Turkey - Dry Brining

At Dish Gracepoint, we're all about streamlining and saving time/work. Brining is great, but it adds extra steps (and it's a bit messy). Jim Kwak sent me this article on dry brining and in theory it's an excellent technique: http://www.latimes.com/theguide/holiday-guide/food/la-fo-calcook18-2009nov18,0,6560622,full.story. You could do this in about 5 minutes.

Application:

• Unwrap the frozen turkey (at least 3 days before use), you probably want to do this as soon as you get it.
• Measure 3/5 tsp salt per lb turkey. (a 15lb turkey would be 3 tablespoons).
• Measure about 1/4 tsp dry herb/seasoning per lb (15lb turkey = 1.5 tablespoon).
• Mix salt & herbs in a bowl and rub onto the turkey. It'd be nice to get the herbs under the skin, but you can just rub it on the outside of the skin to save time.
• Double bag 2 large trash bags and place the turkey in the bags.
• Try to seal the bag as best as you can (to prevent juice from leaking into fridge)
• Thaw in fridge for 3 days or so. Rotate the turkey once or twice during this time.
• When the turkey is fully thawed, it will be seasoned/brined from center to skin.

I personally like an herb mix called Poultry Seasoning. You can pick it up at Safeway. It's a mix of Thyme, Sage, Marjoram, Rosemary, Black Pepper and Nutmeg.

Turkey - how to carve

It's pretty simple, but for someone who's never done it before it may seem intimidating. Here's the first result I found on google. It gives a quick visual on how to do it.

Turkey - brining

Brining is a good way to make a juicy turkey. I personally like to inject saturated salt-milk solutions into the meat, but brining is a classic/proven method of adding flavor and juciness. Here are some tips on brining your bird:

• 1 turkey, about 12 pounds

The brine:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups kosher salt
• 2 1/2 gallons cold water

(the ingredients below are optional, but add a nice touch)

• 2 bay leaves, torn into pieces
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 5 whole allspice berries, crushed

To prepare the brine:

• Remove giblet bag from turkey, along with any extra internal fat and pin feathers.
• Rinse well under cold tap water.
• Combine sugar, salt and 3-4 quarts of the cold water in a large bowl. Stir until sugar and salt dissolve. Add remaining brine ingredients except for the remaining 1 1/2 gallons water.
• Use a special brining bag or double-bag two heavy-duty, unscented trash bags and put them in an ice chest that is large enough to hold the turkey.
• *you can also use a large stockpot if it fits - just keep this in the fridge
• Place turkey in bags, pour in brine and remaining 1 1/2 gallons water - there should be enough liquid to completely cover the bird.
• Press out air in bags; tightly close each bag separately.
• Keep turkey cold with bags of ice, which will also help keep it submerged in the brine.
• Brine for 12-24 hours.

Thanksgiving recipes

Every so often I hear about so and so's "famous ____."If you have a good thanksgiving (or just any) recipe you'd like to share, email me at tomkim@gpmail.org and I'll post it.

BTW -- it doesn't need to be an original recipe. If you use a recipe from allrecipes.com or something that's fine too. Just as long as you been using it successfully and can vouch that it's good.

Braised Turkey

Quick Look_______________

This post comes from Jim Kwak. Braised Turkey based on Mark Bittman's NY Times recipe published: November 12, 2008. In order to soak the turkey, it's cut into pieces. Braising is a good way to cook evenly and get juicy meat.

• Prep time: 30 minutes
• Cook time: 3 hrs
• Difficulty: Easy
• Labor Intensity: Could do by yourself
• 10 servings, adjust by 1.5x if your group tends to eat multiple servings.

