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Sean

In Defense of Frying a Turkey

By Bernard Mooney

I have just read another article (i.e. hit piece) that slams the frying of a whole turkey as tantamount to tossing an incendiary device into your home.  It need not be.  You can deep fry a turkey quite safely.

On Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, my son and I were tasked to provide two turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner at a family function in San Francisco.  We had to feed 25 people.  We had traveled to San Francisco a few days before thanksgiving, so we had to start from scratch in terms of supplies and equipment.  Fortunately, we were staying in a rented private home that had a spacious driveway.  Another member of the family who lives permanently in San Francisco provided the birds themselves.

The rented home had an upgraded kitchen but only one stove.  The basic principles of arithmetic pointed us toward baking one turkey in the conventional manner in the stove and the other we would deep fry in the driveway.  It really is not a guy thing to bake turkeys for ten or twelve hours continuously. Especially when there was an NFL game and we had five cases of California wine chilling on the deck.

Contrary to all the hype, we discovered that you can simply follow the clearly worded instructions that are actually etched into all commercially sold turkey fryers and remain safe.  Specifically, the instructions tell you to use three gallons of oil (canola, vegetable or peanut) heated to a temperature between 350 – 400 degrees.  The instructions that came with the fryer clearly stated that the size of the turkey should be 18 pounds or less and that it should be completely defrosted before being placed into the heated oil.  

A turkey fryer is basically a chunky Bunsen burner.  We bought ours for $59 at a local Home Depot.  It took about a half hour to assemble all of the heat deflectors and splash guards that help keep it safe.  Ours was a basic propane gas type.  We heated three gallons of oil to 375 degrees and lowered a 14 pound defrosted turkey into the oil using the handle and frame provided for that purpose.  We left it submerged in the heated oil for 47 minutes ((3 X 14) + 5).  

No fire, flame or explosion ensued.  The result was a delicious, moist and very tasty bird.

We were able to put the heated oil to a good secondary use as well.  We dropped a few batches of thinly sliced fresh potatoes in to create some great kettle cooked chips.

Munich July 2011

 By Bernard Mooney

I traveled from Arlington, VA to Crete via London and Munich. The Heathrow layover was only long enough to grab a cup of coffee - a very expensive, mediocre cup of coffee at that.  The layover in Munich, however,  was arranged so as to provide a little more time (24 hrs).  I took bag and baggage on the Schnell Bahn from the new Franz Josef Airport into the center of Munich.  I grabbed a cheap room at one of the hundred or so hotels around the main train station.  I then spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening wandering around downtown Munich.  I stopped every few hours and drank some great bier and ate some great wursts and schnitzels. I had not been in Munich since Christmas 2000.

Great local fish and wine

A quick stop for lunch on the water near Sitia, Crete.  Nice breeze of the water made it very comfortable in the shade.  Not sure of the species of fish, but it was delicious and cooked perfectly.  The wine was good, not too dry or sweet, had a little of that green apple after taste.

 

Ellie Tasting "fresh" Cretan wine!

Stopped on our way back from Elofonisi.  A nice woman had us down to taste a couple versions of her wine then she filled a couple water bottles with wine from the vat and off we went.  6 euros per liter!

 

Ririka's Pastitsio

Was the best I have had!  Nicely blended mix of flavors with the top layer nicely browned and not heavy. 

 

Generic info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastitsio

 

Ririka is Ellie’s Aunt and lives in downtown Iraklion, Crete, Greece.

 

From Evernote:

Carol's Birthday Menu Clipped from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Smoked-Bluefish-Pate-355882

Carol's Birthday Menu

Friday 13, May

Grilled salmon on cedar boards

Grilled Marinated Flank steak

Grill corn

Roasted red peppers

Tortillas

Dad's salsa and Guacamole

Smoked Salmon mousse

Sean' mousse

Grilled salmon on cedar boards

Soak cedar boards for a few hours prior to cooking

Place celery,carrots, lovage and cilantro stalks on boards (to keep from sticking)

Place salmon on celery carrot mixture

Season with oil, salt, pepper and maybe lemon

Top with thin sliced onions

Put on Grill for 30-45 mins. At very low heat

Grilled marinated flank steak

Marinade - lime juice, cilantro, lovage, salt and pepper

Before putting on grill, top with a little coffee and paprika

Roasted red peppers

Roast 3 peppers on grill whole (not cut) until  charred on the outside

Let stand for 10 mins (to continue steaming)

Peel and cut into slices

Place slices,some of the pepper juice, finely diced garlic (1 medium sized clove) and oil into a bowl

Mix and let stand for 20-30 mins.

Smoked salmon mousse

This is a variation on the below recipe, substituting salmon for blue fish and adding heavy cream to lighten it.

From the "Legal Seafoods Cookbook"

1 pound smoked bluefish fillets (Salmon)

8 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup butter (No butter)

2 tablespoons Cognac

3 tablespoons minced onion (shallots)

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Salt (no salt, smoked salmon was salty enough)

Freshly milled black pepper

Chopped toasted walnuts or hazelnuts (optional)(Nope)

Puree the bluefish, cream cheese, butter, and Cognac in a food processor. Add the onion, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Pulse the machine on and off until the ingredients are combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Smoked-Bluefish-Pate-355882#ixzz1MF3rbtYj