Thanksgiving Recap

Misoyaki Turkeyfish under construction

Yes, we did use the world's smallest roasting pan--It came with the apartment oven.

Saveur had a little tutorial on what to do if you, like many apartment dwellers, haven't got a roasting rack. 

 Hint: foil (via the Kitchn)

For Thanksgiving Jeff and I ordered a little turkey from our CSA, then invited our friends who hail from outside the tri-state area to join us at our apartment.  As luck would have it, all four of our guests were from Washington state and they would all end up cooking their contributions to the Thanksgiving feast in our modestly sized kitchen. 

Alec prepares beautiful layers of macaroni and cheese for the oven

The kitchen is humming with movement

 Ryan pours a delicious mix of fresh pumpkin puree into eager piecrusts

Jeff does the honors of carving the bird

My friend Ryan who ran from Amsterdam to Athens this summer made pumpkin pie, but as he just moved in to his apartment, did not have adequate pie making equipment.  I obviously have that department covered, so we planned to have him come over a few hours beforehand.  The day before, our friend Alec and his two roommates had an issue with the gas at their new apartment inadvertently getting shut off.  The baked sweet potatoes with blue cheese and walnuts, baked mac & cheese, and corn fritters would be quite a challenge without any heat.  They did as much of their prep as possible at home and then came over and blitzed our oven.  I'm glad that I prepared as much as I had on Wednesday night because it was just barely controlled mayhem in the kitchen on Thursday afternoon.  Miraculously, we got everything on the table, warm and delicious, right on time at 6:00. 

Hungry, hungry hands

 

Thanksgiving 2009 Menu

Corn Fritters with Assorted Mustards
Baked Sweet Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Walnuts
Brussels Sprouts with Buttered Pecans
Spiced Cranberry Jelly with Agave Nectar
Curried Fruit Relish 

(I used dried peaches, several raisin varieties, dried cranberries and dried apricots. 
You could probably cut the butter in half and still have a delicious relish.)

Italian Sausage Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes with Butter, Milk, Buttermilk, Cheese
Baked Mac & Cheese with Mushrooms
"Misoyaki Turkeyfish," recipe below
Cream Gravy

Fresh Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake

This is after everyone ate seconds, thirds and dessert.

As delicious as everything was, we made a bit much, and it was really rich food.  

The only item without fat added to it was the cranberry jelly.  

"Misoyaki Turkeyfish"
There is no fish here; I just love Misoyaki Butterfish, this turkey involved a good deal of miso and butter, and my sleep-deprived sense of humor got the best of me. The miso lends an extra meatiness without tasting like miso soup.  Keep in mind that miso has salt in it, so make sure your butter is unsalted, especially if you go the brining route.

I picked up our 12 pound, hormone-free, Vermont-raised Turkey on Tuesday evening.  It was quite solidly frozen which made me a bit nervous.  I did a dry-brine based on an article from the LA Times, which was great because it gave us the moist meat of a traditional brine, but none of the potentially spongy texture.  It also was perfectly safe to do on a frozen turkey, letting me brine and defrost at the same time.

• 2 T kosher salt per 5 pounds of turkey
• aromatic herbs as desired
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 1/4 c shiro miso paste ("white miso," very mildly flavored)
• 1/4 c unsalted butter, softened
• 1 red apple
• broth for basting

At least 2 days before roasting, rinse turkey and pat it dry.  If you can get the neck and giblets out, please do.  Mine were frozen in place.
Using 1T of kosher salt per 5 pounds of turkey, make a salt mix with your about 2 teaspoons of your preferred aromatic--we used dried thyme.  Sprinkle this mix liberally over the bird, focusing on the breast and thighs, and rub it in to the skin. If you got the neck and such out of the bird, rub some of the mix inside as well.
Place the turkey in a large, preferably sealable, plastic bag and remove as much air as possible when closing, then place breast side up in the fridge.  We used a black trashbag and it worked fine.

Before roasting, take turkey out of the fridge, remove from trashbag and place in roasting pan.  Let sit at room temp for 1 hour.  Preheat the oven to 500° F. 
Chop 1/4 onion finely in a food processor.  Reserve the other 3/4 onion for stuffing the turkey.  Add miso and butter to the food processor and pulse until you have a mostly smooth paste. 
Loosen turkey skin starting from the larger opening and stuff miso butter under the skin.  Massage from the outside to distribute the butter evenly.
(You can do the butter-skin stuffing the day before if you like.)

Chop remaining 3/4 onion and red apple.  Place inside both ends of the turkey.
Tent with foil and roast for 30 minutes at 500°.  Reduce the heat to 350° and take the temperature of the turkey at the thickest part of the breast, and baste liberally.. 
Continue roasting at 350° until the thickest part of the breast registers 155°, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours for a 12-15 lb bird.
Remove from the oven and let rest at least 20 minutes before carving.

Our fridge at midnight, post-feast

Many, many opportunities for creative leftovers ahead

NYC Outdoor Store: Tent & Trails

Much as I love the internet and buying my outdoor gear online, there's something deeply satisfying (and fast) about going into a store and having a chat with a staffmember as you debate which bits of equipment you want to spend your meager savings on. Having been to just about every outdoor and sporting good store in Manhattan--Paragon, City Sports, Sports Authority, EMS, Patagonia, Modell's, and Tent & Trails--I have accrued a great deal of experience with different sales styles.

