Thanksgiving in March

(Like Christmas in July, but less popular, haha!)

Last November, I purchased some turkey from a Madison meat shop that sells locally-raised meats.  It was probably not an ideal time to buy turkey, since it was right before Thanksgiving, and the shop selection of turkey products was likely more limited, but I was there and I was in the mood (and I have a lovely deep freezer to postpone the cooking of my impulse buys, yay!).  I don’t have much experience with cooking turkey (I still haven’t cooked a whole bird), but I really enjoy eating it, and I had been wanting to give it a whirl!

Lately, I have been very fond of cooking chicken thighs.  They are always so moist and tender, especially when I braise them in the pressure cooker.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any turkey thighs at the shop, and I wasn’t interested in buying a whole (double) breast, as it would be way too much for just JK and me.  So, I decided to purchase two turkey wings (for white meat), and two turkey legs (for dark meat).

Now that most of the major holidays are over (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, JK’s birthday, and even St. Patty’s Day, whew!), I decided it was finally time to pull out the turkey and make a feast.  However, cooking white and dark meat poultry together is complicated because they cook at different rates.  Also, I figured that all the wings and legs would be too much for one meal with leftovers, and so I defrosted only the wings, and saved the legs for another day (hopefully we can smoke/grill them sometime this spring!).

Here’s what I put together for my Thanksgiving in March--on a random Tuesday night (last week, 3/24):

1.Two turkey wings, which I rubbed with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic and onion powders, and roasted in the oven until golden brown (accidentally a bit too long—they were a little dry).  I forgot to rub in some butter or olive oil with the spices under the skin, which would have helped moisten the meat.  Plus, I now realize that wings are the weird cut of the bird: white meat flavor, but the texture and sinew-i-ness of dark meat legs, and therefore, not my favorite.  I probably should have sprung for the whole breast.

2. Homemade gravy.  First, I made stock from the two wing tips, water, carrots, celery, onion (minced dried, I was out of fresh, but it still worked well), dried thyme, bay leaf, and black peppercorns, and simmered it for an hour.  Then I poured off the fat from the roasting pan, added water to the roasting pan to scrape up the dark brown fond, and added that into my stock.  I made a flour-based roux with some of the turkey fat, added the strained stock to it, and simmered until it was just the right gravy consistency.  Thank goodness for gravy; it was delicious and covered up the dryness of the meat a bit.

3. Sweet potato casserole, made with winter farmer’s market sweet potatoes, and a generous dollop of butter, cream, brown sugar, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt.  I boiled the peeled, diced sweet potatoes until tender, mixed in the flavorings, topped with mini-marshmallows, and baked in my convection oven until golden brown.  I could have tried an oatmeal/pecan/streusel topping, but marshmallows were easier and a good throwback-type topping.  This side threatened to steal the show.  Yum!

4. Nothing-special green beans.  I was too lazy to do them up with a white sauce and top them with onions, so we just buttered and seasoned them.  Ho-hum.

5. Cranberry sauce, which I consider to be an essential side for this type of meal.  Sadly, this was from a can this time, though I am a huge fan of simmering fresh or frozen cranberries with water and sugar until cooked down, and then sieving for a good homemade sauce.

6. Homemade cherry pie a la mode.  OK, here was the real show-stopper of the meal.  I made a homemade all-butter double-pie crust (that recipe could be a future post) in the morning and let it chill in the fridge.  Then I drained the 4 cups of thawed (previously frozen) tart cherries that we had from a past (2010!!) Door County cherry picking adventure.  To the juice (13 oz, quite a lot!), I added a few tablespoons of quick tapioca and a cup of sugar, and let rest for 15 minutes before boiling on the stove for a few minutes.  Then I reincorporated the cherries, added a dash of almond extract, poured it in the shell, topped with the top crust, and baked until golden brown and bubbling through the slits.  The filling was too loose, even once it cooled, so next time I’ll have to remember to add more tapioca (I still have some cherries left in the freezer!)...but it was still absolutely delicious.  Tart cherry pie is my very favorite kind of pie and this was no exception!  We had made homemade vanilla ice cream a few days prior, and it was the perfect accompaniment.
[FYI: tart cherries may be found in the following locations: 1) freezer aisle, 2) canned fruit aisle, canned in water, 3) possibly in the produce section, on a specialty rack with Door County canned cherries/filling from DC farm stands or 4) of course, in Door County—go picking in July!]

