Bread for stuffing and other Thanksgiving comments
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with all the traditional fixings ... but we are slowly losing the tradition of cans and packaged foods. And I think we have started a new tradition of smoked chicken wings for lunch (Lou's new specialty).
A big hit was the new version of Green Bean Casserole, using the recipe from Alton Brown. We did all the parts the night before: blanched the green beans, made the mushroom soup part, and cooked the onions. (Did you know that the first ingredient of the fried onions that you buy in a can is palm oil... yuck). The only tricky part is the onions. Don't cut too thin (go for ~ 3/16 of an inch) and try to cut evenly. And don't get too brown the first time, as they will get browner on the casserole (especially in the turbo-charged convection oven). We cooked in a 9x13 casserole dish, for about 20 minutes after the turkey came out of the oven.
Not so big a hit were the brussels sprouts, even sauted with a bit of bacon (and finished with a little cider vinegar). Roy, Sharon and I loved them, everyone else, not so much. At least Bridget had fun slicing them with the Cuisenart!
Also a note on a deconstructed turkey: You can do a big one this way: we did a 23-pounder. Using the turbo-convection oven, when started at 400F for 20 minutes, then 325 it was done in about 2 1/2 hours (we dropped the temperature to 300F towards the end so it actually cooked for almost 3 hours). I started at the higher temperature because I was a little late getting it into the oven, I had figured on 3 1/2 hours (which might be right for a normal 325 oven). As always, everything cooks evenly. We just had to use an extra pan because both legs didn't fig into the roaster.
Finally, here is the recipe for the stuffing. Last year I discovered that Pepperidge Farms stuffing (which is what our family ALWAYS used) had one of my banned ingredients (don't even remember if it was HFCS, hydrogenized oil, or MSG) so I made my own bread using the bread machine (where you don't care there are stupid holes in the bottom from the paddles). I'm always surprised at how long it takes for the bread to dry, especially considering that if you leave a slice of bread out you are making a sandwich from it is crispy in 15 minutes. If you don't have a bread machine (I suspect that mine is on its last legs), there should be no problem making like normal bread, would just follow the steps for any whole wheat bread recipe.
Herb Bread for Stuffing
2lb loaf, make 20 ounces of stuffing (lots)
¾ cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
¾ cup warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon rosemary, finely chopped
½ teaspoon sage
Black pepper (a couple of good grinds)
2 teaspoons yeast
Heat the milk and butter together in the microwave until the milk is just a little warm, and butter is soft and starting melt. Put everything (in order) in the bread machine and start. When done, let completely cool, preferably overnight. Slice into cubes, about ½ inch square. If the crust is particularly heavy, remove some of the crust, but otherwise leave on. Spread the cubes on a large sheet pan, and let dry for a couple of days.
Stuffing
Bread Cubes
½ ounce dry mushrooms, reconstituted in ~ 1 cup boiling water.
8 ounces (1 package) mushrooms (sliced)
1 large onion (diced)
2 stalked celery (diced small)
½ to 1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter
2 cups turkey broth
¼ cup of chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, sage, etc).
Place the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Stain the dry mushrooms, reserving liquid. Chop and add to stuffing. Saute the fresh mushrooms, onion, and celery with salt in the butter, add to the bread cubes.
Add mushroom liquid to bread cubes, careful to not get any grit at bottom. Mix the cubes, add a cup of turkey broth (slowly pour around the top). Stir and taste. Add another ½ to 1 cup broth. Cubes should be just moist, not soggy. Ready to go in / under turkey, or in a separate casserole dish to cook (if cooking separately, put a bit of turkey fat and / or skin on top).
The stuffing is great. Starting into the second container of it today and I have not run out of gravy. Yea! Sorry I didn't like the Brussels sprouts, maybe they just need more bacon??
The bad juju in Pepperidge Farms stuffing is HFCS.
I figured ribs might be a bit heavy so smoking wings it was.
Recipe
Smoked Chicken Wings
4 to 7 lbs of Chicken wings (depends on how big your smoker is)
Couple of cups of lemon juice
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Lemon Pepper
Minced Garlic
Chop wings into into 3 pieces, throw away tips. Put wings into a dish with garlic and enough lemon juice to cover the wings. Put into the fridge over night. Move wings around two or three times to get the lemon juice in everywhere.
Load smoker with enough wood for about an hour to an hour and half of smoking depending on how much smoke flavor you want or depending on the wood you use. I use mesquite for this.
Smoking time is very dependent on your smoker and how hot it runs. I use an electric one with allow you cook at a consistent temperature.
Lemon Pepper Wing Sauce
1 Lemon.
1/2 to 1 stick of butter
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Put butter into a sauce pan and heat on medium. Scrape some lemon zest (aka lemon peel..) into pan. Squeeze juice from lemon into pan. Add garlic salt and pepper to sauce. I grind the pepper on to a medium to large size. How much depends on your taste buds.
Red Hot Sauce
Buy Red Devil Hot sauce and follow directions. Since we did not have any we messed around some stuff which did not come out too well but did get me thinking about a mustard based sauce which I will play around with next time I make wings.
One variant to this and to speed it up is smoke on the smoker for the first hour and put in the oven for 1/2 hour to an 1 hour.
Thanks again to Debbie, Phyllis, and Sharon for a wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner. It doesn't get any better than good family, good friends, and great food. Don't want to forget Roy for picking out a great bottle of wine to go with dinner.
Reply to this
Your stuffing was great, but way too much work for me. My mother always had a basket in the cupboard to put slices of bread in. This filled with all kinds of end of the loaf pieces which was made into stuffing.
Reply to this
I sometimes channel my inner grandmother, but only when using bread my actual grandmother would have made!
Reply to this