Ingredients_______________

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch dice [optional]
• 4 turkey thighs
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 turkey breast, boned to yield 2 halves
• 1 ounce (more or less) dried mushrooms [porcini or shiitake work best]
• 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 pound celery, trimmed and diced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• Several sage leaves and/or rosemary
• Stock or water as needed [2 cans of stock recommended]
  
  reference:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/dining/12mini.html?_r=1&ref=dining
  video:http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/11/12/dining/1194832745140/braised-turkey.html?scp=3&sq=turkey&st=cse
  

Directions_______________

• Rub salt and pepper into turkey.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil.
• Add sausage, bacon and as many thighs as will fit comfortably, skin side down
• Brown all well, removing bacon first(it will brown first), then sausage; set aside.
• Turn thighs when they are well browned and cook a minute on skinless side. Remove them, too, and repeat with remaining thighs if necessary. Add breast to pan and brown it well, skin side down, then flip and cook for just a minute and remove. Set pan aside.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Soak mushroom in hot water and cover.
• In pan used for turkey, cook carrots, celery, onions, sage and rosemary in leftover fat.
• When all vegetables are tender and beginningto brown, add drained mushroom, reserving liquid. Return bacon and sausage to pan. Cook another minute and turn off heat.
• In a large roasting pan, place turkey, browned side up
• Fill space between turkey with vegetables. Add mushroom soaking liquid, leaving any sand and grit behind.
• Add stock or water as needed to come about 3/4 the way up sides of thighs and breasts, or just under the browned skin.
• Put in oven and roast, uncovered, for 3 hours, checking occasionally to make sure liquid level remains sufficiently high and stirring vegetables if they threaten to brown too much.
• To serve, put vegetables on a platter; slice turkey and lay them on top.

Thanksgiving specials 11/18-11/24

Chicken / Turkey

Chicken breast boneless skinless: $2.99 @ Nob Hill

Frozen Turkey
*<16lbs: $6.77 (with $20 min. purchase) @ Safeway
*>16lbs : $8.77 (with $20 min. purchase) @ Safeway

Frozen Turkey
*<16lbs: $7.87 (NO min. purchase) @Nob Hill
*>16lbs : $9.87 (NO min. purchase) @ Nob Hill

Fresh turkey: $0.88 @ Safeway, $0.89 @ Nob Hill, $0.97 @ Lucky


Beef

Top sirloin roast: $2.97 @ Nob Hill (USDA Choice Black Angus)

Pork

Pork shoulder roast bone-in: $1.29 @ Safeway, $1.69 @ Nob Hill, $1.29 @ Lucky

Thanksgiving foods

StoveTop stuffing (6oz): buy 1 get 1 free (2 for $3.39) @ Safeway, $1.99 @ Lucky

Pepperidge Farm stuffing (14-16oz): $3 @ Safeway

Betty Crocker Specialty potatoes (4.8-6.6oz): $1.79 @ Safeway, $1.49 @ Lucky

McCormick Gravy mix (1oz): $0.99 @ Safeway, $0.49 @ Nob Hill, $0.50 @ Lucky

Fresh yams: $0.79/lb @ Safeway, Nob Hill, $0.69 @ Smart and Final

Canned Sweet Potatoes (29oz): $1.89 @ Nob Hill, (15oz) $0.99 @ Lucky

Cornbread mix(16oz): $2.50 @ Lucky

Fresh cranberries (12oz): $2.50 @ Safeway, $2.29 @ Nob Hill, $2.50 @ Lucky

Pumpkin Pie (8in): $2.99 @ Lucky, $2.50 @ Smart and Final

Misc

Clementine cuties tangerines or Satsuma Mandarin: $5 for 5lb box @ Safeway

2L 7-up sodas: 3 for $1 (11/18-11/21) @ Safeway
_______

Lucky ads

Nob Hill ads

Safeway ads

Turkey Q/A - fresh/frozen

Is there a difference between fresh and frozen turkey?

I don't have a definitive answer on this one, but our house made fresh and frozen turkeys in the past and we think the fresh turkey is juicier and more tender. However, when done right, it's hard to tell the difference between the two. It's more important to not mess up the turkey rather than the type you get. Since frozen tends to be much cheaper, I get frozen.

Tip: Make sure you give enough time to fully defrost or you might have to resort to this: http://www.disgracepointonline.org/2008/11/dishgracepoint-recipe.html

5 hrs/lb is a minimum for thawing a turkey in the fridge. If you are cooking for this Sunday, Thursday would probably be the absolute latest for thawing.

