Amy the Mom

Punk Rock and the Perfect Peanut Brittle

    After I left home, my mom would regularly send me a package of Heggy's peanut brittle.  It's almost not worth the effort of making it yourself when it's so readily available, but I haven't found a supplier here in the Twin Cities that matches my hometown's product.  It's been thirty plus years since I last tried my hand at peanut brittle, and that was as an apprentice to my mom who was using our brand new microwave oven instead of a stovetop.   I thought I'd give it a try and see if the effort was justified. 

    This is a recipe that requires patience for most of the process, then urgent and swift attention at the end.  Side story-during my baking marathon a few years ago, I grew tired of listening to the same Christmas CD's over and over.  So, I turned on the TV and searched for programming that would keep me entertained during some of the more mindless tasks and inevitable waiting periods of baking.  I happened on the documentary about the Ramones, End of the Century.  If you loved punk rock back in the day, this is a must see.   The music is awesome and the story of the band is surprisingly poignant. 

         Anyway, I spent the rest of that baking time listening to early punk music on a DirectTV channel that has since been replaced.  Idiots.  Thank God for Pandora.  Now I make Christmas cookies while listening to festive songs from The Clash, Talking Heads, The Misfits, the Sex Pistols...you get the picture.  That three chord progression and those rapid gunfire drums make my task seem so much less tedious and monotonous. 

    Back to the peanut brittle-hey ho, let's go!

Perfect Peanut Brittle

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups raw Spanish peanuts (I prefer skin on)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking soda

 
Get your ingredients ready just as I have them above.  Once you hit the temperature markers, you need to be ready to move fast, fast, fast.  Time is of the essence when you're making any kind of hard candy. 

Heat and stir sugar, syrup and water in a heavy 3-quart saucepan until the sugar dissolves.  Add salt. 

 
This is about 190°.

 
It seems like it took forever to get to this point.  Remy gave up on waiting for scraps to fall on the floor. 

Cook over medium heat to soft ball stage (234 degrees).  Add peanuts at 250 degrees. 

 
Stirring is critical at this point, but it will feel at first as if you have too many nuts and the candy isn't cooperating.  Stick with it.  I had Annelise help me by holding the thermometer until the candy reached 290°. 

Cook to hard crack stage (290 degrees), stirring often.  Remove from heat.  Quickly stir in the butter, vanilla and baking soda.  Beat to a froth for a few seconds. 

 
The color here is much lighter than the finished product will be, this is the "foaming" stage.

Pour the candy onto the buttered cookie sheets, spreading well or stretching mixture with two forks in order to get the candy as thin as possible.   

 
After the initial pour.

 

 

    The verdict?  It's every bit as good as Heggy's and it only cost about $2.50 for this batch.  Gabba gabba hey! 

 

The Final Verdict on Roasting a 30 Pound Turkey

Last week, I walked into Cub Foods with a coupon for a Jennie-o Turkey for thirty-nine cents a pound.  With visions of Thanksgiving dancing in my head, I was determined to find a big bird.  Amazingly, there were several thirty pound turkeys in the freezer.  Lifting with my knees, I hefted one into my cart.  I then called my sister and asked her if she had ever roasted one that big.  Her answer was negative.  Like me, she had never even seen one that size before. 

To the Internet!

My Google searches yielded dire warnings about cooking a bird that size.  It would be dry as sawdust, it won't fit in the oven, you can't find a roaster big enough, don't even think about stuffing a bird that big, and on and on and on.  I brined and stuffed my turkey last year, and planned on doing the same this year, but once again, the Internet advised against it.

People.  The Internet is wrong! 

I am here to tell you that brining a frozen turkey will yield a moist, delicious bird and a marvelous gravy...even if it's 30 pounds.  You can cook stuffing inside the bird, and you won't bring a plague of salmonella on your family. 

