How to Make Cranberry Sauce, Canned or Not

Nov, 7, 2010

Posted by UnCladChef
492 Comments

cranberry

Cranberry Sauce in a can. For some reason this product has become a staple of American Thanksgiving celebration. I remember sitting down at the table during Thanksgiving as a kid and noticing right away whether or not the table was stocked with cold canned cranberry sauce that has been pre-sliced on a saucer plate. The tell tale rings around the cylindrical mold of cranberry goodness ensures its authenticity.

Making a cranberry sauce, whether to be canned or not, is actually a relatively simple task. The cranberries tend to do most of the work for you.

Take some cranberries, put them in water, add a bunch of sugar. Boil the mixture till the cranberries burst open. When they do this the sugars and fruit pectin is released into the water helping it to thicken. Reduce as necessary.

There are several flavorings you can add at this point:

  • Almond
  • Honey
  • More Sugar
  • Brown Sugar
  • Grand Marnier
  • Rum
  • Orange Zest

You can strain the mixture afterwards if you want it smooth and free of skins. Cool or keep hot, however you prefer. Voila.

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Posted in UnClad Ingredients, UnClad Recipes by UnCladChef | 492 Comments

How to Fry a Turkey, and NOT DIE

Nov, 4, 2010

Posted by UnCladChef
406 Comments

turkeyfire Frying a Turkey seems to be almost a fad sweeping across the country. It’s difficult, dangerous, is done outside, and allows the use of a propane tank. This method started in the Southern United States and is making its way North. The only problem with that is is that it can be so darn cold that time of year, making it inconvenient to be cooking outdoors. People still do it.

Frying a Turkey is probably one of the most dangerous cooking endeavors known to man.

Here are some danger facts:

In one year Allstate Insurance noted that 15 homes burned down to the ground due to Turkey Fryers. (source)

From 1998 to 2007, there were 138 reported incidents involving turkey fryers, resulting in 36 injuries and nearly $8 million in property loss. (source)

If you are frying a turkey, you will most probably be in pain. (UnClad Chef)

How to Fry a Turkey

Now that we know how dangerous it is, let’s do it!

#1 You will need a Turkey Fryer Kit. Get one that won’t tip over please. Bayou Classic has the best reviews of their Fryer Kits.

Bayou Classic 9195 32-Quart Stainless-Steel Outdoor Turkey Fryer Kit with Burner

turkey fryer kit

#2 You will need oil. The best oil I’ve ever found to fry something in is peanut oil. Peanut oil has a very good flavor and also has a high smoke point. Any other oil won’t be as good. Just do not use olive oil. You will need 3 1/2 to 5 gallons of the stuff. Peanut oil is more expensive, however you can always mix it with corn or canola oil. You can use the oil to fry a turkey about 3 or 4 times before the oil begins to deteriorate.

Here is some good peanut oil:

Southeastern Mills 3Gal Miracle Peanut Oil Outdoor Cooker & Accessories

#3 Turkey. You can buy a turkey around Thanksgiving time at every grocery store and many retail outlets like Wal-Mart. They can be quite inexpensive in reality. These turkeys are basically manufactured. Their living conditions are terrible and they are slaughtered at a young age, allowing for very little fat and muscle development.

If you want a really nice turkey without all the troubles of going to the woods for a day and killing one, you can buy one from a free range farm. These types are harder to find and will be more expensive. Turkeys above $100 are not uncommon. These turkeys will have been allowed to age longer, therefore developing a certain amount of fat underneath the skin and within the tissue. This allows for a moister turkey. One of the more well known farms for raising free range turkeys is Branigan’s. They are located in Woodland, California and commonly ship turkeys within the United States.

You can order them on Amazon:

Branigan’s Free Range Turkey 16-18 pound

branigans turkey

#4 Time to Fry! Now that you have everything in order, it is time to fry the turkey. Below you will find some ideas on how to brine your turkey. This is a good idea to enhance the flavor.

