Small Talk: The Galley

[Lisin]

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[biakbiak]

I was out at dinner and laughed because beef cheeks were the special and none of my friends watch the show but the dude at the table next to us said "Leon is totally lazy!"

[Diane Mars]

I was out at dinner and laughed because beef cheeks were the special and none of my friends watch the show but the dude at the table next to us said "Leon is totally lazy!"

Did you answer him : "... But he was on the QEII ! "

 

EDIT : because I'm sure I'would have, lol !

Edited October 22, 2015 by Diane Mars

[biakbiak]

I responded "there his signature dish!

[yourmomiseasy]

Regarding smoking turkeys -- I usually do just breasts because it's easier to deal with -- it doesn't take up as much space when brining, isn't as heavy for me to move around, and you don't have to worry about the different doneness temps.  I also don't like turkey dark meat and would rather just do multiple breasts if I need more turkey than one breast, but you don't get the Normal Rockwell visual of carving a giant golden turley at the table.  That said, I did a whole turkey earlier this year at my dad's house and it turned out great.  He had an extra fridge to brine in and did all the heavy lifting.  My dad does the thing where he goes to a farm and buys fresh turkeys for his employees for the holidays and always has an extra turkey or two in the freezer and we needed to clean out the freezer and I was teaching him how to smoke.  I bought him a smoker for Father's Day a couple years ago and he hadn't had good luck with it.  Now he's got it down.  Not getting the temp too high, using a meat thermometer, and not opening the door too much, were things he wasn't getting right.  Really the meat thermometer was  a big one.  But I digress.

 

1. Always get an all natural turkey.  A lot have been injected with fluid to make them taste better and not dry out when cooking.  Usually it says "moisture enhanced"  or "self-basting" or something like that to signify this.  You won't have good results wet brining an enhanced turkey.  I always get a bone in double breast.  If I'm feeling spendy I'll order one from Whole Foods, but I don't find them to be that much better for the price.
2. I brine for a day or a day and half
3. I use apple cider or apple juice, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, kosher salt, and whatever else I feel like throwing in -- usually, onions, garlic, maybe apples, fresh herbs like rosemary, sage and time, maybe some poultry seasoning, cracked peppercorns, orange peel, ginger, cinnamon sticks.  Really, anything I have that seems like it'd be good is fair game.  I also kind of wing it on amounts of things, just keeping the liquid:salt:sweet ratios correct -- 1 cup salt and 1 cup sweet per gallon of liquid for kosher salt.   I always use kosher salt.  You could go lighter on the sweet depending on taste, but it balances the salt out.  If I am being cheap and don't have enough cider or juice I'll add in some water.  I think that for one turkey breast I usually use 64oz of cider minus a cup or two that I replace with cider vinegar.  You could use a different type of juice, add chili peppers, anything you think would be good.
4. I usually use the KC Rib Rub recipe from "Smoke and Spice" as a base for my rub but add poultry seasoning, dried mustard, maybe a little cinnamon or nutmeg.  I'll omit the cayenne and lower the amount of chili powder(because kids)  and I use the dark chili powder because I like the flavor better.  There's all kinds of rub recipes in the book, including many for poultry, but I usually fall back on this one because I always have everything needed and I like the ratios in it.  I put the rub all over, even in the cavity and under the skin.  You might want to wear an apron.  I always end up getting paprika on my boobs and ruining my shirts.  
5. I've done an apricot chili glaze instead of a rub before.  It was good.  I've wrapped in bacon, but I feel like it isn't needed since the meat is juicy enough and we've already got salty and smoky going on.  But the bacon looks pretty.
6. I use a combo of apple and cherry wood for smoking.  I don't measure, just put some of each in a little container and soak them and then grab handfuls to put in the smoker.  I'm wasteful and use a lot of wood chips.  Like I start out with 2 or 3 good handfuls and might add more after those are used up.  
7. I put whatever I think will be good in the cavity and since turkey breasts don't have a giant cavity that's good at holding crap I put things in the drip pan too.  I might put apples, onions, garlic, fresh herbs.  I usually just put a little water as the liquid in the drip pan.  I've done some apple cider before, but it's not worth it.
8. I keep the temp around 250-300 on the smoker.  Turkey doesn't need low and slow cooking, but I want to give it ample time to get smoky.  Brined turkey skin sometime doesn't crisp up, but all the sugars in the brine and rub should make this turn out fine.  Dry your turkey between the brine and dry rub and let it sit a bit to help the skin dry out for cooking.  You can also turn up the heat or move the turkey to the oven once it hits ~140 to finish it off and crisp the skin.  I've never moved it to the oven and I usually don't turn up the heat either.
9. I use a meat thermometer.  The one I use is "Oregon Scientific AW131 Talking Wireless BBQ/Oven Thermometer"  The probe goes in the meat and there's a little transmitter than sits outside the smoker.  There's a receiver that stays inside the house that tells you when the meat is done.  I set the alarm for 155 and pull the breast between 155 and 160, it will continue cooking and get up to at least 165 after it is pulled.  I find mine tend to go up a lot, so I try to pull closer to 155 than 160.  Do not remove the probe from the meat until after it has rested.  If you remove it right away hot juice will squirt out and might burn you and you want all the juice to stay in the turkey.  
10. You're going to be SOL for gravy.  Gravy from a brined turkey tastes like salt and from a smoked turkey tastes like smoke, so your gravy from this bird would be salty burning.  I'm not sure what my mom does to make sure we have gravy.  I think she uses chicken stock. 
11. You obviously don't want to stuff your bird either.  It would be super gross and probably unsafe.

