This Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Zuni Café culinary goddess, Judy Rodgers, for turning me on to dry salt curing.

I had wet brined poultry and pork for years before trying the salt curing process Chef Rodgers describes in The Zuni Café Cookbook.

To compare the two methods, I conducted several tests, and to my palate, salt-curing wins. Although both methods have advantages, you just can’t beat salt-curing for ease and juiciness of the cooked meat.

However, I discovered a caveat later. My tests involved only three ingredients: salt, sugar, and water. For the dry cured tests, I used salt only. For the wet brined tests, I used salt, sugar, and water to cover.

What I had not considered was the effect of swapping water for apple cider or other flavorful liquid. Apple Cider-Brined Tenderloin of Pork with Rhubarb Deglazing Sauce is a case in point. Imagine pork tenderloin infused with the flavor of apple cider. Dry curing won’t produce that result.

So now, I choose the technique based on the effect I am going for. Both techniques produce amazing, yet slightly different, results.

Because turkey is humungous, I almost always choose to dry cure it. It’s easier, requires less room in the frig, and produces excellent results.

But for a breast of turkey, the options are wide open.

I decided to try a salt and pepper cure combined with an herb paste rub. As expected, the texture and flavor are out of this world.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs

You will love this festive turkey roulade, slathered with a zippy fresh herb and mustard paste. Pretty on the plate, this is an great choice for a small Thanksgiving gathering.

one whole breast of turkey, skin, tendons, and fat removed
coarse sea salt in a grinder
black pepper in a grinder

Autumn Herb Paste
1½ ounces fresh herbs: equal amounts of rosemary, thyme, and sage, stems removed (¾ ounce trimmed)
1 ounce fresh parsley, stems removed (¼ ounce trimmed)
4 cloves garlic, peeled, and minced or pressed
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

1. To make the herb paste, in a processor fitted with the steel knife, mince the rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, lemon zest, and garlic until very fine. Add the mustard and pulse to combine. Then with the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and add the salt to taste. Reserve. (Makes ½ cup herb paste.)
2. On a sheet of foil, lay the two breast halves, top-side-down, side-by-side lengthwise, overlapping the touching sides slightly.
3. Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the breast halves and using a mallet, flatten the thick portions slightly to an even depth. Remove the plastic wrap.
4. Grind salt and pepper liberally over the joined breast halves, and then spread the Autumn Herb Paste evenly over the flesh, leaving ½-inch of one long side clear of paste.
5. Roll the roast lengthwise and tie at 1-inch intervals with kitchen twine.
   Wrap in plastic wrap and frig for 1-3 days.
6. In a large sauté pan, heat oil and sauté roast to brown all sides. This will
   take about 15 minutes.
7. Transfer roast to an edged baking sheet or roasting pan, and roast at 375°
   until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast reads
   165, about 45 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 15
   minutes.
9. To serve, cut into crosswise slices.

Serves 4-6.

I Love Hearing from You!

Please leave a comment. Include your blog URL and CommentLuv will automatically link back to your most recent blog post. And join me at LunaCafe on Facebook for daily adventures in the OtherWorldly Kitchen. Let’s get cooking! …Susan

Copyright 2012 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.

The most important element of Thanksgiving preparation in the OtherWorldly Kitchen is Brown Poultry Stock. I say this unequivocally, because it is essential to my Thanksgiving 24-Hour Gravy. Without this luscious, silky gravy, it’s just not Thanksgiving.

I cringe when I see another cook open a few cans of chicken broth to make the turkey gravy. Even homemade simple turkey stock falls short. What you need is a rich, deeply brown stock built on a mountain of slow roasted turkey parts and veggies.

In fact, I always buy an extra small turkey just for the stock. I remove and reserve the meaty breast and leg sections to roast later. Then I cut up the rest of the bird (minus the liver and heart) for the stock.

If you are new to stock making, the following hints and tips cover the basics. The recipe for Thanksgiving 24-Hour Gravy will follow this week. If you want to be renowned and reverred for your Thanksgiving gravy, the first step is this deeply flavored stock.