All in all, it was a pretty good meal: yummy to eat, and fun to cook.  I am thankful that the whirlwind of the holidays is (mostly) over, and I am enjoying using my oven to warm my house with delicious smells on these late winter/early spring days.

Yay for a tasty turkey dinner and cherry pie any time of year!

Forward Flavor!

St. Patty's Day Meal

Alas, I find myself with a corned beef brisket braising in my slow cooker and the usual suspects of roots and over-wintered veggies ready to be cooked up in a few minutes for tonight's dinner: carrots, onions, potatoes, and a cabbage.  (Yes, I realize the holiday's actually tomorrow, but it worked better in my schedule to cook it tonight.)  I do cook all my veggies separate, since I think they get too salty when cooked with the brisket.  I do glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, and steamed cabbage and pearl onions with butter.  Simple, but yum!

I told myself that this year I would get my brisket from my favorite local meat vendor at the Winter Farmer's Market, but this holiday snuck up on me before I could do that.  Instead, I went to the local grocery store and got a "conventional" 2 lb. specimen.  It's the same kind that I've cooked up in many years past, and it will do fine.

I swear, next time I'll get the curing salts and spices and cure/cook up that local brisket, and do my culinary school teachers proud.  I guess I don't technically have to wait another year to do it, and I'll do a post on that if/when I finally get the gumption...

So, grab a (green) beer or beverage of your choice, and join me in eating to our (Americanized) tradition of St. Patrick's Day with a corned beef and cabbage dinner.

Hoorah!  Forward Flavor!

Birthday Cheesecake

Every year since we first met, I have made my husband (I’ll call him JK) a cheesecake for his birthday.  Why, you ask?

     1. Because I believe everyone should have someone make them a homemade birthday cake of their choice for their birthday.

         a. It’s very loving, in my eyes, to spend the time and effort making a homemade cake.  There are a lot of steps: researching the recipe, buying the ingredients, making/baking it, and then finally frosting/decorating it.

         b. I believe homemade cake is far better than store-bought.

         c. Cake is delicious, and what better time to eat some than your birthday!

     2. Because cheesecake happens to be his favorite “cake”.  (Cheesecake is not my favorite -- I never order a slice at a restaurant or grab a square at a potluck, but come on, it’s JK’s birthday after all.)

     3. If nothing else, I can always produce a homemade cake and a (sometimes homemade) card for JK.  I do like to give gifts, but what can I say, I hate shopping!  Instead of wandering a mall for gift ideas, I’d rather spend that time whipping up something tasty for him at home!

For better or worse, I don't make cheesecake any other time of year.  I make one a year, just for JK’s birthday.  Since I’m not making cheesecakes week after week, my cheesecake experiments have become a very long, drawn-out iterative process.  In order to track what I’ve done each year, and make improvements, I keep all of my recipes in a file and take detailed notes.  It’s fun.

The first year I followed a recipe charmingly entitled “Heavenly Cheesecake”, and although it was edible, the name was definitely misleading considering it only had one 8-ounce package of light (Neufchatel) cream cheese in it, and the rest was non-fat yogurt and low-fat ricotta cheese.  Yes, I still have the recipe, although only for nostalgia, since I never plan to make it again.  It seriously lacked richness and creaminess, not to mention flavor.  I have to remember that those were the days when I bought skim milk and low- or reduced-fat dairy products, so that puts it in perspective.  (Now I buy full-fat cream cheese--Organic Valley, mmm, delicious--and even whole milk.  I’ll dedicate a future blog post about my opinion on the advantages, flavor and otherwise, of full-fat dairy.)

