Monday, December 16, 2013

A Holiday Meal Stuffed with Flavor and Fun - Turducken!

Every so often an opportunity to try something new comes your way and you just have to say yes. That is how we ended up sitting around the table with friends, explaining to a two year old that a Turducken would probably say, “gobble-quack-a-doodle-doo!”



We laughed, ate, and pondered what this hybrid creature would really be like thanks to Echelon Foods, makers of the boneless Turducken Premium Roast we were eating. Our festive post-Thanksgiving meal was rounded out with my grandmother’s famous dressing, steamed green beans, sweet potatoes, and cranberry orange relish. We also finished with a batch of fudgy chocolate brownies for good measure. We were lucky to be joined for dinner by my brother (in town for the weekend) and our friends Eric and Kate. Kate missed out on one  of our first blog dinner parties and we were happy she could be a part of this one!

I’ve talked about my brother before; he has his own competition barbecue smoker and team and loves to cook all things meat. But a Turducken has never made its way into his smoker, oven, or grill. He was given the task of preparing the Turducken for our meal. The roast had been defrosting for 3-4 days and was ready to cook. It came pre-seasoned and ready to roast, but in my family we always like to doctor things up our own way. He added some oranges and onions to the roasting pan.



The Turducken went into the oven according to the website directions for an approximately 7 hour slow roast at 220 degrees.  Our chicken-apple sausage stuffed Turducken roast was around 6 pounds and needed those 7 hours to get to the right internal temperature. We wanted to be sure it was cooked through because we didn’t want to poison our guests (or me, the pregnant host!). My brother did the initial cooking on Friday and on Saturday we reheated the Turducken for dinner. To make sure it was cooked through we reheated for about an hour and then gave the slices a quick dip in a pan of hot chicken broth.




This ensured that it was hot and thoroughly heated through. One note for next time – cover the Turducken at the beginning of cooking time to get the temperature up more quickly.


Kind of looks like it is smiling at me...

Everyone had a generous slice – including the two year old. The roast could have served 8-10 as part of a large meal. There was a lot of meat! We didn’t know what to expect but all enjoyed the experience! The slices were mostly turkey, followed by stuffing, then duck, then the least amount of chicken.




The meat was surprisingly moist even after all that cooking. The stuffing was more of a bread-mush with sausage flavor more than a distinguishable stuffing (very tasty though). The hubby thought the duck would be tough but that wasn’t the case. Next time I think we would probably wipe off some of the pre-seasoning and add our own spice rub. There was something in there that wasn't my favorite flavor. However it couldn’t have been easier to prepare as is – defrost, roast according to the detailed web instructions, slice, and eat!




We had a blast trying out the Turducken and are glad that we had the chance to do so. Luckily if we get another craving we know that our local Stop & Shop has them in stock. Check the website for outlets in your area (US & Canada).



I will leave you with a Turducken haiku from the hubby:

Three birds all at once 
It's a full house of poultry 
Sliced like bread, yummy.



Little guy and mommy checking out the Turducken heating up

Gobble-quack-a-doodle-doo!


I received a complimentary Turducken from Echelon Foods. I was not required to review the product and did not receive any other compensation. All opinions are 100% honest.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Seta's Cafe: Market Favorite turned Restaurant

Back in 2010 I had the deliciously good fortune to discover Seta's Mediterranean Cuisine at the Copley Square Farmers Market. It happened to be her first day at the market and everything I tried was fantastic. Seta was so lovely and I had a great time talking with her (article here). Over the past three years I have enjoyed talking with Seta, tasting her carefully crafted dishes, and watching her business continue to boom. 

Just a few years after starting her prepared food business Seta has realized her next goal - a space of her own open last month! Her cheery light-filled Seta's Cafe is located on bustling Belmont Street in Belmont, MA. 



The Armenian-Mediterranean menu is framed on the wall and the counter opens to the kitchen, busy with activity. Smells of garlic and grilled meats filled the air during my early lunchtime visit and tempting treats filled the display case next to the register. 



On a recommendation from the chef herself, I opted for the grilled lamb plate ($17). Every dish is made to order and after a short wait a sizzling plate arrived with my lunch. Enough for two people, the lamb plate included two generous skewers of tender lamb, bulghur pilaf, grilled tomato, grilled onion, and piaz (parsley, onion, sumac, aleppo pepper). 



The portion was generous enough for two people. The lamb was perfectly cooked and the piaz was a perfectly complement. The combination of savory sumac with a little kick from the aleppo was the perfect complement. Even seemingly basic salad was dressed with a tangy vinaigrette that brought it to another level. The meal is served with housemade lavash to either roll the meat or sop up the vinaigrette from the plate. 



