Rendered Goose, Chicken, Duck or Turkey Fat & Crackling

We recently purchased a few Schiltz young American free-range geese and we went on a cooking spree!  We began by breaking down two of the geese, taking off the leg & thigh sections which we would confit.  We boned the breasts and those were set aside to make in different preparations.  The bones, wings and miscellaneous parts were roasted and then put in a stockpot for soup.  All the excess fat and skin was put into a pot so that the fat could be rendered and the skin made into delicious crackling.  Seriously, if you’re a fan of bacon fat and pork rinds, you ain't seen nothin’ till you’ve had goose fat and crackling…off the charts crazy delicious!

Making crackling and rendering the “liquid gold” fat is such a simple process.  It’s going to be wonderful having the fat in the freezer to use in making so many dishes.  Seriously, potatoes & vegetables roasted or sautéed in goose fat are the bomb!!  The cracking we enjoy snacking on and also using as a crunchy topping on salads and soup.  Any way that you’d enjoy pork rinds you can enjoy crackling.  This post shows us using goose, but the same process is used for chicken, duck and turkey fat.  All are wonderful and worth making.

Rendered Goose, Chicken, Duck or Turkey Fat & Crackling

• Fat and skin, cut into approximately 1-inch pieces, we used the excess skin & fat from 2 geese but you can use as much or as little as desired
• 1 cup water
• Himalayan sea salt 

Add the fat, skin & water to a heavy pot that is twice the depth of the amount of skin & fat.  The addition of the water will help the fat begin to render and more is not needed with the addition of more birds, but if using the skin and fat from 1 bird or less, reduce the amount to 1/4-1/2 cup.   Turn the heat to high, cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a full boil, remove the lid and reduce the temperature to bring the pot to a light boil.  As the fat renders and the water evaporates, the mixture may hiss or spatter.  Let the fat render out on the stove for about 2-3 hours depending on how low you have your flame. Be sure to give the fat a good stir with some tongs about every 1/2 hour  The fat will start out yellow and milky butt will turn clear and the skin and fat pieces with be golden brown. Now you’re ready.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the cracklings from the pot and drain on a paper towel lined plate, salt immediately.  Allow the liquid fat to cool slightly, then strain into clean, sealable containers using a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Store the duck fat covered in the refrigerator for up to 6 months or in the freezer for a year or more.

Enjoy!!

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata

It’s difficult to believe that our previous time participating in The Secret Recipe Club was way back in November!!  In some ways it feels like a long time ago, but with the holidays and all that they entail, the time passed quickly.  It’s really good to be back and participating again.  This month we were assigned Mellissa’s blog, A Fit & Spicy Life.  Mellissa is a healthy, wine-loving, dog-loving, recipe-loving gal and reading her blog allows a glimpse into her fun-loving life.

It was a cold, gray, rainy night the evening we perused Mellissa’s blog and the idea of something warm, comforting & easy was what made us stop and drool when we spotted her Bacon & Vegetable Frittata.  Seriously, there’s nothing easier, more comforting or delicious than a hearty breakfast for dinner so that’s exactly when and what we enjoyed, using Mellissa’s Bacon & Vegetable Frittata as the inspiration and guide for our meal.  Mellissa mentioned in her post, that a frittata “can be the best dish to use up all those veggies that are about to go bad” so we raided our veggie drawer and used what we had.  Also, to make it a bit heartier and because we had it already defrosted and it needed to be used, we added ground turkey to the mix.  In the end, with the inspiration of Mellissa’s recipe as our guide, we enjoyed a perfectly hearty breakfast for dinner frittata…and it reheated beautifully for meals later in the week.  Check out Mellissa’s Bacon & Vegetable Frittata and all her other recipes on A Fit & Spicy Life.

Hearty Bacon, Turkey & Vegetable Frittata (adapted from here)

• 8 Eggs
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper 
• 6 slices bacon, divided
• 2 cups fresh chopped (chunky) broccoli
• 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & ground pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup oven roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese

Heat oven to 325F.  In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy whipping cream, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. pepper, and set aside.  In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside.  Pour off all but 2 TBS. of the bacon fat and return the pan to the heat.  Add the broccoli and cook until tender and golden in spots.  Remove the broccoli from the pan and set aside.  Add the ground turkey & minced garlic to the pan and season with salt & pepper.  Cook the turkey until no longer pink, breaking it up as it cooks.  Add the roasted tomatoes just as the turkey finishes cooking.  Remove the pan from the heat and add back in the cooked broccoli.  Dice three of the bacon strips and add those to the pan along with the grated cheese, stir to combine.  Pour the contents of the pan into a 10-inch silicon cake pan which has been placed on a baking sheet, or if your pan is oven-proof, just keep the ingredients in the pan and continue.  Pour the egg mixture over the turkey/broccoli mix and top with the remaining three strips of bacon (each cut in half.)  Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbly delicious.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Chicken Satay with Sunbutter “Peanut” Sauce 
Asian Pork Chops 
Mango Salsa 
Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Check out the new SRC blog for more exciting recipes from past reveals

An InLinkz Link-up

Dan Dan Noodles ~ healthier~ low carbs but with Full Flavor!

