The Hunt For The Tiniest Turkey & Reflections 50% Through (The Final Turkey)

The way the timing on this project worked out, my Thanksgiving turkey put me at the 50% mark for the cookbook. I'm thankful I have the resources to tackle a project like this; I've added kitchen equipment (I still need to try my fancy nitrogen charged cream whipper), I've used some exotic & expensive ingredients and I've been having fun. So I'm feeling blessed.
As I look at the current state of the master recipe list a few things jump out at me. So far this book has been shining on the classics; Oatmeal, Scrambled Eggs, Blueberry Poundcake, Chicken Parm Balls... They're all improved versions of familiar dishes. The unexpected rock star is the Black Beans/Brown Rice, this is my most repeated recipe from the project.
There is A Lot of seafood left on the list. Also everything that requires a smoker. Plus an ice cream machine is going to be needed. This is the list at 50%.

1. Breakfast Carbonara *
2. Always Perfect Oatmeal *
3. Buttermilk Lassi
4. Blueberry Pound Cake
5. Pho Bo
6. Oatmeal Banana Bread
7. BCLT Tacos
8. Little Brown Biscuits
9. Grits with Shrimp
10. Chilaquiles
11. Overnight Coconut Oats
12. Nitrous Pancakes
13. Mr. Crunchy
14. Scrambled Eggs V3.0
15. The Greens
16. The Black-Eyed Peas
17. The Corn Bread
18. Seedy Date Bars
19. Cold Brew Coffee
20. Peach "Cobbles"
21. Amaranth Wafers
22. Lacquered Bacon
23. Apple Spice Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze
24. No-Can Tomato Soup *
25. Grilled Cheese Grilled Sandwich
26. BBQ Potato Chips
27. My Big Fat Greek Chicken Salad
28. Tossed Beet Salad
29. Mushroom Wheat Berry Pilaf
30. Turkey Sliders
31. Beale Street Cheeseburger
32. Smokey the Meatloaf
33. Roast Broccoli Hero
34. Roasted Thanksgiving Salad *
35. Fish Sticks and Custard
36. Black Beans/Brown Rice
37. Chicken Parmesan Balls *
38. "Enchilasagna" or "Lasagnalada"
39. Oyster Po'Boy
40. Iceberg Slaw
41. The Final Turkey
42. Not Just Another Kale Salad
43. Green Grape Cobbler
44. Butterscotch Puddin'
45. Brown on Blonde
46. Kick-In-The-Pants Smoothies
47. Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
48. Thai Iced Tea
49. Savory Greek Yogurt Dip
50. Crispy Chickpeas
51. Red, Red Wine (Sangria)
52. Zissou's Buffet of Underwater Delights
53. Cucumber Lime Yogurt Pops
54. Fiery Ginger Ale Concentrate
55. Onion Oxtail Soup
56. Chicken Piccata
57. Cocoa Nib Vinaigrette
58. Kimchi Crab Cakes
59. Barbecue Pork Butt
60. Mussels-O-Miso
61. Bourbon Bread Pudding
62. Bad Day Bitter Martini
63. Char-Burgers
64. One Pot Chicken
65. Heavenly Orbs of Belgian Goodness
66. Weeknight Spaghetti
67. Cream Whipper Chocolate Mousse
68. Garam Masalmon Steaks
69. Pumpkin Cheesecake
70. Salisbury Steak
71. Snapper-Dome
72. Smokey Tequila Sour
73. Mushroom Stroganoff
74. Turkey Tikka Masala
75. Totally Panini-Pressed Dinner
76. Grilled Squid Salad
77. Peach Punch Pops
78. The General's Fried Chicken
79. Preserved Lemons-ade
80. Quick Preserved Lemons
81. Pate de Sardine
82. Hot Saltine Hack
83. Salty Chocolaty Peanut Buttery Crunchy Bars
84. Grilled Shishitos
85. Roasted Chili Salsa
86. The Last Pizza Dough I'll Ever Need
87. Barley Water *
88. Chuan'r
89. Watermelon Campari Sorbet
90. Cider House Fondue
91. Chocolate Chess Pie
92. Cockpit Shrimp Cocktail
93. St. Louis Ribs
94. Fried Rice
95. Midnight Mug Cake For 2
96. Chili Glazed Wings
97. Chocapocalpse Cookies
98. Open Sesame Noodles
99. Jungle Bird
100. Tomorrow, French Fries*

The aforementioned turkey is a simple preparation, but not simple to cram into a pot. I've made the One-Pot Chicken so I'm familiar with the dutch oven technique used to cook The Final Turkey, but finding a dutch oven that fits your average sized American megamart turkey is a challenge, and I didn't actually want to buy the size of pot Alton endorses for the recipe. Instead I enlisted my father to find the smallest turkey we could, requesting the tiniest turkey they had from a local poultry club. They came through with a 9lb bird that sort of fit into my dutch oven (I actually have a larger back up dutch oven a friend of the family hooked me up with in exchange for homemade toffee, but I was too lazy to re-season it).

