Happy Thanksgiving

As my activity and posts increase on Facebook, this blog has taken a back seat. I am still here, but finding Facebook far more engaging with immediate response to posts of recipes, photos etc. If you have not found me there yet, you can do so by typing in my name or PineapplePrincess808.

And so I wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving...

Hilo Turkey Mole

I am still not sick of turkey! I have another one in the smoker right now. Meanwhile, one of the reasons I am not tired of turkey is that there are so many things to do with it that are far beyond the norm. One of my favorite treatments is Turkey Mole. I made a deep dark rich chocolate & spice laden version with a variety of red chiles. I have been using it with turkey breast meat and served on home made tortillas with sides of black beans and tostones (double fried green plantains.)

When I studied cooking in Mexico, one of the many classes was on a variety of Moles. Many regions in Mexico have their own Mole styles, probably the most famous being Oaxaca, where more than 15 mole styles prevail. Basically a mole is a deep and complex sauce used to surround foods like tamales, turkey, chicken, enchiladas and pork. In the huge Central Market of Cuernavaca (the capitol of the region of Morelos) where I studied, there were always mole vendors who sold huge mounds of mole paste concentrates which when mixed with broth created the lovely complex dishes with ease.

We are not so lucky in Hawaii, or most places on the mainland for that matter.  Actually most hispanic ingredients are among the difficult things to find here. Fortunately my friends at Emma's, a small taqueria in an industrial park here supply me with good quality  dried chiles, freshly made tortillas, masa and other ingredients which are otherwise difficult to find here. Many of the other ingredients, such as the pumpkin seeds can be found at our local health food stores such as Island Naturals and Abundant Life Natural Foods. I used both Hawaiian Chocolate and Mexican Chocolate as well as cinnamon from my own cinnamon trees and many spices grown here on the island.

So, here is the recipe. This formula can be used as a sauce for many things and once made keeps well in the refrigerator for up to a month. I do things like render my own lard ahead of time. If you live in an area with a Mexican Butcher or grocery, they probably sell fresh lard there. Do not buy the hydrogenated versions. I urge you to make your own if that is all you can find. Freshly rendered lard is surprisingly healthy for you.. read up on it!

Mole Negro/Pablano

This recipe makes about 2 quarts

12 whole peppercorns ( I use a mix of red, green and black)
6 whole cloves
four 4" pieces of cinnamon (aka canela)
3 tablespoons dried Mexican Oregano
Equal amounts of dried  Poblano, Negro and Guajillo chiles to equal one pound (California and New Mexican Chiles can also be used in the mix)
1 cup of freshly rendered lard
1 cup of pumpkin seeds toasted
1/2 cup of toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/2 cup pecan or walnut pieces (roasted)
1/2 cup peanuts (roasted)
1 large roll of bread, made into crumbs in a food processor
2 cups dry sherry
1/2 cup dried pineapple chopped
1 cup dried apricots chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped dried citron (or use any other dried candied fruit)
4-5 cups turkey or chicken stock (home made is best, boxed organic is next best)
2 ripe plantains

4-6 Roma tomatoes
6 serrano chiles
2-3 onions (I use red onions)
1 head of garlic divided into cloves
Take the above ingredients and roast on a grill and reserve

1 cup of chocolate (I use a combination of Mexican and dark chocolate)

In a heavy skillet toast the spices, stir constantly.

Grind all toasted spices in a spice grinder or coffee grinder.

Remove the tops from the chilies and toss seeds.

On high heat, toast chiles. Once all are toasted, place in a bowl and add boiling water. Allow to stand and soften for 1 hour, weight down if needed with a plate and heavy object.

Put some lard in a pan and toast the nuts, then drain and reserve for the plantain. Add bread crumbs and sherry.

In a food processor, grind the toasted spices and nuts.

Heat the sherry and add raisins, apricots and dried fruit. Simmer for 10 minutes and then turn off heat and let stand for 30 minutes.

Heat the remaining lard and cook the plantain. Add to the sauce.

Drain the dried chiles and working in batches, puree with the seeds, grilled veggies and stock. Use a food mill, sieve or chinois to strain any large pieces out. Place all of this in a large dutch oven and add the chocolate stirring and making sure that the flavors have time to blend. Save the sauce for various applications. It freezes well.

