Roast Chicken

In July of 2008 I published an article on chickens, their rearing, and where to find a good one. (Click on the July tab). The gist of that article focused on a discussion of factory farm raised chicken vs. local, grass fed, organic poultry, and why I favor the latter. Now let’s review how to take that fine, local bird and turn it into the quintessential chicken dish, roast chicken.

To quote Julia Child from her classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, “The most important aspect of chicken cooking is that you procure a good and flavorsome bird…A chicken should taste like chicken and be so good in itself that it is an absolute delight to eat as a perfectly plain, buttery roast…” Every cook is judged by the quality of their roast chicken, so let’s look at how we accomplish perfection.

Chickens are available in a variety of sizes from “broilers,” weighing 1 ½ to 2 ½ lbs, “fryers” 2 ½ to 3 ½ lbs and “roasters “ 4 to 6 ½ lbs. The roaster is the preferred size for our application, although a fryer can be used.

If your chicken is purchased fresh, meaning never frozen, great. However most locally raised poultry is only available frozen, except during selected times in the summer. Do not take a frozen chicken and leave it to thaw out on the kitchen counter. You risk disease from bacteria that will grow on the bird during the thawing process, and many of the bird’s juices will leak out, resulting in a dry bird when cooked. Better to wrap your frozen bird in a towel and place it in a container in your refrigerator. It will take two days or more to thaw out, but little, if any, of its juices will escape. Need it sooner than day after tomorrow, place the frozen bird under slow running cold water, and it will be thawed out in 4 to 5 hours or so.

In recent years, many chefs have recommended brining your bird prior to cooking. The brine includes salt and sugar with various herbs and aromatics to flavor the bird. The benefit is that the breast meat, which always cooks faster than the legs and thighs, will not dry out before the bird is thoroughly cooked. While I have tried this method on many occasions, I think the brine alters the taste of the flesh giving it a slightly cured flavor, and the drippings, the bird emits, are diluted by the extra moisture that was absorbed during the brining process. I am cooking my roast chicken without brining.

Step one is to wash your bird under cold running water, both inside and out. Dry the bird thoroughly with paper towels and allow it to air dry for up to half an hour while the oven preheats. A wet bird will not get that gorgeous crispy skin we all enjoy so much.

It is desirable to truss you bird, meaning to tie it up into a compact bundle so it will cook evenly. Many cookbooks describe the various trussing methods, so I refer you to them.

I like to put butter, salt and pepper, and some squeezed lemon, garlic and fresh herbs in the cavity of my roast chicken. Lemon and chicken have a particular affinity, so put the squeezed lemon inside, too.

You can roast your chicken on a rack, however, I scatter some diced onions and carrots over the bottom of my roasting pan to sit the chicken on, and they add taste to the drippings that are the basis for a light sauce. I take a lot of room temperature butter and smear it all over the bird, and baste the bird every 20 minutes or so.

I put the chicken in a hot oven, 450 degrees, for 15 minutes or so before turning the oven down to 375 degrees to finish it. Cook the chicken to 160-165 degrees recorded in the deep part of the thigh. Allow the bird to rest in the oven with the door ajar for 15 minutes or more before carving to allow its juices to settle, and carry over cooking to take it’s internal temperature up to 170 degrees. During this resting, you can make a light sauce from the renderings in the bottom of the pan.

Roast Chicken

½ Cup good local butter, room temperature
4 lb local free range organic chicken
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon
Several sprigs fresh thyme or tarragon or a mixture of both
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
A mixture of ¼ cup each chopped onion, carrot and celery, brunoise

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash the bird thoroughly and pat dry. Season the bird liberally with salt and pepper, inside and out. With your hands, smear the butter all over the chicken. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze its juices over and into the chicken. Place the herbs, garlic clove and squeezed lemon halves inside the bird. Truss, if needed.

Brunoise the onion, celery and carrot by cutting into 1/4 “ dice and sautéing in butter for 3-4 minutes. Place chicken on top of the vegetables and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 15 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 375. Baste with the pan juices every 15 to 20 minutes. Cook 40 to 50 minutes more, or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 to 165 degrees when inserted into the deepest area of the thigh, or all juices run clear when deeply pricked with a fork.

