Laura's Best Recipes: Sauces / Gravy Archives

Making Turkey Stock - Recipe, Tips and Rules

November 25, 2010 9:34 AM

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Making Turkey Stock - Recipe, Tips and Cardinal Rules

Today is Thanksgiving and at our house, the marathon cooking and baking began at 6:00 AM. One of the first things I do in the morning, is make turkey stock. Because we tend to use a smoker to roast our bird, we can't always count on those delicious drippings you find in an oven roasted pan. So, when I pick up my fresh, organic turkey (yes, always fresh and always organic) I also pick up at least a dozen turkey necks and some wings. These turkey parts make a very rich and flavorful stock that you can use in your gravy, soups or other holiday cooking.

When I make a stock, there are some cardinal rules I absolutely never break! The quality of the stock will be the flavor foundation for whatever you're making. Follow these rules and I promise you that you will always have a perfectly delicious and clear turkey stock. Because I'm quickly writing this post on Thanksgiving morning (now that's dedication, huh?) I don't have time to elaborate on each rule.... and I'm writing this quickly so I may have missed something. However, I will come back and update the post tomorrow with the "why's" for each one. But for today, I'm going to ask that you trust me and follow the rules. They will help you extract the most possible flavor while getting ride of any extra impurities so the stock is very clear. Also, you want a true turkey flavor so don't try and add a bunch of seasoning. Think of stock as the foundation of the house.... then when you go to make your gravy or sauce you can add the desired flavorings.

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

Rules

Always use cold water.
Never, ever ever EVER let the stock boil.
Start skimming immediately and be sure to really do it a lot in the first couple of hours.
Don't ever stir the stock or move ingredients around a lot while it's cooking.
Never salt your stock.

Ingredients:

12 turkey necks
2 turkey wings
2 large yellow onions, peels on but ends trimmed and cut in half.
3 celery ribs, cut into 3 inch lengths
3 carrotts, cut into 3 inch lengths
5 quarts very cold water
5 parsley stems
1 bay leaf
12 black peppercorns

Preheat oven to 500 degrees

Halve joints of turkey wings with a large knife. Place necks and wings on a large roasting pan and roast (turning over once) until golden brown - about 35-45 minutes. Transfer parts to a large stockpot.

Place onion, celery and carrots to the same roasting pan. Onions should be arranged cut side down. Roast veggies (stirring one time) until golden - about 15 minutes. Place roasted veggies in stockpot.

Take roasting pan and place it on burners. Add about a cup or two of water on high heat and deglaze the roasting pan. Scrape up all the stuck on bits on on the bottom of the pan. Pour that liquid into the stock pot and slowly add the remaining water. If you pour it in fast it could churn all the little bits of impurities, fat etc so go slow with the water. You want to keep the liquid as calm as possible while cooking. After an hour and lots of skimming add the parsley bay leaf and peppercorns.

Reduce heat and gently simmer the stock for about 3 hours. Be sure to constantly skim the top of the broth to remove grit, fat or foam. This is very important in the first hour of cooking. NEVER LET THE STOCK COME TO A BOIL. If you do, the grit will churn into the liquid and instead of floating to the surface - it will become part of the stock.

Pour stock into a fine mesh sieve over a very large bowl. Discard all solid parts and veggies. Clean out stock pot. If you end up with more than 9-10 cups of stock, then place it back in the original stock pot and continue to simmer to reduce it. The more you reduce the more concentrated the flavor. That said, you don't want to over due the stock - it can be a point of diminishing return.

Allow to cool completely uncovered. Place in refrigerator and allow it to completely chill. Skim off fat. Reheat stock prior to using in gravy.

Chicken Frangelico

October 18, 2010 8:43 AM

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Chicken Frangelico

Saveur Magazine has many tantalizing new recipes and sometimes some that aren't new but may be forgotten. Last week they shared a recipe for Chicken Galliano. It reminded me of several similar recipes I've made with chicken over the years. I'm a big fan of pan sauteed chicken and integral reduced sauces. I'm also a huge fan of goat cheese and prosciutto! So this recipe was right up my alley. The only thing I thought I would change is the Galliano. It's a good thing I didn't have my heart set on it, because my liquor store was sold out. I love the hazelnut flavor of Frangelico and decided to use that as my sauce flavoring. Galliano is a wonderful liqueur and I would encourage you to try this with it or another anise enhanced spirit.

