The Garden Apartment

How to make turkey stock

Our carefully set Thanksgiving table

A week ago, as I fretted over all the details of our Thanksgiving day, my husband teased me that by now it would all be over and done. Well, as time does inevitably pass, his words now ring with sage truth. Thanksgiving is gone, and all that hard work is something of a memory.

Well, somewhat. My fridge being completely full is still very much a Thanksgiving reality. 

One of the joys of Thanksgiving is reusing the leftovers in many different ways. Yesterday morning we concocted some leftover mashed potato pancakes. And then, for dinner we enjoyed turkey and fresh cranberry sauce sandwiches on my leftover homemade whole grain bread spread thinly with dijon mustard. 

And now, for one of the best parts: making turkey stock from the leftover turkey carcass. 

It's a little embarrassing to admit that one of the most exciting parts of my Thanksgiving Day was carefully wrapping up the turkey carcass to save for this very moment. I feel the way I imagine my grandmother might have after hosting family for Thanksgiving: carefully using every little last bit of food and making the most of a holiday in which we honor food and the fall harvest.  

Getting past my romantic musings of how Grandma Angie may have felt in Thanksgiving's past, I had also practically set aside some leftover vegetables for the stock: celery, an onion, some fennel, a carrot, some herbs, and some purple carrots from our crudite platter. I think my guests were afraid to eat the purple carrots. 

Homemade Turkey Stock

• 1 Turkey Carcass
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into two pieces
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2-3 stalks of celery
• 1/2 fennel, halved (optional)
• a bundle of fresh herbs (sage, parsley, thyme)
• 1 bay leaf (fresh, if available)
• a handful of whole peppercorns

Place the turkey carcass and all other ingredients in a large stockpot. Cover with water so that the carcass is just under the surface (this will allow you to get the most flavor). 

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer the stock for 3-4 hours. 

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain into large tupperware containers.

Once the stock has reached room temperature, place it in the fridge or the freezer. It will store in the refrigerator for 5-7 days, and store in the freezer for about 6 months.

Stay tuned for my turkey and wild rice soup, made with this very stock.

Leftover mashed potatoes = Potato Pancakes

I am not one for Black Friday shopping. After days of preparing food for Thanksgiving and hosting a crowd in my house, shopping in a crowded mall is far from my mind. 

For me, the day after Thanksgiving is all about relaxing and rummaging through all those leftovers in the fridge and making the most of them. Just before going to sleep last night, John had some culinary inspiration for the leftover mashed potatoes: mashed potato pancakes.

His mom had brought a large batch of creamy potatoes to our house, and we had plenty left to play with.

Using some of the leftovers, I threw together these potato pancakes for my family this morning. We topped them off with leftover green goddess vegetable dip, but plain old sour cream would be just fine too. 

Don't worry too much if you don't have all the ingredients listed below. A little seasoning, a little egg, and some breadcrumbs or flour would make it all come together just fine.

Mashed Potato Pancakes

• 2 Cups of leftover mashed potatoes
• 2 scallions, finely diced
• 1 TB red onion, finely diced
• dash of garlic powder
• dash of red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash of pepper
• a few splashes of milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup panko, or breadcrumbs

Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil and small amount of butter. Once the butter is bubbly, begin spooning small balls of the mashed potato mixture onto the frying pan. Flatten each ball with the back of a spatula. Cook each side until golden brown.

Serve warm with sour cream or veggie dip.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

After a delicious brunch of the potato pancakes, we are looking forward to some turkey sandwiches later tonight-- served on my homemade multi-grain bread. Mmm. . . .

Thanksgiving Test Club {and a wild mushroom tart}

Who says you have to wait until Thanksgiving to frantically run around grocery shopping and cooking? Why not do that two weeks prior to the holiday?

That's right. This weekend April of The Food Scribe, Alison of The Humble Gourmand, and I got together for a Thanksgiving test run.

The plan was for everyone to gather at my house at 2PM. Somehow, I had decided to have a relaxing morning in the house. I slowly sipped my coffee, read the newspaper, and browsed the internet. Then at noon I realized I had not showered, cleaned the house, or bought the groceries I needed for my test recipes. If this is any indication of how I will approach a much more extensive Thanksgiving menu, then I am in trouble.

All worries aside, I had planned to test an appetizer and a dessert during our Thanksgiving test run. 

You may have noticed my affinity for tarts, so it should come as no surprise that I decided to prepare a wild mushroom tart as the appetizer and a pear tart for the dessert. But, you'll have to wait to hear about the pear tart until I have perfected it this weekend.

I love mushrooms, and the wild mushroom tart is a very vocal celebration of their earthy taste. They are not hidden amongst other ingredients; they are not simply an enhancement to a dish. No, no. They are the main event of this delicious tart. 

The filling is a saute of mushrooms in butter, shallots, a little garlic, cognac, and fresh herbs. A small amount of custard is poured atop the mushrooms inside an herbed olive oil crust. 

The resulting tart is almost pure mushroom, with just enough custard to help the filling set nicely. Sprinkled with a little gruyere cheese and set atop a flaky crust, it simply melts in the mouth. 

If you want to dress it up a little, serve it with a green salad and some reduced balsamic vinegar on top. Lucky me, I snatched up some pomegranate balsamic glaze for this very purpose.

