As most of you may know I’ve been maintaining two blogs, one for gourmetbetty and one for bettyhakes.  Time has come to merge the two… after all, I am both!

So, we’ve merged all the articles into this bettyhakes.com blog.

Let me know what you think of the new look and feel.

Peace,

Betty

I love to research recipes. Part of the fun of cooking is to see what everyone else had done, marry or pull it apart and make it my own. My sister does this as well – so perhaps you do too! I have some friends who follow recipes and directions to the letter, so I’m going to include my plans for those of you.

My goal for this blog post is to give you a little history of my research, and give you my step-by-step process for my Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner. You decide if you want to marry, pull it apart or follow along.

According to Cook’s Illustrated the core brining formula is 1 gallon of water and 1 cup of table salt for a 4 to 6 hour brine. For a 12- to 14-hour brine you would reduce the salt by half.

Most chefs’ today use kosher salt because it dissolves easier. This would change your 4 – 6 hour core brining formula to 1 ½ cups of Morton’s Kosher Salt with 1 gallon of water.

Researching other chef’s brining recipes, such as Alton Brown and Martha Stewart, I notice that they use a slightly different formula but they usually brine longer than 4 to 6 hours. They also add in several ingredients in order add flavor to the turkey. Add-in I’ve seen are: regular sugar, brown sugar, allspice berries, ginger, peppercorn, maple sugar, soy sauce, herbs and even bourbon! Alton uses vegetable broth and water in his brine.

So why brine? According to Rita Heikenfeld, “brining makes the bird more moist, seasoned and better able to withstand heat in the oven. Without getting too technical, brining allows a greater concentration of water, salt and flavorings to flow into the cells. It also cleans the bird of any residue. Once exposed to heat, much of the water is prevented from leaking out, giving you a better bird.”

So what is this queen of quick & easy going to do? I like the taste of turkey and don’t want to mask the taste with too many flavorings so I’m going to use some basics. My objective to brine this years’ turkey is to produce is a moist and succulent bird (and experiment on my family…). My turkeys in the past have been great without the brine – but I’m taking it up a notch and taking advantage of a rare occurrence of being in my own kitchen for Thanksgiving. Not to mention I am super excited about my mom, sister and her family joining us this year for Thanksgiving. (Wishing my brother and his family could join us as well… but I’m maybe next year.)

So here’s the basic plan:

Wednesday: Pick up my fresh pre-ordered 15 lb Turkey

Wednesday night before dinner (approx 5ish): prepare the brine and refrigerate. This is also a good time to make your cranberry sauce and refrigerate for the next day.

Wednesday after dinner (approx 8ish) submerge the turkey in the brine and put in the fridge overnight.

Thursday morning (8 – 10 AM): remove turkey from brine, wash and pat dry. Allow to air dry in the fridge until you are ready to prep.

Thursday 1:30 PM: Spread turkey with butter, place on roasting rack, add veggies to pan and cook for about 3 – 4 hours until thick part of breast reaches 165 F. ** note a leave in temperature probe with alarm is a great investment!

Thursday 4ish: prepare and bake the stuffing, prep the potatoes and veggies.

Right before dinner: make the gravy

Dinner time (5Pish): Serve turkey along with mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green beans, carrots, salad, and dinner rolls. Leave room for dessert

So that’s the basic plan for our Thanksgiving dinner. I have provided some basic recipes below, as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions or post any comments here.

For those seeking some safety guidelines and cooking time table from the USDA you can click here: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp.

I pray you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

Peace to you,

Betty

————————– RECIPES ————————————-

Betty’s 12 – 14 hour (overnight) Brine:

2 gallons water

1 ½ cup Kosher Salt (Morton’s)

¾ cup light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon of whole peppercorns

3 bay leaves

Directions: add all ingredients over medium-high heat and cook until sugar and salt dissolve.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

When bring is completely cooled: submerge the turkey in a container/bag large enough to hold your turkey. Refrigerate overnight 12 – 14 hours.

