From Recipes
Wild Turkey-tini with Fresh Pressed Apple Cider
Sean just pressed 6 bushed of apples in his cider press – so we are blessed with an embarasasment of delicious heirloom apple cider. He’s thinking of making some hard cider but in the meantime I came up with a Wild Turkey-tini in honor of the bird we will be eating on Thursday.
Wild Turkey-tini
2 oz wild turkey bourbon
2 oz fresh apple cider
2 dashes of bitters – I prefer Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters
One Maraschino Cherry for garnish – I prefer Tillen Farms
Combine the first 3 ingredients in a shaker with ice – and shake vigorously. Strain and serve in a martini cocktail glass . Garnish with a maraschino cherry
Leftover Turkey Chili
It’s Thanksgiving and now that your turkeys are ordered and your shopping list goes on for miles – cauliflower, turnips, pearl onions, green beans, carrots and parsnip – my all time favorite. And then there are the pies – sweet potato, apple and pumpkin. I really love a Thanksgiving Feast!
But when all is said and done – after the table has been cleared – and the meal is enjoyed – the pies are mere crumbles of their former self, what do you do with all those leftovers? A roast turkey sandwich is great, with Cranberry Sauce or JF Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserves. But….
One of the best ways to extend your Thanksgiving meal is a pot of Roasted Turkey Chili. I love the fragrance of New Mexican chili and cumin on a cold fall afternoon. This is an easy and healthy meal that makes all those containers of leftovers simply disappear.
3 T olive oil
1 large onion – I like a sweet variety
4 cloves of garlic – there is a wide variety in your farmers market try a German hard neck if you can
2 stalks of celery
3 to 4 carrots
2 parsnip
1 to 2 pounds of Turkey
1T to 3 T chili mix – ( Try Josephine’s Feast Rough Rider Chili )
1 T cumin
1 can of organic tomato paste
2 quarts Chicken or Vegetable Stock – homemade or organic low sodium.
Sea Salt
Pepper
Start with a large pot and add 3 T olive oil and heat. Dice or slice the onions and garlic. Sauté in olive oil. Dice Celery, Carrots, Parsnip, and add to the sauté. Dice a 1 to 2 pounds of leftover turkey and add to the pot. Now the magic happens – add 1T to 3 T of chili mix and 1T of ground cumin. Continue the sauté until the mix begins to perfume your kitchen. Add the tomato paste – you want to cook off the raw taste of the chili & tomato with out burning the spice. Add sea salt & pepper to taste – Remember, “Less is more” you will have a chance to adjust the seasoning later. Add 2 quarts of chicken or vegetable stock. The better the stock the better the meal. And cook on a low simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. If the stock is cooking off too quickly – add some water. If the chili has too much broth raise the flame. If your adventurous you can add a plethora of leftover vegetables – cauliflower, Brussels sprouts – even diced baked potato. This chili is unique as the cook that makes it and is a mouth watering healthy meal that extends the Thanksgiving Feast!
Serve with a pot of black beans or over polenta for a wonderful autumn meal. It can also be frozen for a quick meal when you are too busy to cook.
Brining A Turkey
What strikes me most about Thanksgiving is that just a few weeks before – I get that urge to cook a turkey. Call it a seasonal urge, just like driving upstate New York to see the leaves change color. I can’t wait to cook my turkey dinner.
In anticipation I page thru a number of favorite cookbooks looking for ways to improve on my favorite recipe. This year my interest is brining. We have had a great summer barbequing brined pork ribs and chops – why not the Thanksgiving Feast!
I must admit that my all time favorite Turkey recipe is “Turkey with Two Stuffings” from the Theory and Practice of Good Cooking by James Beard. The bird is stuffed with a fresh herb bread stuffing and the neck is stuffed with a rich coriander scented sausage stuffing. I prefer to use an organic turkey – one from North Sea Farms but in the past I have also used a wild turkey and even a boned turkey breast – we’ll save that technique for another post.
