Diane for sharing and Ben and Geoff for eating!

Peach Cobbler ala Diane Dalton, Inspired by Paula Deen

Preheat oven to 350
You will need a 3 quart baking dish (9 X 13 inches)

4 cups	peaches, peeled and sliced
2 cups	sugar (separated 1 cup each)
1/2 cup	Water
8 tsp	Butter
1 1/2 cup	SELF RISING flour  ( I did manage to find self rising flour in the grocery store, but if you cannot find it you can use 1 ½ cup flour, 2 tsp baking soda and, a heaping ¼ tsp salt)
1 1/2 cup	Milk

Cinnamon Sugar Topping (optional)

1 ½ tsp	Cinnamon
1 tsp	Nutmeg
1 tsp	zest of an orange or lemon
1/4 cup	sanding sugar (large grain sugar) or 1 /8 regular granulated sugar

Place peaches, 1 cup of sugar and water in a saucepan, mix well and bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes

Melt butter in baking dish in the oven while preparing batter

Mix remaining sugar (1 cup), flour and milk SLOWLY to prevent clumping. Batter will be very thin

Remove baking pan from the oven, pour batter slowly into the pan do not stir. Spoon peaches on top of the batter gently pouring the syrup over the fruit (I only use half the syrup because I add a sugar topping)

If not using cinnamon sugar topping sprinkle fruit with cinnamon to taste.

Bake for 35-45 minutes batter will rise up through the fruit.

I used a cinnamon topping which I sprinkled over the top of the cobbler at about 25/35 minutes and put it back in for 10 minutes.

Best served warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or just as it is.

Keep the recipes coming!

ENJOY!

Peach Cobbler fresh from the oven - wish there was scratch and sniff!

So yummy!

Veggie and Chickpea Coconut Curry

Geoff is away for work tonight so that leaves me with the opportunity to play in the kitchen. To his credit, Geoff does love to be my guinea pig when it comes to trying new things in the kitchen but he is more of a “meatatarian” than a vegetarian. Tonight I had a hankering for something simple and easy, and that can mean vegetarian and better yet slow cooker. I found the inspiration for this recipe in a Canadian Living magazine mini-cookbook insert that was floating around the counter (Potato, Squash and Chickpea Curry was the original name).  When I went searching through the cupboards and fridge I found that I had most of the ingredients and could fake the rest with a few substitutions.

While I made this without any meat, chicken and a few peanuts (at the end) would be awesome additions to the pot. Also, today was a pretty busy day so I did not really have a lot of time for fooling around in the kitchen so I skipped a couple of steps but not sautéing the garlic, ginger and onion before throwing it in the slow cooker.  I know this would have been a nice touch but it was still quite delicious.  If I was having company, I would take the extra effort.  I tend to like my curry pretty hot so you can adjust the amount of heat to a level that makes you happy.  In the recipe below, I used what I had on hand so it is not a traditional curry! Feel free to play with the proportions and the veggies to find something that you like.



Simple easy vegetarian dinner for one...yum!



1 ½ cup	Carrot, chopped
½ cup	Turnip, chopped
2 cup	Potatoes, chopped
1 tbsp	Vegetable oil (this is normally used to fry the onions, garlic and ginger; I still threw it in as you need fat to carry the flavour)
1	Onion, diced
2 cloves	Garlic, minced (adjust to your taste, I added extra)
1 tbsp	Ginger, minced
3 tbsp	Mild curry paste ( I added extra as I like it hot)
1 can 1 can	Coconut milk Chickpeas
1 cup	Chicken broth (I admit, I did say that this was vegetarian but I did not have any vegetable broth and I used powdered chicken stock and I am really convinced that this is really chicken)
¼ cup	Peanut butter ( I made the switch to a “Just peanuts” type of peanut butter but anything will do)
½ tsp	Salt
1 cup	Green beans, chopped (The recipe called for green peas and while the green beans were good, I think the green peas would have been a little better)
2 tbsp	Fresh cilantro! (Love it)

This is what I did....

In a slow cooker, combine all the ingredients except green beans (or green peas) and cilantro by stirring all together. The peanut butter will not blend easy so after about and hour remove cover and stir again. Cook for about 6-8 hours. About 10 minutes before serving add the green beans (peas) and cilantro.

AND the recipe police did not show up, but if you are interested...

What I should have done....

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic and ginger. Stir occasionally until onion is golden brown (about 7 minutes). Add curry paste, cook until fragrant (stirring).After about 1 minute, add to slow cooker.

Add coconut milk and broth to slow cooker, stir in peanut butter and salt. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender. 

I served this over some basmati rice!

ENJOY!

