Tag: poultry
Roast Pheasant
Roast Pheasant
Pheasants are very rich in flavor while being fairly lean. They have more protein, less fat and cholesterol than chicken, turkey, duck and beef; with fewer calories than duck and beef. Whether wild or farm raised, they typically weigh between 2-2 1/2lbs; one being enough for 2 people. Cooking whole pheasant at a lower temperature will allow them to stay moist, since they have a tendency to dry out from being so lean.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 whole pheasant 2-2.5lbs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 medium carrots sliced
- 3 medium potatoes cubed
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
Instructions
- Rub the pheasant with olive oil, herbs and the spices on top and underneath the skin. Place in a baking dish.
- Add in the carrots, potatoes, garlic, and chicken stock.
- Bake in a preheated 300° oven for 90 minutes until the skin is crispy and the vegetables are cooked through.
Smoked Beer Brined Cornish Hens
Smoked Beer Brined Cornish Hens
Smoking cornish hens needs to occur more often on your dinner table. These hens were brined in beer, onions, and garlic for a day, then smoked with hickory and applewood for about 2 1/2 hours. The hens turn out unbelievably juicy and full of smokey flavor.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 2 cornish hens
- 4 cups beer
- 1/2 onion diced
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup sea salt
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- 1/2 hickory
- 1/2 applewood
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Brine the cornish hens in a gallon sized storage bag for 24 hours.
- Remove the hens from the brine and place on a rack. Dry out in the refrigerator overnight.
- Let the hens rest at room temperature for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the hens in the smoker.
- Smoke the hens for 2 1/2 hours. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Smoked Turkey Pot Pot Pie
Smoked Turkey Pot Pot Pie
Happy 420 2021! I have something really special right here. Pot pot pie. Yes, you read that right. Pot pot pie. Made with smoked turkey and homemade smoked turkey stock; and maybe a stick of green butter. Not only is this pot pot pie unbelievably tasty, it will seriously fuck you the fuck up. Like enough to hallucinate fucked up. You can definitely use whatever protein and stock you’d like; chicken, pork, beef, lamb, fish, or even just veggies would all be delicious. If you have the time, you can make your own pie crusts with 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 egg yolk, and 8 tbsp of cold butter; mixed together in a standing mixer and rolled out. But honestly, there’s nothing wrong with premade crusts. Before you consume this pot pot pie, make sure you are aware of how strong your butter is. Mine uses 1/4 oz per stick, which is quite a lot. Especially when you eat half of the pot pot pie and realize that you just consumed an 1/8.
Ingredients
- 1 stick 420 green butter
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp thyme
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups turkey stock or chicken
- 1 lb smoked turkey breast or thigh; chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 3 tbsp parsley chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 pie crusts pre-packaged
- 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp of milk
Instructions
- Melt the green butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat.
- Sauté the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and thyme for 6-7 minutes.
- Whisk in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the stock and milk. Bring to a boil and continue whisking for 2 minutes.
- Mix in the turkey, peas, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a round baking dish. Line the baking dish with one of the premade pie crusts.
- Pour in the pot pot pie filling.
- Place the other crust on top of the pie. Crimp the edges of the crusts with a fork to seal. Cut a small vent in the center of the pie crust.
- Brush the entire top crust with the egg wash.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the crust is browned and flakey. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
420 Butter
Caution when consuming this. This butter is extremely strong. I put a melon ball sized scoop in my Potato Poblano soup I was eating and was fucked up for 18 hours.
Equipment
- Ardent Nova Decarboxylator
- Magic Butter machine
Ingredients
Decarboxylation
- 1 oz greens, stems and all
The Butter
- 1 oz decarboxylated greens
- 1 lbs unsalted butter
Instructions
Decarboxylation
- Using the Ardent Nova Decarboxylator, add your greens. Don’t break up the buds. Leave in any extra stems. You want to use everything. This machine only holds 14 grams, so you’ll have to do this process in 2 batches.