Leave chicken in turned off oven with the door ajar for 15 minutes to allow to rest. The chicken should be golden brown with a crisp skin, and the juices in the bottom of the pan will be a nut brown, buttery, lemony mix that when strained and boiled down a little and whisked will make a light sauce to accompany the bird.

Lentils

Winter is upon us and local farm products are limited to stored root vegetables, frozen meats, eggs, cheeses and canned or pickled produce from last summer. This is the season when we turn to beans and other dried legumes for some of our dietary needs, and the variety is pretty broad. I made a chili with Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix the other day, although it included a number of beans unavailable in New England, it was hardy and delicious.

A legume that is less used in New England than the Jacob Cattle Bean, the soldier bean, the pea bean, the yellow-eye or others that we use in Boston Baked Beans, Maine Baked Beans, or whatever you name your baked beans, is the lentil. Lens culinaris originated in the Near East where it grows with other native grasses like barley. It takes its name from the lens-shaped seeds it produces. As an annual, each plant bears pods that include several seeds, which are rich in vegetable protein. As a legume, its fixes nitrogen in the soil, where bacteria that lives in its roots takes nitrogen directly from the air, making it an important plant that enriches the ground on which it grows, and is ideal for crop rotation.

Lentils, grown primarily in India and throughout Asia, although some of the most famous lentils, like Lentilles Verte du Puy come from the alluvial soils in France, come in two sizes; the larger ones, which have had their husks removed, are light colored or yellow, and the small ones which are brown, pink, grey or green. The most common variety in India is the red or salmon colored lentil, which, when cooked, produces a soft, powdery texture that is popular in pureed dishes and soups. The smaller lentils become tender when cooked, retaining their shape, making them useful in main dishes, salads and casseroles, where they are often pared with pork products like sausages and bacon. Lentils are eaten by mourners at Jewish funerals, along with boiled eggs, as their round shape symbolizes the life cycle from birth to death.

Unlike other dried legumes, lentils do not need to be soaked before cooking, and will be tender in 30 minutes or so of simmering. They readily absorb the flavors of ingredients with which they are cooked or dressed, although their mild, earthy flavor when served alone is appreciated by many.

When cooking, it is desirable to rinse them thoroughly until the water runs clear before simmering. Inspect them carefully as foreign matter like small stones or twigs are sometimes packaged with them. Besides being about 26% protein, lentils, also rich is iron, make a complete protein when paired with other grains like rice. They are rich is animo acids, folic acid, vitamin B1 and minerals, besides supplying dietary fiber. Health Magazine has named lentils as one of the 5 healthiest foods on the planet.

Spinach & Lentil Salad with Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese & Tart Cherry Vinaigrette

yield: Serves 6 as a first course

3/4 cup green lentils
7 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
8 bacon slices (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped shallot
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup dried unsweetened tart cherries (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 cups baby or regular spinach leaves
1/3 cup blue cheese (about 2 ounces), preferably Bayley Hazen Blue from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont.

In a heavy saucepan cover lentils with water by 2 inches and simmer until just tender but not falling apart, about 15 minutes. Drain lentils well in a sieve. Rinse lentils under cold running water to stop cooking and drain well. In a bowl toss lentils with 2 tablespoons vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. (Lentils may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Bring lentils to room temperature before proceeding.)

In a skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp and with tongs transfer to paper towels to drain. Crumble bacon.

In cleaned saucepan heat 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook shallot, stirring, until golden brown. Stir in water, cherries, sugar, and remaining 5 tablespoons vinegar and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by about half, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a slow stream until emulsified. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

Add half of vinaigrette to lentils and toss well. In another bowl toss spinach with half of lentil mixture, half of bacon, half of cheese, remaining vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste.
Divide remaining lentil mixture among 6 plates and top with spinach mixture. Sprinkle salads with remaining bacon and cheese.

Lard

It’s the New Year, 2009, and while we’re all signing up for gym memberships and contemplating our diet and weight loss goals, I’m thinking about a subject that considered out-of-date, bad for our health, and prohibited by dietary canons in some religions. Yes, folks, I’m thinking about lard, a pork product that, despite its reputation as being an unhealthy fat, has applications in today’s cooking that should not be ignored. If you’ve never used lard in pastry baking, you are missing the boat. It is also used as a spread, a preservative, and a cooking medium as well as a shortener.