I say it fits. Close enough.

This is the simplest turkey seasoning I've ever seen. It's just salt brine and a little salt & oil for cooking. It does work. The bird cooked fully* and didn't dry out, with meat that's tasty to eat.

Nice crispy skin with moist meat, victory.

Difficulty Level: Medium
Will It Get Made Again? I'm probably not making this my default turkey recipe. I am absoltely a convert to brining the bird though and if I needed to a turkey with a short roasting time I'd have in mind that I got this out of the oven in under two hours.
* I ended up sticking it back in the oven for an extra half hour after the temperature check, I think it might have been fully done on schedule if the pot lid were sealed.

Cheesecake Day (Pumpkin Cheesecake with Recipe)

So you want to make a pumpkin cheesecake?

Pumpkin Cheesecake

FILLING

1. 16 ounces of pumpkin puree (canned or my homemade version)
2. 1 teaspoon ground ginger
3. 1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
4. 6 ounces dark brown sugar
5. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6. 3 large eggs, beaten
7. 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

CRUST

1. 7 ounces ginger cookies (Nabisco ginger snaps, about 20)*
2. 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
3. 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4. 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted plus extra for the pan

Instructions

1. Bring the pumpkin puree to a simmer over medium heat in a 2-quart saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and add the ginger, nutmeg and dark brown sugar. Set aside to cool to room temperature (approximately 1 hour).
2. Heat the oven to 300 degrees F.
3. Cut a parchment paper circle and long strip to fit the bottom and sides of a 9 by 3-inch cake pan. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with melted butter. Adhere the parchment pieces to the bottom and sides of the pan.
4. Prepare the crust by placing the ginger cookies, 1 tablespoon of dark brown sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and process into a fine crumb, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
5. With the food processor running, drizzle in the melted butter. Stop and pulse 3 to 4 times or until the butter is well-incorporated.
6. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the parchment-lined pan using a weighted glass. Bake for 15 minutes. Then cool for at least 10 minutes on a cooling rack.
7. Combine the eggs and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Bring two quarts of water to a boil in an electric kettle.
8. Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for 10 seconds on low speed.
9. Add the prepared pumpkin mixture and mix on low for 30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer up to medium, and beat until the mixture is lump free, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
10. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly pour in half of the egg mixture. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the rest of the egg mixture and mix until completely combined. Pour the filling into the cooled crust.
11. Line a roasting pan with a kitchen towel. Place the cheesecake to one side of the roasting pan and pour the boiling water in on the other side. Center the cheesecake in the roasting pan and bake for 2 hours. Turn the oven off and open the door for 1 minute. Close the door for 30 minutes.
12. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place in the refrigerator for 6 hours to completely cool before serving. Do not attempt to remove the water bath with the cheesecake in it from the oven, unless you like water in your cheesecake.
13. When ready to serve, place the entire cake pan into a hot water bath for about 15 seconds. Run a small offset spatula around the cheesecake to free the parchment and remove it. Place a piece of wax paper atop the cake and invert a large plate or the bottom of a spring-form pan on top of it. Flip the whole cheesecake over and remove the cake pan. Remove the parchment paper and place a cardboard cake circle or large plate on the bottom of the cake. Flip the whole thing over again and remove the wax paper.
14. To slice, place your knife (the longest and thinnest blade you’ve got) into a hot water bath and wipe dry each time you make a pass through the cake. Cut into 12 slices.
15. Store in the fridge, covered, for up to a week.

By © Alton Brown (link here)

*Personally I use Trader Joe's Triple Gingersnaps for the extra gingery flavor and ginger bits.

If you're making this, factor in the 6 hour chilling time to your planning. All totaled out this cheesecake will take more than 8 hours before it's ready. Also be prepared for the parchment jigsaw you'll be building to line the pan. In the past I've made cheesecakes in spring form pans, which don't require so much prep. Putting a spring form pan in a water bath would just lead to waterlogged dessert though.  

Parchment Jigsaw (3 Piece) and Gingersnap Crust

In theory the water bath (also known by the fancy term Bain-Marie) will prevent the cheesecake from cracking, it almost worked. This is the least cracked cheesecake I've ever made (I probably needed to pull it out of the oven sooner, but I was following the recipe times). Interestingly, while it was chilling the crack seemed to disappear for the most part. Self-healing cheesecake?

Barely Cracked

It is a smooth, tasty custard. How much you love it will depend on how much you love cheesecake.

