Things are different now that Mike has lost over 100 pounds and wants to keep it off. We are pickier about the restaurants we choose to frequent, seeking out places that serve grilled fish and steamed veggies. Essentially, he has become pescatarian and stays away from cream-based sauces and anything fried. Add to that the fact that I am vegetarian and we have quite a challenge finding something in new cities that works for both of us. Fortunately, though, there are websites like OpenTable and Yelp.
When we needed to find something yummy for dinner this evening in downtown Toronto, a city neither of us has ever spent much time in, we turned to the reviews on these sites to discover Volos, a contemporary Greek restaurant located at 133 Richmond St. West. What we found there was a space which was warmly welcoming in the ways of the Old World while being completely modern in its design. In other words, we found a place which matched the five-star reviews on OpenTable.
Before I describe our dinner, it’s important to know that I do not usually like black olives or feta cheese. Black olives often taste like what I imagine sweaty socks taste like, and feta cheese is often crumbly but otherwise tasteless. Not so at Volos. I had the Horiatiki Salad, which was done in the “Greek Village” style (so our waiter, Dimitri told us), in that it had no leafy greens, but was a mix of tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, feta cheese, and black olives tossed in olive oil. For you foodies out there, this may sound familiar as a typical Greek salad. I have seen this kind of salad in the cases of high-end delis and grocery stores. In fact, I believe Barefoot Contessa has a recipe like it.
Never have I liked the flavors of those salads like I did the one at Volos, though. The olives were practically juicy with a fruity taste. The salad was huge, so I knew I couldn’t eat it all. Instead, once I knew I was winding down, I picked out all the olives and made sure to eat every single one. As for the feta, it was still crumbly, but also thick and slightly creamy and tart. It was in perfect harmony with the bell peppers, onions, olives, and tomatoes. I made sure to get a little nibble of feta with each bite.
Mike's side dish of "spanakorizo", spinach, rice, and feta cheese.
My main course was the Grilled Vegetable Orzo, which was very rich and hearty–a stick-to-your-ribs kind of dish. It had some sort of tomato and cheese sauce and each vegetable (asparagus, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms) married precisely with the sauce in a different way. So, I took a bite with asparagus and was delighted by the “green” of the flavors and then I took a bite with mushrooms and tasted something earthier but not dull. Nothing overpowered anything else–it melded together beautifully. Sadly, however, I could not finish the whole dish. As I said, it was a rich dish and there was a lot of it. That is one dish, however, that I would have had boxed up if I lived nearby and knew I would have access to a fridge and a microwave–and I don’t say that for most foods I can’t finish.
Mike was definitely pleased with his options as well. He started with the Wild Arugula and Shaved Fennel Salad and ate all of it, but for a few bites of the cheese (to save on Weight Watchers Points). For his main course, he had the Black Sesame Wild-Caught Pacific Salmon, which, as it turns out, was Chinook salmon, a British Colombian wild fish that is deeper red and, according to Mike, highly flavorful and meaty. This came with a side of spanakorizo, a thick pilaf of rice, spinach, and feta cheese, which he loved.
Sadly, neither of us could have dessert. We were just too full and Mike had used up his Weight Watchers Points on two beers. Instead, we opted for double-espressos and were delighted when the smooth taste of the coffee matched the smooth aroma coming from the espresso bar nearby.
When we return to Toronto, Volos will be at the top of our restaurant list. Meanwhile, may this review help someone else to discover the warm welcome of Volos Estiatorio.
We don’t let the heat outside keep us from enjoying the fruits and veggies of local farmers. And let’s not forget, Dr. Hummus, made fresh without tahini! Delicious!!
Royal Coffee at the Urban Grocery and Wine Bar makes an espresso that takes away sluggishness caused by the heat!
Samples are always free and available at the Dr. Hummus booth!
Royal Coffee Bar espresso comes in a handmade cup and saucer.
Allow me to wax poetic about my coffee machine, continuing the conversation that started yesterday with my favorite coffee beans.
I have loved coffee since I was three-years-old, sitting with either of my grandmothers who both decided I needed to understand the wonders of coffee early in life. Each took separate opportunities to push delicate mugs toward my awaiting hands filled with drops of coffee and mounds of sugar and milk. Over the years, I went from drinking coffee with more sugar than liquid to drinking it straight black. For me, that was the only way I would know for sure I was a true coffee drinker and that’s how I like it best.
As an adult, I have come to see my coffee drinking experience as a somewhat spiritual experience so several years ago Hubby and I invested in our very first “Automated Coffee Center” from Capresso. Our first was the C1000, which had flashing lights and twirly knobs to tell you when it was okay to brew a cup and how many cups you might be brewing. About four years ago, we upgraded to the now obsolete C1300 Automated Coffee System to get the LED read-out. The twirly knobs remained.
