Brining your Bird

Thanks to kiddo sicky germs I'm going to repost this Brining tutorial rather than share with you the great Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe I made this weekend.  (You'll just have to stay tuned for that one cause it's delicious.)

A simple brine is our super special secret for a perfect Thanksgiving turkey.  And it's time to start thinking about that Turkey!  Though from the state of malls and big box stores these days it appears we are skipping straight to Christmas....but enough on that.

If you still fear the dried out turkey, this one is for you.  Happy Thanksgiving Planning!

A Simple Brine makes a Simply Delicious Turkey!

I made my first brine when I was doing my first Thanksgiving turkey.  My motto is obviously, go big or go home.  Luckily it was a huge success. The brine gave the turkey so much flavor and it was so juicy.  A friend who shared the holiday with us always talks about how much turkey he ate that day.  It was just that good.  With the success of the turkey, I started to think about what else I could brine.  Like those frozen pork chops that we purchased in bulk from the local warehouse club that we had been less than enthusiastic about cooking.  I brined that pork for a couple of hours... and MAGIC!  Brining really is super easy and an almost fool-proof way to come away with some pretty amazing, juicy, meat.

Water, Salt, Sweet.   That’s all you really need.  You can sub honey for the sugar if you want.  Then add whatever spices you are in the mood for, or even some veggies.  I like to add rosemary, sage and thyme.  We grow those in the backyard so it is easy to snip off a couple of leaves and sprigs and add them in. 

Basic Brine, adapted from Bouchon by Thomas Keller

1 gallon of water
1 cup of Kosher Salt
½ cup of brown sugar

4 sprigs Rosemary

6-12 Bay leaves

2 Tbsp. Peppercorns

1 bunch of Thyme

6-12 leaves of Sage

Put all ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Let boil for just a minute and then turn off the heat and allow it to cool down. 

Once it is cool, put your meat into the pot and put the pot into the refrigerator.  A good rule of thumb is to let your meat sit in the brine for 1 hour per pound, if you go longer the meat may come out salty.

After you take the meat out of the brine, rinse it, pat it down and then cook it as you would normally.  But remember, if you add herbs or other spices to your brine the meat will pick up these flavors, so there is no need to season as much as you usually would.  Just a bit of salt and pepper should do.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

I hope you had a happy Cinco de Mayo! We celebrated Quatro de Mayo, Cinco de Mayo, and Seis de Mayo here at the 4 Pears house.  We made lots of yummy Mexican-inspired favorite foods like fish tacos and mango margaritas and even tried our hand at a few new things like Chiles Rellenos (which were delicious, by the way, but my technique needs some work because they weren't the prettiest fried peppers I've ever seen).  For dessert we had homemade ice cream.  I actually have no idea if ice cream is big in Mexico (my favorite part of Cinco de Mayo is usually the margaritas) but we are on a homemade ice cream kick over here right now and it is sooo delicious.

We made homemade ice cream out of Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc cookbook a couple of weeks ago and it was so good that I believe we'll be eating very few other desserts this summer.  I'm actually eating some right now while I'm typing this out.....

The ice cream base or "batter" is very much like a custard so you do have to manage to cook some eggs in hot liquid without scrambling them and it is a time-consuming process.  If you start tonight, you can have some ice cream tomorrow.  But, believe me, this is worth the trouble.....and the wait.

We've done  both the chocolate and the coffee (well and also the vanilla but I had a bit of an accident with my machine once and overcooked the batter another time so vanilla is not my friend) and they were both awesome.  So awesome that we even Craigslisted our old ice cream machine and bought the stand-mixer attachment which is super easy to use and doesn't take up an entire cabinet.

So, if you have an ice cream machine, I really hope you try this out.  You are going to love it!  If you don't have a machine, go buy one!  Just kidding.....well sort of.  ;)

chocolate ice cream, adapted from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc
7 ounces 55% chocolate bar chopped into 1/2 in pieces
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 large egg yolks
pinch of kosher salt

Put the milk and cream in a medium-sized heavy saucepan over medium high heat.

Meanwhile bring a small pot with about 2 inches of water to boil and place a glass bowl containing the chocolate over top and stir until the chocolate is melted.  

Add the melted chocolate to the warmed milk and stir.  Heat just until it starts to simmer.

While the milk is heating whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until slightly thickened.

When the milk is just about to simmer add a 1/2 cup to the eggs, whisking the whole time.  Add about 2 cups of liquid, half a cup at a time, to the eggs to temper them and then pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the warmed milk whisking the entire time.  Switch to a slotted spoon and while the pan is on medium heat stir constantly until the custard is thick enough to coat the spoon.  Take it off the heat right away (especially when you see the steam begin to rise!) or the eggs will over cook and all will be lost.  Egg lumps.  Eww.  It won't take long so don't stop stirring or take your eyes off of it!

Pour the finished custard into a bowl and stir in the pinch of salt.  Let it cool, then cover it with a lid or some plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator to chill overnight.  Put the base into your ice cream machine the next day and voila!

It makes "a generous one quart".  It goes fast, but I store it in a plastic storage container.

 Amazing stuff.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Move over Toll House, there's a new cookie in town.

Mr Pears requested that I make Thomas Keller's chocolate chip cookies over the weekend.  I took pictures while doing so but told him that this recipe was not going into the blog if the cookies weren't better than Toll House. Toll House chocolate chip cookies are kind of awesome, you know? The gold standard of chocolate chip cookies.

But wouldn't you know it?  Here I am writing a blog post about a chocolate chip cookie that is even better than that classic favorite cookie.  Because Keller's are ridiculously delicious.