Even though this recipe is too late for Thanksgiving 2010, you can still go to Cub foods until Saturday and snag one of those Jennie-o Turkeys for 39¢ per pound.  Make one for Christmas!  My thirty pounder didn't even set me back twelve bucks, and the family will have glorious leftovers all weekend!  Which also means I don't have to cook all weekend on the heels of an all night marathon last evening. 

There are two secrets to a perfectly moist turkey. 

The first is Lunds & Byerly's Turkey Brining Blend. 

 
Last year, I called every Williams-Sonoma store in the Twin Cities in an attempt to secure their brine solution.  Store staff told me they had been sold out for weeks.  Lunds & Byerly's is an upscale grocery chain here in the Twin Cities, and they carry gourmet items not usually found in run of the mill grocery chains.  I snagged the very last bottle of this stuff two days before Thanksgiving 2009.  It was a revelation. 

The other trick to my perfect turkey is Kitchen Basics Turkey Stock.

 
I use the entire quart box of this in the bottom of the turkey roasting pan. 

Here's the specifics.

Amy's Perfect 30 Pound Roast Turkey

Ingredients:

• One turkey, thawed if frozen.  Any size, but  my philosphy is bigger is better.
• Lunds & Byerly's Turkey Brining Solution and brine bag
• 32 oz. Kitchen Basics Turkey Stock
• Fresh Thyme sprigs

Prepare the brining solution in a large stockpot according to package directions. 

 

 

Rinse the turkey thoroughly inside and out and place in the brining bag.  The bag and turkey should be placed inside a roaster big enough to support them.  Allow the turkey to brine for 16 hours if it is a frozen turkey that has been pre-injected with a sodium solution, or up to 24 hours for a fresh turkey.  Do not brine for longer than 24 hours, and turn the turkey at least once during the brining period if it's not completely submerged in the solution.

 

Once complete, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse it inside and out under cold water for several minutes.  Some of the brine spices will be embedded in the skin, that's okay. 

Place the turkey in a deep roaster.  I prefer one with a lid, but use foil to create a tight tent if you don't have a lid.  Allow the turkey to dry out for about a half hour after removing from the brine.  This insures a crisp, brown skin during roasting. 

Preheat oven to 325°.  Pour the quart of turkey stock in the bottom of the roaster, then throw in several sprigs of fresh thyme.  Insert a thermometer deep into the bird, being careful not to touch bone.  Leave the bird alone for several hours.  For my thirty pound bird, I kept it covered at 325° for five hours, until the internal temperature was about 150°.  At that point, I took the roaster cover off, and basted the bird every 15 minutes for the next hour.  The internal temperature registered just below 165°-the ideal temperature.  I took the bird out of the oven and let it sit for another 45 minutes under a tight foil tent(the bird will continue to cook once removed from the oven), until it was time to make the gravy with the drippings.  The skin was a lovely golden brown hue, and initial tastes of the meat had Steve loudly declaring this the best turkey ever. 

When we pulled the bird out of the roaster, it came out it actually fell apart in neat sections because it was so moist.  The pan juices were sublime.  I didn't need to add anything else to the gravy to enhance the flavor.  The breast meat wasn't dry at all.  The giblet stuffing was lovely, I put it in a bowl and returned it to the oven to crisp the exterior up a bit.  Everything was delicious. 

I recommend you have someone to help you if you're cooking a bird larger than 23 pounds.  Getting the bird in and out of the brining bag is awkward and messy, and a roaster with a 30 pound bird inside is also a challenge.  Overall though, this is a foolproof method with glorious results.  Don't wait until next Thanksgiving to try it! 

 

 

The Final Word on Apple Pie

For years, I missed out on the delicacy that is apple pie.  In my picky eating phase from ages 1-11, I refused to eat any pie other than my grandmother's chocolate pie, which was really no more than pudding in crust.  (That's a recipe I will share before Thanksgiving though, because it is sooo good with fresh whipped cream.)  My resolve was tested though after picking a fresh quart of blackberries that grew in a field behind our home one fine summer mornig.  I decided I needed to taste the...ahem...fruit of my labors after my mom took the berries and made a small pie.  Cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, warm berries...I was hooked.  Why had I forsaken pie for so many years?!  Why?!