I am not a huge pasta lover but I absolutely adore really spicy Dan Dan Noodles.  Recently I had a craving for them and instead of running out to my favorite Szechuan restaurant I decided to make them at home and to try and do a healthier version.  My concession to making them healthier was to replace the Chinese egg noodles with some no calorie/no carb Shirataki noodles and instead of pork (which I generally order) I decided to use some ground turkey breast. 

Holy cow this recipe rocked and had all the wonderful flavors found in the restaurant version and even better, I didn’t feel all full and bloated after eating it.  I just found a new winner with this recipe and I’ll be making it time and time again.  Oh and when Eammon tried it, he thought that I had brought in take-out ;-) 

Dan Dan Noodles 

• 1 lb. Shirataki noodles or 6 ounces dried Chinese egg noodles
• 1 TBS. peanut oil, or oil of your choice
• 6 ounces ground turkey, pork or beef
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger, chopped finely
• 2 dried red chili peppers, seeds and pods chopped finely
• 1 TBS. Shaoxing wine, Chinese cooking wine or Chinese rice wine
• 1 TBS. Chinese black vinegar 
• 2 ounces of Szechuan preserved vegetable/zha cai, soaked and chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 TBS. soy sauce 
• 2 tsp. Chinese sesame paste or tahini 
• 1/2 - 1 tsp. ground Szechuan peppercorns 
• 2 TBS. chili oil
• 1/4 cup finely ground dry roasted peanuts 
• 1/2 cup Cheaters Chicken Soup, chicken stock or water
• 1 tsp. sesame oil 
• 1 tsp. Whey Low granular or sugar
• sea salt to taste
• 2 green onions, chopped ~ for garnish

If using the Shirataki noodles, drain and rinse very well.  If using the Chinese egg noodles, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to package instructions. Drain the noodles, rinse under cold water, and drain again. Transfer the noodles to a serving dish.

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base and sides of the wok. Add the garlic, ginger and red chili peppers. Stir fry until lightly brown and fragrant.  Add in the meat, breaking it apart with a spatula. Stir-fry until the meat no longer pink and slightly browned. Add in the Chinese wine, black vinegar and Szechuan preserved vegetable and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add in the green onions, soy sauce, sesame paste, Szechuan peppercorns, chili oil, ground peanuts, chicken stock, sesame oil and sugar.

Stir well and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce thickens. Check the seasonings and add salt if needed.  Spoon the cooked meat mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle the chopped green onions on top before serving.  

Enjoy!

Roasted Spatchcocked Turkey

With everyone being sick this year at Thanksgiving, I just didn’t have it in me to make my usual Spiced Rubbed Turkey with Cognac Gravy and decided instead to make a simple Roasted Spatchcocked Turkey.  I’ve seen directions for making spatchcocked turkey all over the internet but I decided to just use one of my go-to easy and favorite poultry seasonings and not have to think about anything new.  Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, I split my turkey along the backbone and removed the bone and I also cracked the bird along the breast bone to make carving the bird later that much easier.  I prepared an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and added a rack on which the bird would sit. I rinsed and dried the turkey and spread it out, skin side down on the rack.  I seasoned the inside of the turkey then turned the turkey skin side up and seasoned the skin side.  I placed the turkey still skin side up, uncovered, into the refrigerator so that the skin could dry out a bit before cooking on Thursday.

Thursday, about an hour before I planned to put the turkey in the oven I removed the ready-to-go bird, already on it’s cooking pan from the fridge and let it warm up a bit on the counter.  The bird cooked perfectly in just shy of 1.5 hours and as you can see, all the skin was golden, crispy and delicious.  Making the bird this way doesn’t make for a beautiful whole bird presentation at the table but it sure makes carving the bird easy-peasy.  Because I had cracked the bird along the breast bone, once the turkey was cooked I easily used my poultry shears and just cut right up that center crease along the breast bone and moved the entire right half of the bird to my carving board.  I quickly cut off the wing and the thigh quarter and then separated the drum stick.  Next I removed the breast meat from the bone, giving me a gorgeous and moist boneless breast which was easily carved with a golden crisp piece of skin on each serving.  Because it was just the three of us and my parents, just half of the bird was all I needed for the serving platter.  All the turkey eaters heartily enjoyed the bird saying it was tender, juicy and delicious.   