For some, this machine is overly complicated. It requires adding beans to one side of the machine and adding water to the other. It requires cleaning it using a specialized tablet and several rinse cycles. But, for me, it is perfect simplicity. It brews just one perfect cup at a time and makes any form of coffee you may want: espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, or just plain old joe, all with the press of a button. The coffee perfected by this machine and the beans I use are so good I easily pass up Starbuck’s and other places to return home for coffee from “Cafe Capresso”. (Don’t get me wrong. I still go to Starbuck’s when I know I won’t be home anytime soon, but I have been known to return home early for this coffee.)
The LED read-out which tells me what I need to know.
I will cry the day this beautiful machine decides to give up the ghost. It has been with us for over four years and shows no signs of giving up. The few times we have had to call customer service have been due to user error early on. Capresso was fantastic at walking me through what I needed to do to set things right again. And, the one time there was a recall (on the C1000), they took it back and replaced the recalled parts for free, in spite of it being out of warranty.
This machine is why I look forward to waking up in the morning for coffee. It was the subject of a paper I wrote back in the days when I was earning my Masters degree from Seattle University, so it is inspiring too. And, if that weren’t enough, it reconnects me to my grandmothers who started me in the habit of sitting still with a delicious stimulant. I know one grandmother loves coffee from this machine and I have no doubt that the other grandmother would shake her head, wonder why I went for something so “complicated”, and then announce that it was the best cup she’s ever had.
Crema naturally forms on the top of the coffee. There is no milk in this mug.
Have I mentioned that I love Grounds for Change coffee? Grounds for Change is a little roaster over in Washington State from whom I have been buying coffee for about 10 years. My current favorite is the Mexican “Chiapas”. It, like most of their roasts, has a smooth flavor and finish. It is not bitter. It has a warm body, but is milder than other, stronger varieties. To me, it is something which nudges the taste buds awake as opposed to knocking out a tooth. It is definitely a “morning” coffee…softer, gentler, quieter than its more potent siblings. It is incredibly pleasant, easy to love, super easy to drink.
If I were to put flavor profiles with this coffee, I would say it is lightly nutty and homey, like a homemade macadamia nut cookie. (I drink my coffee black, though, so I don’t mean to imply this coffee is sweet.)
That said, for evening sipping, drinking with dessert, I prefer a darker roast–something with a stronger body and heftier pulse. That’s where Grounds for Change’s Cafe Femenino Peru comes in. It’s good in a French Roast variety, although I don’t think you could go wrong with any of these coffees.
Love in a bean.
As I said, I’ve been a customer of GfC for about 10 years and have tried several different ones just to switch things up a bit. None have disappointed. I’ve been ordering “Chiapas” for about a year now and am still hooked.
And, if that weren’t enough to make my heart glad whenever I brew up my favorite bean, GfC is cognizant of the growers and producers of coffee. All of their beans are 100% Fair Trade Organic. No. I do not get a commission for writing this article. They are not sponsoring me to tell you about them. I tell you about them because they create love in the form of a beautiful black coffee bean.
I have been gone for a while, mainly because I haven’t been cooking as much as I used to. And I haven’t been cooking as much because Hubby and I have been following Weight Watcher’s to lose and maintain weight. Believe it or not, we actually eat out more than we used to because we go to places where it’s easy to track the number of Weight Watcher’s Points.
Since October, I have lost my goal of 7 pounds and kept it off, but the big news is that Hubby has lost over 50 pounds and he’s still going strong! Not only that, but neither of us are ever starving like what we imagined we would be on a diet.
One of the ways I have striven to be supportive of Mike as he loses weight is to make him healthy Breakfast Cookies using Cooking Channel TV’s Elie Krieger’s Breakfast Cookies recipe. Mike has said this has become his favorite meal and that he daydreams about these cookies. I can personally attest that they are delicious and, if you’re on Weight Watcher’s, they’re only 5 PointsPlus a piece! Enjoy the recipe!
Elie Krieger’s Breakfast Cookies (from the Food Network)
1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped
Directions
Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remainingbatter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Alright. So that headline is a little misleading. I don’t mean to suggest that on Thanksgiving day you throw down your apron and stomp out of the kitchen while flipping off all your guests. No, this article is about giving your friends and family the turkey bird. It’s a one-stop reference guide for roasting turkey to ensure there’s enough of it to go around and that it’s delicious (and safe!) to eat.
