Food That Tastes Great

Thursday, 30 August 2012

First, Catch Your Turkey

I grew up in the country, which meant that my first experiences of turkey involved wild turkeys. Wild turkeys are generally fairly large, bony birds with a gamey flavour and a tendency to dry out on cooking (not to mention that they arrive intact, feathers and all). They don’t roast particularly well, and are usually boned out or casseroled.

I’ve only ever cooked bought turkey a couple of times and have been lulled into thinking that they can be treated like chickens. Despite experimenting with brining, I have been vaguely dissatisfied with the results – too dry and lacking any depth of flavour.

I recently found myself gazing into the local butcher’s freezer at his supply of turkeys… and before I knew it, the smallest size turkey was coming home with me. I spent my time on the bus to work thinking about my problems with cooking turkey, and eventually came to the conclusion that the turkey would benefit from braising. So what does one do when faced with a turkey dilemma? Turn to the experts! One little search on the interweb and I discovered a Mr Michael Ruhlman, and his braised turkey recipe. There wasn't a lot I could do to improve on it, so here it is, with a few little adjustments!

Tender Braised Turkey

1 turkey (that will fit in your braising dish – mine was around 3.5kg)

1 lemon, quartered
2-3 cups white wine
1-2 litres chicken stock
1-2 carrots, roughly chopped
1-2 onions, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped (including leaves)
Handful of fresh parsley, thyme and oregano sprigs
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Place the lemon inside the turkey, along with some of the herbs and some onion. Place the turkey into the braising dish, along with all other ingredients (I only add a pinch of salt at this stage and adjust at the end). The liquid should be covering about 2/3 of the turkey.

Place into the oven, uncovered. After 15 minutes, turn down to 180 C. Baste with cooking liquid about every 15 minutes. After 1 hour, remove from oven and rest for 5 minutes. It should be nicely browned.

Carefully remove the breast, including the ribcage. To do this, I used a sharp knife to cut diagonally from the neck across the top of the wings, and then used kitchen scissors to cut around the sides of the breast and lift it off. Cover the breast and rest.

Return the braising dish to the oven, with the remaining parts of the turkey submerged in the braising liquid. Cook for another 30 minutes. Remove the turkey from the braising liquid and scoop out all the flavouring vegetables (I didn't sieve the liquid as I like to have a slightly rustic gravy). Skim off any visible fat. Bring the braising liquid to a boil for 5 minutes, then add 1 tbsp cornflour dissolved in a little water, and stir until thickened. Taste the gravy and adjust to taste – some redcurrant jelly (or cranberry) for sweetness, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

Joint the legs and wings and place in the gravy. Remove the breast meat from the bones, slice, and place in the gravy. We served it straight away, but it would easily keep for another 30 minutes on a very slow element, or in the turned-off oven.

Serve with potatoes and green vegetables.

Leftovers freeze well in the gravy, and make for a delicious emergency dinner on rice with vegetables!

Monday, 27 August 2012

Food in Focus – Could I be a Food Photographer?

No.

But could I have a lot of fun learning what it is that food photographers do?

Yes. Especially when Ruth Pretty is cooking the food and I get to eat it!

I had chosen to do the Food in Sharp Focus event as part of Wellington on a Plate – hosted by Ruth Pretty, with guidance from professional photographer and tutor Murray Lloyd. I thought that I might learn a bit about taking photos for the blog, and have the added bonus of trying some of Ruth’s fantastic food.

Our day started at 9.00am with coffee, a selection of perfectly ripe cheeses, crisp kiwifruit salad, and delicious peach and raspberry pastries. We settled in with our classmates, sharing stories about the combination of food and photography that brought us together.

Ruth and Murray arrived and, using the peach and raspberry pastries, talked us through the process of photographing food – from choosing the background colour/fabrics and the plate or dish, to the arrangement of the food, the lighting and the careful placement of a fork. It was an incredibly informative two hours, with plenty of opportunities for questions. We rounded out our introduction with a slide show of food shots, showing the different ways that food can be highlighted by the use of colour, composition and lighting.

Then we got hands-on – three different “pass-arounds”, an assortment of plates, backgrounds, fabrics and Ruth Pretty’s gardens to use for our own attempts…

Chicken and Pistachio Pies with Cranberry Chutney

The allocated 30 minutes was far too short to do justice to the food! Although I have to say that many of the attendees turned out fantastic photos, so I can only accept operator incompetence on my part. Happily, we then had to eat the photography subjects, with a drop of bubbly to assist. Murray chose a selection of photos after each session, and talked us through the successful aspects of our shots.

Next up, was Cold Poached Salmon with Ginger Coriander Dressing and Black Beans. Yum. Here, I had a little more success (I think).

I’m not sharing my very much less successful photo of the Oven Braised Pork Shoulder with Cavalo Nero, Apricots and Prunes, as it doesn’t do justice to a spectacularly successful dish. Along with the salmon, this is definitely on my list of things to cook as soon as possible. Other photographers did manage to take a good photo.

We finished with Baked Rhubarb and Rose Geranium Compote with Little Pavlovas, Whipped Cream and Brandy Snap Cigars.

The verdict? It was a great day – I learnt a lot about food photography, including how time consuming it is, if you aspire to the perfect photo. This blog may benefit from some improved composition, but as my first audience is usually sitting at the table waiting while I photograph, it will have to be done in 5 minutes or less!

Sunday, 12 August 2012

Dinner Party Club Degustation Menu

A while ago, I introduced you to the founders of the dinner party club – the Urban Gardeners. The other members include the Visitors from Hawkes Bay, the Creative Cooks, and the Bean Counters (Mr Sporting Bean Counter and Mrs Shopping Bean Counter). MOTH has been talking for a long time about having a Degustation Menu as a theme, so we sent out a menu that went like this: amuse bouche, vegetable, soup, fish, salad, fowl, palate cleanser, meat, fruit, dessert.

This is what it looked like…

Course 1

Amuse Bouche: Salmon tartare, with crème fraiche in a poppy seed tuile