30mins / lb is a minimum for thawing by submerging in cold water. Replace the water every 30 mins. It'll take about 8hours on average with this method.

Turkey Q/A - how many people

I've been getting this question often in the past few days:

Q:"How many people can a turkey feed?"

A:For a co-ed college group: I'd do 1-1.5lbs/person (depending on how much you eat)

For praxis/post-grads: I'd do 1lb/person

Does this sound like a lot? A turkey has lots of bone/skin/fat and other non-meat portions to it. In my experience with cooking whole chicken, I usually do 1.5lbs per person.

For a second opinion, check out the bottom right corner of http://www.butterball.com/en/index.jsp -- they suggest 1lb/person and 1.5lb/person for big eaters. I would err on the side of too much cause it's nice to have leftovers instead of running out.

Also keep in mind how much side dishes you are making when you estimate the food. My experience is there are bags and bags of leftovers taken home in gallon ziplocks

---Again, this is true if the turkey is good. A dry, bland turkey might be closer to 0.5lb-0.75/lb (child size portions)---

Turkey!

Here's the post that Tim So wrote a year ago.

http://www.dishgracepoint.com/2008/11/turkey.html

Peaches and Cream Pie

Quick Look_______________

The following recipe comes from David Dip. The holiday season is quickly approaching and with family gatherings and other special dinners it's nice to have good desserts. This recipe was used for many potlucks and has been a hit evertime. It doesn't seem too difficult from the look of it.

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
• Labor Intensity: Could do by yourself.
• 1 pie = 8 servings?

Ingredients_______________

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 (3 ounce) package non-instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 (29 ounce) can sliced peaches in heavy syrup, drained and syrup reserved (you can buy peaches in lite syrup too, but don’t buy the peaches in syrups flavored from other fruits)
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Total: fairly cheap, you should have mostr ingredients already.

Directions_______________

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease sides and bottom of a 10 inch deep-dish pie pan.
• In a large mixing bowl (bowl #1), whisk room temperature butter until it’s has a smooth consistency. Then mix in flour, baking powder, and pudding mix. Mix together to get a semi-homogeneous mixture.
• In another mixing bowl (bowl #2), use a hand mixer or a whisk to beat cream cheese or Neufchatel until ‘fluffy’ (to a smooth consistency is fine). Then beat in sugar and 3 tablespoons of the peach syrup. The syrup makes the mixture more liquid-y and easier to mix. Then mix in 1 tsp of ground cinnamon.
• Mix together ½ cup of milk and 1 egg and pour into bowl #1. Mix together by folding the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients. Don’t over-mix; lumps are okay.
• Pour contents of bowl #1 into pie pan and place peach slices on top of this in any arrangement you want. Then pour contents of bowl #2 into the pie pan making a concentric inner circle with a radius of 1 inch smaller than the pie pan. (so the outer crust can rise and brown)
• Top it off with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool before serving

Tips and Tricks_______________

I usually make double this portion at one time, so I like to have a mixture of cream cheese and Neufchatel.
The original recipe had ½ tsp of salt, but I don’t think it adds to the flavor. It might even turn out too salty if you don’t take into account types of salt. So I just don’t add it all.
I like to microwave my cheese for 10-15 seconds in the microwave to soften it up before beating.
Instead of using a whole 29 ounce can of peaches for one pie, I usually split the can amongst 2 pies or use a 16 ounce can per pie instead.

Dish Gracepoint Recipe Requests

I run into the problem of having to put up new content on a regular basis and sometimes I feel tapped out. I'm not sure whatelse I could post about.... so if there is a recipe you want to see posted then leave a comment and let me know. I'll look up different recipes and put in some modifications or improvements when possible and then post it. I'm currently thinking about different types of salads and dressings as my next project.

Easy prep pulled pork

Quick Look_______________

This post is special to me because it's my signature dish. This recipe is an update of another recipe. It follows the same principles behind my 8-hour bbq sauce and the process has been streamlined to require very little work. You can use the same cooking time and temperature for 4lbs or 40lbs! Recently, it's been used for various home worship groups this summer at Gracepoint Fellowship Church and as far as I know it produced good results with ease everytime.