Wordless Wednesday : Ultimate Smoked Turkey

Free Turkey: maple smoked at 225 degrees for 8 hours : proclaimed "best ever" by our guests....

Williamsburg Turkey Soup Redux

As a young mother, thirty years or so ago I first made a recipe of Williamsburg Turkey Soup, most probably after Thanksgiving. Back then I always did my turkeys on a Weber Grill with soaked pecan shells poured over the coals, essentially creating a lightly smoked turkey. It was a delicious soup then, but when I pulled up the recipe the other day, I was surprised at how pedestrian the recipe looks to me now. Obviously, it was time for me to kick it up a notch. The original recipe is supposed to have harkened from the colonies and would probably have been done with a wild turkey. And seeing that they probably did hot have half and half back then, was likely made with cream. The rice probably was not white long grain, but an earthier wild or brown rice. Regardless, I made a big pot of wonderful soup and was able to render some extra turkey stock too.

Here is my Redux Version

Part one: Make turkey stock. I roasted a turkey last week and used only the white meat. I then placed the carcass with the dark meat in the smoker and smoked over maple wood for 12 hours. You do not have to smoke your turkey, but it sure makes for great soup and stock. You could also use a store bought smoked turkey for this. After the turkey was sufficiently smoked for flavor, I made the stock.

In a very large pot place chunks of carrot, celery & onions (about 2 cups each) into a pot. You do not need to peel them as they are only adding goodness to the stock. Add 20 (yes 20!) garlic cloves. Toss in a few stalks of  rosemary and thyme and one bay leaf. Place the carcass into the pot. If your pot is not large enough, you can break it apart a bit to fit. Cover with water and place on a LOW simmer for 12 hours. The stock should never be allowed to boil, just simmer.

Remove pot from the heat and allow to cool so that you can handle the turkey to remove meat. You may want to place it on a platter to cool. Remove and reserve the meat. Then filter everything over a large pot using a fine sieve. Pour the stock into containers to cool completely so that the fat will rise to the top. Your leftover veggies can be placed in compost or fed to the dogs in chunks. Discard all of the bones. I ended up with 8 cups of rich dark stock. Some of which was used in the soup. I grabbed all of the garlic cloves and saved them for the soup.

Part Two: The Soup

1 Cup of Butter (yes, you can use olive oil if you want to)
1 Cup of all purpose flour
4 small red onions or 8 shallots finely chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3 ribs of cellery finely chopped
(note all of this chopping can be done in a food processor)
Reserved garlic from the stock, which can now be smashed and added to the soup
2 cups of fresh corn kernels (if not in season, use frozen)
1 small jar of pimentos (or roast a red pepper and chop)
1 1/2 cups of wild rice/brown rice blend (I use Lindeman's Brand)
2 teaspoons of salt (I used smoked salt that I smoke while doing the turkey.)
1 tablespoon of fresh cracked pepper
3 quarts of turkey stock
3 sprigs of thyme (leaves pulled from stem)
2 cups of reserved turkey chopped
4 cups of cream or half and half if you are giving your arteries a break

• Melt butter in the bottom of a large sop pot or dutch oven
• Add flour and stir gently for about 5 minutes to form a light golden roux
• Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic to roux and sir. Cooking over medium flame for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. The onions should be just starting to brown.
• Add rice, corn, stock, salt, pepper, thyme, pimentos along with reserved turkey and stir all together. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste the rice and be sure that it is cooked through. Add the cream and stir. Cook on low flame till completely heated.  Taste and add more seasoning if you think it needs it. 

This makes a huge pot of soup, but it freezes well if you are not feeding a crowd. I like to serve it with a few slices of Hawaiian Chiles on it along with fresh chopped parsley or thyme leaves. However, many people cannot take the heat of the chiles, so you might just want to serve chiles or siracha sauce on the side. It is delicious just as it is. It also might be good with some browned crispy thin slices of jamon or prosciutto on top.  

Remember, you can find me on Facebook as Devany Davidson or on Twitter @ MyHawiianHome to get updates to the blog, special recipes and more!