Lard is rendered pig fat. The pig has various fat deposits within its carcass. The most prized is the leaf lard, which is located within the body cavity surrounding the kidneys. Also known as flare, this fat, when properly rendered, produces the finest lard as it is both white in color and has very little pork flavor, making it ideal to use in pastry baking as it produces flaky, moist pie crusts. I also use this fat when I make blood sausages as it renders almost completely, leaving very little cracklings.

The fat back is found between the pig’s skin and the flesh along the loin. It is a hard fat producing good quality lard. Fat back is cured in Italy into lardo, which is consumed in small quantities as an appetizer. I purchased a small amount of lardo di Colonnata the last time we were in Tuscany and found it absolutely delicious. Fat back is also the preferred fat for inclusion is sausages, and it is used in France to “lard” meats, where long strips of fat are inserted into a lean roast with a special larding needle, keeping the roast moist inside while cooking. Salt pork is produced from pork bellies, which are also the source for bacon.

Caul fat, the thin membrane of connective tissue with deposits of fat throughout is the peritoneum of the pig, covering the organs of the abdominal cavity. This soft fat, used to wrap little sausages and other items, which, when cooked, virtually disappears, is difficult to find unless you know someone who raises their own pigs.

Commercially produced lard is a combination of the leaf lard and fat back, usually rendered either by the wet rendering method, or the dry rendering method. The best lard is produced by wet rendering, where the fat is exposed to hot water and steam. As the fat is insoluble in water it is skimmed off or separated in a centrifuge. Thereafter it is treated with bleaching and deodorizing agents, hydrogenated (which produces trans fats), and emulsifiers and antioxidants are added to make it shelf stable. Due to all this industrial manipulation and adulteration of supermarket lard, I recommend seeking artisan produced lard from a local farmer, or rendering your own.

Lard, like all fats, is composed of large crystals, which make it difficult to cream, but effective as shortening in pastry baking, which is its primary use in this country. Many chefs use a combination of lard and butter in making pastries to benefit from the flakiness produced by the lard with the taste of butter.

In Europe, wet rendered lard is used for deep-frying, and the real English “fish and chips” is made using lard. It has a relatively high smoke point, making it desirable for this application. Dry rendered lard, with is brown color and more porky in flavor is still used as a spread on bread, where it is sometimes mixed with paprika, as in Spain.

If you do come across some local pig fat, chop it up into smaller pieces and place it in a saucepan with a cup of water. Bring to the boil and cook slowly for the fat to render and the water to boil off. Skim out any cracklings and strain the liquid fat into a container, allow to cool and keep covered in the refrigerator.

One note, lard, by weight, has less saturated fat and less cholesterol than butter, and non-hydrogenated lard, has no trans fat, so while artisan produced lard is better for you than the commercial product, it should be used in moderation, just like everything else.

Pie Crust with Butter & Lard

yield: Makes 2 pie crusts (enough dough for 1 double-crust pie, 1 lattice-topped pie, or 2 single-crust pies)

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup chilled lard, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons (or more) ice water


Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and lard; using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add 5 tablespoons ice water and mix with fork until dough begins to clump together, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough together. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. If necessary, soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

New Year's Eve food

Next Wednesday will be New Year’s Eve and we’ll all be anticipating the arrival of 2009, a new President shortly thereafter, and a new beginning for each of us as individuals and the country. It’s a watershed moment for change, and we celebrate it at our house with an evening of fellowship and food, when we again depart from tradition and honor our national non-cuisine by indulging in a couple of Cajun dishes, a seafood gumbo and a deep fried shrimp dish with an unusual twist.

America is a land of many cuisines, most regional in nature and usually rooted in our immigrant customs that have been adapted to our locally available foods. The Cajuns are an immigrant peoples whose origin was France. Originally these Frenchmen settled in Nova Scotia, where they were known as Acadians. They, however, were driven off their land in 1755, with some returning to France, but others ultimately finding the French colony in Louisiana, where they were welcomed and granted land by the Spanish. The Cajuns are distinct from the Creoles, whose origin is Africa, although their cooking uses many of the same ingredients, most of which are indigenous to bayou regions of the Louisiana delta.