Stock Making: Hints and Tips

• Poultry, meat, fish, and vegetable stocks all utilize the same techniques, differing only in small details.
• The aim of stock making is to produce a rich, flavorful broth; therefore, use only enough water to cover the solid ingredients by 1½ inches.
• To make a rich, flavorful stock, you must use a high percentage of meat, rather than bones only. Luckily, however, the cheaper cuts of meat and poultry are generally the most flavorful. You can make a light poultry stock with a carcass from a roasted bird, but it will not have the rich flavor of a stock made from uncooked meat and bones.
• A non-corrosive stockpot should be used when acid is included in the list of stock ingredients, as with wine in fish stock.
• When meat or poultry is heated in water, it releases albumin particles that will cloud the broth if not removed. The water must be heated very slowly to draw out the impurities, which will form a scum on the surface, where they can be skimmed off. This process usually takes 15-20 minutes.
• When making meat, poultry, or fish white stock, the skimming process should be completed before adding aromatic vegetables. If vegetables are included at the beginning, they will interfere with skimming. With brown stocks, there is not much skimming required, so roasting the larger vegetables along with the meat is fine.
• All stocks should be cooked at a bare simmer. Rapid boiling will cause solid ingredients to disintegrate and cloud the stock.
• Meat stock requires 5-6 hours of cooking time; Poultry stock requires 3-4 hours of cooking time; Fish or vegetable stock requires only 45-60 minutes of cooking time.
• Seasonings, particularly salt, should not be added until the stock has been concentrated and reduced; or seasonings can be left out altogether so that the future dish utilizing the stock can be individually flavor-balanced.
• Stock can be produced more rapidly if finely chopped meat or poultry is used in place of bone-in carcass pieces. The finer the ingredients are chopped, the more surface area is exposed to the simmering water, and the more quickly the ingredients will give up their flavor to the liquid. In this way, acceptable stock can be produced in 1 ½ hours.
• The flavor of a rapidly made stock will be good, but because no bones or trimmings are generally used, it will be short on gelatin, thus much lighter in body.
• Rapid stock technique does not involve skimming because the many particles of meat “catch” the albumin particles and hold them until final straining.
• Stock should be refrigerated after it is of acceptable strength. A flavor change (souring) may occur if hot stock is refrigerated with a cover, therefore, chill thoroughly first, then cover.
• Refrigerated stock should be simmered for several minutes every 2-3 days to keep it from spoiling.
• Stock may be frozen. Ladle clear, cool stock into heavy-duty, zip-lock freezer bags, seal carefully, and freeze. (Two cup batches are most convenient.) Still in the plastic bag, thaw in warm water; or remove from the bag and heat gently in a small saucepan; or place in a bowl and thaw in the microwave.

Brown Poultry Stock

According to The New Larousse Gastronomique, Brown Stock can be made from beef, veal, or poultry. It’s the method that’s important, and that involves thorough browning of the meat, bones, and vegetables in fat prior to the long, slow simmering generally associated with stock-making.

The following formula is for poultry brown stock, probably the least commonly used of the three types. When I make a brown turkey stock, I buy a small turkey, remove the legs and whole breast to roast later and cut the rest of the bird unto pieces for the stock.

¼ cup vegetable oil
5-6 pounds turkey parts (necks, wings, backs, bones, gizzards)

6 stalks celery, leaves and all, roughly chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped
2 onions, with skins, quartered
4 unpeeled garlic cloves
small handful of parsley, stems and all

1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried

cold water to cover

1. In a large roasting pan, put the oil, turkey parts, celery, carrots, onions, garlic, and parsley. (If you have a large Le Creuset casserole, use it. You will be able to take it straight from the oven and onto the burner for the simmering stage. No fuss, no muss.)
2. Roast, at 450°, uncovered, on the middle rack in the oven, turning pieces occasionally until well browned, 1-1½ hours.
3. Remove from the oven and transfer the browned ingredients to a large (10-14 quart) stockpot. Deglaze the roasting pan with a little water, scraping up all the bits and pieces of coagulated meat juices from the bottom and sides. (Don’t worry about the fat at this point. It will come off later and in the meantime contributes flavor to the developing stock.) Pour all of the collected juices (everything) into the stockpot.
4. Add cold water to the stockpot to cover the meat and bones by 1½ inches.
5. Heat slowly. When the liquid comes to a bare simmer, regulate the heat to maintain, and then begin to skim off any scum that forms on the surface. Above all, do not stir the stock at this point, as this action will incorporate the clouding particles into the liquid. Continue skimming until the scum ceases to accumulate, about 15-20 minutes.
6. Now add the bay leaf, cloves, thyme, and more water, if necessary, to maintain the beginning level.
7. Partially cover and continue cooking at a very slow simmer for 3-4 hours, partially covered if desired. (Overnight is fine.)
8. Remove the large ingredients from the stockpot with a large slotted spoon, and put the stock through a triple mesh strainer. There will be virtually no flavor or nutrients left in the solid ingredients at this point; they should be discarded.
9. Allow the hot stock to settle for 5-10 minutes before attempting to remove the fat. Then, skim the surface with a spoon, draw a “grease-catcher” brush across the surface, or use a bottom-pouring degreaser (available in most kitchenware stores and definitely the easiest of the three methods) to remove the fat. If time is not critical, refrigerate the stock, uncovered, until the fat hardens, at which point, it can be easily removed.
10. After the stock is thoroughly degreased, check it for taste. If there is not enough flavor, simply boil it down to concentrate its strength. Salt may be added now if desired, although I think it is generally preferable to wait with this until the final dish is prepared utilizing the stock.
11. Refrigerate, covered, remembering to boil the stock for several minutes every few days to keep it from spoiling, or freeze in 2-cup batches.