Over the subsequent years, I have tried many things:

     1. Using generic or low-fat cream cheese (I don’t recommend it),

     2. Trying various versions of chocolate wafer crumb crusts (including egg whites, adding cocoa, and varying the amounts of sugar and butter),

     3. Topping the cake with a myriad of fruits (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc); sometimes made into a sauce, sometimes fresh and sugared, sometimes –gasp!– from a can, and

     4. Baking the cake in a variety of ways, all in an attempt to avoid the inevitable Grand Canyon cheesecake crack.  These included: baking in a hot oven for a brief time, then switching to a very low oven; keeping the cake inside the oven after baking and propping the oven door open with a wooden spoon; baking in a water bath (soggy bottom crust!).  None of these methods ever kept the crack at bay.

Then this year –cheesecake #11– was the first year ever that it didn’t crack.  I didn’t change the filling recipe, so it was a miracle!  Actually, it wasn’t a miracle: I changed the way I baked it, and I finally settled upon something that worked.  Am I done tinkering with the recipe, because it is finally perfect?  No, but it’s pretty good, even for non-Cheesecake-lovers.  It’s indulgent and decadent without being as thick and over-the-top as a New York Cheesecake.

Despite no crack, I am still decorating it with fruit on top when I serve it for two reasons: 1) the cake is creamy and lightly sweet and perfect for pairing with fruit, and 2) the cake’s top bubbled up and browned unevenly* during the last baking step, causing it still to be unsightly, even without a crack (boo hoo, the bad luck!).  I’ll keep plugging away at it, now to eliminate the brown bubbles.  But it will have to wait till next year!  ;)

JK’s Favorite Cheesecake

Makes one 9” cheesecake, 12 servings

Crust:

8 oz. (about 15 regular sheets) of graham crackers, finely crushed crumbs

4 oz. (8 T., or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

3.5 oz. (½ c.) granulated sugar

1/8 t. table salt

1. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position, and preheat oven to 350F.  Melt butter and brush just enough on to evenly coat the bottom and sides of a 9” round springform pan.

2. Finely process crackers into crumbs in a food processor (easiest method), or in batches in a large freezer ziptop bag with a rolling pin (more tedious).

3. Transfer crumbs to a large bowl, mix in sugar and salt, and then blend in remaining melted butter.  Mixture will resemble wet sand.

4. Press crumb mixture into the bottom and 2/3 of the way up the sides of the springform pan.  Use a straight-sided drinking glass or measuring cup to help press the crumbs evenly.

5. Carefully place the pan onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until you can just smell it and it looks slightly browned.  Remove the baking sheet and pan, and place on a cooling rack while you get ready to pour the filling in.

6. Turn the oven to 200F and place an oven thermometer on the oven rack so you can check the true oven temperature.

Filling:

3 x 8-oz. bricks of full-fat cream cheese, brand-name and/or organic

7 oz. (1 c.) granulated sugar

2 T. all-purpose flour

¼ t. table salt

2 oz. (¼ c.) heavy cream

1 t. real vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

1. Let the cream cheese stand at room temperature until it is fully softened (at least 1.5-2 hours).  The cream cheese MUST be soft to proceed with the recipe.  If you can’t wait, then cut the cheese into ½-inch chunks and microwave it very carefully, at 15 second intervals, while stirring and squishing it until it is fully softened.  I used a Thermapen thermometer to ensure that my cheese was at about 70F.

2. Put the softened cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the paddle attachment on low speed until it is creamy.  In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and salt, and gradually blend it into the cheese until fully incorporated.  Scrape down bowl and paddle with rubber scraper.

3. Mix together the cream and vanilla, and gradually add them to the cream cheese mixture, with the machine on low speed.  Scrape down bowl and paddle.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the yolk, with the machine on low speed, scraping down the bowl between additions.

5. OPTIONAL STEP, if you are finicky.  In batches, press the filling mixture through a mesh strainer with a rubber scraper, into a bowl.  This will eliminate any remaining cheese clumps that didn’t get thoroughly mixed in.  If you don’t care about that, skip this step.