There are a few simple rules to follow when frying a turkey:

  • Never put your turkey in the oil while frozen
  • Make sure there is no ice on the inside
  • Never “drop” the turkey into the oil, always lower it very slowly
  • Make sure you have a fool proof method to remove the turkey

Since you don’t want so much oil in your pot that when you place your turkey in the oil the oil overflows it is a good idea to measure the oil first. A simple way to do this is put some water in the pot and dip the turkey into it as a test. You want the water to be about 2 inches above the turkey. Take the turkey out and note the water level, that’s how much oil you will need.

Hook up the gas and turn on the burner. You want the oil to reach a steady temperature before you begin to cook. The oil temperature should be around 350 degrees F and maximum 375 degrees F. Generally, the turkey will need to cook about 3 minutes per pound. However, before pulling it out and calling it quits you may want to take a temperature reading of the breast. Use a digital thermometer and make sure the breast is around 170 degrees F.

Once you take the turkey out it will be extremely hot. Let it cool some before handling. Once you have it on a platter your ready to carve.

Brining a Turkey

Brining a turkey before you fry it, or even bake it, really helps to keep the turkey most and makes the turkey more flavorful. There are several recipes out there that include varieties of ingredients. The two most important ingredients are liquid and salt. You can pump up the recipe however you want after that.

Here are some ideas for ingredients:

  • Chicken or Vegetable stock instead of water
  • Cinnamon Sticks
  • Thyme
  • Oregano
  • Clove
  • Garlic
  • Cranberry
  • Black Pepper
  • Chipotle Pepper
  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Apple
  • Honey
  • Maple Syrup

Once you get everything together put the brine in a pot and cook it first. You do this to meld the flavors together before you brine the turkey. Also let it cool after you cook it before you submerge your turkey into it.

Here is a like for some more Turkey Brine Recipes

The Turkey Derrick

A Turkey Derrick is a great idea to save yourself from going up in flames. You see, when you drop that turkey into the hot oil any moisture in that turkey will turn to gas immediately and cause the oil to bubble and overflow. Once it has overflowed the oil  will be ignited by the flame under the pot heating the oil and start a fire. So by using a simple ladder and pulley system you can slowly drop the turkey into the oil from a distance controlling it by a rope or chain.

Here is a set of instructions on How to Build a Turkey Derrick, by Alton Brown

Here is a picture of a Turkey Derrick in use:

turkey drop

Here is a video of Alton Brown demonstrating a Turkey Derrick:

Please Be Safe When Frying Your Turkey

Here is a video from the Underwriters Laboratory on how to to fry a turkey. They basically say that turkey fryers are too dangerous to even consider using them. Worse than blow drying your hair in the bath.

Here is a video sponsored by State Farm about the dangers of Turkey Frying

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Posted in Tools of the Trade, UnClad Recipes, UnCladChef Videos by UnCladChef | 406 Comments

What is Duck Confit? And How to Make it

Nov, 4, 2010

Posted by UnCladChef
452 Comments

Duck Confit

Duck Confit is one of those great foods that people created out of necessity. The need was to be able to store duck meat for long periods of time with out it spoiling. You can actually confit most anything and it is actually one of the oldest methods of preserving food. The most popular items to confit are cuts of meat with high fat content and fruits.

To confit something you cook it in a liquid for a period of time and at a high enough temperature to ensure that all bacteria have not survived the ordeal. By doing this to meats you are also imparting a great amount of flavor and it so happens to be that duck fat is the tastiest of fats.

Duck confit is most commonly made using the leg and thigh. This cut is considered the lesser cut than the breast. A duck breast confit may be a good idea, but I can think of better ways to cook a duck breast.

To make duck confit you first want to get some salt and flavor into the meat. Salting the meat also draws out much of the moisture. I have seen chefs just lightly salt and season the duck thigh and let it sit for a day or two in refrigeration. I have also seen chefs nearly pack the thighs in salt and put them between 2 pans with a clamp to squeeze out the moisture and let that sit for a week. However you want to do it, first season and salt the duck legs.