Makes 2-3 quarts.

Additional Inspiration

• About.com: Brown Stock Versus Beef Stock
• Kalyn’s Kitchen: How to Make Turkey Stock
• Michael Ruhlman: Turkey Stock: Oven Method
• Cooking for Engineers: Turkey or Chicken Stock
• Chowhound: What to Do with a Turkey Carcass

On the LunaCafe Facebook page recently, I bemoaned the fact that this is an atypically chilly and dreadfully dreary May in the Northwest. By chilly, I mean most days are in the 50’s, which forces me to put on three layers of everything just to step out the door. This is not the kind of weather that makes me all dreamy-eyed about eating cold, composed salads, no matter how much I will crave them once summer finally kicks in.

Instead, I find myself jotting down ideas for Moroccan tagines. Why? Because they are hot, spicy, succulent, and so damn delicious that not even the weather can bring me down when I’m eating one. In case you aren’t familiar with the world of tagines, they are basically fragrant, tender, silky braises of meat, seafood, and/or vegetables that contain the following elements:

Foundation Ingredients (the first two are essential; then one or more of the others)

• fat (olive oil, clarified butter)
• aromatics (onions or shallots, garlic, and possibly fresh ginger)
• seafood (prawns, crab, lobster, or almost any variety of fish)
• meat (chicken, duck, squab, beef, lamb, goat, or chorizo sausage)
• veggies (artichokes, fava beans, tomatoes, chick peas, turnips, carrots, pumpkin, winter squash, potatoes, bell peppers, fennel, peas, yams, sweet potatoes, eggplant, beets, okra, zucchini, cauliflower, and/or string beans)
• dried beans (chick peas, butter beans, or lima beans)

Auxiliary Ingredients (the first two are de rigueur; the rest are optional)

• a warm blend of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika, mace, galangal, orris root, anise seeds, cardamom, cloves, white or black peppercorn, and/or saffron, or ras el hanout, or baharat)
• a silky reduction sauce
• fresh or dried herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, basil, and/or bay leaf)
• something sour (preserved lemon, fresh lemon, and/or fresh lime)
• something sweet (apricots, pears oranges, grapes, quince, pomegranate, raisins, prunes, dates, figs, and/or honey)
• something floral (rose petals, lavender, orris root, and/or rose water or orange blossom water)
• something sharp (green or black olives)
• something hot (Harissa, fresh chiles, and/or dried chiles)
• something nutty (almonds, pistachios, or sesame seeds)
• a finish of chopped fresh herbs (parsley, mint, and/or cilantro)

How can this combination of elements be anything but uplifting? And if you follow these basic guidelines, using the recipe below as a template, you can make countless wonderful tagines without even opening a cookbook.

EQUIPMENT NOTE You do not need a traditional Moroccan tagine to make a tagine. (Yes, the same word describes the cooking vessel and the dish cooked in the vessel.) These are uncoated earthenware bases, fitted with cone-shaped lids. You must soak the porous clay in water for two hours prior to cooking over a Moroccan brassier, or the pottery will crack. In any case, these low-fired vessels cannot withstand the direct heat of a gas or electric stove. Emile Henry, Le Creuset, and Staub all make tagines that can withstand the heat of an American stovetop. But the last thing my overstuffed kitchen cupboards need is another large piece of specialized equipment, so I prefer to use this Le Creuset, 3½ quart, enameled cast iron casserole, which is perfect for a wide range of sautés, braises, and stews. Any 3½ quart, heavy weight, stovetop casserole with a tight-fitting lid will work.