Roasting your Turkey:

1 stick of butter

2 onions, cut in quarters

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

3 cloves of garlic

Fresh rosemary and thyme

Directions: soften butter at room temperature. Slab turkey with butter. Insert 1 quartered onion and a couple of springs of herbs into the cavity of the bird.

Place the rest of the vegetables on the bottom of the roasting pan. Make sure you use a roasting pan with a rack.

Place in the oven for 45 min’s at 425 F. Lower the temperature to 325 F, baste the turkey and allow to cook until the thick part of the breast reaches 165 F.

Allow to sit, covered with foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. In the meantime, make the make the gravy and finish up the vegetables.

Gravy:

Turkey Drippings

2 cups Chicken broth

¼ cup Cornstarch

Directions: after you have removed the turkey to allow to rest. Remove all the vegetables from the pan and pour the gravy into a gravy separator and allow to sit for a few minutes until the oil has separated. Discard the vegetables (or if you want a thicker & add to the flavor of the gravy you can mash them in a food mill or processor).

Deglaze the bottom of the pan with about ¼ cup of white wine and allow to boil for about a minute. Mix the cold chicken broth and cornstarch until dissolved, add into the pan and allow to cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until thick. Taste, add salt and pepper to taste and pour into gravy bowl.

note: add more cornstarch or liquid to create the desired consistency of the gravy.

Received a question from a reader today:

“I was just wondering if you have ever had any experience freezing potato soup. Maybe some helpful hints if you have?”

Thanks Christy for this great question!

In general cream based and potato soups do not freeze well, “the potato’s cellular structure breaks down in the freezer” says my good friend and mentor, Rita Heikenfeld from abouteating.com. Although it’s better to freeze than to pitch it — so Rita just reheats is slowly and stirs in a bit of cheddar right before serving. Click here to view Rita’ recipe for Potato Soup.

Bean soups and broth based soups freeze perfectly! So double-batch those when you can.

Good luck and enjoy!

Just had lunch from Bangkok Thai Cuisine again in Milford, OH — oh my gosh! delicious!! I had the cashew chicken with brown rice. The vegetables are fresh and the sauce is perfectly balanced.

Service: service on the phone seems good. Will need to update this review once I actually eat in.

If you’re in Milford, and like Thai food — you’re going to love Bangkok Thai Cuisine in Milford, OH. You can find them at 1055 Main St, Milford, OH – 513.248.2999

Tell me what you think.

you’re not the only one….

catching up on some reading and it seems like one of most popular searches are
“Halloween cookies”
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Halloween+Cookies&cs=bz&fr=fp-tts-701

Thought it was interesting how so many people are looking to make some spooky treats. How fun!

If you’re looking for a little meal before all the sweets – you may want to check out the Halloween sloppy Joe’s we made a few years back: http://www.gourmetbetty.com/Recipes/sloppyjoe-recipe.htm

What’s in your kitchen this Halloween?

Most of you know my kids have been sick, along with the rest of the kids on our street and what seems to be about 15% of the school.

I read on nrp that not only do we need to be careful with the actual flu this year, but if our kids get sick again right on the heal of getting over their original cold/flu.  Their defenses are already lowered so they can get worse. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113700568&ft=1&f=1128)

So, I’m thinking I need to make sure I give my family good nutritious food that can help boost their immune system and nurse them back to health.  I turned to my friend Rita Heikenfeld from www.abouteating.com for some advice and tips on foods that help boost our immune system: 

·         Cook with lots of garlic and onions: Onions have quercetin which may help prevent viruses from multiplying.

·         Zinc is huge for immunity – which is in seafood, eggs, mushrooms, nuts, whole grains, and some seeds (Think of granola with whole grains, seeds, nuts, etc. – which is a great snack or breakfast.

·         Yogurt with the probiotics is for the digestive/immune system.

·         Vitamin A strengthens the body’s defenses. You can find Vitamin A in fresh veggies such as spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, the cruciferous veggies, etc.

·         Apples are good since they help prevent germs from spreading and help fight off free radicals.