Apple pie didn't sink in until a few years later...my former mother-in-law made one that was (is) extraordinary.  After trying it, I set out to make a pie as good as hers, and years later when I made one for her, she declared mine was superior (she even seemed a little defeated at this pronouncement).  Perhaps she was just being gracious, but I have had plenty of compliments since then, from tough critics.  Still, she served hers with homemade fried chicken...mmm...that meal still stands out in my mind as one of the best I've ever eaten.

I take apple pie very seriously.  As stated here before, I wouldn't use a prepackaged crust under any circumstances, and ready made pie filling?  You can't be serious.  Of all the pastries I make, this one is the most time consuming and physically taxing.  But you top a warm piece of pie with fresh ice cream, and I'll bet a lot of your troubles slip away in that moment.  There are always squabbles in the house when I make apple pie, there's never enough to go around and resentment is thick toward anyone who is perceived to have indulged in more than their fair share. 

I've adapted Rose Levy Beranbaum's technique from her technically and aesthetically flawless The Pie and Pastry Bible. 

This woman's repertoire is my favorite section in my vast cookbook collection.  The photography is gorgeous and drool inducing-just look at that tart-it makes you want to nibble on the dustcover.  The text, far from being dry, is precise and helpful.  Beranbaum includes essays with some of the recipes enhancing the entertainment value of the tome.  

Click here for Rose's recipe for The Best All-American Apple Pie.

The only changes I make to Rose's Apple Pie are increasing the quantity of apples and spices (I double her spice quantities), and I use brown sugar exclusively, rather than a combination of brown and granulated.  Oh...all apologies to Rose, but Martha is still my go-to girl when it comes to pie crust. 

Pan Roasted Chicken Parts with Lemon-Thyme Jus

Steve's only complaint about my kitchen prowess is that I rely too heavily on the family favorites and don't  try new dishes often enough.  This is true, but I could also make spaghetti and meatballs every single night and the kids would turn cartwheels.  So in the interest of marital harmony and mixing things up a bit, I've selected some new cookbooks from the library and I'm committed to trying at least one new dish per week.  Why I am unable to utilize one of the 200 cookbooks in my personal collection remains a mystery to my husband. 

Anywho!

Last night's offering came from The Best 30-Minute Recipe cookbook from the editors of Cook's Illustrated.   I found chicken thighs on sale at Rainbow for $1.00 per pound on Saturday.  A quick look at the chicken ideas from the cookbook, and I decided on Pan Roasted Chicken Parts with Lemon-Thyme Jus.  Everyone in the family gave it a thumbs up, although Steve declared them "good, but nothing special."  Annelise sopped up every last drop of the pan juices, but she's a gravy addict, so it's easy to please her.   Do NOT use a non-stick pan to make this dish. 

Pan Roasted Chicken Parts with Lemon-Thyme Jus

Ingredients

• 3-3 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (you can use breasts, just increase the cooking time)
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (the recipe calls for 1 tsp.  I adapted to my skillet)
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

Jus Ingredients

• 1 minced shallot
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons butter chilled and cut into 2 pieces
• 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450°.
2. Season and brown chicken:  Pat chicken parts dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Brown chicken well on both sides, about 10 minutes total. 
3. Roast chicken in skillet:  Flip chicken parts skin-side down.  Scatter the garlic cloves around chicken and make sure to coat each with oil.  Transfer skillet to oven and roast chicken 8-10 minutes. 
4. Rest chicken:  Remove skillet from oven.  Transfer chicken parts to a platter and tent with foil.  Pour off all but 1 teaspoon of fat from skillet, but leave garlic cloves.
5. Make jus:  Return skillet with garlic to medium high heat and heat until fat is shimmering.  Add shallot and cook until softened, about two minutes.  Stir in broth, thyme and any accumulated chicken juices, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of pan.  Simmer until sauce has reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes.  Turn heat to low and whisk in butter, one piece at a time.  Off heat, stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve, pouring sauce over chicken.