Perhaps the best know Louisiana chef in Paul Prudhomme (no slight intended to Emeril Lagasse) who showcased Cajun and Creole cooking at his K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen restaurant in New Orleans. His most famous dish is blackened redfish, which has been replicated using every imaginable protein available by other chefs across the country. His cookbook, published in 1984, Chef Paul Pudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen, is a compendium of Cajun and Creole cooking, and I have enjoyed adopting recipes from that work using local ingredients. One note of caution; if you have or use his book, his spice mixes, now available for purchase in stores, can be mighty HOT!, so I go easy on the cayenne, as you can always add more if you love the heat.

Gumbo is a spicy soup/stew made with a strong stock, meat or seafood/shellfish, a thickener and the “holy trinity” of onion, celery and green pepper. The basis of all gumbos is the roux, a mixture of roughly equal parts fat and flour cooked until nearly burnt which imparts a deep smoky flavor and rich color to the stew. The Cajuns make a different colored roux for different applications, however for gumbo the choices are dark red-brown roux, or the preferred, black roux, which is more difficult to achieve. I’ll detail the roux making process with the recipe, but a big word of caution is called for as a Cajun roux is the equivalent of napalm if you splash it on yourself, so use a deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven and long handled wooden spoons or whisks during the cooking process. The fat is heated to almost smoking (500 degrees) and the flour, which has moisture in it, is added in thirds, whisking all the time, or you risk having the fat boil over, possibly igniting and causing a fire. This Cajun cooking isn’t for the untried or the timid, however if you can master this technique, you will be rewarded with some interesting and delicious food.

Coconut Beer Shrimp w/ Sweet & Tangy Dipping Sauce

Serves 6 as a main course or 12 as an appetizer

Seasoning Mix
¾ tbl to 1 ½ tbl cayenne
2 ¼ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp sweet paprika
1 ½ tsp black pepper
1 ¼ tsp garlic powder
¾ tsp onion powder
¾ tsp dried thyme leaves
¾ tsp dried oregano leaves

Beer batter
2 eggs
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, in all
¾ cup fresh beer
1 tbl baking powder

2 lb medium to large to extra large shrimp, peeled & deveined
3 cups grated coconut, about 6 oz
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Sweet & Tangy Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix in a small bowl and set aside.
Combine 2 tsp of the seasoning mix with the 2 eggs and beat until smooth. Add 1 ¼ cup of the flour, the beer and baking powder. Mix well and break up any lumps.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of flour with 1 ½ tsp of the seasoning mix. Set aside. Place the coconut in a separate bowl.
Sprinkle both sides of the peeled shrimp with the rest of the seasoning mix. Heat the frying oil in a large pot to 350 degrees.
When the oil is hot, dip each shrimp holding onto its tail into the flour mix, shaking off any excess, then into the beer batter, allowing the excess to drip off, before rolling in the coconut. Cook in small batches until cooked through (30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp you use). The batter should be cooked through and the shrimp not overcooked. Serve immediately with Sweet & Tangy Dipping Sauce.

Sweet & Tangy Dipping Sauce

Makes 2 ½ cups

1 18 oz jar of orange marmalade, or 1 2/3 cup
5 tbl Creole mustard (preferred) or good brown mustard
5 tbl finely grated fresh horseradish or prepared white horseradish sauce

Combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Cajun Seafood Gumbo with Andouille Smoked Sausage

Serves 5 as a main dish, 10 as an appetizer

The Trinity
1 cup chopped onions
¾ cup chopped green peppers
½ cup chopped celery

The seasoning mix
1 whole bay leaf
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper, ground
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp black pepper, ground
¼ tsp dried thyme leaves
1/8 tsp dried oregano leaves

The roux
6 fluid ounces (12 tablespoons) vegetable oil
3/8 cup flour

1 ½ tsp minced garlic
2 ¾ cup seafood stock (recipe follows)
½ lb andouille smoked sausage or kielbasa, ½” pieces
½ lb cooked lobster meat or peeled, medium shrimp
3/8 lb. crabmeat, picked over
½ dozen medium oysters with their liquor, about 5 oysters
1 ¼ cup cooked rice (recipe follows)

Make the seafood stock and prepare the rice for cooking.

