WCIA Special: Holiday House Call 11.16.16

[Drogo]

What could be more terrifying for a pair of hopeless home cooks than hosting their entire extended family for a holiday dinner?

Chefs Anne Burrell and Tyler Florence are coming to the rescue of two of the worst cooks in America, sisters Brittany and Lesley. They want to continue their late grandmother's tradition, but the fire department always shows up when they are in the kitchen!

Can the chefs help two culinary failures conquer their fears and create an unbelievably delicious family feast in just two days?

[biakbiak]

It felt more Food 911 than WC so a vast improvement.

[justjen]

I would be the one to stir something over and over and over again. I would probably also have issue putting on a table cloth, so all of this felt really real.

[EAG46]

I like this format better too.  Just go actually HELP people that can't cook.  The whole competition thing is stupid.

[candall]

I was interested in that "spatchcocking" business.  Huge bonus to cut the cooking time by 70% (according to Allrecipes.com page I checked.)  The bird they slid into the oven didn't really look all flattened out for even light/dark meat cooking time and maximum crispy skin, though. (?)

 

Sidenote:  My mother used to roast the turkey wrapped in butter-soaked tea towels, then in foil.   Every now and then she opened the foil and added more butter juice to keep the muslin damp.  At the end she removed all the cloth and foil to let the skin crisp.  Melt in your mouth juicy and tender.

Uh-huh.  I did it that way exactly one time.  Gratifying to hear from my guests that they never knew turkey could be that delicious, but WAAAY too much trouble.  Every year the $49 "Complete Thanksgiving Dinner" box from the Deli looks more appealing.

[Snarklepuss]

7 hours ago, candall said:

ISidenote:  My mother used to roast the turkey wrapped in butter-soaked tea towels, then in foil.   Every now and then she opened the foil and added more butter juice to keep the muslin damp.  At the end she removed all the cloth and foil to let the skin crisp.  Melt in your mouth juicy and tender.

Uh-huh.  I did it that way exactly one time.  Gratifying to hear from my guests that they never knew turkey could be that delicious, but WAAAY too much trouble.  Every year the $49 "Complete Thanksgiving Dinner" box from the Deli looks more appealing.

America's Test Kitchen had a recipe like that once only they used cheesecloth soaked in broth over fatback, covered in foil, then removing it for the last half hour to crisp.  I did it for a couple of years but you're right, it was way too much trouble even though it was the best turkey I ever made.  BTW, this year we're having Thanksgiving dinner catered by a local restaurant.  I have to pick it up on Wednesday.

[candall]

6 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

America's Test Kitchen had a recipe like that once only they used cheesecloth soaked in broth over fatback, covered in foil, then removing it for the last half hour to crisp.  I did it for a couple of years but you're right, it was way too much trouble even though it was the best turkey I ever made.  BTW, this year we're having Thanksgiving dinner catered by a local restaurant.  I have to pick it up on Wednesday.

High five, S'puss!

[spiderpig]

Just watched & agree this format is far superior to the silly Worst Cook That Gets Eliminated For Being The Worst schtick.

More important, Anne and Tyler have an easy onscreen relationship that was certainly lacking in the Anne/Rachael dynamic.

[Lamb18]

Doesn't that make a mess out of the tea towels?

My mom used a baster and squirted the butter on the turkey.

Edited November 21, 2016 by Lamb18

[Amarsir]

On 11/20/2016 at 4:31 PM, candall said:

I was interested in that "spatchcocking" business.  Huge bonus to cut the cooking time by 70% (according to Allrecipes.com page I checked.)  The bird they slid into the oven didn't really look all flattened out for even light/dark meat cooking time and maximum crispy skin, though. (?)

Alton Brown taught that method on "Good Eats", although he simply called it "butterflying".

[chessiegal]

I've seen lots of folks doing spatchcocking on cooking shows - ATK, Jacques Pepin, Ina Garten to name a few.

[candall]

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 7:08 AM, Lamb18 said:

Doesn't that make a mess out of the tea towels?

My mom used a baster and squirted the butter on the turkey.

HA, yes, the tea towels are ruined, which I was very sad to discover, since I'd used my grandmother's clean white soft hand-embroidered tea towels.  But you can easily find inexpensive packages of muslin in the cooking aisles, even at Walmart.

Basting is good and helps keep the top of the bird from completely drying out, but the cloths are like a constant buttery baste is being applied, instead of every 30 minutes or however often you open the oven door to squirt and it largely runs right back off.

 

(Everyone thinks I make great roast chicken dishes, but they don't know it's because I shove a little butter under the skin on each piece.  People would object if they knew I was secretly buttering up the meat to keep it juicy and tender.  "Fat" is such a bugaboo now, most people have lost track of how much difference it makes to flavor.  Chefs know--and butchers know, which makes them sad that everyone keeps favoring a "nice lean cut.") 

[jcbrown]

Use cheesecloth instead of towels. Cheap and disposable. And butterflying is actually a different, albeit similar, technique from spatchcocking. The latter involves removing the backbone whereas butterflying is just cutting open a piece of meat like a book. </cooking nerd>

[Amarsir]

1 hour ago, jcbrown said:

Use cheesecloth instead of towels. Cheap and disposable. And butterflying is actually a different, albeit similar, technique from spatchcocking. The latter involves removing the backbone whereas butterflying is just cutting open a piece of meat like a book. </cooking nerd>

I'm certain you're correct. However, the method Alton called butterflying included both cutting out the backbone and levering out the keel bone. Hence my mention of it.