Because most of us don’t cook giant turkeys year round, this particular task can seem overwhelming. Just keep in mind that no matter what method you use (roasting, frying, or barbecuing), the safety measures for prepping the turkey are all the same. The internal temperature for any cooked turkey is always no less than 165°F. And, when roasting a turkey, which is what this article discusses, no matter what ingredients you use, the cooking methods are all similar.
There’s a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get to it.
Size and Cooking Times
According to the good folks at AllRecipes.com, the size turkey you get depends on the size of your group and how many leftovers you want to have. They suggest between one pound and a pound-and-a-half of turkey per person. I have 18 people coming for Thanksgiving, so I am getting a 22-pounder.
Cooking times also vary. Below is a handy-dandy cooking chart I swiped from the USDA’s “Let’s Talk Turkey” article. Note that cooking times vary, depending on size of bird and whether or not you stuff your turkey. (I recommend that you not stuff. See reasons below.) Also note that this chart is for turkeys cooked in the oven at 325°F.
Remember, whatever recipe you go with this Thursday, the goal temperature for cooked turkey is 165°F as measured in the thigh and breast using a probe thermometer. Even if your turkey comes with a pop-up thermometer, do a double-check with your own digital device just to be on the safe side.
Don’t Be a Turkey About Food Safety
How to thaw your turkey safely
Thawing is a big deal when it comes to food safety. Never ever thaw any meat or perishable food on the counter top! An article on the USDA article on thawing explains why:
Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter, or in hot water and must not be left at room temperature for more than two hours. Even though the center of the package may still be frozen as it thaws on the counter, the outer layer of the food could be in the “Danger Zone,” between 40 and 140 °F — temperatures where bacteria multiply rapidly.
So, unless you want you and your guests to spend the days after Thanksgiving nursing at the teat of the Porcelain Goddess, please heed these rules for thawing.
For best results, consult the fridge
Your refrigerator is the best way to thaw your turkey. It’s the easiest too. All you have to do is shove aside that jar of pickles and six-pack of soda on the bottom shelf to make room for most turkeys. If you can, put something like a baking sheet under the turkey so that if any juices leak out, they’ll leak onto the pan and not onto the shelves of your fridge.
The USDA recommends the refrigerator temperature to be at about 40ºF. Allow 24 hours of thaw time per 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. That breaks down this way:
Chart provided by the USDA.
We’re four days away from Thanskgiving. If you have a 16 to 20 pound frozen turkey, go ahead and switch it from the freezer to the fridge today and you’ll be good to go come Thanksgiving. You can also switch over your 12 to 16 pound turkeys now. Monday or Tuesday, you can switch your smaller guys to the fridge. If you have a turkey that is larger than 20 pounds and you haven’t moved it to the fridge yet, do it today and just add a little extra cooking time if it’s not fully thawed on the big day.
Other thawing methods: Cold water and microwave
If you’re pressed for time, you can thaw the turkey in cold water. This requires more attention on your part, though, which is why it is just easier to thaw it in the fridge if you can.
Start by wrapping your turkey in plastic wrap so water can’t get to the skin of the turkey. Put the bird in a clean sink or bucket filled with cold tap water. Change the water every 30 minutes. Choose this method only if you are ready to cook the turkey right away because you will not want to refreeze it once you thaw it with the cold water method.
As always, the USDA has a lovely chart to help know how long you’ll need to thaw per pound:
Chart provided by the USDA.
It is generally not recommended to thaw your turkey in the microwave, but it can be done. I’m going to make the broad assumption that you will thaw your bird in advance somehow, but if you find yourself in a pickle, go to the USDA website and read their article entitled “Let’s Talk Turkey”.
USDA Mark of inspection.
When not to thaw
If you have purchased an “Oven Ready” turkey or a frozen pre-stuffed bird, there is no need to thaw it before cooking it. It is not recommended to buy pre-stuffed birds, unless they are frozen and have the USDA’s seal of approval on the packaging.
Washing the bird
Now that you’ve got your turkey thawed and you’re ready to prep it for cooking, do you wash it? Most websites and magazines I read recommend that you do, but if you have read my article on washing meat, you know that this is a recipe for bacteria to spread to other parts of your kitchen and into other foods. That’s called cross-contamination.
Rest assured that if you cook your turkey to the proper temperature (165°F, as measured by a probe thermometer), you will not have any nasty germs alive on your turkey to worry about. As it is, your sink and countertops are going to need a good scrub-down simply because–I’m guessing–you’re going to want to do things to that turkey before roasting it that will help it stay moist and come out delicious. Just remember that, once the turkey is in the oven, you need to give every conceivable contact point a good washing with hot, soapy water (or your favorite kitchen cleaning product).