Garlic, thyme, rosemary, shallots and cloves are common spices used to flavor the fat which will inherently infuse itself into the duck meat. Too much spice however will overpower the duck.

Afterwards you want to start the preservation / confit process. Duck confit works best by using duck fat, however I have seen chefs use a percentage of pork fat as it is less expensive. You want to cover the duck legs in a pot with duck fat and slowly bring that to a steady temperature of around 200 degrees F. Once that is holding, cook for about 2 more hours. You want to cook the meat well, but not cook it to the point where it is falling off the bone. Which is easily done.

Some chefs just take that pot and put it into refrigeration. It will hold like that for confidently for a few weeks. Other chefs remove it from the fat and strain the fat back onto the duck before storage. The advantageous could can the duck which would prolong the shelf life considerably.

When you are ready to eat the duck legs you take them out of the fat. Don’t do this when the fat is hardened, your duck meat will not stay on the bone! So melt the fat slightly as further cooking is unnecessary. You can bake duck or sauté it. Usually it falls apart too easily to do any grilling. Or you can shred it into pieces and put it into salads, sauces, or anything else to enhance flavor. The duck meat is fatty and salty, so use it like pancetta maybe even.

Here is a book I found about making confit from just about anything:


Sensual Preservation: The Art Of Confit – Second Edition

duck confit book

OR….

You can just buy duck confit. The process of making duck confit and the cost of the ingredients make the market for purchasing duck confit in a can quite popular. It is great quality and done just right.

Here is a type of Duck Confit you can purchase.


Rougié Duck Confit 6/8 duck legs 1915 grams (67.5 oz) Rougie

Duck Confit

Here is a video from YouTube demonstrating the technique on how to make Duck Confit:

The Test Kitchen: The Technique for Duck Confit – Gourmet Magazine
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Posted in UnClad Ingredients, UnClad Recipes, World Cuisine by UnCladChef | 452 Comments

Harold McGee on Turkey Cooking Myths

Nov, 3, 2010

Posted by UnCladChef
508 Comments

harold mcgee grinHarold McGee is the revolutionary author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. This is one of the major reference books any culinary school attendant will use on an almost daily basis.

***On a side note, I just found this out, he just published a new book called “Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes ”. Looks like a good read.

Harold Mcgee

What I’m getting at is that Harold McGee was recently asked a few questions for CNN and their sister website called Eatocracy. The headline was: 5 Myths About Thanksgiving Dinner. I was hoping for some cool facts, but really was just some debunkery of common Thanksgiving Turkey handling customs due to the fact they might just kill you.

I was hoping to here that frying a turkey is actually safe. Or that when you check the temperature of the turkey while cooking, it’s best to use the back of your hand. Don’t get me wrong, I love Harold. But, one thing that every culinary school student will also tell you is that reading Harold McGee can be very sleep inducing.

Here is the link to the CNN article.

5 Myths About Thanksgiving Dinner: Harold McGee

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Posted in Food in the News by UnCladChef | 508 Comments

10 Awesome Devices to Boil and Poach Eggs With

May, 29, 2009

Posted by UnCladChef
424 Comments

Cooking an egg is about the easiest thing anyone can do. Throw down some fat into a pan, crack the egg and cook it to how you like it.  Or you can hard boil the egg, put egg in some room temperature water, bring it to a boil for a few minutes then let it rest.  Easy stuff here.

However, modern technology has made it even easier to cook an egg.  You could probably train your dog how to cook eggs with these cool kitchen tools. Check them out.

image Oster 4716 Egg Cooker

This is the deluxe way to cook an egg. No microwave needed. You can either hard or soft boil 8 eggs at a time or poach 4 eggs at a time.  This egg cooker uses steam to heat the eggs to just the right temperature.  Another cool feature is that the Oster shuts off automatically once the eggs are done cooking.

image Krups 230-70 Egg Express Egg Cooker

This is another steam cooker for eggs.  You can boil up to 7 eggs at a time, using the controls you can pre-determine whether you want soft, medium, or a hard boil.  Also included is 2 trays for poaching eggs, each tray can hold 1 or 2 eggs for poaching.