I consider this dish to be a work in progress. Although the sauce was very good, I believe it can be better and I intend to play with it until perfected. My findings will be posted in updates here. Goat cheese and prosciutto is a classic combination, but again I think there may be better combinations like stronger, saltier ham. I used a prosciutto de parmi and it was a little light in flavor. Be careful not to use too much goat cheese or it will overwhelm the chicken. A little goes a long way. Crisp bits of the prosciutto or whatever you choose would also be nice to sprinkle in with the mushrooms.

Although I love cast iron, I should have used a heavy-gauge stainless saute pan. It's hard to scrape up the browned bits when deglazing if you can't see them against the black surface! Those little bits are the key to the intensity of flavor in the sauce.

A note on pan-deglazed sauces.... You can really get creative with sauces if you understand the basic formula or model for a good sauce. You start by sauteing meat and the meat juices and browned bits stay in the pan. Then you use a liquid to deglaze such as stock, broth or wine. You reduce the sauce by cooking and allowing additional moisture to evaporate which intensifies the flavor and helps the consistency. Lastly you enrich it with final flavorings of your choice like cognac, vinegar, herbs. Leeks or a similar aromatic would be a nice addition to the sauce. A little cream would also work well to transform this into a Frangelico cream sauce. The variations are somewhat limitless. Use your taste-buds are your guide. If you're interested in really learning about the art of making sauces, I highly recommend James Peterson's book, Sauces. After all, it is the sauce that can make the difference between a good dish to a great one.

So, this dish will become a comfort food staple at our house. It's fairly simple and is great comfort food. The next time I make it, I'll be sure to share my tweaks and trials here. I'd love it if you'd share your comments and findings and perhaps we'll come up with our own masterpiece together!

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (pounded thin)
Sea salt and cracked pepper
12 tbsp herbed goat cheese, softened
6 thin slices of prosciutto, serrano or pancetta
6 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled
1 lb crimini mushrooms, sliced
All purpose flour (about 1 cup for dredging)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup organic chicken broth
1/4 cup Frangelico liqueur
3 tbsp good quality aged balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
1 tbsp chives, chopped

Side dish

10 red potatoes, quartered
sea salt (or truffle salt)
olive oil
Black pepper, freshly cracked

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Toss potatoes in olive oil in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper. I absolutely love truffle flavored salt and highly recommend it. Roast potatoes in the oven for about an hour or until soft. Turn them occasionally so they don't stick to the pan.

Carefully pound the chicken in between sheets of wax paper until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Be sure not to over pound or it will fall apart. Season with salt and pepper. Take one breast half at a time and spread one side evenly with goat cheese and top with a slice of prosciutto. Make sure any excess fat on the prosciutto is removed. Roll into a tight cylinder and tie the ends (about 1 inch from each end) with kitchen twine. Remove excess twine.

Heat 3 tbsp of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms in batches and saute without stirring for 5 minutes. This will allow them to brown. Be sure not to crowd too many mushrooms in the pan or they will steam not brown. Stir mushrooms and continue cooking until softened and browned (about 7-8 minutes.) Transfer them to a plate and wipe the skillet with a paper towel.

Pour flour on a plate and dredge each chicken "roll" in the flour. Shake off any excess. Heat 2 tbsp. of butter and 2 tbsp of olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning until nicely browned and cooked through (about 14 minutes.) Transfer chicken rolls to a plate.

Add Frangelico to the skillet and deglaze, scraping off any burned bits from the bottom. Add chicken broth and allow to lightly boil while continuing to stir until sauce has reduced by 1/3. Add balsamic vinegar, chives and season with salt and pepper to taste. Return the mushrooms and chicken to the skillet, cook and turn into sauce until nicely coated and warmed through.

Transfer the chicken to a platter. Remove skillet from heat and swirl in 2 tbsp of butter into sauce. Spoon over the chicken. and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with roasted potatoes.