Wild Mushroom Tart

Adapted from Bon Apetit Magazine, original recipe at Epicurious

Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
• dash of garlic powder (optional)
• 1/3 Cup olive oil (preferably one with depth of flavor, like a Spanish olive oil)
• 1/3 Cup ice-cold water
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 teaspoons of fresh herbs (rosemary or thyme), minced 

Combine the Ingredients

In a food processor, pulse the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and garlic powder). Stream the olive oil in and continue to pulse. Next, add the ice water and vinegar until well combined. Finally, add the rosemary leaves.

Shape the dough

Remove the dough from the food processor and shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and shape into a 1/2 inch thick disk. The plastic wrap will assist you in shaping a smooth disk (use the tension of the plastic wrap to help smooth the dough). Once the disk is the right size, ensure that it is well wrapped and allow to rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

Make the filling

Ingredients

• 1 package of dried porcini mushrooms
• 6 TB unsalted butter
• 6 ounces of crimini mushrooms, sliced 
• 6 ounces of assorted wild mushrooms, sliced 
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 TB Cognac or brandy
• 2 TB chopped fresh herbs (rosemary or thyme)
• 3/4 Cup heavy cream
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 2/3 Cup grated Gruyere cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with hot water. Allow to hydrate for 30 minutes, then remove porcini using slotted spoon. Slice. Reserve porcini liquid.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter to the pan; add porcinis, criminis, and other mushrooms. Season with salt. Saute until the mushrooms are golden brown. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan; saute for 1-2 more minutes. Add the cognac and reserved porcini liquid. Simmer until the majority of the liquid has cooked off or absorbed into the mushrooms. Remove from heat and stir herbs into mixture. Let the mixture come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Whisk together cream, eggs, and a pinch of salt and pepper. 

Assemble the tart

Remove the tart dough from the refrigerator and roll out into tart pan. Line the dough with parchment and fill with pastry weights or beans. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until crust is beginning to turn golden. Remove from the oven. Remove the parchment and pastry weights. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Return the crust to the oven and allow to bake for 5 more minutes (this will allow the bottom of the crust to bake).

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle half of the gruyere on the bottom of the crust. Cover with the mushroom mixture. Pour the custard mixture evenly over the mushrooms, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the custard is set.

Delicious. Now, if I can only perfect that pear tart before Thanksgiving.

Cooking for DJ {and apple slaw with cilantro-lime vinaigrette}

Our household has recently adopted a new member and a new, healthier diet. Read on to hear about our household goals or scroll down for my recipe for apple slaw with cilantro-lime vinaigrette.

I know, I know. Where have I been? Several of you have kindly emailed me to ask if everything is okay. And yes, everything is fine. This just seems to be the year that everyone has decided to either: 

a) get married (most of our good friends)

b) have a baby (all of our already married friends, and seemingly everybody but us)

c) move into a new house (us)

d) adopt their brother-in-law (us)

Yes, that's correct. We have adopted my brother-in-law-- if it is actually possible to adopt a 29 year old.

It was about three months ago that DJ moved in with us. Timing is a funny little thing sometimes. It just so happened that we moved out of the garden apartment right around the time John's little brother found himself facing the prospect of moving back home with his parents-- again.

John, being a caring older brother, has always wanted to help DJ through the various difficulties which persist in his life. But, until we moved into this house, our ability to help has been limited. The brother-in-law residing on the couch in a one bedroom apartment is much less appealing than the brother-in-law living in the basement of a four-bedroom house. 

He has tried to be independent, but something always seems to prevent him from having the life he wants. Sometimes it's bad luck. Sometimes it's bad decisions. Whatever the balance of luck and decision making, this August we found DJ on our doorstep. 

We knew it was important for him to tackle everything head-on, so we had a pow-wow with DJ the night he moved in. One of the biggest decisions made during that family meeting was that DJ wanted to improve his health and lose weight. His 5'5 frame was supporting 305 pounds and he could hardly walk up our street without losing his breath.

At this point in November, he has lost around 25 pounds and is actually able to jog short distances (something he claims he hadn't done since high-school). 

And of course, one of the biggest ways we are supporting DJ is by ensuring that the house is full of healthy food options. Initially, this led to silly things, like me raiding the pantry to make sure that all the snack foods with bad carbs were removed to an undisclosed location. This proved to be a bad idea when I forgot they were hidden.

Now I am finding it much more effective to just limit the snack foods, or to buy healthier options like whole grain baked pita chips. 

I created this apple slaw recipe just for DJ, as a healthy side for steamed fish I prepared during his first week here. DJ is a big fan of spicy foods (he is notorious for putting hot sauce on everything), and I thought the combination of spicy, tart, and sweet would be especially good here.

Despite its origins as a DJ recipe, my apple slaw has turned out to be a huge hit at every party I have thrown in our new house this fall (including baby showers for all those friends having babies). It's the perfect accompaniment to barbecued chicken and cornbread-- if you aren't watching your calories, of course. 

Apple Slaw with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette    Printer Friendly Version

Serves 4-6 as a side dish 

2 apples sliced into thin batonettes

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 large garlic clove, finely minced

1/2 jalapeno, minced

1 tsp white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar

1 tsp maple syrup

zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 lime

2 tsp of finely minced cilantro

2 TB olive oil

Directions:

Slice the apples and set aside.

Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk thoroughly to combine. Toss the apples in the vinaigrette, allow to marinate for 15-30 minutes. 

Enjoy!