6. Carefully pour the mixture into the graham cracker crust, and carefully smooth the top with a small offset metal spatula.  The filling should have a thick, pudding-like consistency.

7. *ANOTHER OPTIONAL STEP.  To eliminate bubbles, let the cake rest on the counter for 10 minutes to allow bubbles to rise to the surface, then rake the tines of a fork through the surface to pop any bubbles.  I didn’t do this, and I probably should have.

8. Place the pan on the rimmed baking sheet in the 200F oven and bake for approximately 1.5-2 hours, until center of cheesecake measures 165F with an instant-read thermometer.  Cake will be mostly set, and will jiggle only very slightly when the sheet pan is gently shaken.  Remove from the oven.

9. Move oven rack to upper middle position and increase oven temperature to 500F.  Once the oven is fully heated, place baking sheet with cheesecake back into the oven on the upper rack, and bake for another 4-6 minutes, until cake is evenly browned.  Watch it carefully, you don't want to burn it now!

10. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes on a cooling rack.  Run a thin paring knife around between the cheesecake and the inside of the springform pan, but don’t open the springform pan.  Let it cool fully, about 2.5 hours, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator until it’s fully cold and set.  I did this overnight, but it probably would take about 4 hours.

Fruit Topping:

A handful (~1 c.) of fresh, or frozen-thawed, berries of your choice (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or cherries are our favorites)

~2 T. granulated sugar, to taste

1. Mix fruit and sugar, and let macerate for 20 minutes.  Remove the sides of the springform pan, and slide a thin knife between cheesecake bottom and pan bottom to release.  Carefully transfer cheesecake to a serving platter, cut into 12 wedges, and serve with fruit topping on the side.

2. OPTIONAL.  If you want it to look fancier, make a cooked/thickened fruit topping, spread it over the top to cover the whole cake, and serve the whole cake at once (see cheesecake fruit topping recipe at Smitten Kitchen blog).  We never do this, because we hoard the cake between the two of us.  We freeze over half of it, pre-cut in slices (it freezes beautifully for several months) to eat with fresh strawberries out of our garden once they’re ready in June.  Yum.

This recipe is an adaption/combination of recipes and methods from the Smitten Kitchen blog (crust), Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook circa 1970’s (filling), and Cooks Illustrated magazine (baking method).

Enjoy.  Forward Flavor!

Let me introduce myself...

My name is Caryn Kindkeppel (car–inn   kind–kep–pull), and I am a former engineer and passionate home culinarian.  

I grew up (mainly) in Wisconsin, and have a loving husband, a medium-sized fur-baby doggie, and a nice home in the suburbs of Madison.  I have a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from UW-Madison, and after college, I got a full-time job at a multinational company.  After 8 years as an engineer, I decided to follow my heart and passion in food and I went back to school for Culinary Arts at Madison College, a local technical college.  It was a great experience, though I decided I wasn’t going to follow the typical career path of working in restaurants after graduation.  I currently work part-time in retail, and enjoy interacting with all kinds of home cooks who come into the store.

I've wanted to start a blog for a while, but alas, I am a social media laggard.  I struggled to get started, and I was full of excuses:

   -I wasn't sure what I'd narrow my topic to.  (Encouraging others to cook at home and discover the best flavors in foods.)

   -I wasn't sure what my blog's name would be.  (Forward Flavor.)

   -I wasn't sure which platform to choose.  (Blogger.)

   -Despite being from a technical field, I am not a computer or internet whiz.  (I’ve bought a couple books, and will have to learn as I go.)

   -I don’t yet consider myself a writer, and only aspire to use proper grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation.  (I will never get any better unless I exercise the muscle.)

   -Most of all, I'm terrified of offending someone, especially my family and friends, with what I write.  (This is still a worry, but I must move forward.)

I decided to take the leap and do it.  My goal is to add something interesting and intelligent to the growing discussions around food/cooking/eating, and to inspire good dialogue on my blog.  Moreover, I hope to help someone who wants to begin cooking at home, but doesn’t know where to start.

Here’s to the future!  Forward Flavor!