Dry Aged Beef - Part 2



The end result



I was so excited last night when I pulled the first of 2 roasts out of the fridge. It was on Sept 13^th that I placed the roasts in to begin my “dry aged beef” experiment.  I was nervous that I was doing a “at home botulism kits” and would end up throwing out some very expensive meat.

There was a little pomp and circumstance to getting everything ready at the beginning:

·         Getting the meat

·         Washing the meat

·         Wrapping the meat in cheesecloth

·         Monitoring the temperature in the little bar fridge

·         Figuring out how to lessen the temperature swings (approximately 10F swing)

o   Solution add stuff to the fridge

·         Resisting the temptation to open the fridge. This was probably the hardest and if you have ever going camping in a tent or soft sided camper in the rain AND have been told to not touch the side, you know what I am talking about.

I did take the meat out a couple of times to re-wrap it so the cheesecloth did not stick to the roast and to take a sniff to make sure that it was smelling like prosciutto and not sulphur! Then popped it back in to wait a little more.

With the arrival of Matt and Ruth last night meant just the right reason to pull out the first of the roasts.  And it was wonderful! I trimmed it up just taking off the outer layer of the most dried meat revealing delicious tender roasts with concentrated flavour.  

We are all alive and kicking this morning having enjoyed a wonderful steakhouse meal together – salad (a la Ruth), beef, roasted sweet potato fries and mushrooms and onions. Shout out to my husband who did a great job on the grill!

Phew! No one is dead and I have proven that for at least 14 days you can age beef in a bar fridge in a kitchen...with one piece left, let’s see if I can do it for 28+. Ben arrives in soon and there is beef on the menu!



After 14 days in the fridge the meat has dried on the outside



Trimming off the dried portions



Ready for the BBQ.  I opted to cut into 2 large steaks, enough to feed 4-6 people.



Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti

There are some times when I just like to try out a new technique or a dish that I have enjoyed many times but never made.  Last weekend was one of those times.  I was at Starbucks getting a delightful coffee and needed a little “treat” to go with it – Biscotti was in the case, which got me thinking about giving this a whirl.  I had tried biscotti in the past but really was not thrilled with the result so I decided to try them again.  This recipe is abridged from Canadian Living and they are good enough to suggest some other ways to make them which I will include at the end. 

A couple of lessons from this experience...first, you really do need at least 2 cookie sheets or let the cookie sheet cool completely before you move to the bake them a second time stage. Also, let them cool not quite to room temperature but close otherwise they will crumble when you try to slice them.  I did this and ended up letting my husband eat the spoiled ones – he was happy but I was annoyed! And this is a situation when the butter is best at room temperature.  Finally, melt the left over chocolate chips and drizzle over the cookies. This uses up the left over chocolate chips, which if I leave them around I will eat straight from the bag, and it make them look pretty.

 I really liked this recipe and with some variations available I may actually make these for some Christmas baskets that I normally do for friends (shhhh.... Don’t tell them)!

½ cup	Butter (room temperature)
1 cup	Sugar
3	Eggs
1 tsp	Vanilla
2 cup	Flour
2/3 cup	Cocoa powder  (sifted to get rid of lumps)
1 ½ tsp	Baking powder
¼ tsp	Salt
1 cup	Blanched whole almonds
1/2 cup	Milk chocolate chips (plus more for melting and drizzling)

In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture all at once stirring just until combined. Stir in almonds and ½ cup chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half; with floured hands, shape each half into a log about 12 inches long. Place, about 4 inched apart, on a parchment lined or greased baking sheet, flatten until about 3 inches wide, leaving top slightly rounded.

Bake at centre of oven at 325F for about 30 minutes until firm. Let cool on pan for 15 minutes (Canadian Living said 10 minutes but that was not long enough, in my opinion).  Transfer to a cutting board; with a serrated knife, cut into 1/2 – 1 inch (depending on personal preference) thick slices. Stand slices upright on a baking sheet. Return to oven; bake for 30-40 minutes until dry and crisp. Let cool on racks.

Once cool, melt about 1 cup of remaining chocolate chips.  Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over biscotti. Place in fridge to cool for 15 minutes.

Variations.....

1.       Straight Almond...lose the cocoa powder and increase flour to 2 ¾ cups and when you put in the vanilla also add 1 tsp almond extract.

2.       Cherry/Blueberry/Cranberry Almond...decrease almonds to ½ cup; add ¾ cup of dried cherries, blueberries or cranberries (I would probably not do the blueberry, as I have not enjoyed the dried blueberries that I bought but that is a personal choice and product problem)

3.       Other Nuts...got no almonds, got no problem...try hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts or shelled pistachios; replace almond extract with additional vanilla!

ENJOY!