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Post by Kimby on Dec 30, 2011 16:04:14 GMT
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LouisXIV
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L'estat c'est moi.
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Post by LouisXIV on Nov 16, 2016 18:08:06 GMT
It's turkey time again, go to page one for the details
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 16, 2016 18:37:17 GMT
Hello dear King Louis ~ you've been missed around here. But since you're here to offer your turkey expertise, we shan't give you a dressing down.
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LouisXIV
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Post by LouisXIV on Nov 16, 2016 21:19:36 GMT
bixaorellana, have been busy this year. I moved to a new home and spent the summer and am still working to get it in shape and then in late August I got two more foreign exchange students, one from Estonia and the other from France, they keep me in the kitchen a lot more that I was use to. Then I get to cook the turkey for the "family" and my students this year and at the same time people have been asking me about my way to cook a turkey, so I forwarded to them the link to this post. I am surprised as to what my 73 year old bones can still do. I put down hard wood floors in my new home in 80 and 90 degree heat. Never again.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2016 21:50:44 GMT
Good to hear from you Louis. You have been missed.
And, good for you at your valiant accomplishment with the flooring. "Never again" being the hopeful understatement.
While I have never roasted (or fried as is a trend of sorts here, and quite good I might add) a turkey. That is generally left to those with that expertise. My husband and I are part of a communal Thanksgiving tradition.
My husbands contribution is his seafood gumbo. My contribution varies but this year I am going to bake a bona fide mincemeat pie a la Julia Child. This is something one rarely if ever is on a menu in "these parts" but there are enough Yankees that will enjoy it and hopefully others not familiar with it will enjoy a new intro to their palate.
Again, good to see you and bon appetit!
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LouisXIV
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Post by LouisXIV on Nov 17, 2016 11:45:42 GMT
Ah, yes, mincemeat pie. I love it and it seems that it is as rare as hens teeth. I remember it was always on the Thanksgiving table when I was a kid.
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LouisXIV
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Post by LouisXIV on Nov 23, 2016 15:21:15 GMT
Last Saturday morning on TV there were three cooking shows in a row on how to cook the food for Thanksgiving. I found it interesting, they all had the same concerns the one big one was dry white meat. I think they all had a method to over come the problems. Some methods were a "dry brine", cooking the turkey with the breast down in the pan. The method I wrote in the original post solves all the problem, just as well if not better. I also feel the "dry brine" concept will not get the seasoning into the meat as well. By setting the oven at high heat, 500 degrees F, for the first thirty minutes works as well and better than turning the turkey mid cooking time - a not to easy task with a hot turkey. FYI, I have done all these methods over the years, and until something new and better comes along I will stick with the brine concept, a wet brine.
I did find another nice tip on one of those programs I am going to try this year and that is making the mashed potatoes. The tip was to peal and cook the potatoes the day before, rice the potatoes, let them cool and then just before the dinner add butter and reheat in Microwave, add a little milk, mash or beat and serve. If you have a shortage of stove top or counter space that busy day of the year this could help.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 25, 2016 6:17:43 GMT
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LouisXIV
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Post by LouisXIV on Nov 25, 2016 16:38:31 GMT
bixaorellana, Liked that video, BUT you forgot to brine the Turkey.
Some feed back on the #66 post. I made the potatoes the way mentioned and they were good. BUT I question if I will do them that way again. I now have a larger kitchen and I was still in my old kitchen with much less counter space I might do it that way. It was nice to have the potatoes cooked the day before, but reheating in the Microwave does take time and so does mashing. I really don't see the benefit of doing it again for me. I took a picture of my turkey this year, and will post it here if I can figure out how to get it here from my FB post. FYI: Another year with an exceptional turkey.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 26, 2016 0:13:16 GMT
Louis, upthread (some years back) you emphasized the importance of fresh fish. I've had the freshest possible fish, including the first one I ever caught myself, a doré, in very remote country north of Lac St-Jean and certainly agree. But you've also had an impressive career as an Army cook - rivalled only, perhaps, by lumber yard cooks and those on projects such as building massive dams. And you have to "make do" with the ingredients you have and make troops (as in the other cases, a crew of humgry workers) at least reasonably happy. So what would you do if you had, say, a stock of frozen fish, or of ground meat?
I ask this because I belong to a community association and we organize suppers. Not all the people who attend are destitute, far from it, but some of them are and it may be the only proper meal they'll have all day. That also applies to another group, not well off but not actually destitute: men of a certain age (though many are younger than you) who are widowed or divorced and who never happened to learn to cook.
It isn't a soup kitchen (there is one in the neighbourhood, and the food is quite good - it is a small room and those who can lend a hand along with the cooking staff). Ours are social meals for events, including the year's end holidays.
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Post by LouisXIV on Nov 26, 2016 20:41:08 GMT
" impressive career as an Army cook" LOL I guess I would have to say that what I learned in the Army was "the basics". Like any field you have to know the basics before you can grow. But you still have to have desire, and I do for cooking. Where my cooking skills really improved is when I was made Mess Sargent and my first cook was a chef by profession (at the time he worked at a night club in Detroit). I learned a lot from him and was constantly amazed as I watched him move around a kitchen. One little thing I learned from him was when he needed something from the other side of the kitchen he "looked" for something that needed to go to the other side of the kitchen before he went. Never an empty load on the trip over or return. I think those are little skills you learn when you in a tight time frame in a commercial kitchen. He could also display the army chow well, we eat with our eyes. He even on occasion would type the menu in French and post it out side the mess hall. He was good as a chef and marketing. The next time my skill level increased is after my six trip to France and one to Italy. The French really know how to "dine" and the Italians are a close second. The Germans, not so much.
Now on to the fish. The reason I don't like to use frozen fish is that when you freeze fish, or almost any meat, the water in the fish expands and since fish is probably 90% water there is a lot of expanding going on. This expansion make the cells break and when you defrost some of that water leaks out and that is where some of the flavor is and with the broken cells the texture can become soft.
Will get more to you on this, My company just arrived.
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Post by LouisXIV on Nov 27, 2016 19:51:02 GMT
regatta, I am back. I would really help to know what kind of equipment they have in the kitchen, it could be limited what they can do depending on the equipment they have to work with. I guess you could just grill it but I really don't feel that method would work will for keeping any length of time on a steam table. Same with fried and you almost have to cook to order. Do they have a deep fryer? I went to the Food Network site and here is a sample of what I found: www.foodnetwork.com/search/search-results.html?searchTerm=frozen+fish&form=global&_charset_=UTF-8 But I would think someone in the organization that know more about the people who attend would be better qualified to pick something that their people would like. I would think something like a fish stew might be an option and I am sure there are many variations on that. Or maybe a fish chowder. There is a spanish dish that I just cant remember the name, but think it started with a P for some reason, could be a nice for a change. I have seen it more with shell fish, but would think a mixture of fish and shell fish could work just as well and is made with rice. If there is enough funds available, saffron could sure kick it up a notch. Here is what I found: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/seafood-paella-recipe.html I is Paella. How about this: But being a little creative and use the fish instead of the chicken and as much shell fish as you can afford. I would add the fish at the end with the shell fish because the fish does not need the longer cooking time like chicken would. To add more bulk to the item and keep your costs more in line, like some neutral vegetables, like zucchini, sweet onions and not over cooked or even some rough cut Romano Tomatoes added near the end of the cooking. regatta what are your thoughts on this?
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