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 8 hrs
• Difficulty: Easy
• Labor Intensity: Could do by yourself, would help to have some people to help shred meat.
• 30 servings, adjust by 1.5x if your group tends to eat multiple servings.

Ingredients_______________

• 15-18 lb Pork shoulder/country style ribs/pork butt (all the same cut with different names) [$1-$1.49/lb on sale at safeway, Costco is a good source]
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 8 cups BBQ sauce [I STRONGLY RECOMMEND "Cattlemen smoky", $10 for a 2-pack at costco]
• 1/4 cup tabasco or other hot sauce (add to taste, optional) (I personally use 3 tablespoons Korean red pepper paste)
• 48 Buns [12 pack for $2 at smart and final or costco, I think costco quality is a bit higher] or you can use 60 slices of white bread (4-5 loaves of bread)
• Total: about $45.00

Directions_______________

• If meat is a large pork shoulder roast, cut into 4-8 pieces. Each piece should be no taller than 4 inches. I would make softball size cuts.
• Put meat in aluminum tray and pour sauce over meat. Rather than a large roast, it should be many smaller pieces 1/2 submerged in sauce.
• *I would double stack the tray - they tend to bend and spill
• Turn the oven to 275F and place in oven at midnight.
• Take out of oven around 8 am.
• Transfer meat to another tray and pour liquid into a large stockpot.
• Add brown sugar (and hot sauce) to the stock pot and heat on med-high.
• With 2 forks tear meat to large, coarse pieces (should be about 1/2-1 inch thick like picture above)
• *don't over shred meat, it will shred even more when mixing with sauce and you get fine shreds that feel like mush.
• *you can slice the meat into 1/8 inch slices instead for better texture.
• Turn off stove when sauce is sufficiently thick (I usually cook for about 30-45 mins, stop when it is original thickness of the sauce). Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom. Add more sugar to taste. (up to 1-2 cups more)
• Skim off oil from the top of the sauce and discard. It's easier to do it at the end when the sauce is thicker.
• Mix meat and sauce and serve. You can cover with foil and place in 170F oven for a few hours until ready to serve.

Tom's Tips and Tricks_______________

It's important that the meat is surrounded by liquid (it's the medium through which heat transfers - dry heat vs moist heat). During the cooking process about 25-30% of the water leaves the meat (average cooking loss). This means about 4-5lbs or about 8-10 cups of water ( broth, collagen/gelatin) which end up in the sauce. By boiling it off, you regain the original thickness with the pork flavor conserved in the sauce.

DO NOT USE BULLS EYE OR SUGAR BASED SAUCE. This recipe is centered around a vinegar based sauce. Cattlemen is one of the few vinegar based sauces that works with this technique. I may soon post another entry on how to use sugar based sauces (Kansas City style BBQ sauces)

DO NOT ADD SUGAR TO SAUCE BEFORE GOING IN THE OVEN. The sugar raises the solute concentration and the resulting osmotic pressure forces more water out of the meat, making it dry. That's why sugar is added after the meat is taken out.

Don't over shred meat, when you mix around the sauce it tends to fall apart more. Keep it coarse and do more shredding just prior to serving if necessary. I actually recommend slicing the meat instead.

If the meat is not tender after 8 hours, raise the oven to 400F and cook for up to 1 hour or so (should not be necessary).

You can use bone in or boneless pork shoulder. They both work equally well for this dish

If you have the stovetop space, I usually pour the liquid to 2-3 pots and have them both on med-high to high. This way you utilize the heat from 2 burners and it should drastically reduce the time to reduce the liquid.

Be careful when taking out the tray! I have splattered sauce on myself too many times to count. Hold the tray by the bottom or ladle the liquid into the stockpot

[Possible side dish] chicken salad, corn bread, potato wedges

Chipotle sauce

Quick Look_______________

At many Mexican restaurants there is a special chipotle sauce (smoked jalapenos). In downtown San Jose there's a burrito shop by my school that is known for their "orange sauce." It's not that hard to make and is a good condiment for carnitas. You can make it as spicy as you like by adjusting the chipotle to sauce ratio. I personally like to make 2 batches with the spicy one triple strength. That way there's something for everyone. This picture comes from a recent home worship service with one of our Berkeley college groups, acts 2 fellowship, at Gracepoint Fellowship.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: none
  
• Difficulty: Easy.
• Labor Intensity: Easy enough to do on your own
• 30 servings, adjust by 1.5x if your group tends to eat multiple servings.