For a side dish, I cubed some red potatoes and tossed them with oil and Mrs. Dash.  I microwaved them while the chicken cooked, then browned them while I made the jus for the chicken.  I steamed fresh broccoli for the veggie.  The jus was lovely served over the potatoes.

The thirty minute timeframe was spot on.  I increased the  jus ingredients by about 50%  to accomodate my larger skillet, and would recommend it if you're using chicken breasts since they're typically so dry.  In fact, I would likely double that portion of the recipe the next time I make this. 

 

 

 

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

 

I could have sworn that I included this recipe a few years ago during NaBloPoMo, but a scan of the archives proves me wrong.  (Do you ever go back and read older material and experience a disconnect...an inability to remember writing "that post"?  God, I had that feeling a lot going over those musings.) 

This pumpin pie isn't too different from the one on the label of Libby's Pure Pumpkin.   It is richer, though, and everyone who eats it claims it's the best they've ever had.  I want you to buy the can of pumpkin without the spices.  You'll add your own, one by one, instead of using pumpkin pie spice which lacks the punch of fresh.  One of these days, I'll make the pumpkin from scratch, too, but that plan is on hold until my spare time is more abundant.

One 9 inch pie shell, unbaked

I'm a big advocate of making your own pie crust.  It's not that labor intensive, and the end result is worth it.  I'm sure that I'm in the minority of people my age who still make homemade crust, but I use Martha Stewart's food processor method.    The only real work is rolling it out, which is a task I actually enjoy. 

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

1 C firmly packed brown sugar
1 TBSP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 ground allspice

Place all the above ingredients in your mixer bowl and give it a spin for a couple seconds, thoroughly combining them.  Add to them:

1 one pound can pumpkin, no spices added
1 1/2 C evaporated milk
1 egg, slightly beaten 

Pour pie mix into the crust.  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn oven temperature down to 350.  Bake for 40 to 50 more minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  You need to keep a close eye on the crust so that it doesn't get too brown.  I use a pie crust shield to make sure that my pies turn out perfect.   The other tool that guarantees success is the Le Creuset Pie Dish.   It's the perfect depth for this recipe. 

Confession time.  I know I should make fresh sweetened whipped cream with this, but I'm a sucker for Cool Whip.  My pumpkin pie recipe is so rich that real whipped cream is almost overwhelming.  I think that it's probably more nostalgic than anything else though.  I grew up with it, and loved coating every inch of my pie with it.

 

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I have a tendency to over promise, putting myself in unnecessarily high pressure situations.  As well meaning as my ambitions may be, I fail to remember that I only have so many hours in the day and that I don't have the ability to function on less than seven hours of sleep each night.  Around Halloween, I asked Steve if he would like me to make gift baskets filled with homemade baked goods for his clients.  He thought it was a wonderful idea, but cautioned me not to volunteer for the job unless I could really follow through.  I assured him that it would be no problem, I could pull it off in my "free time".

Factors I neglected to consider when making this promise:

• I had never undertaken a project of this scope before
• My job is busiest during the months of November and December
• The recipes I selected were labor intensive and elaborate in their design 

Steve's office manager originally asked for 27 gift baskets.  After the first delivery, Steve requested six more.  I decided to make one loaf of pumpkin bread for each basket, along with eight different cookies, a pouch of mulling spices and some homemade chocolates.  I wanted a range of flavors, and a variety of cookies.  I began making dough and freezing it the weekend after Thanksgiving.  This worked well, but I grossly underestimated how much dough I really needed.  Storage of finished cookies also proved to be a challenge. 