Wholearth Spice Tomato Coulis

August 13, 2010 9:25 AM

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Wholearth Spice Tomato Coulis

Recipe by Chef David Wells "Grandma Dave"

www.grandmadave.com

Yield: 3 cups

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 TBSP garlic, minced
1 TBSP Wholearth Spice Italy Blend
2 lb tomatoes, fresh and diced
2 TBSP basil, chopped
1 TBSP parsley, chopped
1 cup wine of choice (red or white)
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat 4 quart sized pot over medium heat
Add olive oil. Saute onion and garlic until translucent.
Add Wholearth Spice, Italy blend
Deglaze with wine and simmer until reduced by half.
Add tomatoes and bring to a boil.
Simmer for 30 minutes.
Puree and strain. Reduce to desired consistency.
Finish with parsley and basil.
Serve with favorite meal or vegetable dish.

Smoked Turkey Breast with Spiced Chutneys and Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

October 7, 2009 7:28 AM

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Turkey Breast with Spiced Chutneys and Yogurt Sauce

Recipe and Photo by Chef David Wells - Grandma Dave

www.grandmadave.com

Recently, Chef David Wells (Grandma Dave) prepared this dish for a benefit for several cancer organizations in California. It was received with rave reviews. . . and it's no wonder! That day he slow smoked his turkey breast and served it with an interesting layer of flavors including two different chutneys (carrot and red pepper chutney and a spiced pineapple-apple-mango) plus a yogurt cucumber sauce. Heavenly.

In case you don't have a way to smoke the turkey, this recipe prepares the breast on the stovetop and oven. However, if you have a smoker I would encourage you to slow smoke the breast after brining. If you don't have a smoker, I'll be posting a homemade way to create your own inexpensive and disposable smoker soon . . it's a technique Grandma Dave has been using for years!

To Prepare the Turkey:

Ingredients for turkey brine:

2 cups kosher salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

16 ounce apple juice

4 ounce soy sauce

1 T finely chopped garlic

1 cinnamon stick

1 T pink peppercorns

1 t fennel seed

10 cups ice

Method:

Step 1: brine the turkey

Combine all ingredients, except ice in 4qt. sauce pan.

Bring to a boil and turn off

Add ice and let thoroughly cool in refrigerator

Submerge Turkey Breast in brine for 6-8 hrs

**If brining Whole Bird, submerge for 8-12 hrs and turn once after 4-6 hrs

Step 2: cook turkey breast

Pre heat oven to 325.

After brining the turkey, rinse well with room temperature water and air dry on a
rack for 30 min. Heat skillet, add some olive oil, and brown fat side of
beasts first until golden or "Dore"(no need to season as the brine has
fully flavored the turkey.) Turn over and place into the oven until
internal temp of 145-150 degrees (15 degree carryover - the breast will continue to cook internally while resting and will reach a safe internal temperature for turkey). Let rest for 30 minutes before slicing and serving with chutneys and yogurt sauce.

To Prepare Carrot and Red Pepper Chutney:

Ingredients:

1 cup carrots brunoised small and cooked tender

1 red pepper charred and brunoised

2 red hot peppers brunoised small

1 TBSP dry mustard

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1 T Indian spice

1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients and let stand two hours before serving.

*Brunoise is a method of food preparation in which the food item is first julienned and then turned 90° and diced again, producing cubes of a side length of about 3 mm on each side or less. It's a precise cutting technique in order to produce a visually appealing and uniform chop.

To Prepare Pineapple Mango Apple Chutney:

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil

1 small red onion diced

2 apples cored, peeled and small diced

1/2 pineapple small diced

1 mango medium sized small diced

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Pinch of nutmeg

Method:

Heat pan, add olive oil and sauté red onion until translucent
Deglaze with balsamic vinegar
Add brown sugar and reduce by half
Add cinnamon stick and apples and cook on low until tender
Add pineapple and remove from heat
Let cool, fold in mango last

To Prepare Yogurt Cucumber Sauce:

2 cups whole milk yogurt

1 European cucumber, peeled, seeded, and sliced small

1 T garlic finely chopped

1 T kosher salt

1/2 bunch mint

1/4 bunch cilantro

Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well

Let stand 1 hour before serving

To Assemble:

Using a warm plate, place a layer of the spiced pineapple chutney on the bottom as the first layer. Slice the turkey breast and place on top. Add some yogurt sauce then the carrot chutney. Top with a little more yogurt sauce. Serve immediately.