Ingredients_______________

• 2-3 cans chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (7oz for about $2 @ Mexican grocery store, Lucky, or Smart and Final - not at safeway)
  
• Sour cream [$2-3 safeway]
• Mayo (about $2)
• Lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• salt/pepper
  
• Garlic (optional)
• Basil, oregano...etc (optional)
  
• Total: under $10.00

Directions_______________

• Pour 1 can chipotle peppers (7 oz), 1 cup mayo, 1 cup sour cream, 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, few peeled cloves of garlic, teaspoon herbs into blender.
• Blend for 30 seconds or fully mixed.
• If too spicy, add more ingredients, not spicy enough add more chipotle....etc
• Adjust to taste

Tom's Tips and Tricks_______________

This is just a basic framework for the sauce. Adjust as you like. For extra spicy, I use 3 cans of chiptole peppers instead of one (it is quite spicy for some people). My recomendation is to make 1/2 or less of the recipe. Taste it and adjust as you like. If you keep adding more sour cream to dilute it, you can end up with way too much sauce. Figure out the ratio you like and then make as much as you need.


This kind of spice is one that numbs and burns your throat after you swallow. You can add diversity to the spice by adding hot sauce (tabasco...etc) to it for the tongue burning spice.

[Possible side dish] Serve with burritos and tortilla chips

Easy prep carnitas

Quick Look_______________

There's already a carnitas recipe posted, but here's an easier way to make them. It's perfect for lunch after home worship. I would place it in the oven at midnight, take it out 7-8am, shred it up and leave it in a 180F oven during worship service, take it out and serve.

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 8 hours in the oven
• Difficulty: Easy.
• Labor Intensity: Easy enough to do on your own, though an extra hand or two would be nice to help cut all the meat
• 30 servings, adjust by 1.5x if your group tends to eat multiple servings.

Ingredients_______________

• 12-15 lbs pork shoulder [about $18-$22 on sale at safeway, or check Costco]
• 90 count bag of palm sized corn tortillas [$3-$4 at costco, safeway, wherever] or you can get flour tortillas
• salt
• oil
• coke/pepsi
• paprika
• cumin (optional)
• chili powder (optional)
• cliantro (optional)
• Dash of soy sauce (optional)
• 1-2 onions [under $1]
• 2-3 limes [about $1]
• sour cream [$3-4 safeway]
• shredded cheese [$5 safeway]
• Total: about $35.00

Directions_______________

• Preheat oven to 275 F
• Rub 1 tsp salt per lb onto pork (12lbs will be 1/4 cup salt, 16lb will be 1/3 cup)
• Place pork onto aluminum tray, fat side up if possible
• Pour in 2-3 cans of coke. It should be about 1/4 inch deep. You may need more or less cans.
• Put tray into oven at midnight.
• Remove from oven at 7-8am and tear apart the meat using 2 forks (make coarse pieces).
• *If the meat is not tender by 8am, turn oven to 400F and roast for another 1-2 hours (should not be necessary)
• Add seasonings, salt, and pepper to taste (add more salt only if necessary)
• Squeeze lime over the meat to taste, or you can slice and place wedges on the side
• Add a dash of soy sauce to make it more savory (optional)
• After meat is shredded (not too finely), place in aluminum tray. Cover with foil and keep in warm oven (180F, or lowest setting) and take out when you want to serve.
• Dice onions and chop cilantro into 1/2 inch pieces
• Serve with tortillas, sour cream, cheese

Tom's Tips and Tricks_______________

There may be alot of oil in the pan at the very end. Drain prior to serving. Leave it in while cooking to keep it moist and prevent it from drying out. For this reason DO NOT trim the fat off when cutting the meat. It will all render into oil which you can drain later. You can trim off fat after cooking if it is still there.

