Roast Turkey

CS is making a Roast Turkey with Maple-Mustard Glaze from Susie Fishbein‘s – just published – Kosher by Design – Cooking Coach (page 152). Since we will be eating at his place I can take it easy for a change, nevertheless I thought I’d share a favorite, easy recipe, I’ve made many a time over the years:

Photo by Chani U.

Serves 10
Total cooking time 3 hours and 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, halved
• 13 pounds oven ready turkey, giblets removed and cavity wiped clean
• 2 1/2 tablespoons margarine, softened
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the onion in the turkey’s body cavity with salt and pepper. Tie the turkey legs with string at the top of the drumsticks.
2. Place bird in a large roasting pound, rub all over with the softened margarine and season the outside of the turkey with your choice of spices and seasoning. Add the vegetable oil to the pan
3. Cover the prepared bird loosely with foil and roast in a preheated 375 F. oven, basting periodically. Remove the foil for at least 40 minutes to allow the turkey to brown and scatter the chopped thyme over it. Check the turkey is cooked by inserting a skewer or fork into one of the legs. If the juices come out clear, the bird is ready.
4. Transfer the turkey to a a large dish, cover with clean foil and let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving.
5. Arrange the turkey on a warmed serving platter and serve with your choice of vegetables.

My guests always loved this dish, I know you will as well!

SYR

A Conversation with Susie Fishbein

Tonight on Blogtalkradio we will be speaking with Susie Fishbein, at 10:00pm (Eastern Time). Susie is the author of the Kosher by Design cookbook series. As she celebrates the 10th anniversary of the first book’s appearance she just published her eagerly awaited eighth title (Kosher By Design- Cooking Coach).

Susie Fishbein has been the featured celebrity guest on cruise ships as well as at week-long culinary adventures in Israel and Italy. She’s been profiled in The New York Times and CNN. The Forward has named her one of the 50 most influential Jews in America.

She was an honored guest at the White House in recognition of the National Jewish Heritage Month, she has taught at Macy‘s De Gustibus School of Cooking and has been a guest on dozens of network TV and radio shows. She’s also been featured at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival at Disneyworld

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, why not listen to last week’s show with award winning cookbook author Jayne Cohen?

Please don’t forget to tune us in, this evening at 10:00pm (Eastern Time). We’ll be wait’n for ya!

CS

Kosher By Design Cooking Coach

Mark van Doren once said: “A good teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.” Susie Fishbein – that quintessential teacher – is looking to wean devoted Kosher by Design cooks, off the book and onto self-actualization in the kitchen with her new cookbook “Kosher by Design Cooking Coach.”

Cover Used by permission: ArtScroll Shaar Press

With over 400 full-color pictures by the talented John Uher, 10 pictorial coaching sections and a cross referenced index of 120 new recipes, this 8th title in ArtScroll‘s Kosher by Design series, imparts essential skills, techniques, tips and tools to help us excel in the kitchen. Cooking Coach includes sections on essential kitchen equipment, why 3 culinary knives will do the trick, key tips on buying and preparing fish, meat, chicken and side dishes, and my favorite, an easy to follow playbook of recipe variations that help stretch the budget without being mealtime boring or left-over repetitive.

The lay out is so picture laden and easy on the eye it could pass for an idiot’s guide to the kitchen were it not for its elegant descriptive content. I think what we all love about Susie most and what’s made her series such an enormous success, is her ability to deliver fool-proof recipes that are delicious and make us look like culinary heroes to our family and friends. In this latest cookbook, Susie wants to up the ante and move her loyal audience beyond the written recipe, teaching us essential skills to help us develop, discover and explore our own creative cooking abilities beyond the text and within our own selves; the ultimate gift of a true teacher.

From the book, page 184:

Bulgogi

Used by permission: ArtScroll Shaar Press

Photo by: John Uher, on page 185

Yield: 4 – 6 servings

Bulgogi is Korea’s most famous street food. It is also served in homes and restaurants, prepared on tabletop hibachi-style grills.

The key to this dish is slicing the meat paperr thin so it absorbs all the flavors of the marinade and cooks quickly. If you freeze the meat for 30-45 minutes out of it packaging in a piece of foil or parchment, it will be much easier to slice nicely.

