Month: December 2007

This year, we ended up with two “free turkeys” gifts from our local grocery store – one was ours, and one was given to us by a friend.

Needless to say, by this time in the year, the novelty of the Turkey-Gravy-Potatoes-Cranberry Sauce dinner has worn off.

Below are two recipes to add some variety to your turkey repertoire.

The first is for the most delicious Turkey Pastrami I’ve ever tasted. It is so flavorful – delicately spicy and sweet, similar to corned beef – and juicy, if you resist the urge to cut into it until it’s cooled to room temperature.

You could eat it warmed or more traditionally, in a deli sandwich on rye with mustard and dill pickle spears. The first time I made this was a few years ago, post Thanksgiving, and I brought it to my father-in-law’s house, where it received many appreciative ‘ooo’s and ah’s’. The best part is that it’s EASY to make!

Let me also say that every single recipe we have tried from Raichlen’s book has come out restaurant-quality fantastic, and if there is a grill-master on your Christmas list, this book would make a perfect gift. I would recommend the hardcover edition as the pages in our soft-cover version quickly came unglued — although, to be fair, we did “crack” the spine and the book has accompanied us to a number of barbecues.

As grilling season is over here in PA, we made our pastrami in a 325 degree oven.

Turkey Pastrami
Recipe from How to Grill by Steven Raichlen, adapted by me for the oven

Rub (double this recipe to better cover a larger turkey):

In a blender or food processor, pulse until coriander and peppercorns are broken into bits:

3 tablespoons coriander seeds
3 tablespoons black peppercorns
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/4 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet paprika (like Hungarian)
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground mace

Cut the breast-half off of a small to medium sized turkey using poultry shears, leaving the breastbone in, but trimming off the ribs. (The remaining parts can be used for stock.) Rinse the breast and pat dry.

Sprinkle and pat the rub on the turkey, over the skin. Cover as much surface area as possible. Place the ‘rubbed’ turkey in a covered container, or in a casserole dish and cover with plastic wrap, meat side up and chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours. (If it goes a little over 24 hours to adapt to your cooking schedule, it’s okay.)

When you’re ready to bake the turkey, redistribute the rub. It will be much more moist after sitting in the fridge, and will spread more evenly to make a flavorful crust on the meat. Notice the juice in the bottom of the pan. This is because the salt has partially cured the meat.

Place on a roasting rack with a drip-pan and roast until a meat thermometer registers 170 degrees.

My tip for juiciness: Leave the temperature probe stuck in the meat (or else juices will run out in the hole it creates) and let the turkey sit until it is cooled to room temperature. Juices have fat in them. Hot fat will run out of the meat. Cooled fat (think of congealed gravy after it’s cooled) stays in the meat, keeping it from drying out.

HOT FAT! I just had to say that again…

Um, anyways… so as not to waste the rest of a perfectly good turkey, put the remaining turkey parts in a large stock pot. Add water until it covers the meat. Add 1 onion, 2 stalks of chopped celery, 1 carrot, and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer until the bones are soft and the meat is falling off the bones. Strain the mixture through a colander (to get remove the meat and cooking vegetables) and then through a cheese cloth to strain out the smaller particles. Cool the broth to room temperature, and then place it in the fridge over night. Skim the fat off the top. You can freeze broth for later use. A tip is to freeze the broth in large muffin tins, which yield about a cup of broth for each section. In the mean time, pick over the turkey and reserve the meat for turkey-mayo salad or soup.

Here are some yummy looking soup recipes:

Turkey Soup with Herbed Dumplings
Southwestern Turkey Soup(I’d use the turkey stock instead of vegetable stock)

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup (Don’t skip the Sherry! It adds a distinctive woodsy flavor…)

Dear L&F,

I miss seeing you! I hope that you are having fun in this lovely snow. The snow is perfect packing snow – not too powdery and not too slushy. Have you attempted to make snowmen yet?

Sadly, I am sick with pneumonia. That means that there is mucous in my lungs. It’s sort of like drowning from within. So, I haven’t been able to go out with my children in the snow yet this year.

BUT — I did look out this morning from my bedroom window and saw the sun glistening over our snow covered yard. It reminded me of Isaiah 1:18:

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; Though they are like crimson, the will be like wool.