When you shred the meat apart, you will notice that it may be a little dry or bland on the inside. You can take a little liquid from the tray and mix it in to add some flavor. Always add salt last (to taste).

You can steam or microwave the tortillas to soften them prior to serving.

[Possible side dish] Serve with salsa and tortilla chips and chipotle sauce

Chocolate pudding cake

Quick Look_______________

No Image available

This past week many of the staff at Gracepoint Fellowship Church went on a retreat where we had extended time studying the Word of God with Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang. One night Vanessa made chocolate pudding cake (Jenny Shin's recipe) and it was really good. Here's the recipe for you to try at home. Also, as a side note if you have a recipe that people like (and relatively cheap and easy), I'd love to post it up.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 60 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
• Labor Intensity: Could do on your own
• 10 servings

Ingredients_______________

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
• 8 oz sour cream
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups of chocolate chips
• Total: not much $

Directions_______________

• Mix the first six ingredients, then fold in the chocolate chips.
• Bake in greased bundt pan at 300 degrees until done using toothpick test (1 hour or more).
• Allow it to cool and serve

Tom's Tips and Tricks_______________

The most common mistake when it comes to baking is to overbeat the mix. Most people have the idea that they need to get rid of all the lumps. By overmixing, you allow gluten formation and develop an egg protein stucture which will make it "bread like." It's ok to have some lumps, it will not appear in the final product, which will then be tender and moist.

Carbonara

Quick Look_______________

I post this with some reservations. Carbonara is cheap, quick, easy, and people enjoy it; however, it's not that healthy. The main ingredients are bacon, eggs, butter, and cheese. I guess it's not that bad if you don't make it too often. Use this recipe at your own risk! With that said...many people I know love carbonara and it really is quite delicious. This recipe comes from Tim So from Gracepoint Fellowship Church, Taiwan.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 20-30 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
• Labor Intensity: It would be good to have an extra hand - one watching the noodles/eggs mixture and the other making the bacon mixture.
• 30 servings, adjust by 1.5x if your group tends to eat multiple servings.
• *This recipe is enough for 1 serving per person, people may want seconds!
  

Ingredients_______________

• 6lb pasta noodles (spaghetti, linguine, fettuchini) [4lbs for about $5 at smart and final, or about $1-$2/lb at safeway/lucky)
• 18 eggs (about $3)
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 cup good quality olive oil (Berkeley Bowl Organic Olive Oil is really good $10/3cup)
• 2 pound bacon, cut into small strips (Bacon ends and pieces $1.69/lb @ Lucky at the end of the pork section)
• 4 cup (1lb) sliced parmesan ($5 at safeway/lucky) [this isn't the grated kind you put on pizza, it's bagged with the other cheeses]
• 3 bunches garlic (minced)
• 2 tbs salt
• 2 tbs pepper
• 1 cup minced Italian parsley (not that important)
• Total: under $30.00

Directions_______________

• Mix eggs, salt, and parmesan in a bowl
• Cook bacon until crispy, then reduce the heat and add the olive oil, butter, pepper, and garlic. Be careful not to actually cook the olive oil too hot or all of the flavors will get burnt off. Cook until the garlic looks tasty golden (about a minute or two)
• Cook the pasta according to directions. When draining the pasta, save 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Be careful not to overdrain the pasta: wash in a little bit of hot water, then return it to the cooking pot with just enough of the reserved water to keep it from clumping.
• Wait about 60 more seconds to let the noodles cool a bit. Then add the egg mixture, tossing to coat all the noodles. Then add bacon mixture and stir. If cheese clumps up too much, or if it doesn't look creamy at all, add just enough pasta water to loosen stuff up.
• Sprinkle parsley on top and serve.
  

Tom's Tips and Tricks_______________

Be careful not to cook the egg mixture. After you add the egg mix to the hot pasta, watch it carefully. If it starts clumping and looks like scrambled eggs, stop stirring and let it sit a little to cool down and then stir again.

