Author Archive: PaulKenny

Holiday Culinary Disasters

We all have seen the pictures of the perfect holiday meals.  The turkey is a perfect golden brown.  The side dishes all perfect. Perfect is usually not a reality.

(The Fried Turkey was pretty near perfect)

Reality was that the dressing was overcooked. Reality was that you completely forgot two of the side dishes. Reality was that the ham got over charred.

The cause of most of my disasters is the fact that I try to do too much. Every year I try to pare the Thanksgiving menu back. The problem is tradition and fact that everyone has a favorite. God forbid that you cut out someone’s favorite and completely ruin their holiday. This year I surveyed the usual suspects, for everyone that said do away with the sweet potatoes there were two that said sweet potatoes were their favorite.

(The extensive menu was the recipe for disaster)

THE DISASTERS AND WHY THEY OCCURRED

  1. The dressing was over cooked
  • The dressing I make is an homage to my father. He didn’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but every year he would make the stuffing. It was a process that started early in the morning, he always used the same pot and basically the same ingredients. It’s a fond memory and starting Thanksgiving Day making dressing is my tradition.
  • Why did the dressing get overcooked? The simple answer is that I forgot it in the oven. The truth is, I was trying to do too many things at one time.
  • The solution was adding some chicken stock to remoisten the dressing
  1. I forgot two side dishes
  • How can you be are cruising along thinking everything is in place 30 minutes before guests arrive and then realize you have forgotten two side dishes? Well, if you have 5 side dishes ready to go, forgetting 2 is explainable. Or is it?
  • The good news is that the Brussel Sprouts and Green Beans had been prepped the day before and just needed a quick sauté to be ready.
  1. The ham was over charred.
  • Why does this feel like an oxymoron? Why would you char a ham to begin with? The reality is that a disaster 15 years ago has become one of my signature dishes and the one item that if I cut from the Thanksgiving Menu I would get cut from the family.
  • This dish started years ago when my son Brian and second daughter Meagan who hate turkey, asked for a ham. The problem was that my one oven was being used for the turkey. The solution was to roast the ham in the Webber Grill in a cast iron skillet. The result was a ham covered with char. The solution was to trim the char. We wound up with a tasty/juicy ham that has become a fan favorite.
  • This year I cooked the ham early. Left it in the grill and then reheated it just before serving. The result was too much of a good thing. The solution was trimming a little more char that normal. The irony is that those pieces of char trimmings wind up being fought over. Adding new meaning to the saying: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.

 

Perfect was not the reality. But, with preparation and a little creativity, the result was pretty tasty. And, next year I am going to simplify the menu

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

  • Paul, Emma, Hadley, Jennifer
  • Susan, Dylan, Brian
  • Max, Ethan, Declan, Lauren

Frying A Turkey Is The Best…But!

A few years ago my daughter’s in-laws from Brooklyn NY came to Memphis for thanksgiving. To give them a taste of southern cuisine I decided to fry a turkey in addition to my conventionally roasted turkey. In effect we had a taste panel where our twenty guests got to try both a roasted and fried turkey. There was no question that the fried turkey tasted better. It was more savory and had a richer flavor. It gave new meaning to the saying: “you can fry anything and it will taste better”.

Fried turkeys are great, but frying is dangerous. Every year deep-fryer fires are responsible for five deaths, 60 injuries, the destruction of 900 homes, and more than $15-million in property damage, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

I had a neighbor who once almost burned down his house. The poor guy thought you had to have the oil boil before putting the turkey in. He was lucky he didn’t kill himself. He did however set his house on fire. The funny part of the story was that my buddy just happened to be wearing a tee shirt that said “Chicago  Fire Department”. When the local fire department got to the house my freind noticed one of the firemen looking at his shirt quizzically. My buddy told him the shirt was a gift. To which the fireman responded: “I figured”.

With all this said, there are six keys to safely frying a turke

  1. Get a smaller turkey that fits in your fryer

A turkey in the 12 to 15 pound range will work well. Most turkey fryers will fit a turkey of less than 15 pounds. Larger turkeys increase the chances of oil overflow.  The smaller turkey also cooks quicker and more evenly. If you are having larger crowd you may need to fry more than one turkey. The good news is that it only takes about 35 to 45 minutes to fry a turkey so cooking two should be no problem.2

2. Make sure your turkey is fully defrosted and brought to room temperature

If you want a real disaster try putting a frozen turkey in hot oil. There are some hilarious videos on the internet, but if it happens in real life the explosion isn’t funny at all. I like to use a fresh turkey and even with that I will take the a turkey out of the refrigerator for a couple of hours prior to frying to make sure it is at room temperature

3. Pre-measure how much oil to put in your fryer

I like to place my turkey in the cold fryer before cooking. Then I fill the fryer wiith water to get the turkey fully covered. You then pull the turkey out and mark how much water is in the fryer. Then empty the water out. Fully dry the pot and fill the fryer with oil up to your mark

4. Fry your turkey outside away from anything that will catch on fire

This seems like an obvious one, but you can’t be too careful. Again there are stories where people have fried a turkey inside or even on a wooden deck that just don’t end well

5. Use an  fry oil thermometer and take precaution when lowering the turkey into the oil

Heat your oil to 250 degrees and then slowly lower it in. The biggest risk is the first time you lower the turkey into the oil. The risk is the oil bubbling over and igniting with the flame. I use the a hook unit that comes with the fryer and wearing heat resistant cooking gloves and a large sturdy fork to lower the bird in without getting burned. Once the turkey is in, I then bring the oil temperature up to 350 degrees and cook for 35 minutes

6. Use an instant read thermometer to make sure the bird is done.

After the bird has cooked for 35 minutes I pull it out with the hook, gloves and fork. Then using an instant read thermometer I make sure the internal temp is 155 degrees. After the turkey is out of the oil it will continue to cook and should reach 165 degrees. The bird should rest for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

In the end fried turkey is better and with these 6 keys it can be done safely.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.