And always, always wash your hands after handling raw meat.
Giblet Gravy by Paula Deen.
Wait! There’s something in there!
You’re prepping the bird and you come across something offensive-looking tucked inside the cavity. Don’t fret! Most turkeys come with the neck and a packet of giblets stuffed into the cavity of the bird. Remove these before taking any steps to season or stuff the turkey. Some people use the giblets to make gravy. Some people fry them up. I toss them before I have time to gag on the thought of what they are: the heart, gizzard, liver and other organs.
If you like your offal (that’s internal organs to you and me) served next to your roasted bird, more power to you. Here’s a link to a Giblet Gravy recipe by Paula Deen, the queen of Southern cooking and someone unafraid of organs and entrails.
Stuffing with Sage and Chives from Weight Watchers
To stuff or not to stuff, that is the question
When it comes to stuffing your turkey, I’m in the “don’t stuff” camp for two reasons:
Reason One: Alton Brown says it best in his first book and on the website Serious Eats:
“When it comes to turkey, Stuffing Is Evil. That’s because stuffing goes into the middle of the bird and is extremely porous. That means that as the turkey around it cooks, juices that may contain salmonella bacteria soak into the stuffing, which then must be cooked to a minimum of 165°F in order to be safe. Getting the stuffing to this temperature usually means overcooking the turkey.”
Reason Two: It makes it impossible for a vegetarian to enjoy the stuffing. If you add chicken broth and/or stuff your turkey with the stuffing, it makes it untouchable to people like me. I know that’s not always a good reason–maybe you don’t have any vegetarians at your table–but if you do and you want to be an amazing host, make stuffing from scratch and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth. (Note: Most Stove-Top brand stuffings have chicken broth added to them already, so these are not vegetarian-friendly either. If you are serving a vegetarian during the holiday and would like to make sure they can eat what you cook, check the ingredients of your stuffing for things like chicken broth and sausage drippings.) Here’s the recipe I’m making this year using vegetable broth: Stuffing with Sage and Chives from Weight Watchers. (It’s good for vegetarians and for those at your table watching their waist!)
Whether you decide to stuff your turkey or not, take a look at this article from Lauren Salkeld at Epicurious.com. It answers all your questions about stuffing and, should you choose to do so, provides the best tips for ensuring food safety and deliciousness.
eHow.com discusses how to cook a moist turkey
Moisture is key
A dry turkey is tantamount to eating cardboard and that’s why moisture in a turkey is one of my top concerns as a Thanksgiving hostess. A lot of places (like eHow.com) recommend brining turkeys before cooking them. Brining means that you bathe the turkey for a day or so in a seasoned salt bath. If you’re interested in learning how to do that, go to eHow.com or Epicurious.com. Both locations have step-by-step instructions on how to brine a turkey. I did it one year and didn’t notice that it gave me any advantage. It’s a lot of work, increases the potential for cross-contamination and, in my humble opinion, is simply not worth it.
You could do it the old-fashioned way: monitor the turkey throughout the process and baste it every half an hour, but that lets out heat from the oven and causes you to sweat more than you might already be doing. If you’ve ever watched Top Chef, you know that a sweaty chef is not exactly appetizing.
Most places I checked in my research recommended smearing the meat under the skin with a good helping of butter. This means, gently lifting up the skin at the opening of the cavity and using the tips of your fingers to push the skin up and off the breast to create a pocket in which you can squish butter and spices. I’ve roasted chickens and turkeys this way and it is a great way to take care of moisture without as much worry (though I still worry a little bit). It’s possible that your recipe recommends that already. Here’s a link to Ina Garten’s brand new Roast Turkey with Truffle Butter recipe which uses this method.
Reynolds Oven Bags for turkey
This year I am going with a basting bag. That’s how Jennie-O makes their Oven Ready turkeys fool-proof and, since it worked for me during my Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner last week, I think it might just work on the larger turkey I have for the real deal.
The idea about basting bags (or oven bags) is that it traps steam and keeps the turkey moist as a result. I bought the Reynolds Oven Bags for large turkeys and found an article on their website on how to use them. Essentially, these are the steps for using the Oven Bag:
1. Set the oven to 350°F and prep and season the turkey just as you would if you were not using the bag.
2. Add some flour to the bag.
3. Put your prepped and seasoned turkey in the bag, tie it up, make some slits.
4. Roast!
My mother-in-law swears by this method of roasting turkey and Jennie-O seems to have something great figured out, so I’m going with it. If you do the same, make a comment and let’s compare notes.
Butterball.com has a video and step-by-step guide on how to carve your turkey.