TECHNIQUE NOTE There are three classic methods for preparing chicken: sautéing, braising, and stewing. In essence, each is distinguished from the others by the amount of liquid used to complete the cooking. Typically, a saute contains up to ½ cup of liquid, a braise contains ½ to 2 cups liquid, and a stew contains over 2 cups liquid.

Tagines are usually braises, as you want enough sauce to coat the ingredients and to moisten the couscous that is traditionally served with the tagine, but not so much that the main ingredients are floating in liquid. In order for the sauce to achieve a texture that will lightly coat a spoon, there must be sufficient body-giving aromatics and fat in the recipe. Onions melt down to a silky texture when cooked very slowly over time, so they make a perfect base for most tagines. If you look at cookbooks on Moroccan cuisine, you will also notice that most tagines contain anywhere from 4 to 16 tablespoons of fat. That may seem like a lot, but if you cut back too far on the fat, you won’t have a sauce that will lightly coat a spoon. Just a heads up on that.

Chicken Tagine with Baby Artichokes, Green Olives, Apricots & Preserved Lemon

This tagine borrows a technique I use for almost all chicken dishes these days; namely a 24-hour dry-cure with coarsely ground sea salt. You won’t believe the difference it makes to salt chicken for at least 12 hours before you cook it. The meat becomes incredibly tender and moist, and the seasoning works its way into the interior flesh in the most magical way.

ADVANCE PREP For best results, begin this dish a day in advance. Prepare the ras el hanout, dry cure the chicken, and marinate the artichokes. With these steps completed, this dish is a cinch to prepare.

4 teaspoons ras el hanout, approximately

8 fresh, plump chicken thighs
sea salt in a grinder

1 pound baby artichokes (any color), outer leaves removed, tops trimmed by 1 inch, stems trimmed and peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and put into acidulated water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ cup light olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled, and minced or pressed

1 cup chicken stock

1 preserved lemon, rinsed, and cut lengthwise into thin slivers, optional if you can’t locate
20 large cracked green olives, pitted, and quartered lengthwise
20 dried apricot halves

Garnish
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

1. Prepare ras el hanout (or purchase a blend from an upscale market). Store airtight in a cool, dark location.
2. The day prior to serving, dry-cure the chicken thighs. Rinse the thighs under cold running water and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Grind sea salt generously over the entire thigh and sprinkle rather liberally with ras el hanout. Arrange thighs in a glass baking dish. Cover tightly with a couple layers of plastic wrap and frig for at least 12 hours (24 hours is even better).
3. Prepare artichokes as described in the Artichoke Primer. Bring water to boil in the bottom of a steamer and ad the artichokes. Steam for 5 minutes.
4. In the meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. Remove the artichokes from the steamer and toss while still hot with the vinaigrette. Cool to room temperature, cover, and frig for at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days.
5. In a large skillet (with a lid for later), heat the oil and add the chicken pieces, skin-side down. Continue cooking until well browned on the first side, about 5-6 minutes. Turn the pieces over with tongs, and brown the other side, about 5-6 minutes. Remove chicken from the skillet to a large plate, and reserve.
6. Pour the oil from the skillet into a glass measuring cup.
7. Add ¼ cup of the oil back to the skillet. Add the onion and garlic and saute until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 teaspoons ras el hanout and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Taste the onions and add additional ras el hanout if you want a bolder flavor.
8. Add the chicken back to the skillet, add the chicken stock, and cover the pan. Simmer very gently for about 20 minutes. Add the artichokes and their marinade, preserved lemons, olives, and apricots. Cover, and simmer slowly for 5-10 minutes, until the juices of the thigh run yellow rather than pink when pricked with a knife.
9. Remove cover and increase heat to reduce and thicken the sauce to the point that it lightly coats a spoon. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and additional drops of lemon juice if necessary. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and veggies.
10. Serve from the skillet or arrange everything on a heated serving platter. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and mint.

Serves 4.

Resources

• About,com: The Moroccan Tagine
• Almost Bourdain: Chicken, Almond and Olive Tagine
• A Smart Mouth: The Tagine: Spicy, Independent, and Oh So Tender
• Closet Cooking: Ossobuco Tagine (Moroccan Style Ossobuco)
• Foodgawker: Tagine
• Globetrotter Diaries: Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons
• TasteSpotting: Tagine
• The Taste Space: Moroccan Tagine of Lima Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Black Olives

Copyright 2011 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.

