Thanksgiving Turkey the Right Way: Braising [REPOST]

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published at The Finch & Pea on 20 November 2012.

Last Thanksgiving, I decided that I wanted a heritage turkey. Reading about the selective breeding1 and the bland tasting meat of commercial turkeys compared to wild and heritage turkeys. So, I asked The Fiancé. Prices may vary, but they are such that it is wise to ask your significant other for permission prior to purchase. She said, “yes” because she rocks.

When Thanksgiving morning arrived and my turkey had not, I worried. I called the farmer to ask when I should expect it. She told me, with concern in her voice, that the turkey had already been delivered – FOUR DAYS AGO. Like a condemned man, I went to my apartment building’s front office to ask if they had forgotten any packages for me. I knew my fears were confirmed as I opened the office door – I COULD SMELL IT.

The office smelled like spoiled meat. When the office worker found the package she proclaimed, “I got this a few days ago, I must have forgotten to give you a notice.” In what I think was a steady voice, I said, “That’s my Thanksgiving turkey.” Without missing a beat she replied, “We were wondering what that smell was.” To cap off the comedy2, the management office’s remedy was that they would buy me a new turkey – FOUR DAYS AFTER THANKSGIVING! I told them where they could stuff their turkey.

As a result, I found myself shopping for turkey on Thanksgiving day, without time to thaw a full turkey and cook it before dinner with my future mother-in-law. Clearly, the only thing to do was to make THE BEST TURKEY EVER. Continue reading “Thanksgiving Turkey the Right Way: Braising [REPOST]”

Holy Guacamole!

Screenshot 2014-11-12 21.39.01

Based on RTs and favorites, this is the best thing I have ever done on Twitter, especially if you add in Ed Yong’s response.

HT: Zapata’s Grill in Hartsville, SC

Science for the People: Troublesome Inheritance

sftpThis week, Science for the People is looking at the intersection of race, history and genetics in science writer Nicholas Wade’s 2014 book A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History. DNA researcher Jennifer Raff and science journalist David Dobbs share their critiques of the claim that differences between genetically distinct “races” are responsible for global divergence in cultural and political structures. Blogger Scicurious walks us through the (delicious) basics of the scientific method with Cookie Science.

*Josh provides research help to Science for the People and is, therefore, completely biased.

“…baking IS science”

Editor’s Note: A strip from Danielle Corsetto’s Girls with Slingshots reminded us of Ben’s inaugural post here at The Finch & Pea. Excerpt from post originally published 30 August 2012.

Adapted from "Girls with Slingshots #1882" by Danielle Corsetto (All Rights Reserved - Adapted & Used with Permission)
Adapted from “Girls with Slingshots #1882” by Danielle Corsetto (All Rights Reserved – Adapted & Used with Permission)

Good food, sexy food is the result of passion and science. We talk a lot about passion in cooking, but passion alone can’t make a chocolate mousse cake. Passion can’t ensure efficient heat transfer, make proteins bind, crystallize molecules, or drive chemical reactions. There is science in your food, even if you don’t know how it got there.

I’m here to introduce you, the patrons of The Finch & Pea, to some delicious nosh, to stoke your passion for cooking, and to help you understand how cooking works.

Understanding the science behind a recipe – what the ingredients really are, how they interact with each other, how they change when you manipulate them – will make you a better cook, chef, and diner. When I go to write a cake recipe, knowing flour type composition, hydration ratios, chemical reactions of leavening agents, and methods for strengthen emulsions drastically affects the success of the recipe. Cooking isn’t just about passion. It’s about words you heard in chemistry and physics class. Words like heat conductivity, melting point, vaporization temperatures, phase transition, pressure effects on physical states, hygroscopic minerals, and density differentials all play an important role in almost every aspect of cooking.

Together we are going to explore the science behind everyday cooking. Why should you salt a steak an hour before cooking, but never right before? Why shouldn’t you use vanilla extract? How can baking soda ruin your cookies? How does granulated sugar “cook” your strawberries when poured over top?

Martin the Warrior

Martin the Warrior by Stormbringer (All Rights Reserved - Used With Permission)
Martin the Warrior by Stormbringer (All Rights Reserved – Used With Permission)

This one is for my brother, Ben, who was a huge fan of Brian Jacques’ Redwall series of books. Martin the Warrior is instrumental in the founding of Redwall Abbey, for which the series is named.

The books are classics and I cannot wait to share them with my daughters. The Frogger is already a fan of David Peterson’s Mouse Guard graphic novels. So, the talking animals of Redwall won’t be a big leap, but I hope she won’t judge the Redwall books for not being as gritty as she her usual fare.

Predictably, one of Ben’s favorite aspects of the Redwall books was Jacques’ lush descriptions of the food:

Every one of Jacques’s books contains a feast prepared by the anthropomorphic woodland creature of Redwall Abbey. The spread alway seems to contain a delectable mix of real and imaginative dishes that leave the mouth watering. Among my personal favorites: Shrimp and Hotroot Soup, Deeper ‘n Ever Tater ‘n’ Turnip ‘n’ Beetroot Pie, Meadow Cream on fruit and pastries, Damson Cordial, and the cellarhog’s famous October Ale.

My favorite characters were the hares of the Hare Border Rangers and the otters*, who are apparently fond of Shrimp & Hotroot Soup, as one should be.

*They are good guys in the Redwall series, which is a bit unusual for an apex predator.

HT: The Brothers Brick

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