image Chef’s Choice 810 Gourmet Egg Cooker

This is the most well built egg cooker on the market.  Made of stainless steel and even looks great.  You can boil up to 7 eggs at a time and even poach some if you would like to.  Also comes with a brick resistant finish, so if you happen to drop a load of bricks on the egg cooker, they will just bounce off.

image Cuisinart CEC-7 Egg Cooker

An egg cooker that actually looks like an egg, awesome. This cooker also is pretty simple to use, on or off.  You can boil up to 7 eggs and poach up to 4 at a time.  Cuisinart stuff tends to last awhile so this should be a no brainer.

image Cuisinart Stainless-Steel Egg Cooker CEC-7

This egg cooker also has a brick resistant finish, a very nice feature for an egg cooker! This is the deluxe model Cuisinart offers because of the stainless steel cover.  You can boil up to 7 eggs and poach up to 3.  There is an audible timer for when the eggs are done and the electric cord easily wraps up.

image West Bend 86628 Automatic Egg Cooker

This is a great egg cooker.  Nice and simple.  It poaches up to 4 eggs or boils up to 7 eggs at your desired level of doneness at the touch of a button. It also uses steam and includes an egg piercer so the egg doesn’t crack during cooking.

BONUS EGG COOKER

image Back to Basic Egg ‘N Muffin 4-Slice Toaster/2 Egg Cooker

This is the Swiss Army knife for breakfast eaters.  Toast and poach!  You can poach up to 2 eggs all while your toasting up to 4 pieces of bread or English muffins. Awesome!

COOK EGGS IN THE MICROWAVE

image Nordic Ware Microwave Egg Cooker

This thing is pretty cool. You just place up to 4 eggs into the egg shaped slots, put the lid on and microwave until your heart desires. You can make hard boiled eggs and soft boiled eggs easily now.  The Nordic Ware Egg Cooker also is easy to clean up and is dishwasher safe.

image Progressive International Microwavable Four Egg Poacher

Egg poaching is probably the most difficult way to cook an egg.  In the sense that it takes the most patience and is more prone to errors than most other ways.  Leave it to the geniuses of our great country to come up with a plastic tray to crack eggs open into and put into the microwave for poaching.  Yum.

image Progressive International Microwavable Omelet Maker

Who needs a pan to make an omelet? Way too messy I say.  Just throw some spam, tomatoes, cheese, and eggs into this cheap little plastic pocket and chuck it into the microwave from at least a distance of 4.5 feet. Perfect omelets every time!

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Posted in Resources for Chefs, Tools of the Trade by UnCladChef | 424 Comments

21 Chef Quality Hardwood Cutting Boards for Your Kitchen

May, 27, 2009

Posted by UnCladChef
636 Comments

Every chef loves to use wood cutting boards.  They are much nicer to knives and look a lot better also. Some cutting boards are huge and some are small.  The materials also differ, from extremely hard woods to less hard woods. Many hard wood cutting boards also have built in rubber feet on them, making them much less prone to slipping. However, if there are rubber feet you will have a hard time using both sides of the board. Use a wet towel under the board other wise to keep it from slipping.

Check out this round up of cutting boards I found the other day. They are all available on Amazon.com.

1 – John Boos Reversible Maple Cutting Board

imageThis is the type of cutting board that chefs love the most. Restaurant health inspectors frown upon wood boards but if your looking for a cutting board for home, this is a great choice.  This cutting board is made with hard Maple wood and constructed along the grain, to keep your knives from dulling quickly. This 24” x 18” by 2 1/4” cutting board is the largest size by John Boos.  Sizes also available are: 20” x 15” by 1 1/2” – 18” x 12” by 2 1/4” – 18” x 12” by 1 1/2” – 24” x 18” by 1 1/2” – 20” x 15” by 2 1/2”

2 – Ironwood Gourmet Acacia Wood

image This is a beautiful looking cutting board with as much function as beauty. The Acacia wood it is constructed of is very hard, making it long lasting but a little rough on your knives.  The way the board is constructed is having the wood grain facing up, giving it an even more durable construction. Used best for light vegetable chopping, I have seen knives get dented after a hard blow to this wood.  The dimensions are 14” x 14” by 1 1/2”.