Combine the onions, green peppers and celery in a bowl and reserve.

Heat the oil for the roux is a large, heavy cast iron skillet or Dutch oven over high heat, until it begins to smoke, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the flour, whisking constantly with a long handled metal whisk. Continue cooking, whisking all the time, until the roux is a dark, red-brown to black, about 2 to 4 minutes, being very careful to not let it scorch or to splash any on your skin. Immediately add half the trinity vegetables. Cook 1 minute, stirring, and add the rest of the vegetables. Cook another minute or so, stirring, and add the seasoning mix. Stir cooking 2 minutes, add the garlic, cook one more minute and remove from the heat.

Place the stock in a Dutch oven and bring to the boil. Add the roux mixture by spoonfuls, stirring until dissolved before adding more. Bring back to the boil after the last addition of roux and add the sausage, cooking 10 minutes at a simmer. Add the lobster meat, oysters and their liquor and the crabmeat. Return to the boil, stirring occasionally, before removing from the heat, skimming any oil from the surface. Serve immediately with a ¼ cup cooked rice placed in the center of a soup dish, with 1 cup of the gumbo ladled over, being sure to include some of each of the different sea foods and sausage in each plate.

Seafood Stock

Yield: one quart stock

2 quarts of cold water
1 medium onion, unpeeled and quartered, plus any trimmings
1 large clove garlic, unpeeled and quartered
1 rib celery
1 ½ to 2 lbs shrimp shells, lobster shells, crab shells, or fish carcasses

To increase the flavor of the stock, consider roasting the ingredients in a hot oven until caramelized. Place ingredients in the cold water and bring to a boil, skimming any scum that rises to the surface. Simmer from 30 minutes to 4 hours, depending on how much time you have, but the longer the better. If simmering for a long time, replace some of the evaporated water on occasion so that you end up with a quart or slightly more when done. Strain the stock, degrease if needed, cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Can also be frozen in ice cube trays for future use.

Basic Cajun Cooked Rice

Makes 3 cups

1 cup uncooked rice
1 ¼ cup seafood stock
2 tsp minced onions
2 tsp minced celery
2 tsp minced green pepper
2 ¼ tsp butter, unsalted
¼ tsp salt
pinch of garlic powder
pinch each of white pepper, cayenne pepper and black pepper

In a mini loaf pan, combine all the ingredients, mix well, and seal well with aluminum foil. Place in 350 degree oven and bake until tender, about 1 hour or so. Serve immediately, however, it will remain hot 45 minutes or so. If done ahead, reheat in a skillet with a pat of butter before serving.

Yorkshire pudding

The holiday season is upon us with the winter solstice, the day the sun is the lowest in the sky and the days are the shortest of the whole year, approaching just before Christmas day. While we love Italian food at our house, we adhere to my family’s English tradition for our Christmas meal when we splurge on a standing rib roast of local, grass-fed beef served with Yorkshire pudding, a dish that uses the rendered fat from the roast to make a starch to accompany the meal.

There are two ways to cook the beef, either using the high temperature approach, which produces a succulent joint with very little drippings, or a low temperature method, which produces flavorful meat with a good gravy. While Mom always used the latter method, I remember the first time I used the high temperature method, my Dad proclaimed it the best roast beef he’d ever eaten. As Yorkshire pudding is eagerly anticipated by my family at Christmas, I’ll use the low temperature method this year, as it is the only occasion during the year when I make Yorkshire pudding, and it really is a treat, besides being a visually spectacular event when the pudding, all brown and risen up in the roasting pan, is pulled, ceremoniously, from the oven to displayed to the seated diners. It rivals the flaming plum pudding we have for dessert.