 

I can't think of anything else right now.  Unfortunately I'm too exact with it except with the internal temp and brine ratios.

[MissMel]

Yum! Thank you. I might have a couple of questions as I get my game plan together. This sounds awesome to me because I don't like turkey very much but this makes me hungry just reading it!

[BogoGog24]

Rocky wants to know where you place the Oreo cookie crumbles and the grenadine. LOL

In all seriousness, this sounds very delicious. Your family is so lucky to get a turkey dinner like this!

[yourmomiseasy]

Those obviously go in the stuffing.

[Giselle]

Thanks so much. I've fried turkeys but never smoked one. Have a blessed holiday.

[Giselle]

Our family really loves gravy, one thing my mom always did before Thanksgiving was to roast extra turkey parts. She would start doing this in October and used the meat cut off the bone for meals and reserved the pan juices and fond, then with the roasted bones and skin she made stock and reduced it till it was very concentrated. The stock, juices and fond were frozen until needed on Thanksgiving.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Giselle

[HunterHunted]

It's so funny because I read the recipe that yourmomiseasy posted and it looked a lot like mine. I will say that if you want a smoke gravy from this, you can put a drip pan under the turkey. But you really don't want any drippings that have been sitting in the smoker too long because they are too smokey. Like less than 2 hours in the smoker. I use turkey stock from year before for my gravy.

Edited November 15, 2015 by HunterHunted

[biakbiak]

38 minutes ago, chenoa333 said:

I've got something else to talk about. Did anyone besides me, watch "Unanchored"? If not.....don't bother. IT SUCKS. And I'm not going to follow the rules and oppen a thread for it either.

Hell, I can't even get my customized page to come up anymore and I'm already frustrated having to scroll thru every single TV show just to post on my favorite shows. And yes, I've logged out/in, played with the "on air/off air icons, cleared the cache. It's exhausting!

Anyway, I'm glad Caroline is gone too. Whiney, lazy, dumb ass bitch. Too bad she wasn't the one that went overboard! But I ❤ my Kate! 

Moved from the episode thread! So, so bad. Add in how boring and unattractive the cast is I don’t understand how the show ever got greenlit. It’s literally the worst thing I have seen on Bravo and I watched that one of friends in Mexico and the shows in Whistler!

Edited December 4, 2018 by biakbiak

[walnutqueen]

49 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Moved from the episode thread! So, so bad. Add in how boring and unattractive the cast is I don’t understand how the show ever got greenlit. It’s literally the worst thing I have seen on Bravo and I watched that one of friends in Mexico and the shows in Whistler!

It's Summer House on a sailboat.

Gah - I've watched all those other Bravo shows, too!  I have no shame.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

It's Summer House on a sailboat.

Gah - I've watched all those other Bravo shows, too!  I have no shame.

I would say it’s much, much worse! At least some of the people on SH are attractive. We haven’t even got decent scenery.

[bref]

Other than Captain Jack, I had a lot of trouble telling these people apart. 

I want to say "hard pass", but I'll probably end up watching it all anyway. :D *Joins walnutqueen in the no-shame corner*

Edited December 5, 2018 by bref

[snarts]

Room in the corner for one more? 

What's up with all the nuthuggers? Only one European dude. 

Can't take any of the party hardy claims seriously when they spent so much time curling their hair. 

Edited December 5, 2018 by snarts

[Mindthinkr]

One shot before 10 am or 10 shots before 1. That’s some rigid party hardy rules. If they save so much for these trips why are they drinking Cooks champagne? It’s kind of rot gut.  

[Neurochick]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Moved from the episode thread! So, so bad. Add in how boring and unattractive the cast is I don’t understand how the show ever got greenlit. It’s literally the worst thing I have seen on Bravo and I watched that one of friends in Mexico and the shows in Whistler!

I think Bravo realizes the show sucks too, I don’t even know when it started and it’s not even on demand.

[biakbiak]

1 minute ago, Neurochick said:

I think Bravo realizes the show sucks too, I don’t even know when it started and it’s not even on demand.

It was last night so it might show up but it’s also on tonight, not sure if they are doing it every night like the one of city folk moving to the Midwest. 

[OnceSane]

Unanchored has its own forum now!  You can find it here.