Using the handy-dandy internet to research Western Mountaineering bags (the best!) a few months ago, I found a retailer, Tent & Trails, right next to City Hall with a terrific selection and nice prices. When I stopped by to check out the bags, I was helped by a really nice guy who was not terribly knowledgeable either about the sleeping bag options or what they had in stock, but really attentive without being creepy. In fairness, their inventory method was the über-old school tally mark and white out system, so I don't blame him for having no clue whether my size was in stock without ducking into their storeroom. In any case, it was nice to fluff the bags to feel the differences in loft, feel how sturdy or lightweight the fabrics were, etc. In the end, their price was right at about $45 below the average google-shopping listing.

Last Wednesday, on a wonderful and strange day off of work--thank you, Veterans--Jeff and I ran a bunch of errands. One of these was to investigate new boot options for me and learn a little bit about ice axes. I have a pair of really stiff, full-leather Scarpa boots which are good for mountaineering and maybe snowshoeing, but simply tear my feet apart when I'm hiking. We also want to do some winter hikes, and ice axes are a necessity. So, we dashed down to Tent & Trails. Even though it's at the opposite end of Manhattan as our home, it's worth the trek. As soon as we walked in, someone jumped up to help us with ice axes. It made me a little nervous to watch him balance precariously on handrails and picture frames in the jampacked, Rube Goldberg Machine-like built-out stairwell/storage to pluck sharp metal objects from the walls for us to inspect. Obviously unaffected by similar fears, he happily to answered our questions and gave honest opinions about different options without being the slightest bit condescending--a rarity in NYC customer service.

We then went downstairs so I could try on boots. A truly crunchy looking man asked, "Do you know what you're looking for?" in a way that seemed more akin to the statement "You know what you are looking for. If you tell me what it is, I can bring it to you," rather than the more frequent subtext, "What are you doing here, female?" Perhaps the slight aroma of freshly spilled salsa on my jeans cued him in to the fact that I'm abnormal, hopefully in a good way.

I gave him the rundown of what my feet are like, what style my current boots are, what the problem is, and my activity level. He went into the storeroom to pull some options for me, then watched as I pulled a thick pair of SmartWool socks out of my purse and laced up the boots. The Mountain Man immediately piped up, " Nice, I can tell by the way you tied your boots that you're not the regular NYC dayhiker. What do you guys do?" I continued to stomp around on the stairs and testing ramp, as Jeff and I explained that we backpack pretty regularly and are hoping to do a long hike a bit down the line. This launched us into an amazing 40 minute conversation trading tips on long hikes, sock brands, stove and food options. It was so refreshing to have a meaningful discussion about our favorite pastime with someone who was genuinely interested in our opinions.

In summary, Tent and Trails is my hands-down favorite outdoor retailer in the city, and provides a complementary selection to REI as it caters to more rigorous expeditions. Too many times I've been "helped"/insulted by the snooty middle-aged guy in Paragon's backpacking section. He gives you a once-over, assumes you've never gone hiking before and starts to lecture you about adjusting your pack. It's an easy choice to make.

If you don't trust my account, you can get a good sense of the store from this interview with a salesperson in New York magazine.

Tent & Trails
21 Park Place
Every major train line has a station within 5 blocks
212-227-1760

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 9:30am - 6:00pm
Thursday, Friday 9:30am - 7:00pm
Saturday 9:30am - 6:00pm
Sunday 12:00am - 6:00pm
[Note: They had shorter hours during the Jewish High Holy Days. Call ahead to confirm their hours if you're commuting a long distance.]

New Toy: Dehydrator

I just got home to find a giant box from Amazon which can mean only one thing: my new dehydrator is here!

I know, I know, it's weird to get excited about a dehydrator--especially when the NYC air feels like it squeezes every bit of moisture out of your skin. However, Jeff and I are doing some research for an upcoming backpacking trip, and I've been reading lots of opinions about how to decrease pack weight without compromising either deliciousness of food or calorie counts. Recall that Jeff and I have fast metabolisms even in sedate city life, so we need a lot of food to keep our bodies from consuming their own muscle mass when we're actively hiking. There are three prolific commenters on the Backpacking Light Food, Hydration and Nutrition forum who advocate dehydrating your food. It makes sense: water is both really heavy to cart around and causes many foods to spoil; I have a love-hate/mostly hate relationship with superprocessed foods that are designed to be shelf stable; I will not touch Mountain House or Backcountry Pantry foods; and I cook some pretty delicious meals if I may say so myself.

We decided against the Alton Brown jury-rigged box fan dehydrator, since it couldn't handle things like curries or sauces, and opted instead for the Nesco FD-75PR 700 watt model. It got a good review from one of those prolific commenters on Backpacking Light (she wrote a trailcooking book and always shares excellent comments). That review and the very reasonable price of $55 sold me.

We probably won't do too many epic cooking sessions to fill up the dehydrator but rather go the route of drying leftovers from dinner instead of packing them into the fridge. I'm excited for this new project!