Yorkshire pudding is comprised of a batter made from eggs, milk, flour, salt and the roast’s rendered fat. Originally the roast would have been cooked on a spit before a hot fire and the pudding would be placed below the roast to catch it’s rendered fat and juices. Today Yorkshire pudding, which is somewhat similar to popovers, is cooked either in the meat’s roasting pan (the method I use) or in smaller round tins to make individual puddings, but this isn’t the authentic Yorkshire method. Traditionally, the pudding was served before the meat with some gravy to take the edge off the appetite. We, however, serve it with the meat as one of the side dishes.

Yorkshire pudding can be very good or a soggy mass of fatty batter. The secret for success lies in a couple techniques that I recommend you follow. First, the pudding batter should be made in advance of its being cooked and it should be covered and refrigerated for an hour or more while the roast cooks. During the meat’s roasting, periodically remove some of the rendered fat to a small bowl and reserve. When the roast is done (and remember there will be carry over cooking when the roast is removed from the oven and allowed to rest, so plan accordingly) remove it to a platter, leaving all the drippings in the pan. Deglaze these drippings by adding some lightly salted water or, better yet, some beef stock to the pan, scraping up all the fond and stuck-on renderings. Pour these through a sieve or China cap into a saucepan. Remove as much fat as possible either by skimming, using a gravy separator, or by placing a sheet of paper towel on top to absorb it. Do not wash the roasting pan.

Return a couple of tablespoons of these drippings to the roasting pan and a tablespoon or two of the rendered fat. Raise your oven temperature to 450 degrees. As you want the roasting pan hot, you can place it over a burner on the stove while you retrieve the pudding mixture from the fridge. Whisk the pudding mixture to homogenize it and pour it quickly into the hot pan with the drippings and fat. Place in the hot oven and cook for 25 minutes until golden brown, puffed up, and crunchy on the top. After displaying the pudding to the eager hoard, cut it into squares and serve with the beef.

Yorkshire Pudding

Serves 12

2 Cups Flour, sifted
1 Tsp Salt
4 Ea. Eggs, well beaten
2 Cups Milk
½ Cup Beef drippings

Combine the eggs and milk. Stir in the salt and flour. Cover and refrigerate the batter will the roast is cooking. Remove the roast from the pan, deglaze the drippings with some beef stock or lightly salted water. Strain deglazed drippings thru a China cap and reserve for gravy making. Pour a couple of tablespoons of rendered fat and enough drippings to make a half cup into the unwashed roasting pan and pour batter into the roasting pan. Bake at 450 degrees until puffed and golden, 25 minutes. Serve with roast beef and/or gravy.

Turkey Soup

First I want to wish all of our readers a joyful Thanksgiving. The world may be going to hell in a hand basket, but the annual joining together of family and friends to be thankful for the past year, for the harvest, for country and for each other is a reinvigoration of our spirit as we go into the light deprived winter period. We revel in the companionship, the story telling, the laughter and the food. We emerge from Thanksgiving with the busy year-end holiday season upon us, so there is much yet to do before the solstice greets us just before Christmas, and the days start getting imperceptibly longer.

Now let’s contemplate the subject of soup and later turkey soup.

Soup is a food composed of combining meat and/or vegetables, and sometimes bread, with water or stock. These ingredients are cooked together to meld their flavors and extract any gelatin from meats to give the results body and flavor with improved nutritional benefits. In the western world, soups may be served as a small first course in a multi-course meal as in a restaurant, or as the main course accompanied by a salad with bread and cheese in a household meal.

Soups fall into one of two categories, clear soups like consommé and bouillon or thickened soups like purees and bisques. Originally soup (or sop) was composed of a broth, initially made with onions and water, and bread used to soak up the liquid. Today the word “sop” has come to mean just the bread used to dip into a soup or stew.

The basis for most soups is some sort of stock, be it chicken stock, the most often used, vegetable stock, brown or white stock, or the king of all stocks, veal stock. While one can purchase stocks in the supermarket, homemade stocks are the best, in my opinion, and the household cook has ready access to the necessary ingredients in the realm of everyday cooking. Whether you have a chicken or turkey carcass left over, some left over bones if you cut up your chicken at home, as I do, or you purchase some inexpensive parts like poultry wings, legs or thighs, you are well on your way to a homemade soup.