[biakbiak]

24 minutes ago, OnceSane said:

Unanchored has its own forum now!  You can find it here.

Damn you! There was a chance I wouldn’t watch if there wasn’t one!

[walnutqueen]

8 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Damn you! There was a chance I wouldn’t watch if there wasn’t one!

Resistance is futile.  Mwah ha ha!

[OnceSane]

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Damn you! There was a chance I wouldn’t watch if there wasn’t one!

I requested it as soon as I heard about the show.  LOL

2 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Resistance is futile.  Mwah ha ha!

[walnutqueen]

1 minute ago, OnceSane said:

I requested it as soon as I heard about the show.  LOL

I wonder how long it'll take Leah Remini to expose our cult?   ;-)

Excuse me - I hear the de-programmers banging at my door.  Again ...

[Reality police]

5 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Resistance is futile.  Mwah ha ha!

The Resistance is alive in the Great Smoky Mountains! You can't catch us hillbillies in the hollers and valleys. We will survive without Unanchored!

[yourmomiseasy]

On 12/4/2018 at 7:33 PM, biakbiak said:

It was last night so it might show up but it’s also on tonight, not sure if they are doing it every night like the one of city folk moving to the Midwest. 

That city folks moving to the midwest one was actually really good.  Like too good for Bravo.  I think they burned it off over one week and didn't put it on demand because it wasn't trashy enough for them and there was only one asshole out of the whole lot.

[queenjen]

 

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

[HunterHunted]

I just watched this video on Eleven Madison Park. It was really interesting. One of the points they made was about how personalized the menu was for each dining party. Like insanely so, but that is why it's considered one of the best restaurants on the planet. This is what Kate was trying to explain to Old Beef Cheeks.

[yourmomiseasy]

This is the one time in my life I don't have a full freezer and pantry.  Shit was getting old so I was forcing myself to eat out of what I have instead of grocery shopping.  I've been doing it off and on for a few months and was finally approaching success when the mad rush on grocery stores happened.  Normally I'd be like whatever, I can go deep into the freezer and pantry, but I shot myself in the foot.  So I ventured out to Restaurant Depot because I figured I wouldn't be able to handle the crowds at the normal markets (not to mentioned they are picked bare).  In a poorly timed stroke of fate, RD is rearranging their store, so not only were their shortages, but things were not where they normally go.  So when I could only find frozen meat I didn't know if it was because supply was limited or things were moved.  Long story short, I almost ended up with 20 or 30 pounds of beef cheeks because the options were that, chicken wings, or tripe.  Then I found the new entrance to the normal meat area, but I was thisclose to being Leon.  Also, beef cheeks are mad cheap.

[Mindthinkr]

@yourmomiseasy You are lucky you got any meat. The stores around here and empty. Restaurants can only do curbside pick ups, and bars are closed. Everyone got so greedy that so many things are scarce. I worry about the Moms who couldn’t get formula and diapers. (The latter always has cloth options) not everyone hold go and stock up early. Sadly so many work paycheck to paycheck and cost is a factor. I really hope that you weather through this well. Thanks for the laugh about Leon and the beef cheeks. 

[yourmomiseasy]

Restaurant Depot had a lot of meat because restaurants aren't exactly doing business hand over fist right now (I'm in LA).  The downside is the unit size is huge.  I have 40lbs of chicken thighs.  Our markets were picked pretty bare, but I think they are getting better.  I went to Sprouts for some produce and they had a ton of meat in stock.  They didn't have eggs, milk, bread, or frozen food, but everything else looked fine and it wasn't mobbed.  I'm hoping that the initial panic is easing.  I didn't look at TP or water because I drink from the tap and just got paper supplies at Costco in Feb.  I'll probably end up redistributing some of my chicken thighs and also some rice (because I've got a lot of that too), but right now everyone in my neighborhood seems to be doing okay.

[RedHawk]

On 3/18/2020 at 8:00 PM, yourmomiseasy said:

This is the one time in my life I don't have a full freezer and pantry.  Shit was getting old so I was forcing myself to eat out of what I have instead of grocery shopping.  I've been doing it off and on for a few months and was finally approaching success when the mad rush on grocery stores happened.  Normally I'd be like whatever, I can go deep into the freezer and pantry, but I shot myself in the foot.  So I ventured out to Restaurant Depot because I figured I wouldn't be able to handle the crowds at the normal markets (not to mentioned they are picked bare).  In a poorly timed stroke of fate, RD is rearranging their store, so not only were their shortages, but things were not where they normally go.  So when I could only find frozen meat I didn't know if it was because supply was limited or things were moved.  Long story short, I almost ended up with 20 or 30 pounds of beef cheeks because the options were that, chicken wings, or tripe.  Then I found the new entrance to the normal meat area, but I was thisclose to being Leon.  Also, beef cheeks are mad cheap.

Laughing about the beef cheeks, not your situation. At least you know Leon’s recipe for tenderizing them!