Turkey: Hot, Fast and Moist

I got a free turkey last week. No room in my freezer... so I roasted it last night. And I thought that I would share with you one of my favorite ways to roast a turkey.

There are as many ways to cook a Turkey as there are to eat it. Thanksgiving is coming and so I thought I would share this method with you. This is one of my favorite ways to make a turkey... Hot and Fast. That is right, a 16 pound turkey in a little more than 2 hours. Other than frying a turkey (my favorite way) this is the fastest and best way I have found.

Clean the turkey and remove all gizzards and the neck which is inside the cavity. Mine also had a heavy plastic thing in side to hold the legs together. If yours does, remove it. Completely dry the turkey using paper towels.

It is really quite simple to make and there are a variety of ways to top the turkey, I usually use olive oil, smoked hawaiian sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Sometimes I coat the turkey with pomegranate glaze. Last night I made a compound butter with tarragon, garlic, hot paprika and smoked sea salt. I carefully separated the skin from the breast and thighs and pushed that soft delicious mixture in between the skin and the flesh. Then I rubbed the remaining butter all over the turkey, including the cavity and added a bit more salt and pepper.

Pre-heat the oven to it's hottest temperature, mine is 550 degrees.

Place the turkey on top of a rack in a heavy roaster. You can use disposable roasters if you want, but I suggest two of them or placing a single one on a sheet pan for ease of removal with that big hot turkey in it. You do HAVE to use a rack, otherwise the turkey stews and does not cook as beautifully.

Use whatever method you want to for glazing/basting the turkey. Do not stuff the turkey with stuffing. Cook your stuffing on the stove top and then just put it in the oven for a few minutes to crust up. I do place some aromatics inside the cavity, garlic heads, onion quarters and some fresh herbs. It actually cooks faster if you leave the inside wide open. I have even used a fork to hold the opening wide while cooking. You do not need to truss the turkey, but I did tie the wings closer to the body. Pour 1 bottle of white wine into the roasting pan. Cover the turkey loosely with foil. You do not want to steam the turkey, the foil prevents excessive browning.

When the oven has pre-heated, place the roasting pan in the oven and reduce the temperature to 475 degrees. Bake for 1 hour about 30 minutes into cooking time, quickly peek in and see that there is still liquid in the bottom of the pan, you want about an inch of liquid, so add more wine if needed. After one hour of cooking, quickly remove the roasting pan and add the following in the bottom of the pan:

Turkey Neck

Celery cut in big chunks

Onions quartered

Carrots cut in big chunks

15-20 peeled garlic cloves

another bottle of wine or chicken/turkey stock

At this point fill the empty wine bottle with water. You will want to maintain a fluid level of about 1 inch in the bottom of the pan. Having it in a wine bottle makes it easy to pour into the pan without removing it from the oven.

Roast for another hour, checking the liquid every twenty minutes or so.

After two hours (total roasting time), insert an instant read thermometer into the breast, going at least 3" into the bird. It should read 160 dgrees, if it does not cook it for another 15 minutes and check again, making sure the liquid is still in the bottom of the pan. Continue doing this if needed to assure full cooking of the turkey. When you do get a reading of 160, remove the pan from the oven and place the turkey onto a platter, cover with the foil and lay a thick towel over it and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.

While the turkey is resting, you can turn down the oven and finish off any dishes like stuffing in the oven.

For an easy, healthy and flavorful gravy, Remove the turkey neck and discard. Pour  all of the veggies from the bottom of the pan by pouring into a sieve. In the roasting pan, return the liquid by using a Turkey baster to get just the juices and not the fat. Put the veggies into a food processor and puree, then pour into the juices in to the pan. Take 2 Tablespoons of corn starch and 2 Tablespoons of water and shake in a jar till the corn starch is dissolved. Turn on the heat under the roasting pan (using two burners) and whisk in the corn starch mixture. And stir, till the gravy has thickened. Season to your taste.

I am smoking the carcass and dark meat to make Creamy Willamsburg Smoked Turkey Soup. More on that in a few days... but before I share that recipe with you, I am going to bring you an all time favorite, Brandied & Spiced Cranberry Sauce, you will want a double batch of this one! Stay tuned...

Remember, you can follow me at MyHawaiianHome on Twitter or Devany Davidson on Facebook!