11/28 - Gravy (for turkey, mash, etc)

keypoints:

• first saute aromatics (onion, celery, mushroom, etc), then add flour, then add alcohol, and finish off with broth
• if too thin, add hot water to a tablespoon of flour in a bowl and whisk til smooth, then add to gravy mixture
• to get more flavor, add onion powder and / or garlic powder

usage:

• great when add turkey to it and mix up to serve for leftover open faced turkey sandwich
  

11/27 - Thanksgiving Turkey

Problem:

• breast little dry and joints are bloody

Procedure:

• brined in rosemary, garlic, bay leaf, salt, sugar, and pepper for 1 day in bucket with ice
• washed off turkey from brine and air-dried in fridge for 10 hrs, flipping once then another 1 hr in fridge
  
• took out of fridge 1 hr before roast
• iced the breasts at same time roast was taken out of fridge
• oiled up bird but no salt at all
  
• roasted at v-rack in high edge baking pan
• roasted breast side down 45min at 425 (til slight dark)
• flipped to breast side up and cooked 1 hr 1 min at 325, and checked temp and 140 at the thigh and breast
• roasted additional 20min at 350...
• rested about 1 hr then sliced
  

Next time: (solution?)

• don't use the high edge pan as it is doesn't allow heat to get to the bottomside of the bird
• if need to use high edge pan, place on lower rack to get more heat
• using normal bake sheet with v=rack is best
• take out bird and ice it about 2 hrs prior to roast....1 hr too short
• roast at 425 for 45 min with breast side down, then turn down to 350 for 15 minutes before flip and cook at 325 (or 350 for better color) for 1 hour, 15 minutes (as i feel the bottom side needs more time to cook thighs better)...then broil the top skin for 5 min if needed at end.
  
• need to highly salt the bird before roasting...put salt under the skin too...good also to add sauteed garlic too under the skin...
• saute garlic with olive oil and butter...cool...then rub under the skin of turkey
• for brine, taste it to make sure salty enough...needs atleast 1/2 of the bucket to to be full...measure the amount of water to salt to get an accurate reading for next time...
• don't add garlic to brine...flavor better when in sauteed mixture...
• for brine, use only rosemary, bay leaves, and salt and sugar
• stuff with garlic mixture and salt the bird's exterior atleast 8 hrs before roasting to get max flavor and crisper skin
  

Temperature:

• ideal is 160 in breast meat 175 for thighs
  

11/27 - Banana Cream Meringue Pie

problem: meringue started to "weep" after an 30min of cooling at room temp, then 30min cooling in the fridge

steps i took:

• banana cream pie made 6 hours before...was cool in the fridge before i added the meringue to the top
• 1/2 sugar that recipe called for (jamie oliver's book)
  
• baked at 400 degrees for about 5 min til browned on tips (j.o. book)
• when it started to weep, i decided to recook it...took it out of fridge and cooked at 375 for 10 min, then 300 for about 30 min, then 325 til total was about 1 hour...sides with egg whites stopped dripping so i took it out of heat...brown all around and hollow sound when tapped and med / rare center when tested with skewer.

tips i found from tiptionary:

• blend 1 tsp cornstarch with the sugar before beating it with egg whites
  
• add 1/2 tsp baking power to sugar before adding to egg whites for high rise meringue
• adding sugar to egg whites before soft peaks will elongate amount of time it takes to flush and possibly decrease the height
• acid helps stabilize the egg whites by solidifying it...
• most books call for cream of tartar as the stabilizing agent...but can substitute with lemon juice or vinegar (1/8 tsp per egg white)
  

from website:

http://www.stambaughfamily.com/lemonmeringuepie.html

• Weeping - When water seeps between the filling and the meringue, the pie is weeping. This is caused by spreading the meringue over a cool filling, which prevents the meringue from baking completely. Solution: Make sure the filling is hot, even boiling, before pouring it into the pie shell. Immediately spread the meringue over the filling. The hot filling will begin to cook the meringue from the bottom, ensuring even cooking throughout.

http://www.ochef.com/904.htm

• An option many people take is to add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the sugar before beating it into the meringue. The cornstarch absorbs extra moisture, and has the added bonus of keeping the whites from becoming overbeaten. Shirley Corriher, author of Cookwise (Canada, UK), uses a slightly different method. She blends a tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/3 cup of water, heats it until it forms a thick gel, and then adds it to the meringue a tablespoon at a time after all the sugar has been added. She says this keeps the meringue from shrinking, lowers the chance that beads will form on the surface, and makes a meringue that is tender and easy to cut smoothly.

next time:

• make pie crust and blind bake it...then add hot custard on top of pie crust, and immediately put the meringue on top and bake for 10-15 min on 375 degrees.
  
• if need to make a cold filling, then add corn starch to the sugar before adding to egg white mixture
• mix on egg whites first til soft peaks, then add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time til shiny
• don't make custard too thick...better thinner