Carving
Finally, you’ve got your turkey all roasted and buttery brown. Now it sits on your countertop waiting for your next move. What’s next? Carving, of course!
Let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving into it, though. Once that’s done, grab a long, sharp knife and a big fork to help steady it as you work. Make sure you have the turkey on a sturdy work surface. I generally put a towel down on the countertop and place a cutting board on top of that before diving in.
Butterball, the turkey people, actually have a video on YouTube that shows you step-by-step how to carve a turkey:
As my husband’s Polish grandmother would say, “Eat! Eat!” You’ve worked hard and now it’s time to sit down and enjoy the fruits of your labors. Don’t forget to give thanks to whatever higher power you pray to, or if you don’t believe in higher powers, then give thanks to your family and friends for joining you. Either way, it’s always a good plan to be grateful everyday for things like crisp autumn breezes, people and creatures that love us, and warm, full tummies.
This Thanksgiving, 18 loved ones will arrive at my house to enjoy a day set aside for giving thanks. I have perused nearly every cooking site I can get my hands on, flipped through all my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks (even her new one!), read food magazines from cover to cover, and watched several Food Network Thanksgiving reruns, all in an effort to absorb the magic of making Thanksgiving dinner. What I’ve discovered, though, is that the more magazines, cooking sites, and TV shows I watch about hosting Thanksgiving, the more I lose sight of the reasons for our gathering in the first place, and the less confident I feel about my abilities to pull it off.
I liken this feeling to the Supermodel Syndrome so many of us are prone to when we look at magazines like Vogue, Cosmo, and Glamour. We think we’re getting all these great tips for looking and feeling great, but what we end up doing is comparing ourselves to those glossed-over, air-brushed photos–and that’s just not healthy.
The same can be said for reading about the five ways to cook turkey in Saveur or The Food Network magazine. Food and Wine and Bon Appetite mean well–and their sister website epicurious.com has some helpful information on it–but you have to slog through the glammed up photos of turkey bathed in maple-apricot butter to get to the real information you’re looking for. I’m not saying don’t go to those resources. In fact, I recommend taking a look at websites that help make planning easier, but if you start to feel bad about your efforts, then it’s time to shut it off and trust yourself.
So, let’s make a pact to throw away those magazines, set aside the books, and turn off the TV in favor of a deep breath and a reminder that we already have within us what we need to make for a lovely holiday. (At the very least, we can always do what Snoopy did and make a delicious round of popcorn, jelly beans, and toast!)
With that in mind, the intention for this article is to talk us through (you and me) to the other side. Any information I share here is meant to ease your stress and raise your confidence as a cook. Let’s get started, shall we?
Made chicken? You can make Thanksgiving dinner.
You have what it takes already.
Have you ever grilled a hamburger or a steak? Have you baked chicken or quiche in the oven? Have you ever followed a recipe for making potato salad or chocolate chip cookies? Then you can do this. You’re not developing the formula for growing turkey meat in a laboratory. You’re cooking it–just like you’ve done with all the other things you’ve made in the kitchen or on the grill. If you’ve ever cooked a meal for someone other than yourself, you can cook this one. It’s just a matter of finding a balance that’s right for you and your family.
Make lists and check them twice.
If you’re like me, you need visual markers for what needs done and a way of telling yourself everything you’ve done already. For me, I have three lists: a guest list, a To Do list, and a grocery list.
Already, I can set something aside for a while: the guest list. I just need to keep in mind that I’m serving 18 friends and family this year. That number will inform the other two lists.
The To Do List will vary based on how many guests you’re having and how much you’ve had in place from years past. This year, I added “buy placemats and cloth napkins” to my list because I want a more casual dinner and I want to see the wood grain in my table. Other To Do List things include reading through all my recipes so there are no surprises the day of and setting up a prep schedule so I don’t have to do everything on the same day.
The grocery list is self-explanatory, of course, but reading through the recipes will help flesh that out if you come across something you forgot.
Rhodes Dinner Rolls are a delicious shortcut.
Make things easy for yourself.
This isn’t rocket science. Sure, you want to make a nice meal for your family and friends, but don’t stress yourself out trying to make all new recipes the day of Thanksgiving. Fall back on some of your favorite side dishes and take advantage of a few modern conveniences for your dinner.
For example, if your party is small enough, splurge on a Jennie-O Oven Ready Turkey Breast, as mentioned in my last post. Or, instead of making dinner rolls from scratch, buy Rhodes White Dinner Rolls in the frozen food section and bake them off the day before. My mom made those last week for a family dinner and they were yummy!
