cooking class #3: All Things Thanksgiving
thanksgiving turkey roulade INSTRUCTIONS
A fun way to turn some heads on Thanksgiving is to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey roulade! A roulade is something we practiced in previous Travail cooking classes, but for this recipe we are going to debone a turkey, pound it thin, and roll it up stuffed with turkey sausage and herbs. This is the perfect complement to a second standard prepared bird, and a great way to flex your cooking skills.
A note about the turkey: It’s best to find a bird that weighs between 10 - 13 pounds or a small to medium size. Make sure you properly thaw the bird in your sink under cold running water or in the bottom of your refrigerator over a few days.
Butchery instructions: Take off the wings and the wishbone first. Then debone your bird starting from the back making a lateral cut from the neck down to the tail as shown in the video. Next, slowly slice away skinning the flash off of the bones from the back moving towards the breast, disconnecting the hip joint and essentially peeling the meat off of the bones as you get to the sternum of the bird. Once you cut away all the meat from the bone you may now cut the skin at the sternum leaving you a breast connected to the skin and a bone in thigh and leg. Finally, debone the thigh and leg meat as shown in the video and reserve the drummy meat and wing meat for a turkey farce (sausage). Pound out your breast and thigh meat flat to the skin thoroughly and set aside.
For the sausage filling: Make a quick sausage with a blender by adding your leg and wing meat, thanksgiving spices, garlic, milk, fines herbs, salt, and pepper. Use the blender to “chop” the ingredients. After they look well chopped and combined, turn the blender up to high for 30-45 seconds until ingredients are whipped.
Season the pounded out turkey with salt and pepper - Sprinkle fresh herbs and scoop your meat filling directly onto the bird. Use a spatula to spread out the filling in an even layer via the video instructions.
Next step is to roll the turkey and wrap it in plastic. Take a moment to get a large layer of plastic wrap layered and laid out. Then begin to roll the turkey from the leg/dark meat side until you make it ⅔ of the way. Then lay the skin back down and roll from the breast side. This method is to help keep all the skin to the outside of the roulade.
Once it is rolled, season the roulade with salt, pepper, and the dried herbs. Season the plastic wrap with salt, pepper, and the dried herbs, then transfer the roulade to the plastic. You should have seasoning around the entire bird.
Last step is to tightly roll your roulade in plastic. James demonstrates this in the video. Once you have the roulade rolled in both layers, it can be placed in the water bath overnight at 160 degrees. Pull it out of the sous vide bath 45 minutes before you want to serve.
Preheat your oven to 400°. Season your roulade with soft butter, Thanksgiving spice, salt, and pepper. Then roast for 30 minutes and rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve!
maple bacon brussels sprouts INSTRUCTIONS
A fun easy dish to light up some taste buds during Thanksgiving Is maple bacon roasted brussels sprouts. The combination of saltiness, bitterness, and sweetness all working together in perfect unison really brings it home with earthy tones of brussels sprouts roasted in a pan.
First, pare down your brussels sprouts into halves, taking off the bottoms and any dead leaves as shown in the video. Heat up a small pot of water to a boil and season the water with plenty of salt – a lot of salt! You want to shock blanche shock your vegetables as shown, until nice and tender. Once the brussels sprouts are completely chilled, set aside and dry off thoroughly.
Take your thick cut bacon and cut it into ¼ inch lardons. Grab a large nonstick pan and roast your lardons until crispy, then drain reserving the fat and set aside.
Place a large clean nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add your reserved bacon fat and place your dry brussels sprouts face down in the hot fat. Roast until you see a deep brown color on the flat side of the brussels sprouts. Add your onion, garlic, lardons, salt, and pepper. Sauté and toss in the pan until cooked.
Finally, add your maple syrup and cook for 1-2 more minutes on high heat. To finish toss in your chopped sage, parsley, and green onion. And like that your hateful family loves you again.
fresh cranberry sauce INSTRUCTIONS
This is a super easy and delicious recipe Mike has been making for several Thanksgivings! We promise it’s 10 times better than the canned version! Add all your ingredients into a pot and simmer it down until you hear your cranberries start to pop. Then with a blender, quick blend everything just enough to break all the berries. This will help release the pectin from the cranberries and allow you to cook that pectin for another 30 minutes at a simmer. Then pull it off and cool it. It should thicken up nicely overnight. If you want cranberry preparation to be thinner just add more fresh OJ. And there you have it - an easy-peasy “I don’t serve canned shit” cheat code per Mike!