Can you say Tzatziki (za-ZEE-kee)? Honestly, it’s more difficult to say it than to make it. Which is a good thing, because it’s the magic potion that sends this Greek-inspired sandwich into the flavor stratosphere. And I promise, after one bite, no one will care if you bungle the pronunciation.

On the other hand, unless you have been seeking enlightenment in a Himalayan monastery for the past decade or two, you probably know how to pronounce gyro (YEER-oh). Armed with these two pronunciations, the best steak you can find, and a little skill at the grill, you can be a hero this summer. But do a couple of trial runs now in April, to make sure you have the process down pat by the balmy evenings of May.

The cut of beef known in the Northwest as a New York steak (or New York strip steak) is taken from the short loin area of the cow. It is a tender cut (although not as tender as the tenderloin or rib eye) with full beef flavor that holds its own paired with bold marinades. Ideally, it is well-marbled with fat, which helps keep it juicy all the way from the grill to your quivering lips.

You can use other cuts of beef in this sandwich, but I am especially enamored with New York steak right now. It is expensive, for sure, but for this dish, two steaks will feed 4 people rather nicely.

Lime-Marinated Steak Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce, Tomatoes, Onions, Feta, and Mint

This has to be one of the best sandwiches in the universe. It’s festive enough to feed a celebratory horde and easy enough to make for just the two of you, for no reason other than to eat sublimely well. I prepare the Tzatziki Sauce and garnishes in the morning and then marinade the steaks 2 hours before grilling. It takes only 10 minutes to grill the steaks to perfection.

Steak
4 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup light olive oil
2 USDA Prime (or Choice if you can’t get Prime), boneless, well-marbled New York strip steaks, at least 1½-inches thick

combination of half olive oil, half melted butter, for brushing steaks
freshly ground sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Tzatziki Sauce
1½ cups shredded English cucumber (1/2 large cucumber)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup Greek-style yogurt
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Garnishes
1 ripe tomato, cut in half horizontally, seeded, and chopped
½ red onion, peeled and slivered
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
1 lime, cut lengthwise into quarters

4 fresh, soft flat breads, warmed briefly in a microwave just before serving (I prefer the thicker, softer naan-style breads to the breads labeled pita in most grocery stores.)

Marinate the steak:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the garlic, lime juice, and olive oil.
2. Arrange the steaks in a shallow baking dish and pour the marinade over the top. Marinate for 2 hours at room temperature or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator. (If you marinate in the refrigerator, let sit at room temperature for 40 minutes before grilling.) Turn the steaks over halfway through the allotted time.
3. When ready to cook, remove the steaks from the marinade and discard the marinade. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels and then brush all surfaces lightly with oil. Season each side of the steaks liberally with freshly ground salt and pepper.

Prepare the sauce (while steak is marinating):

1. Put the shredded cucumber into a colander set over a bowl that will catch the juices, and toss with the salt. Let sit 30 minutes, then squeeze as much liquid as you can from the cucumbers. Put the cucumbers into the work bowl of a processor fitted with the steel knife and pulse to puree.
2. Spoon the yogurt into a medium-size mixing bowl, and whisk to smooth out any lumps.
3. Add the cucumber, garlic, and lime juice. Salt to taste.

Grill the steak:

1. Prepare the grill, using mesquite charcoal if possible. Heat level should be high, 500-600 degrees. Grill steaks for 4-5 minutes per side (turning only once); the outside should be appetizingly charred, but the interior should still be rare or medium-rare at most.
2. Remove the steak from the grill to a plate, cover with heavy foil and let rest for 5 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute evenly throughout the meat. Then lay the steak on a cutting board, and cut it precisely against the grain into thin (1/4-inch) slices. (Do not cut on the diagonal! This will negate the effect of tenderness gained by cutting directly against the grain.)

Build the gyro:

1. Place a warmed pita bread on a dinner plate and top with Tzatziki sauce, a quarter of the sliced steak, a spoonful each of tomatoes, onion, and feta cheese, and a sprinkling each of parsley and mint.
2. Squeeze a little lime juice over the top, fold to enclose the filling, and serve immediately. Repeat with the other three servings.

Serves 4.

Resources

• Kalyn’s Kitchen: World’s Best Tzatziki Sauce Recipe – Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce
• New York Magazine: How to Grill the Perfect Steak
• Squiddo: How to Cook a New York Strip Steak
• The Kitchn: How to Broil a Steak in the Oven
• The Virtual Weber Bullet: Meat Charts

Copyright 2011 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.