I’m only cooking for one, so I can have all my favorites. I started around a month ago. Harvested six Brussels Sprout plants, waiting until after the first few light frosts, but before the first deep frost, so they have the best, sweetest, flavor. (Here in the Catskill Mountains it’s already been down to the teens on several occasions, and we have had four snowstorms already.) I blanched them in boiling water with sodium bicarbonate (makes them stay bright green) for one minute then into an ice bath until chilled. Then I dried them, put in vac bags, froze them, then vac sealed and into my -20F veggie chest freezer. I also have one at same temp. for meats and prepared foods.
Yesterday/Sunday I roasted 8 lbs of turkey thighs on the bone and four turkey wings. Into a four gallon stock pot with a full bunch of celery and half pound of carrots, plus bay leaves and black peppercorns. Simmered for five hours. I de-glazed the fond in the roasting pan with sauvignon blanc and then water, and put into a quart jar in the fridge. This morning/Monday I brought back to a simmer, and then strained. Put broth back into stock pot and boiled down for four hours until it is just starting to taste strong enough for gravy. I removed the fat from the deglazed fond and set aside. I’ll use that, plus butter, to make a nice medium roux.
I’ll put the reduced broth into jars in the fridge to defat, then make the gravy on Wednesday.
On Turkey Day I’ll roast a 12 lb fresh, young turkey, no additives, that I got for free from the market from making the sales points. I’ll oven roast yukon gold potatoes until crispy golden brown, and cook up the brussels sprouts, and carrots that I semi-crisp cooked sous vide in butter several days ago. (My fav use of sous vide.) I’ll also make a coffee poached pear cranberry sauce that I have been making off and on since the 80’s from a Food & Wine mag recipe.
I’ve been working on no knead bread recipes the past two weeks, and I like the latest loaf which is 3/4 unbleached bread flour and 1/4 rye flour. So I will cook up a loaf Wednesday, so it can cool and sit overnight for T-day.
Dessert will be a great commercial vanilla flan, and a tres leches sponge cake. Both are very tasty, by “El Exquisito Sabor” out of Miami, FL.
I have several bottles of high end chmpagne, but except for an Irish coffee in the morning, I don’t plan to drink until the meal is almost ready. With dinner I will have this amazing, intense, very dark rose cava, called Recaredo Brut Nature “Intens” Rosat 2014, that goes great with hearty meals.