[Possible side dish] salad and bread rolls

Dishgracepoint Poll - weekly specials

Every week I post specials from grocery stores in the Alameda - Berkeley area. In the beginning I wanted to focus on meat because it's the most effective way to reduce costs (for example, buying chicken from store X @ $1.99 instead of store Y @ 3.99 could save about $40 for a large group dinner) whereas other items would not be as dramatic (probably a couple dollars here and there).

So I'm left with a dilemma: should I post more (which could be useful, but would clutter up the blog and lead to long posts for items that wouldn't save as much) or keep it short with just meat (which I feel is the most bang for the buck in terms of posting space). Also I don't have as much experience with produce pricing so I don't really know what's a good deal for certain items and will just post what's advertised.

Anyways, you can vote to the column on the top right. If there is a majority, I'll start posting produce and whatever else you guys want. Also, if there's something else you'd like to see (desserts, drinks, snacks), you can leave a comment and I'll add it on to the options.

Food Safety pt2 - toxic foods

I wanted to write a little more about food safety and bring a little more clarity to the topic. There are 2 types of foodborne illness: food intoxication and food infection.

Food intoxication:
This is when the food is contaminated by toxins (usually a byproduct of bacteria). Bacterial count is not necessarily important because it is the toxins that cause the illness; however, bacterial count is usually a contributor.

Food infection:
This is when one consumes a large quantity of bacteria or microorganisms. In this case it is the bacteria and microorganisms themselves that multiply in the digestive tract and cause the illness.

The toxins in food intoxication are heat resistant (they aren't living organisms that could be killed by heat but toxic compounds that remain). Improper handling of raw food could allow bacteria to multiply and produce toxins. The food could be fully cooked (or well done) to kill all the bacteria, but the toxins remain. In addition, there needs to be proper handling after cooking. Warm food could become toxic if held at a warm temperature too long. The food could be reheated to kill all the bacteria, but still is unsafe to eat.There needs to be correct handling in terms of time/temperature at every stage of food prep/service.

Another thing to watch for is that food toxins could be undetectable. There may not be a funny smell or discoloration. The general rule of thumb is to keep potentially hazardous food in the temperature danger zone for no more than 4 hours before it should be discarded. To err on the safe side: if it's been out too long, I wouldn't put too much faith in it. Toxic food produces some really nasty symptoms.

What do you need to do to ensure safety?

1. Use separate tools for meat and veggies to prevent cross contamination
2. Keep raw food refrigerated and out only when necessary to prevent bacterial growth
3. Fully cook the food (rare or medium rare is safe in certain conditions)
4. Refrigerate leftovers within 4 hours if possible.
5. Another simple tip: wash your hands before touching food! This is one easy way to prevent illness and unfortunately is often neglected,
   

Food Safety

There's nothing worse than giving foodborne illness to your ministry group. Most people think that once food is fully cooked the threat is gone; however, it is extremely important to correctly handle food after it is cooked. The nature of many of our events require that we often do food prep in the morning and let it sit for hours, but what's safe and acceptable?

What are the factors for controlling microorganism growth?

Temperature:
Disease causing microorganisms multiply between 41F and 135F (known as the temperature danger zone). Within that range, microorganisms grow most rapidly between 70F (room temp) and 125F.

Time:
Bacteria double every 20 minutes. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) set 4 hours as the limit for food in the temperature danger zone. At this point there are about 400,000% more bacteria and can potentially make someone ill. After 4 hours, restaurants are required by law to discard the food. These are strict standards to ensure safety, I wouldn't go much longer, but it is possible for food to still be safe after 4-5 hours if it isn't a potential hazardous food.

Acidity:
Microorganisms grow best at neutral or slightly acidic pH, which is most of what we eat.

Food:
Microorganisms need building blocks of proteins and carbs to grow. Once food is cooked, there is abundant access to these things. For example, potatoes can last for a long time when raw. But when cooked like in potato salad, the structure breaks down and bacteria now has access to broken down carbs and amino acids.

Moisture:
Microorganisms need water to grow. Unfortunately, most of the food we eat is moist and promote bacterial growth.