3 – Kindred : MB100 Laminated Maple Wood Cutting Board

image This is a high quality special size cutting board. It is meant to fit for under mount sinks.  The laminated Maple Wood cutting board looks great and has some need functionality built into it. Besides being able to fit custom sinks, it has drip grooves along the side and a depressed area on the side to hold whatever your imagination comes up with. The dimensions are nearly 25” x 12” by 1”

4 – Mundial Solid Wood Cutting Board

image This solid wood cutting board by Mundial is a great all purpose board for a home kitchen. The spill grooves along the side are great when cutting a roast, tomatoes, or anything that has a lot of moisture. A great safety features is built into this cutting board, it has rubber feet on the bottom. This way the cutting board doesn’t slip when your cutting like a mad man.  This Mundial cutting board comes in 3 sizes; large, medium and small.

5 – Catskill Craftsmen Wood End Grain Round Cutting Slab

image Round cutting boards are nice touch to any kitchen. They are still quite functional. This round cutting board by Catskill is constructed so the end grain is facing up. This makes for a very hard and durable construction. This round cutting board also has feet on it, preventing it from slipping at the wrong time. This cutting board is also quite thick, measuring in at 3” thick and a 15 1/2” diameter.

6 – Wüsthof Bamboo Cutting Board

image This cutting board by Wusthof is a great buy at only $9.99. Small boards like this are nice to have laying around when your other boards are dirty and you need to do a quick chop job. This cutting board is also made of bamboo, preferred by sushi chefs because it is easier on the blade of your knives. This is a smaller double sided board measuring in at 12” x 8” by 3/4”.

7 – Architec Gripperwood Gourmet Sheesham Cutting Board

image This is a beautiful cutting board made Indian Sheesham Wood with a patented footing that is guaranteed never to come loose. The Sheesham Wood has an anti-bacterial quality to it which is great for the germ obsessed mother. The grip on the bottom of this cutting board is like no other, nice and safe. Dimensions come in at 15” x 10” by 1 1/2”.

8 – Tastefully Simple Bread Board

image This is one of those cutting boards I always wish I had around when a nice loaf of French bread. The length of this board makes it perfect for just that. This is also a great board to have on display in your kitchen, it looks great and is made with Rubber Wood.  The price is right also at $12.75, and doubles as a weapon for intruders. Dimensions are 15 7/8″ x 5 7/8″.

9 – Totally Bamboo Maui Cutting Board

image This is a great cutting board made from Moso Bamboo.  The wood is 16% harder than maple and will not split or warp over time. This is great for sushi or small vegetable cutting as it is a small board and won’t dull your knife so easily. Dimensions are 14” x 8” by 3/4”. This Bamboo cutting board is a bargain at $19.95.

10 – Snow River Maple End Grain Cutting Board

image This hard wood cutting board by Snow River is made from Maple using an end grain construction.  This is a huge cutting board which is great to have around, even to play quarters off of it if need be.  This board is one of most beautiful cutting boards out there, they just make a great cutting board! The dimensions are either 12” x 12” by 1 1/4” or 13” x 18” by 1 1/4”.

11 – John Boos Reversible Walnut Cutting Board

image This is another board by John Boos. This is a stunning, large sized board made of high quality Black Walnut.  Typical of John Boos construction they built in hand grips into the side of the board to make for easy carrying and handling.  This is an expensive cutting board for someone looking for both utility and beauty, priced at $150. The dimensions are 18” x 12” by 1.75”.