·         Don’t forget about vitamin C which our bodies can’t store – citrus fruits are huge sources and awesome for the immune system.

·         Rita also suggests drinking lemon water first thing in the morning (to break the fast) and is now adding lemon in her green tea since is helps the body utilize the good stuff in green tea better.   

·         Lemon also helps absorb iron which the kids need.

So, I picked up some fish for us tonight and served that with roasted red onions & tomatoes with brown rice & quinoa for dinner tonight.  Dinner was delicious!  I seasoned the tilapia with salt, pepper and chili powder and grilled it on the grill pan.  For me (because nobody else likes Salmon but me),  I season the Salmon with Salt, Pepper and covered it with fresh chopped up parsley.  Added a little bit of soy sauce, seared it on both sides and then reduced the temperature and covered to cook through.

What’s on your dinner table?

Good luck fighting the cold/flu/virus this season!  Hopefully this advice will help you and your family boost its immunity so you can all stay healthy and happy.

Peace,

Betty

Posted via email from bettyhakes’s posterous

“Retirement Revolution” focuses on the stories of seniors who are planning for their futures in the wake of the financial collapse of 2008. The broadcast also highlights living with Alzheimer’s disease, featuring interviews with Alzheimer’s Association staff members Bill Thies, Beth Kallmyer and two former Early Stage Advisors, Mimi Steffen and Gary Shelton.

Find out what time your local PBS station is broadcasting “Retirement Revolution.”

Or watch a clip of the segment online. Just click where it says “Living with Alzheimer’s.”

On a personal note….

Please get involved and educate yourself!  I wish I knew more about Alzheimers before my father was diagnosed. By then it was too late and my family and I suffered through multiple “deaths of who he was” until his last breath over 2 years ago.  He was only 76 – and before getting sick, he was full of life and had tons of energy.  I miss him.

If we would have known and understood the signs perhaps we would have made different decision and led dad on another path.  We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it and pray we can make better decisions in the future.  It start with education.

Join me in watching this show and learning more.

With love,

Betty

Reach over 6,000 people from all over the Cincinnati area!

Support the Mason High School Marching Band by advertising in their program for the annual fundraiser!

Huge Crowds from 9 am – Midnight ! Attended by over 6,000 people from all over Mason and surrounding communities.

·         $ 20 for 1/8 page (business card size)

·         $ 40 for 1/4 page

·         $ 60 for 1/2 page

·         $ 100 for full page

This is an effective and easy way to reach consumers, especially if you’re in the music industry!

The event is October 24^th at Mason High School.

Just email your business card or artwork, along with the requested ad size to Gina Kopera.  Deadline is October 1st.

By the way, your contribution is tax deductable.

Posted via email from bettyhakes’s posterous

I am treasuring the time my mom and I are spending together during her visit with us in Cincinnati.  Not only is she a HUGE help to me around the house and with the kids, I cherish the times we have to talk and reminisce over the past. 

Yesterday we talked about how much we miss my grandmother, who’s been gone almost 14 years – but seems like just yesterday.  We also remembered our battle with my dad’s mind, and how much it pains us that Alzheimer’s took his last years.

In reflecting on our conversation I realize we tend to question ourselves all the time; could have, would have, should have!  We need to understand that we did the best we could with the information and knowledge we had at the time.  I do believe we should learn from our experiences…. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

- when our memory starts to give way, we need to seek help immediately from professionals (several if necessary).

- when our loved ones makes irrationals decisions, we need to be strong enough to help them (even though it causes some friction)!

- take hold of the quiet times where you can discuss and learn from your parents’ and grandparents’ history (I love hearing the stories of my mother growing up in Cuba!)

- take lots of pictures & video

- document special family recipes; make them often

- listen more than you speak

- tell your family members you love them each and every time you see them

- teach your children the importance of family bonding

- reduce the noise surrounding our lives and create our own family memories

What are yours? Comment here and let me know.

Peace,

Betty

Posted via email from bettyhakes’s posterous