Monday, November 14, 2011

Our Family's Feast- Part One


Every year for Thanksgiving we switch off between my family and Jeramy's. We love spending the time with family and having the delicious food. The only drawback to switching off at other homes is that we never get to have leftovers. I decided a couple years ago that in order to remedy this serious problem was to have our own family Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday after the actual holiday. Since I'm making a grocery list and waxing nostalgic over the yummy food, I thought I'd post some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. Enjoy!

Old-Fashioned Roast Turkey with Gravy

You will need one 2-yard package of cheesecloth for this recipe. Because we layer the bird with salt pork, we prefer to use a natural turkey here; self-basting turkeys may become too salty. If using a self-basting turkey, use all water in the gravy rather than a combination of water and broth. Make sure to start the gravy (step 3) as soon as the turkey goes into the oven.

Serves 10 to 12

Turkey
1 package cheesecloth (see note)
4 cups cold water
1 turkey , 12 to 14-pounds (see note), neck and giblets reserved
1 pound salt pork , cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Gravy
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Reserved turkey neck and giblets
1 onion , chopped
5 cups water
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Salt and pepper


1. For the turkey: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove cheesecloth from package and fold into 18-inch square. Place cheesecloth in large bowl and cover with water. Tuck wings behind back and arrange turkey, breast-up, on V-rack set inside roasting pan. Following photos 1 to 4 above, prick skin of breast and legs of turkey all over with fork, cover breast and legs of turkey with salt pork, top with soaked cheesecloth (pouring any remaining water into roasting pan), and cover cheesecloth completely with heavy-duty aluminum foil.

2. Roast turkey until breast meat registers 140 degrees, 2½ to 3 hours. Remove foil, cheesecloth, and salt pork and discard. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Continue to roast until breast meat registers 165 degrees and thigh meat registers 175 degrees, 40 to 60 minutes longer. Transfer turkey to carving board and let rest 30 minutes.

3. For the gravy: While turkey is roasting, heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook turkey neck and giblets until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in water, broth, thyme, and bay leaf and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 hours. Strain stock into large measuring cup (you should have about 3½ cups), reserving giblets if desired.

4. Carefully strain contents of roasting pan into fat separator. Let liquid settle so that fat separates, then skim, reserving ¼ cup fat. Pour defatted pan juices into measuring cup with giblet stock to yield 4 cups stock.

5. Heat reserved fat in empty saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Stir in flour and cook until honey colored and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Slowly whisk in giblet stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Chop giblets and add to gravy, if desired, and season with salt and pepper. Carve turkey and serve with gravy.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

My Semester is Over!


I'm sure you are wondering why I am posting like mad all of the sudden. The reason is that my fall semester of school has ended. (So has the Primary Program which was taking up a lot of my time as well). But this semester has been really busy and I simply don't have time for any superfluous stuff when it's in session. Finally it's over and I'm updating our blog for anyone out there who may still be interested in it! Now there's nothing left to do but enjoy the holidays, fall, and these hoodlums!

Halloween 2011


This Halloween we ended up with a Shadow Phantom (whatever that is), 2 ninja's and 1 ballerina. It was a great success!

Becky's California Trip


One of my closest friends got married last week in the Newport Beach Temple and I went to it. It was so much fun to go just overnight with my other great friend, Kailee Anderson. It was a short trip, but well worth the driving.

Jeramy Rafting Down the San Juan River


During October break, Jeramy went on a river rafting trip down the San Juan River with his friend Ryan Johnson, and a bunch of guys Ryan works with. He had so much fun and even found a pioneer trail that had a sign that named his great-great grandfather as one of the pioneers that had crossed there. It was an amazing trip for him!

Verticcio Farms


We got a Groupon coupon a while back for our family to go to Verticcio Farms to go through the corn maze, enjoy the bounce houses and see the animals. We had so much fun today because the weather was beautiful and the place was great. (Also, Cooper got his glasses today and is wearing them for the first time in all these pictures! He's so happy things aren't fuzzy any more.)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Grilled Thick Steaks



Bashas is having an amazing deal on strip steak this week, so I went yesterday and bought a pack. (Seriously-you've got to go stock up!) We grilled some of it last night for dinner and they tasted so amazing! I wanted to pass on my recipe of literally the best steaks you will ever taste. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Grilled Thick Steaks

**To achieve a great crust, steaks must be dry, a characteristic that steakhouses get by aging their meat. To mimic the effect, we rub the steaks with cornstarch (which absorbs moisture) and salt (for flavor). We also rely on the freezer: Just 30 minutes uncovered in the freezer’s intensely dry environment sufficiently dehydrates the exteriors of steaks.

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

4 steaks (with or without bone), about 1 ½ inches thick

Pepper

  1. CHILL STEAKS Combine salt and cornstarch in small bowl. Pat steaks dry with paper towels and rub with salt mixture. Place steaks on wire rack set inside rimmed baking sheet and freeze until steaks are firm and dry to the touch, at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
  2. HEAT GRILL Heat all burners on high, covered, for 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn other burner(s) off. (For charcoal grill, light about 100 coals; when they are covered with fine gray ash, spread over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered, with lid vent open completely, for 5 minutes.) Scrape and oil cooking grate.
  3. GRILL STEAKS Season steaks with pepper. Grill, covered, over hot fire, turning once, until well browned, 2-3 minutes per side. Move steaks to cool side of grill and continue to cook to desired doneness, 5-6 minutes for rare (120 degrees on an instant read thermometer), 6-7 minutes for medium-rare (125 degrees) or 8-9 minutes for medium (135 degrees). Transfer to plate, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

FOR BONE-IN STEAKS

Are you grilling a T-bone or porterhouse? Prepare Grilled Thick Steaks through step 2. In step 3, place the steaks over the hot side of grill with the tenderloin portion of the steaks closer to the cool side of the grill. Proceed with the recipe as directed, cutting the meat off the bone and slicing crosswise ½ inch thick.