Brining is simple, but it takes some planning – you’ll have to start 3 days before Thanksgiving if you are using a frozen turkey. Similar to a marinade – Brining makes cooked meat moister by hydrating the cells before cooking, via the process of osmosis. There are no short cuts to brining; your turkey must remain in the brine for 16 to 24 hours. Simply stated this process makes a great piece of meat even better
The basic bring mix is quite simple – salt, sugar, and water. This recipe is an adaptation from Jeremiah Tower’s “New American Classics” Influenced by Elizabeth David, Richard Olney & Alice Waters – this is a cookbook that changed the way we thought about American food when it was published in 1986.
For the Brine:
1 cup of salt – I prefer grey sea salt
½ cup of brown or organic sugar
1 gallon of water – plus additional water
2 T black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 T whole coriander
3 T dried thyme or Herbes de Provence
3 days before cooking you will have to thaw your turkey – if it is fresh – all the better.
Combine one gallon of the water with all the ingredients above in a large stockpot over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil. Remove the brine from the heat cool down and refrigerate
The day before cooking pour the brining mix into a 5-gallon bucket. Adding an additional gallon or more of water. Place the thawed turkey in the bucket and weight it down to insure the brining mix covers it. Cover and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.
Brining works by osmosis – if you cut the brining time you will result in an over salted turkey. If you allow the full 16 to 24 hours for the brine – you’ll have a delicious turkey with outstanding gravy.
This recipe can be reduced by half or quarters and used to brine organic chickens, pork chops, pork tenderloin and my absolute favorite barbequed ribs.
If you don’t want to make your own brining Mix, Then try ours. Enough for one Turkey.
Josephine’s Feast! Seville Orange Marmalade Cocktail & Breakfast Martini
I’d eat marmalade every day if I could. As a child I loved the golden strands of orange rind on my toast – even better if my grandmother made my breakfast.
But as I’ve gotten older my taste for breakfast has changed and perhaps a Marmalade Cocktail is one of the loveliest ways to start a lazy Sunday. Created at the Savoy Hotel in London in the 1920’s this is a fabulous cocktail that can be made with any flavor marmalade but as a traditionalist – I’ll make mine as it was made historically by the bartender Harry Craddock with a strong English style Josephine’s Feast! Seville Orange Marmalade
The Marmalade Cocktail
4 teaspoons JF Seville Orange Marmalade
2 Shots Bombay London Dry Gin
½ Shot Lemon Juice
Garnish with Orange zest
Ice down a favorite martini glass by filling it with crushed ice and water.
Mix the first 3 ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake or stir – your choice.
Empty the prepared glass of ice and water.
Strain the cocktail into the well chilled martini glass
Garnish with a a piece of Orange Zest
(Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled glass)
Interestingly this recepie is said to serve 6!
Another Variation on this theme is the Breakfast Martini. This cocktail is a bit sweeter due to the addition of Cointreau or Triple Sec.
The Breakfast Martini
2 Shots of Gin – I’m a Beefeater gal just like the Queen Mother
¾ Shot Cointreau or Triple Sec
¾ Shot of Fresh Lemon juice
1 Tablespoon full of Josephine’s Feast! Seville Orange Marmalade
Lemon Twist for a garnish
Ice down a favorite martini glass by filling it with crushed ice and water.
Mix the first 4 ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake or stir – your choice.
Empty the prepared glass and strain the cocktail into the glass
Garnish with a Lemon Twist
This cocktail serves one and can easily be doubled for companionship.
Josephine’s Feast! Blood Orange Marmalade Vinaigrette
I go crazy at the farm when I see gorgeous heads of lettuce popping from the soil. The first weeks I am so content with a simple dressing of olive oil and vinegar. As the weeks progress I find myself looking for something new to balance a meal – and keep my interest. This is one of my favorite salad dressings – with the right mix of sweet and tart flavors that can show off tender baby lettuce or add zest to a bowl of bitter greens. In the fall it is simply divine on a bowl of shredded raw kale.