The 2 factors that people can control are time and temperature. One dangerous practice is to keep food warm by keeping it in a cooler for a long time. The food is kept within the danger zone for an extended time (warm means incubation temperature where bacteria thrive) and steam is trapped, keeping the environment humid and moist. This is fine if it is held for less than 4 hours; but beyond that, I would not recommend keeping food warm in a cooler.

For this reason, leftover food should be refridgerated immediately. If it has a funny smell, toss it! Depending on the food, it is possible to keep warm food safely beyond 4 hours; however, it's better to err on the safe side when planning your next event.

Buttermilk chicken

Quick Look_______________

Ok, I gotta confess -- this is just a generic picture. But, your chicken won't look much worse than this. I took the basic concept of making a saturated brine and soaking the meat in it for a few hours to deliver the right amount of salt. I started with salt water mixture, but after reading many books on the subject, I tried using buttermilk (a proven ingredient in southern cooking). By far, the buttermilk chicken was juicier and had great flavor. The highest complent I received was "WOW, this doesn't even taste like chicken [I normally hate chicken]!"It'd be awesome to prep this the night before and the fire up the grill for a summer BBQ.

Quick note about buttermilk: it only sounds fatty! Buttermilk is the leftover liquid after churning butter. Historically, milk was unpasteurized and allowed to settle to separate the cream. During this time the bacteria would ferment the mik (similar to the process in yogurt) and the result would be thicker, slightly tart, and flavorful. The kind from safeway starts with lowfat 1% milk, so it's not that bad! This is the juiciest chicken I have ever made!

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hr
  
• Difficulty: Easy
  
• Labor Intensity: It would be good to have an extra hand.
  
• 30 servings, adjust by 1.5x if your group tends to eat multiple servings.

Ingredients_______________

• 20 lbs Boneless skinless chicken thigh (breast will work too, but I strongly suggest thigh, use fresh chicken, not frozen)[$1.99/lb on sale at Safeway]
• 1/3 cup salt (you may want to use just 2 tablespoons if already salted- read note below)
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 2 tablespoons Korean red pepper (gotchugaru, but crushed red pepper will work too)
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup Italian seasonings (I prefer 1/8c dried basil + 1/8c dried rosemary instead)
• 2 cups Buttermilk ($2/qt, bottom shelf of milk section at Safeway)
• 2/3 cup tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)
• Total: about $42.00

Directions_______________

• Mix seasonings and buttermilk in a bowl. Stir until dissolved.
• Dip each chicken piece in seasoned buttermilk and place on a large tray. Pour excess buttermilk over the pieces and toss around in the tray to distribute evenly.
• Put pieces in large ziplock bag and store in fridge. Try to squeeze all the air out before sealing
• Let it sit for 2 hours (or overnight)
• Grill or pan fry the meat.

Tom's Tips and Tricks_______________

It could be difficult to get the salt right on this one. One trick that poultry companies do is pre-brine the chicken. The ones from safeway might say something like "up to 15% solution added" in the fine print on the bottom. By soaking it in a salt solution, it absorbs more water. This increases the weight and price (profit). Some are much lower (3-4% solution). The fool proof way is to do a test batch before a meal and then readjust the recipe. One quick way is to fry 1 piece and taste it. If it's too salty, add more sugar-- until sugar is doubled (it mutes the salt in a similar way it takes away the sour taste in lemonade) and mix it around and let it sit for 30 minutes. If not salty enough, add more salt, or reduce the sugar by 1/2.

When you pan fry, it may stick to the pan, don't move it yet or it will tear. Allow it to fry for a little longer and it will come off easily with a nice crisp skin.

Don't add any oil to the pan (if it is non-stick), add very little oil if at all.

You can use chicken breast, but chicken thigh will be much juicier and taste better. I would not recommend using bone-in chicken because it tends to be raw near the bone. If only bone-in is available, you can cut the bone out.

If the meat is still raw when you serve it, microwave it.

If you use frozen chicken, be sure to fully defrost it. There is a lot of water in the form of ice around each piece and you need to pat it dry before soaking it.

[Alternate variation] You can bread the meat with bread crumbs and egg and fry with oil.

[Possible side dish] salad and rice

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