Turducken sandwiches

With mayonnaise, cornbread stuffing, and sriracha

Thanksgiving on Sharon street

Apple tarragon sorbet-to-be. Freezing the apples in a little lemon juice keeps the sorbet crisp and green. [ green apples, lemon juice, sugar, water, corn syrup, tarragon ]


If you see this stuff - buy it! Just delicious to dip apples or fruit into. Sweet spicy sour.



Starting the turducken process.




All three birds (turkey duck chicken) were de-boned and then brined overnight in a standard salt-sugar brine with allspice, clove, thyme, coriander seeds, black peppercorns.



The brids are then layered with a chorizo cornbread stuffing [ chorizo, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, chestnuts, cornbread, eggs, chicken broth, parsley ]


And then you sew it up! A bit of a Frankenstein at the front due to some necessary chicken containing needlework


This year we left the wings on. Others leave the legs on the turkey - but we like to fill them with stuffing instead.


Rubbed with oil and paprika and ready for the oven. We put it in a 500 degree oven, and after 15 minutes lowered the temperature to 225 F. It takes about 3-4 hours depending on the size of the birds. We cooked it til the centre was 155 and then let the bird sit for a good half hour.


Waiting for the guests...


Right out of the oven.




A chorizo gravy made with pan juices, rich chicken stock, white wine


And a veggie gravy


Potato celeriac mash with lemon zest, milk poached garlic, pecorino romano, parmesan, and butter


Slicing the beast. There are no bones so you just cut it into slices with a piece of each bird.


Angelo's Nana's Italian stuffing. Lots of basil, pine nuts, parmesan. Coming from an Italian grandmother, the recipe is of course secret.


Rachel and Dave's roasted carnival squash with goat cheese and parsnip. The tangy goat cheese was amazing with the sweet squash.


Sebene's minted rice pilaf with pine nuts.


M.O.T.H.E.R. was ruling with her Brussels sprouts


Action shot - cranberry sauce with port and spices. Fig and apricot preserve.


Also in attendance rainbow chard with ginger and fish sauce, and green beans.

Food in action


M.O.T.H.E.R. ruling again with her Mississippi mud cake


Other desserts included persimmon pudding, a ginger-tangerine-cardamom ice cream, and home made caramel sauce.

A winter dinner

Goat cheese salad [ mizuna, apple, pine nuts, mustard dressing, flame torched goat cheese ]


Pork roast with a garlic, salt and ground fennel seed rub


The pork was first put in a brine with juniper berries, cumin, black pepper, allspice, clove, coriander seeds and then cooked at 425 to a temperature of 140F.


Sweet potatoes roasted with olive oil, coriander seeds, garlic, preserved lemons


Sliced apples sauteed with garlic and chopped rosemary


Red cabbage cooked with onion, apple, apple cider, ground cloves, ground allspice, red wine vinegar


Quoc's chocolate soufflés [ chocolate, butter, egg, flour, sugar ]

Winter soups

Parsnip soup
[ onion, parsnip, mushroom broth, nutmeg, parmesan, lemon olive oil ]


Vegetable and beans
[ onion, leek, garlic, cabbage, carrots, kidney beans, onion seeds (nigella), preserved lemons, chicken broth ]

Sous Vide

Last Christmas Quoc got me the full do-it-yourself at home sous vide kit. Sous vide is basically cooking food under vacuum in a temperature controlled water bath. The control you have over the cooking this way means the texture and flavour of the food remains undamaged by the high heat associated with other cooking techniques. It's used mainly in swanky restaurants, but lots of people are starting to do it at home now.


Here's the setup. A non-automatic rice cooker and a temperature controller. The water gets heated to an exact temp and the controller keeps it that way.


The food is put into a vacuum pack using a Foodsaver vacuum or similar device. Flavourings are put in too, but strong flavours such as garlic are kept to a minimum, as they get very intense. This is sliced chicken breast with shiitake mushroom and leeks with a knob of butter.The food is then cooked at the ideal temperature for quite a while. Here we did the chicken breasts at 160 F for 25 minutes.