Josephine’s Feast! Blood Orange Marmalade Vinaigrette
Makes 3/4 cup
Ingredients
1/4 cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 Generous Tablespoon of Josephine’s Feast! Blood Orange Marmalade
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
A Large Bowl of Market Greens: I prefer Baby Spinach, & Arugula combined. This dressing is also delicious on Baby Bibb Lettuce or loose-leaf lettuce such as Deer Tongue or Lollo Rosso.
For the Dressing:
Whisk together the lemon juice, marmalade and olive oil. The vinaigrette will keep for a few days in an airtight container and stored in the fridge.
To Make the Salad
Combine all the lettuce in a large bowl and drizzle with the dressing – toss actively to make sure the dressing is evenly distributed over the market greens. Finish with an optional dash of sea salt and grind of black pepper.
Grilled Swordfish with Josephine’s Feast Meyer Lemon Marmalade
My everyday choice is a chunky thick cut marmalade – wonderful on toast and absolute essential to cook with. One of my favorites is a Meyer Lemon Marmalade that has a wonderful sweet tart flavor and a lovely fragrance. From salad dressings, to glazes for grilling, and even deserts & cocktails. A jar of this marmalade can go a long way.
Inspired by a friend at the Westhampton Farmers Market – I have adopted her sensational recipe for easy entertaining during these dog days of summer. Meyer Lemon Marmalade Glazed Swordfish serves along with a green salad and corn could not make for a better meal with friends!
Meyer Lemon Marinade for Grilled Sword Fish
6 swordfish steaks
1/ 2 cup of JF Meyer Lemon Marmalade
¼ cup fresh lemon juice – or vermouth, white wine or rum
¼ cup fresh chopped mint
salt & white pepper
One of the easiest meals for friends and family is a grilled swordfish with this delicious glaze. Combine the Meyer Lemon Marmalade with a whisk adding ingredients one at a time. Grill the swordfish flipping once on each side. Halfway through cooking glaze each side of the fish. Drizzle any leftover glaze over the swordfish streaks just prior to serving.
BBQ Chicken – My Way
I am not a big fan of BBQ Sauce – the commercial bottles are loaded with all kinds of things I would never eat – preservatives, stabilizers and high fructose corn syrup. But my 8 year old ( Josephine! ) recently went through a period where she could not eat a meal with out it. She used it as a condiment, a dipping sauce and a salad dressing – what is a mother to do?
I spent a good part of the winter trying to answer that challenge and a friend dared me to create an interesting BBQ sauce – because as she put it, a good BBQ sauce makes everything better. Really?
The question I am asked most get asked at the markets is how do I use a BBQ sauce to cook? After we decide between a hot and spice BBQ Sauce –
Josephine’s Feast! Organic Smoked Heirloom Apple & Chipolte BBQ Sauce or a sweet and fruity BBQ Sauce – Jospehine’s Feast! Organic Hand Foraged Wild Beach Plum BBQ Sauce
I do prefer a “whole bird” – as my grandmother would say. But this recipe seamlessly for chicken pieces and is often easier for many cooks to master.
By all means start by purchasing an organic chicken at your local market– it really does taste so much better and is so much better for you.
Shopping List:
1 Whole Organic 5 lbs Chicken or 8 Chicken Pieces
Juice of one lemon
1to 2 T olive oil
2 T Josephine’s Feast! Shinnecock Bay Seasoning
1 T of Josephine’s Feast! Natural Sea salt with Herbes De Provence
1 cup Organic Smoked Heirloom Apple & Chipolte BBQ Sauce or Organic Hand Foraged Wild Beach Plum BBQ Sauce
- Rinse chicken under cold water & lemon juice
- Pat dry
- Evenly coat the chicken with 1 – 2 T of olive oil
- Rub 2 T of Josephine’s Feast! Shinnecock Bay Seasoning onto the chicken
- Cover & let rest for 0ne hour – this helps to develop the flavor.
For even more flavor – refrigerate over night.
- If marinating overnight – take chicken out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking to bring the chicken to room temperature. This is a very important step as it allows for more even cooking.
