Savory Pie Crust

I have been using this pie crust recipe for pot pies. Seeing how there is a lot of turkey meat leftover, I think a few mini pot pies will be good to make this week.

Ingredients

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 to 4 tbsp cold water

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse together flour, salt, black pepper and butter. Gradually add enough cold water so that the dough comes together.

2. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

3. To use, roll out dough to desired shape and bake according to pie or tart instructions.

Yield: one 9-inch or 10-inch crust

Kitchen note: This amount of crust is enough to make four 6 oz double crust pot pies which are baked at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.

Lemon and Sage Buttered Clams

Was at the U-district farmers market today and picked up two pounds of fresh clams (manila and savory, harvested from the Hamma Hamma River Delta in the Hood Canal) from a seafood vendor.

This is a good cooking liquid for clams:

1/3 c freshly made garlic-sage butter

1/2 lemon peel, no pith, thinly sliced

juice of half a lemon

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (or substitute with a dry sherry)

1/4 c water

You'll need a covered casserole pan for this. Since most of the cooking happens with the lid on. If the clams are fresh, like these were, all the clams should open within 2-3 minutes of cooking. Don't cook them for longer than 5 minutes, or the meat will be tough and chewy.

Cheers!

Turkey Gravy with Mushrooms

After the turkey has been removed to a cutting board or serving platter, everything leftover (except for the burnt bits) are fair game to be incorporated into the gravy. If the burned charcoal bits bother you for health reasons, simply take a spoon and scoop them out of the pan before proceeding with the gravy.

Ingredients

8 oz cremini mushrooms (small brown mushrooms), washed and sliced

4 green onions, white part only, sliced

1/2 c dry red wine

1 1/2 c turkey broth

1 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

3+ tbsp all purpose flour

roasting pan juices, lard and bits from the roasted turkey

Directions

Place the roasting pan over two stove burners and turn on both burners to low-medium heat. Use red wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan. You may need more than the specified amount of turkey broth to dilute the saltiness of the gravy. Hopefully you started a stock pot with extra turkey necks when the turkey was put into the oven. Add all the ingredients and whisk to combine the flour with the gravy. More flour may be needed after the broth is added.

The gravy should be thickened and runny; and certainly not gloppy with flour.

From a 15 pound turkey, this made roughly 3 1/2 cups of gravy.

No-knead Beer Bread

This is one of the laziest bread recipes I have come across. On the whole it tastes pretty decent. At least it doesn't have a ridiculously long proofing time like the Jim Lahey no-knead bread recipe. It probably also won't taste as delicious as an artisan bread. The bottle that went into this version was a Costco-brand pale ale. I made it as a backup bread for the stuffing.

Ingredients

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees F) + 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast + 1/2 c all purpose flour
One (12 oz) bottle of beer or ale
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
some cornmeal, for the bottom of the bread (optional)

Directions

After proofing the yeast, stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Let rise once for a couple hours until doubled in size. Fold dough into itself to make a ball or loaf or an oblong shape and transfer to a baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise again for 45 minutes. Score top of the loaf a few times with a sharp knife. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a pan filled halfway with warm water below the loaf. Bake for 30 minutes.

Garlic-Sage Butter Spread

I'm sure there are better ways to prepare this. If you don't have a food processor, you can certainly let the butter soften at room temperature before mixing in the roasted garlic or fresh sage. For this recipe, I used a stick of unsalted butter (1/2 c) and sea salt to taste. A little bit of salt goes a long way and helps add a contrasting taste to bring out the other flavors mixed into the butter.

Lop off the top of a garlic bulb with a sharp knife and wrap the bulb with aluminum foil. Drizzle some olive oil on top of the bulb before closing up the foil. This can go into any baking cycle on Thanksgiving day, but it needs to roast for at least an hour, if cooking at 250 degrees F; or 40 minutes at 350 to 375 degrees F. The garlic should be spreadable on its own once it's done.

For the sage part, I minced three whole fresh sage leaves.

Let the butter soften to room temperature and mix in roasted garlic and fresh sage. You can then spoon this butter into decorative butter moulds and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

This butter can be used to cook with chicken or fish. Guests used it on the buttermilk biscuits and beer bread.