Playing Ghosts and Gobblings

Do people eat turkey just after Christmas? It is now February and I wonder if people do.

Now I noticed recently at the general store something specific: whole turkey drops in price after Christmas and yet people don't seem to be buying them. Strange really. When you think about how often people eat chicken in a year and contrast that to turkey, you have to wonder what people have against this bird most fowl.

Well, yes, eating turkey makes you drowsy, but so does wine. And do we only drink wine twice a year? Not in this household. If I remember my nutrition classes well, turkey meat contains tryptophans. After eating it, the blood carries it to our digestive system and then to our brains which then gets changed to serotonin. I know this is sleepy material but certainly you must have wondered why we get so tired at Thanksgiving.

Turkey is available whole both fresh and frozen but at any time of year at major grocers; I often buy either the legs or the breasts rather than whole. Depends really on how much time you have to cook it and how many people you intend on feeding. If buying breasts, remember that they come in different sizes and usually feed 4 or 5 people. Unless you're suffering from insomnia. Then all you need to do is eat an extra portion of turkey, start reading my blog and then you'll be over yawnder.

Hazelnut Crusted Breast of Turkey

2 Turkey Breasts
4 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Cooking Onion, roughly chunked
1 Carrot, roughly chunked
1 Celery Stalk, roughly chunked
Small Bunch of Sage, chiffonade
Pinch of Paprika and Allspice
300 g Hazelnuts, finely chopped
400 ml Dijon Mustard, grainy if available
200 ml Maple Syrup
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Drizzle of Oil for Searing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine mustard, maple syrup and half the sage in a bowl and set aside.

Coat turkey breasts with touch of oil. Rub paprika, allspice and garlic on top. Let marinate for 10 minutes.

In a large frying pan, heat oil until very hot. Sear breasts on skin side only for 2-3 minutes.

On a roasting pan, lay out veggies evenly. Place seared turkey on top. Cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and coat with mustard mixture. Pat hazelnuts on top and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes or, using an instant read thermometer, until 155 - 160 degrees internal temperature.

Let rest for 10 minutes and slice.

Serves 8 - 10.

Variation: if you don't have hazelnuts, use either pecans or walnuts.

A Humble Chef's tip: serve with a sauce using the pan drippings and the Sour Dough Stuffing recipe from this previous post.

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Underground Vegetable Resistance

Yes. Another soup. But where I live, it minus 20 degrees. And soup is what we're having.

It has taken a while but I've finally converted my mother-in-law to no longer be a parsnip hater. It wasn't easy but this recipe did the trick. She discovered that she liked parsnips.

Over the past few years, I have learned to value this lesser known root vegetable. It is far more versatile than people give this under-appreciated, underground veggie credit for. On top of this, parsnips are higher in minerals and vitamins than the famous cousin and bully, the carrot (which everybody eats). Parsnips have their own unique sweet taste and it is usually inexpensive. So why don't more people buy it? Carrots are to blame.

Parsnips apparently grow best in temperate regions because their sugar content increases after a little frost. Having said that, the taste of the parsnip, like the potato, is dramatically affected by the climate. So, don't buy them in the spring or summer when they're out of season.

Like the orange-coloured relative, parsnips can be cooked any number of ways: roasted, sauteed, deep-fried, boiled. It can be eaten raw but it is not entirely recommended. Unlike carrots which many people do eat raw. However, if you eat your carrots for the beta carotene, eating it raw is a waste of time.

Anyways, enough of that. All I'm trying to say is, parsnips taste good. And they're cheap. And they're healthy. And they're easy too cook. And anytime you see a carrot recipe, think about substituting it and see if it works. Which it won't all the time so you'll have to use your culinary judgment.

Parsnip and Ginger Soup

1 Large Cooking Onion, peeled and cut into chunks
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
Small Chunk of Fresh Ginger (how much is a small chunk? About a tablespoon size)
Pinch of Clove
8 - 10 Parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
Drizzle of Oil
Drizzle of Liquid Honey
2 L Vegetable Stock
250 ml Orange Juice
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a soup pot, heat oil. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add cloves and cloves of garlic (that's the spice and your two cloves of garlic, not a ton of garlic). Cook for 2 more minutes. Add parsnips and ginger and stir until parsnips are coated in fat. Add extra oil if necessary. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock and orange juice and bring to a boil. Liquify using an immersion blender. Season to taste with honey and salt and pepper.

Add desired garnish. Cream, thyme or even Candied Parsnips.

Serves 8.

A Humble Chef's tip: if the parsnips are really skinny, don't bother peeling them. Soak thoroughly and let air dry before using them.

Variation: this is already a variation on the classic Carrot Ginger Soup, which goes to show how easy it is to change it up.


This next recipe is very tricky. Be sure to measure accurately and follow the instructions carefully or the recipe won't work.

Candied Parsnips

Dab of Butter
Handful of Brown Sugar
Drizzle of Maple Syrup
Pinch of Salt
Splash of Rum
1 Large Parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced

Put everything in a pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until parsnips are cooked. About 8 minutes.

Serve.

A Humble Chef's tip: don't overcook the parsnips.

Variation: change up the quantities of ingredients.

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Tactics and Strategies in the Game of Chefs

There are times where I find the simplest combinations to be unbeatable. For example, I'll take a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie and a cold glass of milk over some over priced lamb chop. Yeah, I love grilled lamb chops and all, but it's up against very stiff competition. I could live off freshly brewed black coffee with some swiss chocolate. Just writing about it . . . . well, give me a minute while I run to the kitchen for some chocolate. Okay, I'm back. What is it I'm writing about?

Right. Combinations. I often experiment with combinations in soups, sauces and salads. Here is where you can try different things and see where it takes you. In fact, in a a previous post for a Carrot Cantaloupe Soup I discuss taking risks. However, there are times where you can make a new soup or sauce using a combination that is usually for a different application.

Am I confusing you?

If I am, think of something (not a soup or sauce) you make often. How about breakfast? You have eggs, bacon and homefries. The Sunday Morning Special at any greasy spoon for $5.99. We all know that potatoes and bacon are so good together -- why don't we mash them together? And wait! Sometimes I make potato skins stuffed with mashed potatoes, topped with bacon bits, cheddar and green onions. Can we take that concept and make a soup out of it? Sure you can.

Potato, Bacon and Cheddar (aka Piggyssoise)

8 Russet or Baking Potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 lb. bacon, roughly cut
2 Cooking Onions, roughly cut
3 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
Pinch of Allspice
150 g Cheddar (your preference of type), grated
1 Green Onion, cut into rings
100 ml Whipping Cream
3 L Vegetable Stock (recipe here)
Dab of Butter
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a tall soup pot, melt butter until frothy. Add bacon and cook for 5 minutes. Move bacon to the side and add onion, garlic and allspice. Cook for another 5 minutes or until onions have a little colour. Add stock and potatoes. Bring to a boil then let simmer for 10 - 15 minutes (actually, it depends how small or large you cut your potatoes). Using an immersion blender, carefully puree until desired consistency. Add green onion. Whisk in grated cheddar and add cream. Taste then season. The bacon and cheddar have sodium so use salt sparingly.

Serves 10.

A Humble Chef's tip: if you have leftover mashed potatoes, use them for this recipe.

Variation: Bouneschlupp is a soup from Luxembourg that is very similar. However, add green beans and leave the soup as a chowder. Meaning that you should cut everything more uniformly, cook the potatoes in the soup and skip on liquefying it.

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