Here is a close up look at the piaz - finely chopped parsley, red onions, and delicious sumac and aleppo pepper combination.



Ordering just one thing was just too hard. For dinner I took home half the lamb plate along with a chopped salad with added falafel along with baba ganoush. 

My first trip to Seta's new place was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to get back in there to try out the rest of the menu - especially brunch. If you find yourself in the area, don't miss out on a visit to Seta's Cafe.


Seta's Cafe on Urbanspoon

Monday, October 28, 2013

Pizza Dough, Two Ways (Plus a bonus recipe!)

It is hard to believe that it’s time to start planning for Thanksgiving already, and this year is the added bonus of a joint Thanksgiving and Chanukah celebration. While I was poring over my stack of Thanksgiving themed food magazines, I came across a welcome distraction. In the November 2009 issue of Food & Wine there was an article entitled “Asia Comes to America.” Joanne Chang from Boston’s Flour CafĂ© and Bakery (and Myers and Chang) contributed a handful of recipes for traditional Chinese items made from non-traditional ingredients. The one that caught my eye was for scallion pancakes using store-bought pizza dough. Since I have been eating scallion pancakes almost every Thursday for the past few months (maybe year...), I thought I would give the recipe a try. (Recipe here, I quartered the recipe to make 1)



Does scallion pancakes every Thursday seem a little odd? Not when the delicious Mei Mei Street Kitchen truck parks across from your office every Thursday. When dumplings aren't on the menu, my next choice is whatever they are serving on a hot griddled scallion pancake. Some week’s it is braised beef, cheese, and pickles others it is roast beef, potato salad, cranberry hoisin and Swiss chard, or sometimes the double awesome. I know I can’t recreate the full Mei Mei experience at home, but the scallion pancake seemed like a good thing to try.



With a 22 oz. ball of pizza dough from the store, I didn’t need to use all of it for the scallion pancake. Earlier in the day I turned 3 pounds of local apples into an apple butter flavored with maple and pumpkin pie spice. This apple butter was packed with as much New England fall as I could find! Apples from Shelburne Farm (Stow, MA), pumpkin pie spice and apple cider from Bolton Spring Farm (Bolton, MA), and granulated maple sugar from The Warren Farm and Sugarhouse (North Brookfield, MA). I thought about making a batch of warm biscuits to slather it on, but then I remembered the leftover pizza dough in the refrigerator. Perfect for a no-fuss dessert!



I tore up the remaining dough and tossed the dough balls in a generous amount of cinnamon sugar. After arranging them in a Bundt pan they got smothered in a mix of my fresh apple butter and melted butter. Thirty minutes and a flip later, maple-pumpkin pie spiced-apple butter monkey bread! There is no recipe for this one, tear up your favorite pizza dough (or even refrigerated canned biscuits), toss in cinnamon sugar, top with melted butter and apple butter, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes, invert onto a plate, and watch it disappear in no time at all.



One ball of dough plus a few great sources of inspiration equals a delicious day in the Good Cook Doris kitchen. Hope your fall is just as tasty!

Maple Pumpkin Pie Spiced Apple Butter
Inspired by Overnight Apple Butter, Domenica Marchetti, Cooking Light, October 2004

1/2 cup granulated maple sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider
1 ½ tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
10 medium apples, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into large chunks (2 ½ - 3 pounds apples)

Add all ingredients in a Dutch oven or large, heavy bottomed pot
Cover and cook over medium-low heat 1 – 1 ½ hours or until apples are very tender, stirring occasionally
Place a large fine-mesh sieve over a bowl; spoon one-third of apple mixture into sieve. Using a spatula, press the apple mixture through sieve. Discard pulp. Repeat with remaining apple mixture.  (This took a little while to do, you want to get as much apple goodness as possible in the finished product)
Return  the apple butter mixture to the pot and cook over medium low for approximately 15 minutes, or until desired thickness.

Time: 
10-15 minutes prep time, depending on your apple peeling speed
10-20 minutes sieve time, depending on your arm strength
Total cook time: 1 ¼ hour – 2 hours

Equipment:
Peeler, measuring spoons and cups, knife, Dutch oven or heavy pot, and spatula

Notes:
This recipe is not sweet – if you like your apple butter sweeter you can add up to double the amount of sugar and honey. I prefer a less sweet apple butter, to let the apples’ natural sugars determine the final sweetness.  

I used a variety of apples from our recent apple picking outing: Cortland, Red Delicious, Empire, Golden Delicious, Rome, and a few others I can't remember. 

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