From Turkey
Giving Thanks for Turkeys, Leftovers and Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserves
Unconcerned Wild Turkeys in Southampton - Thanksgiving 2012
Thanksgiving is that easy holiday – it feels as comfortable as a warm fire on a cool fall evening. A bit more laid back than most – it has always been my husband Sean’s favorite day. A casual feast with family and friends – what could be better?
After the upheaval of Sandy – I feel the exact same way. A loss of power and a few days stuck at home is a small price to pay when so many have lost so much – we all have something to be thankful for. At Josephine’s Feast! our cooking schedule was disrupted for a week. Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserves were on the schedule and is something I love to make. Just after Irene hit last year, Quail Hill Farm in Amaganset had an amazing assortment of hot peppers standing defiantly on the vine long after the hurricane had left. I thought the peppers were outstanding little devils to resist the storm and set out to harvest all that I could. In the kitchen our first vintage of Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserves was born. And it was amazing.
I waited patiently this year watching the peppers ripened on the vines on the farm and placed a substantial order with Kate the market manager at Quail Hill. We worked together at the Montauk Farmer’s Market and I told her that I had great plans for a second vintage of Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserves. I would take all the hot peppers that I could get – not realizing that history was about to repeat itself
As the day approached for my pick up, the frankenstorm was looming. Kate assured me the peppers were would be fine in her care. Packed away in refrigerators. The storm hit and it hit hard wiping out electricity on long island and nyc. It took us a week but Sean and my brother Chris finally picked up the peppers. They were just maganificent – as was Quail Hill Farm, a testament to the miracle of mother nature.
They trucked a couple hundred pounds of red hot peppers to my kitchen in Astoria, and my my staff & I car pooled over the 59th street bridge to slice, pickle, cook and preserve – what we all do best.
We had sweet red peppers that were so perfect it was hard to cook them – they were a masterpiece of beautiful crimson set against bright green crates. We had green and red jalepenos that we picked in a brine that was scented with anise and coriander. We had Habernaro and Pardon peppers – a Spanish hot pepper that I had never worked with. Tasting it mindlessly I realized it was far hotter than I expected and it burned my lips but had a delicious flavor. I would balance the heat of the Habernaro with the Pardon Pepper in a new preserve – a Red Hot Chili Pepper Jam. The color is a glorious red and the heat is quite strong.
And then there were the chilis – waiting to be sliced simmered in an apple cider based preserve. That would become out second vintage of the Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserve. Sean jokes that we might want to name it “After the Hurricane” – I thought why not?
My team and I cooked, crafted and packed the hot peppers into the most wonderful preserves. And in the end absolutely nothing tastes better with a plowman’s lunch or a Double Decker Hurricane Hot Peppered Preserve Turkey Club Sandwich. This delicious mayonnaise blend is absolutely simple and turns Thanksgiving leftovers into a FEAST!
Double Decker Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserve Turkey Club Sandwich
1/4 pound Sliced Turkey Breast – leftover from Thanksgiving is best
3 slices of Rye Bread
Mayonnaise
JF After the Hurricane Hot Pepper Preserves
Romaine Lettuce
Sliced tomato
Toast the bread
- Salt & pepper the turkey breast. My husband likes to heat the turkey slices in the pan which I find most delicious.
- Add 2T of Mayonnaise to 1T of JF After the Hurricane Preserves and mix well.
- Pull off 4 to 5 leaves of romaine and slice the tomato extra thin
- Spread the mayonnaise/pepper preserves on two slices of bread and stack bacon, turkey, tomato and romaine in that order. Add a second slice of bread and repeat finishing off with the last and final slice of bread.
- Enjoy the Feast!
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.