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 Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:32 pm
How to dry-brine a turkey
If you've heard about how juicy and tender brining makes a turkey, there's a way to do it without actually soaking the bird. Make a spice mix of your DRY spices. For a turkey breast, I used 1 teaspoon each of dried sage, thyme, and black pepper. Then add an equal amount of KOSHER salt, not table salt. So for my turkey breast it was 3 tsp salt, 3 tsp dried herbs. A whole turkey would take 6 tsp each. In the sink, pat the bird completely dry with paper towels. Then, find a plate, platter, or cookie sheet big enough to hold the whole turkey. Season the cavity liberally with spice mix. Turn the bird right side up, and loosen the skin with your clean hands. Sprinkle some of the spice mix under the skin, making sure to rub it around and get it everywhere. Finally, sprinkle the remainder on the outside of the skin. Leave the turkey uncovered in the fridge for at least 24 hours before cooking. If you're planning on things like fresh herbs or a butter rub, just add them as normal right before roasting the turkey. This will not only make the meat very moist and flavorful, but the skin will dry out slightly, making it extra crisp and golden when cooked. Enjoy!
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 2:54 pm
How to nail a pie crust (recipe at end)
The trick to perfect pie crust isn't some super-secret combination of shortening, butter, and the blood of virgin owls harvested at midnight. It's cold. Yup, that's it. Cold. Keep it cold, keep it moving, and your pie crust will be awesome. Chill the bowl, the liquid you use (whether you're a milk, water, or vodka person), and even the flour. If you want to get to maximum flakiness, use pastry flour instead of all-purpose, but if you don't have any, all purpose gets the job done.
If you have issues with transferring the rolled crust to the pie dish, try rolling it out on a huge piece of wax paper or parchment paper. No need to worry about carefully folding the crust over and moving it; just put the dish upside-down in the middle of the rolled crust, flip it and the wax paper over, then peel the paper off. Voila.
Failproof Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) flour
1 tablespoon (15 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 225 grams tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
1/2 c water, chilled till nearly frozen
Wash and dry your hands. Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl. Cut butter into pieces and add to flour. With pastry blender or knives, cut butter into flour until it looks like little crumbs. (If in doubt, put on your favorite 4-minute song and mix until the song's over.) Then, drizzle ice water over crumbs and mix with your fingers until it looks like dough. Makes one double crust.
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