spork me

Drunken British Bucket Turkey

Or otherwise known as Orange Bourbon Tea Brined Turkey roasted with Molasses Bourbon Orange Butter.

Just… wow.

Anyway, follow the directions here for the brine, then follow these easy steps to inject your turkey full of goodness to bake.

Ingredients:

• Brined turkey
• 1 stick of butter
• Zest and juice of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1/4 cup molasses
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt
• 2 springs of rosemary
• 2 bay leaves

Put the butter, orange zest, half the orange juice, bourbon, molasses, cayenne pepper, and salt in a blender.  This works better if the butter is at room temperature, but whatever.  Blend.  It may not combine entirely, but that’s ok.  Refrigerate it for a bit if you need to.

Make a pocket under the turkey skin, and mash the butter mixture all up in there.  Put 1 bay leaf and 1 sprig of rosemary on each side, over the breast.  Squeeze the remaining orange juice over the skin, and season the outside, and the cavity of the bird, with salt and pepper.  Stuff the orange rind into the cavity, and bake for however long a bird of the size you have needs to bake.  Cover it for the first 3/4 then remove the cover for the last 1/4.  Let it rest for 30 minutes, covered, before serving.

• Tags
• turkey
• recipe
• thanksgiving
• orange
• bourbon
• tea
• brine
• molasses
• butter
• rosemary

Sweet Potato Donuts

I snuck off to NYC at the beginning of November for the majority of the month.  Finished the trip off with a good ol’ fashion Brooklyn Drunksgiving, where I made my 2 favorite dishes, and tried out a new turkey technique, to be known asDrunken British Bucket Turkey.  It was the best turkey I’ve ever eaten, other than the fact it was slightly overdone, since we basted the pop-up timer shut.

This time with the donuts, I tried the original recipe, compared to last time with a different icing.

How do ya’ll like the new layout?

• Tags
• food
• recipe
• thanksgiving
• donut
• sweet potato
• maple syrup
• icing

Confit Duck Breast with Spiced Rhubarb Sauce and Braised Lentils

Sigh.  So, I’ve been fairly vocal for my dislike of Jamie Oliver, but on a hot tip I downloaded his app, and hate to admit, it’s brilliant.  I’ve been cooking quite a lot from it, and some of the recipes are just amazing.  There’s one for Moroccan lamb shanks that makes it worth it, but this was just fantastic too.  The duck and sauce are from the app, but the lentils I made from what I had around. 

On a side note, I always thought dried lentils needed to cook for hours, so I bought tinned.  They only need 30 minutes before they’re soft, I’m never making tinned again!

Ingredients:

• 300 grams green/brown lentils
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 carrot sticks, diced
• 1 cup diced fennel
• 1/2 cup diced spicy salami (or whatever cured meat you have)
• 3 bay leaves
• 5 thyme sprigs
• 1 leek, sliced
• 6 cups chicken stock
• Salt, pepper, and olive oil

Saute the leeks for 3-4 minutes before adding the rest of the veggies.  Cook about 5 minutes, and then add the rest.  Simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If you prefer a soup/stew, just quit cooking a bit early, and for something more solid cook all the liquid out.

• Tags
• duck
• jamie oliver
• recipe
• lentils
• fennel
• carrot
• thyme
• rhubarb

Pulled Pork with Cannellini Beans, Butternut Squash and Tomato

I miss proper barbeque.  More so, I miss Dinosaur BBQ.  There’s nothing that comes close in Australia, and there are certainly no sauces you can get that compare.

Note: If anyone from Dinosaur is reading this, for the love of God, open up a restaurant in Sydney.

In the meantime, I found a recipe for their sauce online, and made so many substitutions that it was hardly the same recipe.  And you know what?  It was pretty damn good.  The below is enough for two big batches of pulled pork, so stock up and freeze it if you have 20 minutes to put this together.  Hell, even double it.

Ingredients (BBQ sauce):

• 1.5 cups of diced onion
• 1 apple, cored and diced
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 2 bullseye red chilis, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup worcheshire sauce
• 1/4 cup wholegrain spicy mustard
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup rice malt
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup water
• 3 400g cans of diced tomato
• Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• Juice of half a lemon

Saute the onions, chili and garlic in a splash of oil.  Add the apple and cook for a couple minutes before adding in the powdered spices, and seasoning with salt, pepper, and cayenne.  Add everything else.  Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it has a nice thickness.  Process with a hand blender or food processor, check the spices, and go nuts.

Ingredients (pulled pork):

• 1-2 kg pork butt or shoulder.  I used a bone-in pork leg with the fat still on top because I couldn’t find a shoulder, and it was alright, but it definitely needs the fat on it.
• Half the above BBQ sauce recipe (about 4 cups)
• Salt and pepper

I’ll give you a few options for cooking this;

1) Season the pork with salt and pepper, and put it in a slow cooker with the sauce for 8 hours.  Stick a fork in and pull it apart.

2) Season the pork with salt and pepper, sear it on a grill or in a pan, and put it in a slow cooker with the sauce for 8 hours.  Stick a fork in and pull it apart.

3) Season the pork with salt and pepper, roast in the oven for about 20 minutes on high heat, until browned.  Add the sauce, cover, and cook at 170C for about 3-4 hours.  Stick a fork in and pull it apart.

Ingredients (cannellini beans):

• 1 can of cannellini beans, drained
• 2 cups of diced butternut squash, in 1cm cubes
• 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup verjuice or white wine
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper

Saute and serve.

• Tags
• barbeque
• bbq
• beans
• food
• pork
• pulled pork
• recipe
• squash
• thyme
• tomato

Moroccan Spiced Scrambled Egg Sandwich with Crispy Prosciutto and Brie

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp Moroccan seasoning
• Salt and pepper
• Prosciutto, fried
• Brie, sliced tomato, and 2 rolls

Mash the garlic, whip with the eggs, and mix in the milk, thyme, Moroccan seasoning, and season with salt and pepper.  Cook, whisking constantly, until it changes colors and starts to form solid chunks.  At this stage, using a spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan and create folds.  Once the eggs are more or less in one pieces, flip over and finish cooking on the other wise.

Serve on the roll with the brie, tomato, and prosciutto.

• Tags
• food
• breakfast
• brunch
• brie
• tomato
• eggs
• prosciutto
• sandwich
• recipe

Borlotti Bean Cakes with Smoked Trout and a Poached Egg

There was a pile of leftover croissants that I wanted to turn into breadcrumbs, which worked well with the beans (they can get a little dry if you’re not careful).  Just use regular breadcrumbs if you don’t have a croissant or two.

Ingredients (borlotti bean cakes):

• 1 can of borlotti beans, rinsed and slightly mashed
• 1 egg
• 1 croissant, toasted and chopped into breadcrumbs
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• Salt, pepper and olive oil

Mash up the ingredients, seasoning with the salt and pepper, and use the oil to grease the bottom of a pan.  Form cakes and cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes on each side.  Serve with trout and a poached egg, and maybe a little cheese.

• Tags
• food
• recipe
• breakfast
• brunch
• borlotti
• beans
• eggs
• cilantro
• lemon