And the final result: The chicken is moist and the mushroom flavour is amazing. Served with a side of caramelised brussels sprouts.

Winter vegetable stew

[ onion, ham, carrot, parsnip, potato, garlic, kale, rosemary, mushroom broth, mixed grains ]

Spanish cauliflower soup

With salsa verde quesadillas

[ onion, garlic, cauliflower, olive oil, ham, almonds, stock, smoked paprika ]

Sopa de chorizo y garbanzas

Another classic from Lisa of Goldsmith street.

Olive oil
1 onion chopped small
1 lge carrot chopped small
2 small leeks chopped small
2 potatoes chopped small
2 lge garlic cloves
150g chorizo sliced about 3mm thick
1x tin of chickpeas (or haricot beans)
2 tbsp coriander or parsley
900 ml chicken stock

Sweat everything (except chickpeas/beans and herbs) on a low heat until softish (10 mins??)
Then add stock and chickpeas/beans
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins
Add herbs
Eat!

I didn't have leeks so added more onion. And I'd no coriander or parsley so I added a bit of oregano and thyme earlier with the chickpeas. And about a half cup of chopped tomatoes.

Polpettini with lemon

Lisa of Goldsmith street Dublin 7 made these amazing polpettini last week. Sadly the battery was dead on my camera when we were at hers, so I found a similar recipe online and made a Brooklyn batch. This recipe is by Nigel Slater. We made them with ground turkey which worked really well too. I also used porcini mushroom broth instead of chicken which was great.

Pork and lemon meatballs

70g fresh white breadcrumbs
500g pork
a lemon
a large handful of parsley leaves, chopped
about 6 bushy sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
8 anchovy fillets, chopped

to cook:
2 tbsp olive oil
40g butter
200ml chicken stock

Put the breadcrumbs and pork into a mixing bowl. Grate the lemon and add the zest to the pork, then halve and squeeze the lemon. Add the lemon juice to the pork with the parsley and the thyme leaves stripped from their stems. Tip in the Parmesan then the anchovy fillets. Season the mixture with a little salt, then more generously with black pepper. Mix thoroughly.

Make about 18 small balls of the mixture, using a generously heaped tablespoon of pork for each one. I shape them into a rough ball, flatten them slightly, then put each one on to a floured baking sheet.

Warm the oil and butter in a heavy-based non-stick pan. Roll the patties lightly in the flour then fry them, about eight at a time, for 4-5 minutes until they are crisply golden on each side. Lower the heat and leave to cook through to the middle - a matter of 6-8 minutes more. I tend to turn them no more than once or twice during cooking so they develop a crisp, slightly sticky exterior.

Tip the fat, or at least most of it, from the pan, then pour in the chicken stock. Leave to bubble for a good 2 or 3 minutes, scraping up and stirring in any pan stickings. Let the stock bubble down a bit, then divide the patties between four plates and spoon over the juices from the pan.

DEAD BATTERY MENU

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Chorizo and chick pea stew
Pork polpettine with lemon zest, lemon juice, and anchovy, pasta
Vienetta

Sunday Roast Pork

Parsnip and celeriac gratin [ steamed sliced parsnip and celeriac, parmesan, milk, nutmeg ]
Brined roast pork
Apple sauce [ apples, cinnamon, orange juice, lemon zest, sugar ]

Tortilla de patatas

Wexford - A chicken dinner

Chicken roasted with cumin, coriander, paprika
Carrots and parsnips with thyme and lemon
Potato puree with milk poached garlic, butter, mustard

Wexford - Tea at Auntie Nancy's

Wexford - chicken and mushroom pie

[ bechamel sauce with mushrooms and garlic ] + [ cooked chicken ]
topped with mashed potato and egg

Wexford - the classic sandwich

Batch bread, tomato, lettuce, chicken, onion, cheese, mustard