It may or may not be easier for you to enlist help from other guests. I have a core group of people in my life I can count on to bring sides and desserts, which takes a huge weight off my shoulders. If I didn’t have such trustworthy cooks in my life, it would be easier on my blood pressure for me to just make the entire meal myself and ask my guests to bring things like flowers for the table setting, or to put them to work setting the table once they get there. If this is your situation, make a new list of tasks you feel comfortable asking your guests to do so when the day arrives so you don’t have to dictate in the spur of the moment.
Send yourself flowers as a reminder of the special gift you're giving your guests.
Do something nice for yourself.
You’re going to be working hard for everyone else on Thanksgiving day, so do a little something for yourself as a treat in the days leading up to the big meal. If you have time during the few days before, get a pedicure or take a warm bubble bath. Even sitting still and making a list of things you’re thankful for while sipping hot cocoa can provide a moment’s peace.
This year I’ve decided to treat myself to flowers. They will be delivered on Wednesday. Bonus: I can also use them to decorate the table, but I’ll still know they’re for me.
Ultimately, staying sane during this holiday (or any other) is about remembering why you’re hosting it in the first place and then reminding yourself that holiday meals are like any other–just a little bigger. This is Thanksgiving, so at the very least, stop for a second and be thankful you have enough love in your life to merit all the hard work.
For more information about the actual logistics of cooking up a turkey, stay tuned. An article is in the making which I hope will help answer your questions and ease your concerns about cooking that big bird.
This last week has been a great reunion for my family. My 88-year-old grandmother overcame her fear of heights to take her first ever plane ride so she could come out and visit. What a lesson in courage! I have said it before and I’ll say it again–I want to be like her when I grow up.
Actually, I hope I can cook like her when I grow up, too. She always made such grand and delicious Thanksgiving dinners when I was a kid. Now, though, the torch has been passed to me and, for the first time in my life, I will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my grandma. The feeling I have about it is both exciting and intimidating. Fortunately, I had a chance to practice this past week.
We planned Grandma’s trip so that it would overlap with a visit from my sister this week and Thanksgiving next week. Since Lil’ Sis is only here this week, we decided to have a smaller Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner in her honor. This gave me an opportunity to test something new.
Every time I have hosted Thanksgiving, I have always felt compelled to buy a whole, big turkey. I get up at the crack of dawn, get turkey germs all over my kitchen sink and counter tops, pluck remaining feathers, remove gizzards, and worry for hours whether or not the bird is going to be moist enough. This time, however, with only six people to cook for, I went with two Jennie-O Oven Ready Skinless, Boneless Turkey Breasts. They aren’t kidding when they say cooking their Oven Ready turkeys is fool proof.
Jennie-O is the way to go!
Here’s exactly what I did:
1. Preheated the oven.
2. Removed the turkey breasts from the freezer (no thawing necessary!) and opened the bags of turkey breasts. (I made two 2.75 pound turkey breasts since I was feeding a group of six.)
3. Cut slits in the baster bags surrounding the turkeys.
4. Placed turkey breasts in a large roasting pan.
5. Placed the roasting pan in the preheated oven and set the timer for two-and-a-half hours.
6. Marveled at how fast the turkeys were cooked through. (Their pop-up thermometers popped up at about the two-hour mark, but I double-checked the temperatures with a probe thermometer to be on the safe side.)
7. Removed the turkeys from the oven and let them sit on the counter for about 20 minutes.
8. Peeled the basting bags off of the turkeys and sliced them onto a platter.
As for how it tasted, I am not exaggerating when I say that every single person at the table who had the turkey raved about how good it was. You could have knocked me over with a feather. The few times I have hosted Thanksgiving, I have fussed over the seasoning, the moisture levels, the cooking times, and the germ issues. No amount of fussing has given me the level of high praise and the peace of mind that Jennie-O’s turkey did. In fact, I think it says a lot that there were just four slices of turkey left when the meal was over. I didn’t have to think about what to do with all that leftover meat, as in times past. My brother-in-law who could not be with us during the meal got three take-away slices and we had one last slice available for a light lunch the next day.
It’s nice to know that my sister and grandmother got to share in this easy and satisfying meal because, when the real Thanksgiving rolls around, I am hosting a group of 18 people. Jennie-O doesn’t make a 20-pound Oven Ready turkey breast. I suppose I could cook up 8 of those little bags, but I don’t have the oven space. So, I will do what much of the rest of America does and cook up a regular bird, keeping my fingers crossed that I can pull off a delicious turkey for Thanksgiving.
With that in mind, if you’re in the same roasting pan I am this Thanksgiving, stick around. Over the next few days, I will be posting articles which I hope will help keep us thankful that we volunteered to host the biggest meal of the year.
