This year, Bel and Karl took a trip to our North Loop cooking school where they met up with Chef Diane and Jeanie for some new takes on old traditions. See the recipes here:
Ingredients:
1. Peel and cut the potatoes into evenly-sized chunks, about an inch or so thick. Lay them into an appropriately sized pot. Pot should hold enough water to cover the potatoes by an inch. In order to assist with boil over, it’s a good idea to not fill over ¾, potatoes and water. Salt the water.
2. Boil the potatoes for about 10-12 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle of a potato goes in with almost no resistance. Carefully drain out all of the water.
3. While the potatoes are boiling, heat your butter, heavy in a second, small saucepan. Set aside until ready to use.
4. Pan-dry the potatoes gently on a low temp burner for about 1 minute to help cook off some of the remaining water in the pan and steam within the potatoes. Then remove the stockpot entirely from the heat.
5. Using a potato ricer, “Rice'' the potatoes. Once the potatoes have steamed a bit, press the cooked potatoes through the ricer, back into the cooking pot, or a heat resistant serving container. If you need time, cover it with foil, set it on the back of your stove. Place into a warm oven for final warming before serving. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.
6. When you are ready to serve the potatoes, re-heat the butter and cream mixture. Place about half of the liquid into the vessel with the riced potatoes. Stir gently with a wood spoon or spatula. Keep stirring and adding liquid until the potatoes have absorbed the cream/butter and reached your desired consistency. Do not over mix! Riced potatoes do not need to be mixed hard
7. Taste and season with salt, pepper and chopped chives.
8. Serve Warm.
This works equally well with turkey breast or turkey legs. You can purchase and debone, or ask your butcher to debone for you. Be sure to call ahead!
Turkey Prep
Debone turkey breast and/or leg while leaving the skin on the turkey.
Turkey Brine
Brine the turkey in a 3% salt to water solution using enough water to fully submerge the turkey. Add 3 sprigs thyme, 2 cloves garlic (smashed), and 1 sliced orange. Brine for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Roulade the Turkey
Remove the turkey from brine and dry with paper towels. Place 3 long sheets of plastic wrap on the counter where each sheet overlaps with about 1 inch of overhang from the last. Place the turkey skin side down on the plastic wrap, then tightly roll the turkey into a cylinder with the plastic wrap until it is completely encased. Roll and twist the ends of the plastic wrap and tie the ends in tight knots.
Sous Vide the Turkey
Warm a water bath using a sous vide machine to 144.5º Fahrenheit. Place the turkey into the water bath, then cook for 2 hours. Remove the turkey and cool at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
Finishing the Turkey
Remove the turkey from the plastic wrap, then dry with paper towels. Leave on a rack to come up to room temperature for 1 hour before cooking. When ready, heat 1 tbsp of a neutral cooking oil over medium-high heat, then brown the turkey on all sides. Finish the turkey by adding 2 tbsp butter, 2 sprigs thyme, and 2 cloves smashed garlic to the pan and baste the turkey until it is a perfect golden brown. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Chef Diane Moua is the James Beard Award winning Executive Pastry Chef at Cooks of Crocus Hill. Her team of bakers and cooks are regarded as some of the best in Minnesota. People have been known to drive for hours to load up on croissants, bread pudding, cookies, crêpe cakes and her recently introduced Swedish-Style Cardamom Buns.