One can roast some bones or poultry parts in a hot oven with carrots and onions until nicely caramelized to achieve a rich, appetizing brown stock or one can add these parts uncooked to a pot of cold water which, when completed, will yield a white stock. In either approach, when the protein choice is added to cold water and slowly brought to a simmer, the connective tissues in the meat, i.e collagen, hydrolyze (i.e. liquefy when exposed to heat) and gelatin is released into the liquid, thus the tendency of stocks to solidify when cool. This gelatin gives the stock body, which contributes to mouth feel when eaten. At the same time, some proteins and enzymes are freed into the water and fats, vitamins and some lactic and amino acids join the party. Usually aromatics are included in stocks and they contribute pectin, starches, acids like citric, tartaric and oxalic, which help give the stock flavor, aroma and taste.

I made a turkey stock from the bones I removed from my deboned turkey I cooked for Thanksgiving. Alternatively, you could purchase some turkey legs and/or thighs to make a stock from, or, of course, the carcass of your roasted bird always brings a lot of flavor to the party. In any event, combine the bones, roasted in a hot oven for 30 minutes or so, with onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, fresh or dried thyme and enough cold water to cover by 1 to 2 inches. Bring slowly to the simmer, skimming the scum and fat the accumulates on the top. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hour or so, but not for hours and hours. Strain the stock and cool quickly by placing in a cold or iced water bath in your sink, stirring the stock frequently. Change the cold water every half hour until the stock is 40 degrees. Refrigerate and later remove the solidified fat before using.

Turkey Soup

Serves 4-6

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced celeriac
1/2 cup diced parsnip
1/2 cup diced turnip
1/2 cup diced green beans
1 cup turkey drippings
1 cup turkey gravy
3 cups leftover turkey & stuffing, diced
6 cups turkey stock
4 tbl parsley, flat leaf, chopped fine
3/4 cup orzo (rice shaped pasta) or pasta of your choice or rice
1/4 cup Parmigianno-Regianno cheese, grated
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a 4 qt sauce pan and add the onions and saute 3-4 minutes. Add the balance of the diced root vegetables and saute another 3-4 minutes. Add the turkey drippings, gravy and turkey stock. Bring to a simmer, add the green beans and simmer 5 minutes. Add the turkey and the orzo and cook 10 minutes, or until the pasta is done. Stir in the chopped parsley. When serving, garnish each bowl with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkling of grated cheese and a piece of garlic rubbed bruschetta.

Lasagna

I wrote about home made spinach pasta, ragu Bolognese, and salsa bisciamella in the construction of a Lasagna Bolognese, a classic Italian dish, back in April (see www.boldosthoughtsonfood.blogspot.com). That’s a fairly complicated and time-consuming dish to prepare, although certainly worth the time, the expense and the effort. It’s a classic around the holidays, particularly if you have a buffet table with a variety of dishes.

Lasagna is both a type of noodle and a dish made by layering sheets of that wide pasta with any number of fillings in a casserole-type vessel, which vessel was originally the source of the name lasagna. Today the word lasagna means the dish itself, although in Italy it is called lasagne. Traditionally cheeses like mozzarella and ricotta are included in lasagna, and some Parmigiano-Reggiano is de rigueur. Unless making a classic dish however, lasagna lends itself only to one’s imagination as to what to include between, or on top, of the lasagna noodles.

While I make my own lasagna noodles, you can use store bought in the name of time. I’m not crazy about the no-cook lasagna noodles that are available, but we did use them at Balducci’s in New York when I worked there, and we sold a lot of lasagna. If you make your own, or buy some that require pre-cooking before layering with fillings, a few words on proper cooking and handling.

When cooked in rapidly boiling, salted water, the proteins and starch granules in the dough expand and absorb the water. The outer protein layer ruptures and starches are released into the cooking water, thus the water’s modest change in color. The outside of the noodle softens, but the inner starches aren’t disrupted as much. To cook a noodle al dente, where it is slightly under done at the center, and therefore with a slight resistance to the tooth when bitten into, the outside noodle is 80% or more water, but the center is about 50% water. For lasagna, we want to drain the noodle just before they are al dente and plunge it into cold water to arrest the cooking process. The noodle should be removed from the cold water in about 3 or 4 minutes, and allowed to drain on a kitchen or paper towel, if using immediately, or they can be lightly oiled if not used right away.