A few years ago, I went through a phase when I wouldn’t eat fake meat. Fake meat, for those who don’t know, is the stuff made out of wheat and/or vegetable proteins. It is made to look, feel, and taste like the real thing and, in a world where eating meat is the norm, it makes being a vegetarian a lot easier.
The reason I stopped eating it for a while was partly because I was strangely convinced I wasn’t as pure a vegetarian if I ate things resembling meat, and partly because so much of the stuff available was overly processed with strange-sounding chemicals.
Now, though, I eat fake meat whenever the urge strikes because I often find it filling and satisfying–and, despite how it looks and tastes, it never causes the death of another creature.
It doesn’t hurt that chefs like Robin Robertson and Tal Ronnen, avid vegans, use all manner of protein-packed products in their recipes to duplicate meat-laden dishes in vegetarian form. In following their wise words and eating from recipes and products recommended in their cookbooks, I have come to learn all about the wide variety of fake meats out there. I’ve also come to learn that not all of them are weighted down with heavy amounts of chemicals and salt in order for them to taste good.
In an effort to help educate new vegetarians, as well as any meat-eaters who might want to try something new or impress their vegetarian friends, I am dedicating today’s post to faking it in the kitchen. Below is a list of protein-packed fake meat products, along with ideas on how to use them:
Varieties of seitan: strips, cubed, and ground.
SEITAN
Seitan (pronounced sey-tahn) is also known as “wheat meat”. Jill Nussinow, a dietitian from The Vegetarian Resource Group says in her article entitled “Seitan–The Vegetarian Wheat Meat” that this form of protein, derived from the gluten of wheat, has been used in a variety of cultures over the centuries. Where there are wheat farmers, some form of this protein is almost certainly used in cooking. It’s hearty, filling, and healthy. Ms. Nussinow says that it is so good at pretending to be meat that a lot of vegetarians avoid it because it’s too “meaty”.
Seitan comes in a variety of forms to serve in a variety of meals. It is the most used plant-based protein for manufactured vegetarian foods. Go take a look at the box of most “fast-food”, frozen vegetarian meals and you’ll find seitan (or wheat gluten) listed as a primary ingredient. (See discussion of Gardein below.)
Outside of those applications, I use it as an easy substitute for recipes otherwise calling for meat, such as Sloppy Joes and Stir-fry. I have found it in three forms: strips, cubed, and ground. For a good variety of recipes, check out Ms. Nussinow’s article where she illustrates the flexibility of this protein product in things likes Seitan Stew, Seitan and Shiitake Mushroom Stroganoff, and Barbecued Seitan.
Unfortunately, I have found seitan to be a little tricky to locate easily. My local Safeway does not carry it but Whole Foods does, as well as other specialty grocery stores. If it is in your grocery store, it will most likely be paired in the chilled produce section, often located next to the prepared bags of salads and cut-up veggies, or even near the dairy or lunch-meat section.
If you cannot find it locally, you can make your own. Ms. Nussinow posts a recipe in her article, but below is one I found on the bag of Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten:
Ingredients:
2 cups Vital Wheat Gluten
1/2 tsp sage
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups water
For the Broth:
6 cups water
2 Tbs molasses
2 Tbs soy sauce
Directions:
Bring to a boil the water for the broth, molasses and soy sauce.
Mix together the gluten flour and spices. Add water to mixture and stir into a sponge-like dough. This should not be excessively wet. Knead dough a minute to make dough tougher and more elastic. Cut into 2×2 inch pieces and place into boiling broth. Cook in broth for about 1 hour, lowering heat as needed. Drain and use seitan for a stir-fry, sandwiches, stews and more.
Makes 12 servings.
Fake chicken salad made with tempeh.
TEMPEH
Before starting to write this article, I had eaten a lot of tempeh but never stopped to learn what it was made out of. I knew it had something to do with soy, but now I know that it’s “made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form.” (Thanks, Wikipedia!)
Tempeh looks kind of weird, but it is one of my favorite products to use simply because I like its knobby texture. Plus, because it doesn’t have a lot of flavor on its own, it tends to take on the flavor of the ingredients surrounding it.
Tempeh comes in basically one form: a long, flat cake. I have found it mixed in with other things, such as wild rice and vegetables, but it is always the same shape. My favorite recipe for it is Robin Robertson’s “Chicken-Out Salad” (pictured) from her Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. Ms. Robertson provides several recipes for tempeh in her books and she recommends poaching it in simmering water to help mellow the nutty flavor and to make it more easily digestible.