Notable differences in the cookies are the use of dark brown (or molasses) sugar, the absence of vanilla extract, and the type of chocolate.  Toll House obviously uses their semi-sweet baking chips.  Mr Keller's recipe uses chopped chocolate bars; half 55% Cocoa, half 70-72% Cocoa.  Which is basically semi-sweet and "dark" chocolate respectively.  

Sounds gourmet right?  Well, yeah, and these cookies look it too.  The chocolate chunks make the cookie look a bit more special and the taste is out of this world even though the chocolate bars honestly don't cost any more than the chips.  Because Toll House is pricey.  I bought a bar of Lindt and one of Ghiradelli from Target for around the same price as a bag of chips.

These cookies are soft and chewy in the middle and buttery and crunchy around the edges which is exactly how I like my chocolate chip cookies.  But here's a tip from the Master (as my husband lovingly refers to Thomas Keller), if you want softer cookies don't under-bake them, mist them with water before baking.  What?  Genius.

Chocolate Chip Cookies; by Thomas Keller, found in ad hoc at home
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 oz. 55% chocolate **see note,
5 oz. 70-72% chocolate **see note, cut into chip-sized pieces
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

**Note- I purchased a bar of Lindt and a bar of Ghiradelli as I mentioned above.  The bars were only 3.5 ounces each but my cookies still had plenty of chocolate in them.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.  Sift the flour and baking soda into a medium bowl and stir in the salt.  Set them aside.

Into the mixer (fitted with the paddle blade) put half of the cubed Cold! butter and beat until smooth.  Add the sugars and the rest of the butter and beat again until smooth and fluffy.

creamed butter and sugar could be the yummiest stuff on the planet

Add the first egg, beat until it is incorporated, then add the other and beat again.  Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.

Mix in the dry ingredients.  I usually add them in thirds and mix slowly until combined.  Lastly mix in the chopped chocolate.

Mr. Keller recommends making these large 3 inch cookies, and I loved them that way.  Use about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie.  8 cookies to a tray.  This makes about 30 cookies.

Bake for about 12 minutes.  They are done when the tops are no longer shiny.  Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the tray for about 2 minutes before you move them to wire racks to finish cooling.

This dough freezes very well.  As with most cookies I make, I baked half and then froze the rest.  To freeze, just wrap the dough in plastic wrap and then put it in a freezer bag with the name and baking instructions written on it.

To bake, just thaw the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours. These were so good that I baked the other half only two days later...  :)  They came out just as great.  Enjoy!

Santa Maria-style Tri-Tip

We have entered the Thomas Keller era over here at the 4 Pears household.  We've gone through many "eras"; Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay, Ina Garten....  and these periods are almost always caused by the purchase of a new cookbook.

A while back, Father's Day last year actually, Alex received Mr Keller's Bouchon cookbook.  That book brought us a lot of lovely recipes such as the French Onion Soup but also a lot of headaches.  That cookbook is tough!  Not for the faint of heart at all.  So, while we love to suffer through some of those ridiculously complicated recipes, most don't make it onto this blog.  After all, I'm not trying to convince you guys that tearing your hair out over a quiche (darn that quiche!) on a Saturday is a good time.  We are just gluttons for punishment. :)

Our newest cookbook, though, is the one that has spawned our new "era".  Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller is an amazing book!  The recipes are delicious and while not necessarily quick and easy, they are totally doable. Flipping through it I don't see one recipe that doesn't make me hungry.  And on top of appealing dinner, soups, sides and dessert recipes there are sauces and salad dressings,  tapenades and marmalades among many many other things.  This book is packed with how-to's and tips for the home cook.  You could almost just sit down and read it. (Like Mr Pears does some nights)

Last weekend we made one of the easiest Thomas Keller recipes we've tried yet, and it was fabulous.  The Santa Maria-style Tri-Tip.  This cut of meat is reasonably priced at a butcher or Whole Foods and it is super tender. Keller's rub is so so tasty.  Almost fail-proof.  Enjoy!

Santa Maria-Style Tri Tip by Thomas Keller, found in ad hoc at home
(this recipe serves six)
One 2 1/2 lb tri-tip roast  (cook times are for a 3 inch think piece)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon piment d' Espelette (we used crushed red pepper instead)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
kosher salt
canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 sprig rosemary
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 lemon, sliced thin (about 5 slices needed)

The day before you are having this for lunch or dinner, trim your meat of the silvery skin on top.  Mix together the peppers and paprika and rub them all over the meat.  Wrap the meat in plastic wrap, tightly, and put it into the refrigerator.

Now here's a tip to making an awesome steak that some don't know.  Take the meat out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you are going to cook it.  It is perfectly safe to do so and it allows the meat to come to room temperature so that you can cook it properly and evenly.  No cool spots in your medium-rare steak!

Preheat the oven to 300 F.  Heat some oil in a large dutch oven or frying pan on medium heat.  Pat your meat dry with paper towels and season it with kosher salt on all sides.  Put the meat into the pan when the oil begins to shimmer and brown it (without moving it!) for about a minute and a half.  Add the butter, rosemary, lemon slices and garlic clove to the pan.  Flip the meat and cook it on the other side for about 2 more minutes.  Once it is browned, you can either put the dutch oven into the oven or transfer the meat to a roasting pan and put that in the oven.

Roast the meat for 40-60 minutes.  The internal temperature of the center of the meat should be 135 F.  Once it is, take the meat out and let it rest for about 30 minutes so that it retains all of the juices.  Slice and serve!  We had over with an arugula salad and roasted red pepper vinaigrette (recipe also found in ad hoc), it was delicious.  I hope you love it!