I don’t know if you have ever had the experience of retrieving the laundry from the wash, only to find that a red sock found its way into the white-wash and all of the laundry has turned pink as a result. There is nothing that can be done, either, to effectively get the red out. The clothes are permanently pink.

The Bible compares sin to this. Even in Bible times, red dye was especially staining and permanent. Just one “little” sin – just like one little red baby sock – eternally stains our soul. It is ruined like the stained laundry. But, God forgives us and cleanses us so that all traces of sin are washed away, white as snow.

As you look at the snow, take a moment to thank Jesus for shedding His blood for you so that our souls can be cleansed. What a beautiful reminder we have, right at Christmastime, as we think of Jesus’ birth, to also have snow on the ground to remind us that our sins are forgiven.

I love you both very much and I’m thankful to have you and your whole family as friends.

Much love,
Mrs. Albrecht

After having a bad chest-cold since Thanksgiving, I reluctantly made a doctor’s appointment last Friday. I figured I wasn’t getting any better, still had a fever, and I didn’t want it to get worse over the weekend.

An hour later, I tried to cancel the appointment thinking, maybe I’m not so sick, and I really don’t want to spend the money… but the receptionist, who sees me about once a month between the kids checkups and whatnot, convinced me that I didn’t sound like myself and that I should keep the appointment.

While I held Leah, Dr. Meyer listened to my chest. I tried to talk and had the worst coughing fit and turned bright red. It was rather embarrassing, as there wasn’t really anywhere to spit and I couldn’t communicate well. Thankfully, one of the nurses brought me a drink. Dr. Meyer said, “your lungs sound terrible. I’m sending you over to get an x-ray immediately!” “X-ray? Oh great….”

The children had already waited patiently for an hour at the doctor’s office, and I could tell that it would be too much for them to sit by themselves when I went back for an x-ray. From the doctor’s office I tried to reach Tom, but he was away from his desk. I called my mother in law, but she had an interview momentarily and was waiting to be called. She said my father-in-law was home. He was going to take Mark to get some clothes for his job interview, but he rescheduled with him and met me at the x-ray clinic.

It was a long wait, as they had to squeeze in my “stat” x-ray. In the waiting room, there was a large box of many pieces of some sort of connecting toy set. They were brightly colored and looked like dumbbells with tiny, interlocking grooves. I have never seen them before, and have no idea what they are called. The kids built this amazing roller coaster contraption for a large wheel, with several rungs of a complicated support system.

The technician looked at the x-rays and said, “Oh my! How long have you been sick?”
“Just a week.”

The receptionist at the x-ray clinic said that my children were so well behaved while I was being x-rayed and she just could not get over how kind it was for my father in law to meet me there – and how the children listened to him when I was gone. Very cool.

We waited for a while to hear the results – there is a doctor on staff who reads them when they’re marked “stat” – but they were swamped and we eventually went home. I picked up antibiotics and cough syrup with codeine on the way home.

When I got home, there was a message confirming pneumonia from the x-ray.

I had made dinner (which is silly, because Tom would have picked something up if I had asked him to – but I was trying to stay strong!) and as I was putting the kids in bed, I just started bawling. My fever was 102.5 and I couldn’t hardly breathe without coughing. I called Elly, my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Then she, my mother-in-law, and my brother-in-law came over and, with Tom, put the children in bed and washed up the dishes.

For the past week, I’ve rested as much as I have been able.

I am feeling much better – fever is gone – but I do have lingering congestion in my lungs.

Tom took an entire week off of work to take care of me! I wouldn’t have been able to rest without him here. The children have had a wonderful time playing with their dad and working with them on their math. He’s such a good teacher and has a way of explaining the ideas that opens the children’s minds beyond elementary level and makes them hungry for more. He’s also been working on triple-bunk beds for the boys room, and the children seem to be walking taller and with great importance as they carry pieces of wood and help their dad with sanding.

My neighbor, Jen, organized meals for us and they have been delicious. It’s been so nice to see friends each night as they bring dinner.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had pneumonia – but it’s the first time without my mom around to take care of me. Needless to say, running this household is like running a small business that stays open 24/7. I am very thankful for everyone’s prayers and the help we have received.

It’s frustrating to be sick, but I am so very very blessed to be surrounded by people who love me.