The Butter
- Using the Magic Butter machine, add all of the greens and 1lb of butter. I let the butter sit out for half a day to soften to room temp.
- Put the cover on the Magic Butter machine. Set the settings to Butter, 160 degrees. This will take about 2 hours to make. Let the magic happen.
- After the 2 hours are up, let sit for a couple of minutes. This butter is very hot.
- Strain the butter through the mesh butter trainer that came with your Magic Butter machine. Make sure to wear the food gloves that came with the machine. You are going to want to squeeze out as much of the butter as possible from the greens.
- Save in a container. Keep in the fridge. If you aren’t going to use all of the butter within a month, keep it in the freezer.
Smoked Turkey Breast
When I see a bone in turkey breast on sale for $.99/lb, I hop on that shit. You can pay up to $10/lb for good quality smoked turkey deli meat; so why not make it at home for a fraction of the price. Even if you don’t have a smoker, you can still brine the breast and roast it in the oven at 325 degrees for 15 minutes per lbs. The internal temp needs to read 165 degrees.Most bone in turkey breasts will weigh between 6-8lbs. For maximum flavor, I like to brine my turkey breasts for 12 hours; pretty much overnight. The turkey breast will need to be pat dry and let to rest at room temp for at least an hour before smoking. If you want to add anymore seasonings to the outside of the breast such as Cajun, lemon pepper, mix herbs, honey, etc, do so now. I left mine plain since there is plenty of flavor in the brine.The nice thing about poultry is that it will take on the flavor of whatever wood chips you choose gor smoking. I used a combination of oak and cherrywood. Smoke the turkey breast at 250 degrees for 3 hours. At the 3 hour mark of smoking, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. You want the thermometer to read 165 degrees. Depending on the size of the breast, this can take an additional 15 minutes – 1 hour. Let the turkey breast rest for 30 minutes before serving.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- bone in turkey breast 6-8lbs
Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup sea salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp thyme
Wood Chips
- oak wood chips
- cherrywood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Place the turkey breast in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in the brine. Brine for 12 hours.
- Pat the turkey breast dry with paper towels. Let sit at room temp an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Place the turkey in the smoker. Smoke for 3 hours.
- At the 3 hour mark of smoking, use a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature in the thickest part of the breast. You want the thermometer to read 165 degrees. Depending on the size of the breast, this can take an additional 15 minutes – 1 hour.
- Let the turkey breast rest for up to 30 minutes before slicing.
Homemade Turkey Stock
Wait a minute. Hold it right there. Are you really going to throw away that turkey carcass? That carcass still has much more to give. What you really should be doing is turning that carcass into a batch of turkey stock. I couldn’t be easier to make and is a great substitute for chicken stock. I honestly think that it has a lot more flavor than chicken. If you don’t have a carcass, you can make stock out of wings, drumsticks, necks, and backs.There are a couple of different approaches to making your turkey stock. The most basic way to make stock is to throw the carcass, your mirepoix(carrots, celery, and onion), garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves into a pot of water and simmer it for hours; which is this particular recipe. If you want really extract the flavor from the carcass, place your carcass on a baking pan and roast it at 400 degrees for 1 hour. While that is roasting, sauté the mirepoix and garlic in the stock pot. Doing both of these steps will result in a richer, darker turkey stock. Personally, I don’t like to add any salt to my stock. I adjust the saltiness when I’m cooking with it; just in case another ingredient happens to be salty.When you’ve finished reducing the stock to your likeness, strain through a colander. I like to nibble on any leftover meat that was attached to the carcass. If not using within a few days, freeze the stock down into ice cube trays and store in freezer bags.
Ingredients
- turkey carcass
- 3 carrots cut into sticks
- 3 ribs celery cut into sticks
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 gallon water
Instructions
- Place the turkey carcass in a large stock.
- Add in the vegetables, peppercorns, and bay leaves.
- Pour in a gallon of water. Turn on high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 6 hours.
- You will want to reduce the stock by at least half. I reduced a gallon down to 6 cups.
- Strain the stock of the carcass and other ingredients.