You'd Never Know It Cracked (But If You Do Have a Cracked Cheesecake, Just Cover It In Whipped Cream)

Difficulty Level: Complex

Will It Get Made Again? If I need a cheesecake, I'd be willing to tackle this again. Cheesecake isn't my weakness though, so it won't be common.

When in Doubt, Add Butter (Hot Saltine Hack)

Saltine crackers can be nibbled as is, but these get baked with with butter (clarified butter actually) and hot sauce. They're a recommended pairing for the Pate de Sardine (which in the book is on the previous page).

Slather in Melted Butter/Hot Sauce, Bake

I was actually surprised these weren't spicier given the amount of hot sauce that looked like it was clinging to them  (though results with probably vary with choice of hot sauce). They do have some nice flavor though and when eaten toasty warm qualify solidly as a comfort food.
I like the crackers better than the pate <shrug>.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Will It Get Made Again? I could see making these if I wanted really toasty crackers for cheese or soup, but they're unlikely to be made often.

Not Terrible Pate de Sardine

EveryDayCook has gotten me to try some things I wouldn't have otherwise. Sardine Pate is definitely on that list.

Sardines

The method is simple, dump ingredients into food processor, pulse, stop when an appropriately disgusting color has been reached. Even with garnish I can't call this one pretty.

Pate & Crackers

The serving recommendation is for Hot Saltines, pictured in the background (and featured in the next blog post). Let's call the end result not terrible.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Will It Get Made Again? No, this is better than I might have expected, but not appealing enough to repeat. I'm a Wisconsin girl, I'd rather dip in cheese.

High Tech Scrambled Eggs (Scrambled Eggs V3.0)

Ever used an Infrared Thermometer? It's like the Star Trek phaser of kitchen toys. To make Alton's scrambled eggs he recommends pointing your thermophaser at a cast iron skillet that's 380 degrees and then cooking the eggs in about 30 seconds.

It took me longer than 30 secs, it was worth it.

The eggs themselves have both mayo and harrisa adding texture and a hint of spice. These are actually the best scrambled eggs I've ever made. So I'm a convert.
However the target temperature thing? It's hard. So there will be some practice with the technique before the actual timing in the recipe works perfectly. Practice makes perfect.

Seriously, I'm just going to call it the Thermophaser.

Difficulty level: Easyish (the mixing/cooking is easy, trying to hit the target temperature isn't for me)
Will It Get Made Again? V3.0 is definitely better than previous versions I've tried. I'll do it again.

Probably Not The Last Pizza Dough I'll Ever Need

There's a recommendation about what to with your pizza dough once it's made in EveryDayCook. I didn't follow it. Pizza dough is a pretty flexible substance, and pizza toppings are limitless. So I used this recipe as an excuse to try making a version a pizza I can't get anyone (more on that shorty) and try a pepperoni bites recipe that had been hanging out on "things to try" list for awhile.
First, the dough. This is slow rise dough, designed to be made the day before and chill for almost an entire day. So plan in advance.

Ready to Chill

Once you have your dough the question is what you want to make. For me the pizza I can't buy anymore a Chicken BBQ Pizza that was short-lived collaboration between Rocky Rococo and Smoky Jon's BBQ. Rocky's primarily does thick crust pan style pizza, and Smoky Jon's makes my favorite BBQ sauce. The business agreement between the two companies only lasted one season, and then my favorite BBQ Chicken Pizza ever was no more. So as long as I was making pizza dough I decided to make a version of that pizza. I took some leftover chicken from the One-Pot Chicken, some red onion, cheese, and Smoky's BBQ sauce and made a quick and dirty homage to the long lost pizza. It was tasty, but to really come close to duplicating the Rocky's style pizza I'll need a different construction style. My father (who also remembers the long lost pizza fondly) suggested that we could try making a deep dish style pizza in a cast iron skillet to get closer. Otherwise I'd pretty much need to invest in something like this to get close.

Not the long lost pizza, but a decent pizza nonetheless.

This still left me with some pizza dough to use up. I used the rest to make Pepperoni Garlic Knots. Also good, but I like the more biscuit-like style of dough knots better, so this won't be repeated exactly either.

Pepperoni Knots

Difficultly Level: Medium*
Will It Get Made Again? Realistically this dough is on par with the fresh dough I can buy in my local stores. So whether I make it from scratch probably depends on whether I've planned far enough in advance to wait for the rise, and have plans for more than one chunk of dough. It'll be a question of cheaper homemade vs. convenient store-bought. I'm also going to take a harder look at recipes for pan-style pizza and see of the dough recommended is different or not.

*How hard this is depends on whether you a have mixer with a dough hook to do the kneading for you, and how complicated your plans for the dough are.