   

I borrowed my mother-in-law's KitchenAid stand mixer so teamed with mine, I had double the mixing power.  My KitchenAid celebrated it's 20th year of service recently without even a moment of trouble.  After two weeks of putting it through an endurance marathon of double batches of cookie dough, it waved a white flag when one of the tines on the wire whisk sheared off.   I gave ol' Faithful a loving pat and ordered a replacement whisk on eBay.  

The last month was a real education for me.  I learned some tough lessons, honed unfamiliar techniques and leaned on my improvisational skills.  Ingredient conservation was critical, so I tried new recipes to prevent waste.  I became addicted to Martha Stewart's website, and incorporated a couple of her "Cookie of the Day" recipes into the basket. If I dare to undertake this Herculean effort next year, I've got pages of notes and a better plan to make the gesture less stressful and more efficient.  Too many nights were spent taking catnaps on the couch after midnight between batches of peppermint meringues drying in the oven.  

  

Here's what made the final cut for inclusion in the baskets:

• Homemade mulling spices in hand ribboned pouches
• Gingersnaps
• Spritz
• Key lime thumbprints
• Peanut blossom cups
• Mexican wedding cookies
• Pecan icebox cookies
• Oreo truffles
• Peppermint meringue kisses

I had intended to only use baskets to hold the treats because of the delicate nature of butter cookies, so around Thanksgiving I began visiting thrift shops and buying baskets that were $3.00 or less.  This ended up being an exercise in frustration.  The random pricing of Goodwill employees and the inconsistent selection prevented me from accumulating enough baskets, so I used gift bags to make up the difference.  Next year, I'll collect baskets year round and store them for later use.  Further complicating my supply issues was the closure of my baker's supply store, Sweet Sensations.   They had a fantastic selection of pastry boxes and bags, cookie cutters in every shape and sanding sugars in every imaginable hue. Michael's and  JoAnn's  were only marginal alternatives.  The plan for 2009 is to locate  a new supplier. 

The grateful feedback I received made the project worthwhile, but the game plan will be tighter next year, and I suspect the project itself will be grander in scope.  I plan on testing recipes earlier in autumn and storing cookie dough starting at Halloween, rather than waiting until Thanksgiving.  The weekend prior to delivery, I will take two vacation days and have four days dedicated to efficient, nonstop baking. 

My apologies to my family for the lack of attention since Thanksgiving, although I think you have all enjoyed the fringe benefits.  To my friends in both real life and the blogging world, I've missed you and will be back in touch now that the holidays are behind us.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to take a nap.  For the next week. 

Jack Daniels Sweet Potatoes

This is the week where I flex my culinary muscles and am in my prime.  I love Thanksgiving, maybe a little bit more than Christmas, because it comes without the pressure of gift giving.  Even though this is a quasi cooking blog, I'm letting everyone down with the lack of recipes.  So today's recipe is brought to you by the lovely Cindi Cotes, a hot grandma who, sadly, works for my competitor.  Of course, I'm trying to remedy that problem by recruiting her mercilessly, and eventually I will prevail.   

 

Can you believe she's a grandma?  Neither can I.  She wears skinny jeans, too!  Damn her.

So Cindi is sharing with us her recipe for Jack Daniels Sweet Potatoes.  Take it away, hot grandma!

Okay, so, you don't necessarily need to be a lover of Kentucky Bourbon, however you must not have a huge dislike of the taste or these will all wind up in the garbage.  My kids eat them, and my parents eat them, and up until about four years ago, all they were used to were the brown sugar and marshmallow version of sweet potatoes that I grew up with.  I don't necessarily like to mess with a good thing, but when I found this recipe and knew how much Rick likes his Jack, I figured I couldn't miss.  And I was right...these are on the table every Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Jack's Sweet Potatoes

 

1 C light brown Sugar

2 TBSP Corn starch

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp salt

1/2 C water

1 TBSP lemon juice

1/3 C Jack Daniels

6 large sweet potatoes, cooked and cubed

 

Combine sugar, nutmeg, salt and cornstarch in a sauce pan.  Stir in water.  Cook until clear and sugar is dissolved.  Stir in lemon juice and Jack. Mixture will be syrupy.