• 8 cloves fresh garlic, sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce **
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 1/2 pounds filet split, cut into paper thin 1/16 inch slices
• 1 head Bibb or Boston lettuce, separated into leaves.

Dipping Sauce

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon roasted or toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. In a medium bowl mix the garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne. Add the sliced steak. Toss and stir to separate the slices and make sure they are well coated. Allow to marinate at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and discard any remaining marinade. Sear the meat, in a single layer, allowing room between slices, you may need to do this in batches. If so, wipe out the pan between each batch and heat a bit more. oil. Don’t move the meat around. Get some good caramelization and then, using tongs, turn each slice over and repeat on the second side, 3-5 minutes in total cooking time.
3. Roll 1/2 cup meat in a Bibb lettuce leaf. Repeat until all the meat is rolled. Transfer to a plate or a platter.
4. In a small bowl, prepare the the clipping sauce. Whisk together the soy sauce, honey , ginger, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes.

** True Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies. If the kosher certification mark stands alone, then the percentage of anchovies is less than 1.6% of the whole product. Many rabbinical authorities say that this is okay to use with meat. If the kosher certification is on the label has a fish notation next to it, the level exceeds 1.6%; do not use it in meat dishes.

Page 27,  in the Playbook section, lists what you can do with the leftovers of the above recipe:

Make a tasty ASIAN BEEF SOUP with your leftovers: In a soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add 1 sliced onion, 10 sliced shiitake mushrooms, and 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger. Sauté until the mushrooms and onion sare wilted. Add 6 cups chicken stock.  1/4 cup shredded carrots, a handful of pea pods, and 1 thinly sliced stalk bok choy. Bring to a simmer; cook for 10 minutes. Mix in 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon roasted sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon sriracha chilli sauce. Chop the leftover bulgogi and add to the pot along with 2 scallions thinly sliced on the diagonal.

Enjoy, enjoy!

SYR

Kosher by Design Cooking Coach Book Signing

It’s always interesting to see how fame re-frames a person.  This past Tuesday eve – on the tenth anniversary of Susie Fishbein’s first book of her wildly successful Kosher by Design (published by ARTSCROLL) – the launching of her 8th cookbook (Cooking Coach) took place at Pomegranate Supermarket.

Photos by: Photos by Tibor Tóth

Gavriel Sanders introducing Susie Fishbein..

Susie, fresh from a summer cooking tour of Tuscany, is as gracious, unpretentious and down to earth as ever.  Amazingly, she still has that warm, approachable ‘everywoman’ in the kitchen, poised well within a comfort zone honed by years of test and taste experimentation and exploration of ingredients prepping meals for family and friends. Her early training as a teacher who inspired fourth graders to harness the essential techniques and tools beyond the blackboard factoids through cementing experiences, was very much in evidence now as chef extraordinaire. Susie seeks to achieve similar goals for her avid fans in cooking coach; “My true job is to free people from cookbooks and the written word to become more intuitive cooks”

Susie, in action!

As Albert Einstein once said: “I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”   Susie ‘s latest features easy to follow step by step pictorial Game Plan covering essential equipment, stocking one’s kitchen and key essentials for prep and cooking of meat & poultry, fish, salads & soups from appetizers through desserts. Cooking Coach has a well-organized Playbook detailing creative makeovers for yesterday’s leftovers to new alternate dishes bearing but a dash of resemblance.

Fellow bloggers and members of the press sampled Playbook in action as Susie demoed onstage; ground turkey sautéed with frozen spinach transformed into three wonderful fresh dishes: Turkey Taco Eggrolls, Turkey Stuffed Mushrooms and a terrific pasta penne dish using Pomegranate’s own Marinara Sauce.

Turkey Taco Eggrolls

Gavriel Sanders, Artscrtoll‘s publicist for the Kosher by Design series, mc’d and fielded questions from the audience, delivering a seamless media event. Pomegranate was the perfect host and venue for this private media reception.

Susie Fishbein and her dad, at the book signing

Susie signed copies of the complimentary Kosher by Design Cooking Coach that the evening’s participants received in their swag bag along with complementary products from Pomegranate.  A full review of Susie’s new cookbook will be featured here next week along with a recipe. Thanks to Susie Fishbein and Pomegranate for a most delightful evening and an exciting new cookbook to reach for, until we intuitively ‘get it’ and need but reach within.

SYR