Thanksgiving Cooking Notes

Very much in the vein of last year, and following on from previous year. 6 adults on Saturday, plus kids, one of whom eats as an adult now.

Friday:

• chestnut dressing, same as last year except added some ceps and oyster mushrooms browned in butter.
• green bean casserole (same as last year)
• poached turkey legs in goose fat, also did 4 chicken legs with them for good measure
• roasted and made stock (onions, garlic, celery, bay leaf) out of the back of the turkey

Saturday:

• made brownies (with pecans), same as last year
• made gravy by thickening turkey stock with a roux
• roasted the turkey (5.6kg whole), as last year, 45 minutes back up at 220C, then flipped and cooked at 200C until done, then rested for 30+ minutes
• mashed potatoes (about 5 lbs worth; butter, double cream)
• while turkey was resting, heated at 180C+fan: dressing (uncovered), green beans (uncovered), legs (covered)
• JJ made fresh cranberry salad

Timing worked out great. Turkey turned out really well. There was plenty for everyone and enough for leftovers.

School of Bruce

All rockstars should be Bruce Springsteen. Seriously, is it too late to sign Keith & Mick up for some remedial tutoring?

Still waiting for the NFL to make an edict that all superbowl halftime shows must either be Bruce or be a marching band.

chicken wings

After occasional cravings, I finally took a stab at making buffalo-style chicken wings. Turned out to be incredibly easy. Prepping the wings is simple if you've got a knife with a bit of rigor to it. I went with baking instead of frying. They'd probably be a bit better fried, this worked great. Overcook on a rack in a roasting tin (I went 200C for maybe an hour or so), most skinful side up, and finish under the broiler to really crisp up the skins if they're not crackling enough for you. Toss hot in large bowl with sauce, which, simply enough, is a tabasco, melted butter, and white wine vinegar mix at (officially) 5:4:1 ratio. Unofficially I just mix roughly equal parts of melted butter and tabasco and then put a splash of vinegar in. Mix then toss (don't skimp!) piping-hot wings in a bowl, serve, eat.

F1 goes ficto-futuristic

Armored cars, gun-toting bandits... yes, somewhat insane, but maybe it's only a matter of time before we get to see kung-fu fighting in the pit lane.

What a Relief!

Oklahoma passed an anti-Sharia law. Phew! That must've been a close call for them. Next up: I'm proposing ballot initiatives to ban monsters under my bed.