It is recommended that the amount of water used in cooking pasta should be 10 times or more of the weight of the pasta being cooked. Therefore, one pound of pasta would need 5 quarts of water and 6 quarts would be even better. The water should be brought to the boil and then salted at a rate of 1 ½ teaspoons per quart. The pasta should be placed in the rapidly boiling water right after the salt is added. With the addition of the pasta, the water will temporarily fall below the boiling point and your noodles will tend to stick together if you don’t stir them until the water returns to the boil. When the noodles, or any pasta, are in contact with other noodles, the dry surfaces will absorb a little water, but the surface starches will act like glue to the adjacent starchy surfaces while there is no room between them for lubrication, as a result, they stick together. Stirring the water until it returns to a boil and/or adding a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the water to help lubricate the surfaces minimizes this problem. The salt in the water not only seasons the noodle, but assists in starch gelatinization and therefore reduces this stickiness.

Similarly, after cooking, as the surface of the noodle dries out, it can stick to its neighbor noodles. If you coat your noodles lightly with oil, you can prevent this from happening, and reserve those noodles for later use.

Fall Vegetable Lasagna a la Boldo’s

Serves 6-8 using a 3 quart lasagna pan

Homemade or store bought Lasagna noodles, cooked and refreshed in a bowl of cold water.

2 to 2 1/2 cups Marinara sauce, homemade recipe follows.

1 small Butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and sliced lengthwise 3/8” thick
½ a small Celeriac, peeled and sliced 3/8" thick
1 parsnip peeled and sliced lengthwise 3/8" thick
1 Russet potato, peeled, sliced lengthwise 3/8’ thick
16 oz Broccoli florets, blanched & refreshed, then roughly chopped
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup Parmigianno-Regiannno cheese, freshly grated

Cheddar béchamel sauce
4 tbl butter
4 tbl flour
3 cup milk, scalded
salt & pepper
1 lb. Vermont cheddar cheese, grated

Make roux by melting the butter over medium heat and adding the flour. Combine and cook gently, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes. Scald the milk in a small saucepan by heating it slowly until bubbles appear around the edge of the pot, but the milk isn't boiling. Add scalded milk slowly to the roux, stirring. Bring to simmer and stir until thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste. Add the cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Set aside until needed.

Place the butternut squash, potato, parsnip and celeriac on parchment paper lined half sheet pans and roast 15 minutes in a 425 degree oven until cooked through. Reserve

Make a Marinara sauce as follows:

Saute 1 large onion in 2 tbl. olive oil for 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup finely diced carrot and 1 clove of minced garlic to the onion. Saute 3 minutes, add some fresh thyme leaves picked from their stems and 1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes along with their juices. Bring to a rapid boil and cook 10 minutes. If the sauce is splattering out of the pot, reduce the heat a little. After 10 minutes or more, reduce the heat to a slow boil and cook until the sauce is thick, 20 minutes or more. Season with salt and pepper and add some fresh basil if it is in season. Reserve.

To assemble the lasagna, cover the bottom of your lasagna dish with a spoonful or two of the tomato sauce. Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the noodles and arrange slices of butternut squash on top. Add more tomato sauce over the squash. Sprinkle lightly with Parmigianno-Reggiano cheese. Add a second layer of lasagna noodles, spread these noodles with a thin layer of the cheddar bechamel. Top with the slices of roasted parsnip, potato and celeriac. Cover with cheddar bechamel sauce. Add a third layer of noodles. Sprinkle this layer with grated mozzarella cheese and cover with the rough chopped broccoli florettes. Sprinkle with more mozzarella and a light sprinkle of the Parmiagianno-Reggiano cheese. Top with a fourth layer of noodles. Cover the top layer with cheddar bechamel and a few dollops of tomato sauce and a sprinkling of the Parmiaggino cheese. Cover with aluminum foil, tented up a little so it doesn't rest on the top layer and bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned on top. Allow the lasagna to cool for at least a half hour, and longer is better, before slicing, to allow the ingredients to set up, otherwise the lasagna may be runny on the plate.

Enjoy with a small salad and a glass of red wine.