12 – John Boos Reversible Maple Countertop Board with Gravy Groove

image This cutting board has a lot of technology in it.  The super advanced Gravy Groove feature allows your roast to not be floating in a swamp of fatty juice while you hack away at it.  The gravy flows to the groove, and you spill it out or feed it to the cats when it gets full.  Another cool feature is the high and low lips on the sides of the cutting board.  These are meant to hold the cutting board onto a counter while you choppy choppy. Made with solid Maple and is reversible.  Dimensions are 23 3/4” x 17 1/4” by 1 1/4”

13 – Sagaform Edge Oak Salmon Board

image Who ever came up with this idea should be ordained a Chef God. This isn’t just a normal cutting board.  This cutting board makes it so much easier to hack away at fish.  The length of the board is its first attribute, almost 27 inches.  The best feature is the slotted rumble strips in the center of the chopping block, these small grooves keep the fish from slipping all over while your cutting. Made of oak and almost 9 inches wide.

14 – Simply Bamboo Valencia Bamboo Cutting Board

image This is one of the largest Bamboo cutting boards on the market. It is 18 inches long and 12 inches wide.  The thickness is only 0.75 inches thick, typical of a bamboo board, making it easy to carry around and use.  This cutting board is also double sided and makes a great Sushi cutting board.

15 – Proteak Teak Cutting Board Circle Herringbone Grain

image This cutting board is another beauty pageant winner.  A very nice layout with a herringbone grain and varying darkness of the wood cuts make this cutting board really standout. This cutting board is made from Teak grown on sustainable plantations on Mexico’s Pacific coast.  This is a great all purpose cutting board for any kitchen, great to have always sitting on the counter ready for another mango.

16 – John Boos 18″ Round American Cherry Chopping Block

image John Boos makes the best cutting boards and chopping blocks in the World, it’s a fact.  They have been doing it since 1887.  This cutting board is a testament to their craftsmanship, durability, and knowledge about the needs of today’s Chefs.  This mammoth chopping block is an 18 inch square and 3 inches thick.  Made of American Cherry with the end grain facing up this chopping block will last a lifetime and just keep getting better.

17 – Architec Barewood Cutting Board

image This is a very unique cutting board with great looks.  The Barewood cutting board by Architec is very classic of their style of cutting boards.  It is made with slabs of hardwood with unfinished edges, making it look as if it was just sliced from a tree. This board is a decent size, 11 inches wide and 17 inches long. Great to hang on your wall until your ready to chop away at it.

18 – Blanco Wood Cutting Board

image This is a very high quality hard wood cutting board made from Blanco, a company that has been making cutting boards and chopping blocks for over 80 years.  This style of cutting board from Blanco is meant to fit well on top of a sink for easy tare waste disposal.  The reason it does that so well is the length of the cutting board.  The dimensions are 18 inches long and almost 14 inches wide.

19 – Snow River Reversible Carving Board with Juice Groove

image This solid maple carving board from Snow River is a must have among serious chefs.  The length of the cutting board is great for fish, bread, or a place to have many things at once going on.  The quality of Snow River cutting boards is outstanding and this hard Maple cutting board will last you forever.  Another cool feature is the juice groove on this cutting board.  I can see cutting fish on this because of the length and the groove will keep your surface drier. Or just cutting up a roast or Turkey.

20 – TOOLS OF THE TRADE Acacia Wood Cutting Board

image This is a great looking cutting board by Tools of the Trade.  It is a 13” square cutting board made from hard Acacia wood, surely to last forever.  The grain of the cutting board is facing up, using the end grain as a cutting surface.  This provides for a durable cutting board that is nice to your knives.  The differing darkness of the wood makes this cutting board so attractive, it can be used for anything from cheese to chickens.

21 – J.K. Adams 18-Inch Round-Shaped Maple End-Grain Mill Wheel

image This huge chopping block made by J.K. Adams from Vermont is something to desire in any kitchen.  This mammoth chopping block is 18 inches in diameter and 3 inches thick.   The hard wood maple construction using the end grain of the wood makes for beautiful appearance.  This is a great piece of kitchen artwork to have sitting on a lone sturdy table or on your kitchen counter ready for action whenever.

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Posted in Resources for Chefs, Tools of the Trade by UnCladChef | 636 Comments

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