Hollandaise Sauce

April 24, 2009 10:32 AM

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Ingredients:

3 egg yolks (organic, natural raised)
5-6 Tablespoons butter (3/4 stick) per egg yolk
juice of about 2 big fresh lemons, plus add some zest, pinch sugar (dont ask why, it just tastes better)
salt to taste
Few drops of Tabasco
Few drops of Worcester Sauce

In a bowl or top of a double broiler over simmering water (do not allow it to boil just hot and simmering), whisk all until very light and frothy, then start whisking in melted butter until it comes up very thick and creamy, add a small splash of cold water and keep whisking, adjust seasonings, add some fresh cracked pepper and keep warm in bain marie. It is best to serve it immediately upon making the sauce. The following video is helpful to see the technique. Also you can see how you can use a bowl and pan to create a make-shift double broiler.

Making Hollandaise by Epicurious.com

If the sauce "breaks" then just lightly blend with a hand held mixer. Clarified butter isn't necessary unless you are making large quantities of the sauce.

You may add fresh chopped parsley or tarragon to season.

Chicken Marsala

March 24, 2009 8:00 PM

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Chicken Marsala

First of all. . . I didn't think to take a photo of this when I made it. And it's too bad because the it's very rich looking with the red color in a Marsala sauce. This recipe only uses sweet Marsala wine instead of other ingredients like chicken broth. Next time I make this I will be sure to take a photo...

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons of good quality extra-virgin olive oil
3 ounces pancetta, diced very small
8-10 ounces white button mushrooms (you can use crimini but I think the buttons are better for this recipe) - slice them very thin
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon of organic tomato paste
1 3/4 cup - good sweet Marsala wine (not dry!)
2 tablespoons - fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons butter- cut into three equal pieces and keep chilled
3 tablespoons freshly minced Italian parsley

Heat the oven to 200 degrees and place the rack in center position. Place flour in a square baking dish or pan, shake lightly to spread.

Rinse the chicken breast and pound lightly until the breast is an even thickness to ensure it cooks evenly. Trim off all excess fat and edges. Dry with a paper towel and season with sea salt and pepper. Dredge breasts in flour to coat. Make sure all ridges are well covered. Shake lightly to remove excess.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-14 inch skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is just shimmering and lightly smoking. Add the chicken and brown lightly. This should take about 10 minutes. When chicken is browned place it in a baking dish and place in the pre-heated oven to keep it warm.

Add 2 more tablespoons of oil and return to medium high heat. Add the pancetta and mushrooms. Cook until the pancetta is crispy and the mushrooms and lightly cooked and browned (about 10 minutes.) Stir in the garlic and shallot cook for 1 minute until blended then add tomato paste and cook for another minute until paste browns lightly. Add Marsala. Scrape up any browned bits in the pan and simmer lightly until the Marsala has reduced and has a slightly sticky consistency like a syrup (about 8-10 minutes.)

Add the fresh lemon juice and any juices from the chicken that have accumulated in the baking pan in the oven. Turn heat on very low and gently whisk in the 3 chilled tablespoons of butter one piece at a time until melted and well blended.

Turn off the heat... stir in the fresh Italian parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add chicken breast to sauce pan and dredge in the sauce and each side to cover. Then place chicken over your pasta of choice (I use Fettuccine) and spoon the sauce including all mushrooms and pancetta. Sprinkle with freshly micro-grated parmesan cheese.

Recently in Sauces / Gravy

Making Turkey Stock - Recipe, Tips and Rules

Chicken Frangelico

Wholearth Spice Tomato Coulis

Smoked Turkey Breast with Spiced Chutneys and Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

Hollandaise Sauce

Chicken Marsala

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