- While the chicken is resting build an indirect grilling fire. Allowing the heat to reach 350 degrees
- If using a whole chicken – truss with cotton string. TRUSS
- Cook for 50 minutes on the grill
10. Baste with BBQ sauce every 5 minutes for the next 15 minutes
11. The chicken is done when the meat easily pulls away at the joints and the crust is golden brown.
For an oven alternative:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees –
- While you are waiting on the oven to heat, take the chicken out of the refrigerator and allow to reach to room temperature.
- Brush the chicken liberally with ½ cup of BBQ sauce.
- Place the trussed chicken on a rack in the center of the oven. Immediately turn the oven down to 350 degrees
- If you are using chicken pieces – place them face down on the rack and flip once half way thru the cooking process when basting.
- Baste with BBQ Sauce every 20 minutes.
- The chicken is cooked after 1 hour and 10 minutes or when the meat easily pulls at the joints
What to Cook when the Snow Falls and the Wind Blows.
I am always inspired by traditional cooking in the winter. The forecast of snow and the wind chill factor well below freezing has me yearning to slow roasting something wonderfully fragrant.
Today I am cooking in a Basque tradition, a piece of pork smothered in spices and slow roasted at 300 degrees. Slow roasting has its roots in rural cooking where few people had ovens and meats were placed at the back of the fire pit, fire place or bakers oven and heated all day long. When a roast is cooked in this manner, all the luscious fats render into the meat – self basting the roast. This is a rich and delicious meal, a guilty pleasure that brings friends and family together for a memorable feast!
Seek out the best piece of pork that you can find – I have made this with a supermarket pork picnic and is is delicious . But if you are lucky enough to have an organic or heritage pork producer the result is so much better. Here in NYC I shop at the Union Square Farmer’s Market and the gentleman at Violet Hill Farms or Flying Pigs have OUTSTANDING pork. Nothing comes close in my book. The end result exceptional with heritage producers. Here is the deal, the pork is more flavorful and the fat is well – out of this world.
Pork Roast
Josephine’s Feast Pork Spice Rub
Josephine’s Feast Natural Sea Salt
Pepper
Bottle of apple cider
Preparing the meat could not be easier. Unwrap the roast. Wipe it down. Cut slices of garlic and use the sharp end of a pairing knife to create a slit in the skin and push the sliced garlic into the skin. Rub the roast with a mix of fragrant spices – in my opinion , paprika is key, mustard, cumin, salt & pepper are some of my other favorites. Some of you have no problem playing with spices – others need a formula. I’d like to recommend Josephine’s Feast Pork Spice Rub. it has at it’s base Spanish Smoked Paprika, with Black Mustard Seed, Cumin, & Garlic. The rub has no salt – just before placing the roast in the oven rub it down with natural salt – also available at JosephinesFeast.com or in your kitchen shelf
When the roast is ready for the oven, place on a rack and pour 2 to 4 cups of apple cider in the baking pan. Just enough to cover the bottom but not touch the roast.
Slow cook for at 325 for the first 30 minutes then drop the temperature to 300 for the next 3 to 6 hours.
Check the roast every hour making sure there is enough apple cider under the roast to keep it from drying out
When the roast is ready the meat should pull away from the bone, there should be a crispy crust, and the internal temperature should read 160 degrees.
Tent the roast under foil for 10 to 15 minutes.
It is best served with roasted potatoes – I like to quarter organic potatoes – Yukon gold or other small sized spuds. Drizzle with olive oil, rosemary, whole garlic cloves, and salt. Roast in the oven with the pork for 2 hours. While the meat is resting – turn the temperature up to 350 for 15 minutes.
Garlicky greens or a wild arugula salad dressed with Balsamic vinegar and olive oil are a great addition.
As a condiment Josephine’s Feast! Apple Compote cooked with Dijon Mustard is the perfect match. Made with Organic Heirloom Apples it is a tradition accompanyment with roasted meat in Normandy.