Place potatoes in a buttered casserole.  Pour the Jack Daniels syrup over the top and cover.  Bake for 30 minutes at 375.

 

Remove from oven, uncover, top with marshmallows and place under broiler until marshmallows are browned.

Rerun, Buffalo Chicken Dip

Okay, it's 11 o'clock and I've had a busier Sunday...and by busy, I mean I got sucked in by the exceptional programming from DirectTV.  That being said, this is the recipe that brings the most random people to my little blog-it's the most popular search on my Site Meter.  

Since  first published this, several friends and family members have made it and recieved very vocal approval from their culinary audiences.  My friend Marisha said she'll be making a QUADRUPLE batch for her Christmas party this year.  My little sister Betsy made it last month for a tailgate party and the partygoers tore it up.  This stuff is addictive.  It's so easy to make, go ahead and make that double batch for your holiday party.   

Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip (courtesy of Frank's Red Hot Sauces.)

8  oz. pkg. cream cheese
1/2  cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2  cup Frank's® REDHOT® Buffalo Wing Sauce 
1/2  cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese (I used shredded Monterey Jack)
2  cups shredded cooked chicken (I used one of the store bought rotisserie chickens, and just picked apart the breast meat.)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep dish 9-inch pie plate. Microwave 1 min. to soften.
2.  Whisk in salad dressing, Buffalo Wing Sauce and cheese until smooth. Stir in chicken.
3.  BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.  (I wouldn't dream of serving this with vegetables-stick to crackers, cocktail bread or nachos.)

Waste

A couple of weeks ago, when Steve was out of town, I killed a Saturday putzing around the house and didn't leave to go on my normal errands until eight in the evening.  Despite the hour, I took my time while shopping, browsing with the knowledge that no one was going to be bugging me to come home and wait on them.  Bliss.  I craved Chipotle, and panicked when I realized that I only had a few minutes to get my fajita burrito bowl before they closed.  I walked through the doors four minutes before closing, regretting the time.  I was sure that they would either have all the food put away for the night, or what was left would be substandard.

Wrong.

Every single food bin looked as if it had been recently stocked.  The salsas and guacamole were fresh and heaping full, not discolored in the slightest.  The beans didn't show any sign of dryness, and the meats all looked as if they had just come off the grill.  I looked behind me toward the door as I finished my order and I asked the cashier, "What do you do with all this extra food?"

"We throw it away."

"What?!  That's horrible!"

"We have to.  That's the rule."

I shook my head in incredulity.  There is a homeless shelter for women and children not even one mile down the road from this particular Chipotle outlet.  I would guess that the leftovers of Saturday evening could have easily fed thirty or forty adults.  I was pissed when I learned of the apparent waste of perfectly good food.  I don't know if it's really the "rule" or not at Chipotle, but I'll tell you what, I'm damn sure going to find out.  I know that Panera donates their unsold baked goods to schools and charities, and while I'll concede that guacamole looks scary when it isn't stored properly, that's a problem that can be easily remedied.  This is a company with an entire page on their website devoted to Philanthropy, so I have to believe waste of this scope would interest them.   

Ideas anyone?

Last minute Halloween ideas

Had I found this site sooner, I would have told you about it.  I may be the last person in the world to discover Instructables though.  These ideas are great for a party with older kids or adults with a morbid sense of humor.  Some of them may steal your appetite, but I guarantee guests won't be able to stop talking about your soiree for a while.  

This one is my favorite.  I stumbled across it this morning and it led to a lost half hour of browsing and wishing the kids still had their annual Halloween party.

- More cool how to projects

These are kind of gross, but I'll bet tweens would love them.

- More cool how to projects

Not as big of a gross out factor, but keeping with the theme.

- More cool how to projects

Seriously sickening, and I don't know that the ingredients would be easily obtainable, but they would make an impact!

- More cool how to projects