Tempeh, like seitan, is hard to find in a lot of regular grocery stores. Whole Foods carries it and, when I lived in Seattle, one of the locally owned markets had it as well. It, too, is found in the produce or dairy sections. If it is not available there is a very enthusiastic website called Tempeh Info that suggests making it yourself is easy as 1,2,3,4,5. Seems overly complicated to me, but click here if you’d like to try it.
Below is a picture of Lightlife’s version, which I found at Whole Foods in three varieties: plain soy, wild rice, and garden veggie.
Soy tempeh
Tofu cooked Chinese style. Photo from Wikipedia.
TOFU
Good ol’ tofu: this is what most people seem to associate with vegetarian cooking. If you have not come across tofu, it is a soft, cheese-like substance made by curdling soymilk. Indeed, it has a similar (albeit softer) consistency as cheese curds. For me, tofu is the least desirable fake meat product to work with and, in fact, is the least likely to actually substitute for real meat. The only way I can eat it is to fry the heck out of it as I did for Pad Thai in my article “Asian Conversion”.
According to SoyFoods.com, tofu is rich in protein and high in B-vitamins and iron, so it has a lot going for it. It is also easy to find in pretty much any supermarket. I have found it most often in the chilled produce section at Safeway, but I have also seen it next to the packaged lunch meats–anywhere fresh (not frozen) “fake meat” products are found.
When buying tofu, take note that it comes in three different forms: firm, soft, and silken. Here’s how SoyFoods.com describes the differences:
Firm tofu is dense and solid and holds up well in stir fry dishes, soups, or on the grill… anywhere that you want the tofu to maintain its shape. Firm tofu also is higher in protein, fat and calcium than other forms of tofu.
Soft tofu is a good choice for recipes that call for blended tofu, or in Oriental soups.
Silken tofu is made by a slightly different process that results in a creamy, custard-like product. Silken tofu works well in pureed or blended dishes. In Japan, silken tofu is enjoyed “as is,” with a touch of soy sauce and topped with chopped scallions.
Gardein's Beefless Tips with brown rice, tomatoes, and cantaloupe.
GARDEIN
The newest kid on the vegetarian block is Gardein, a product that I would normally categorize in the “processed foods” section of my mind since it can be found with its frozen food brethren which tout “heat-em-up-quick, TV-dinner-style” qualities. Please note, however: I have not been able to locate Gardein outside of Whole Foods in my area, but I have been told that it can be available at some Safeway stores, Albertson’s, and Fresh & Easy. You’ll want to check the website for stores that carry it near you.
Gardein separates itself from the TV-dinner pack, by using ingredients I can actually understand, as opposed to other products which use things like disodium inosinate, niacinamide, and succinic acid. Do you know what those things are? I don’t.
By contrast, here’s the ingredient list for Gardein’s Chick’n Filets:
As you can see, the ingredient list is relatively short and most of the items are easily identifiable. It’s almost as if I could make these things at home, if I had a mind to (and if Gardein coughed up a recipe).
Besides being a little healthier, these products are actually easy to work with and they taste amazing–everything except the BBQ Pulled Shreds. Blech. I had to toss that one out because it smelled bad and had too much of a realistic texture for my tastes. Nevertheless, I love the Beefless Tips and Chick’n Scappolini because it takes only a few minutes on the stove top to warm up these beauties and, when paired with a salad and some rice, it makes for a great meal!
Burgundy Trio by Gardein
When I don’t have time to dirty up a frying pan, though, I turn to the Burgundy Trio from the Trio Complete Meals line located in the fresh food section. This is TV dinner at its finest, “Beefless Tips” all dressed up in a delicious burgundy vegetable sauce and served with rice–all ready to eat in three minutes. As it says on the package, it has 22 grams of plant-based protein (seitan), four varieties of veggies (even if they are in small quantities), and my favorite kind of rice, basmati.
Tal Ronnen has made a successful career out of cooking with Gardein. He has a cookbook called “The Conscious Cook” which is practically devoted to the wonders of this product, but I can’t recommend the book because so many of his recipes require going out and buying tons of expensive tools and ingredients. The food looks good, mind you, but when I tallied up how much I would have to spend in order become a “Conscious Cook”, it was well over $1000. Not to mention that a lot of his recipes take hours upon hours to create. Instead, I’ll stick with my own lovely creations that take far less time and use things I have on hand.
Until vegetarian eating becomes the norm, vegetarian protein sources will be made to look, taste, and feel like real meat. In the meantime, those of us who choose this way of eating but live with and love carnivores can enjoy the flavors and textures of meat (without all the fat and guilt!) by faking it in the kitchen with a variety of choices.