Roasted Spatchcocked Turkey

• fresh turkey, mine was 12 pounds 
• sumac
• garlic powder
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper 

At least one day before cooking prepare the turkey.  Split the turkey along the backbone and removed it.  Save the removed backbone and use it either for making a stock for gravy or in soup.  Crack the bird along the breast bone to make carving the bird later that much easier.  Prepared an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and add a rack on which the bird will sit. Rinse and dry the turkey well and spread it out, skin side down on the rack.  I season the inside of the turkey with the sumac, garlic powder, salt & pepper and then turned the turkey skin side up and seasoned the skin side with the same.  Place the turkey still skin side up, uncovered, into the refrigerator so that the skin can dry out a bit before cooking.  When ready to cook, remove the bird from the refrigerator on it’s ready-to-go baking rack and pan about an hour before putting into the oven.  Preheat the oven to 450F and insert the probe of a programmable meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat.  Roast the bird for 75-90 minutes or until a meat thermometer in the breast meat registers 160F.  Once the bird reaches temperature remove from the oven and allow the bird to sit for 10-15 minutes before carving. 

To carve the bird use cooking shears and cut right up that center crease along the breast bone.  Moved half of the bird to a carving board and remove the wing and thigh quarter and then separate the drum stick.  Next removed the breast meat from the bone.  Carve the now boneless breast so that a golden crisp piece of skin is on each serving

Enjoy!

HELP!!! What do I feed her?

My foodie friends I need your help.  Last Friday I took Maisie in for her yearly physical and while the doctor said she was doing great and she’s healthy, strong and growing along her percentile curve she was concerned about Maisie’s allergies.  We have never had Maisie tested for allergies and I guess that it was always assumed that she had pollen allergies but lately pollen counts are at almost zero and Maisie is still suffering.  So last Friday they drew blood and today the doctor called with the results and that’s why I need your help.  Maisie’s tests showed that she didn’t have any pollen or environmental allergies but that she is allergic to egg whites, milk and wheat.  Just frikkin great because that accounts for all her favorite foods.

It’s ironic because just yesterday on our family blog, Moments with Maisie, I posted that Maisie eats Nutella on wheat bread almost every morning and now there is nothing in that sentence which she can have as obviously the bread has wheat and Nutella contains milk…Cr@p!!

Maisie’s favorite foods are pasta, cheese, Nutella, eggs and dumplings and it’s from the cheese, Nutella, eggs and dumplings where she gets most of her protein as she’s not a huge meat eater.  So my dear helpful readers I need your help with food options for my girl as I have no idea what to feed her now that I need to remove egg whites, milk and wheat from her diet and I’m freaking out!  Truly, anyone who has experience with this I would appreciate your comments and recipe suggestions. 

In other food related news, I still have to plan my Thanksgiving menu but just haven’t had time to think about it yet.  I do know that we are going to have Spice Rubbed Turkey with Cognac Gravy, the same turkey as last year as it was freaking amazing and I don’t even really care for turkey but I’m looking forward to having this one again.  Past the turkey I just don’t know yet but I’ll figure it out.  If you’re still looking for a fabulous turkey recipe, just click on the picture to be taken to the recipe.

Enjoy!

Spice Rubbed Turkey with Cognac Gravy

I made this turkey for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit, everyone adored the flavor and it was super moist and juicy.  This recipe will be repeated again and again.  For those thinking that something might not look right with the picture, I roast my bird dark meat up as I find that roasting it that way produces a much moister and juicier bird. 

Spice Rubbed Turkey with Cognac Gravy (Adapted from Bon Appétit November 2006)

*****Be sure to rub the turkey with the spice mixture at least one day if not two before roasting*****

1 (18- to 20-pound) turkey; neck, heart, and gizzard reserved for giblet broth

5 TBS ground coriander
1 TBS ground cumin
1 TBS ground black pepper
1 tsp ground roasted cinnamon
2 TBS coarse kosher salt
3 TBS smoked sweet paprika
5 1/2 cups chicken broth

Giblet broth:
5 cups chicken broth
2 lbs turkey necks

Giblet gravy:
1 cup dry white vermouth
1/2 cup Cognac
Wondra flour
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix coriander, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, salt and paprika together. Rinse and dry the turkey well.  Then set the turkey on a rack set in large roasting pan; tuck wings under. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon spice mixture in main cavity of the turkey and spread the remaining spice mixture all over turkey skin; tie legs together to hold shape. Turn turkey breast side down.  Refrigerate uncovered for 24 to 48 hours.

Before roasting let turkey stand 1 hour at room temperature.

Set rack at lowest position in oven and preheat to 450°F. Pour 3 cups of chicken broth into pan with turkey. Cook for 20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.  Roast turkey 1 hour and then pour 2 cups broth over turkey. Continue roasting until thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast registers 161°F, about 1 hour longer.

Meanwhile, prepare giblet broth.  Place the turkey necks as well as the reserved turkey neck, heart, and gizzard in medium saucepan; add 5 cups chicken broth.  Simmer 1 hour. Strain and then skim any fat from surface of giblet broth. 

Once the turkey reaches temperature, transfer turkey to platter, tent loosely with foil and let stand 30 minutes (internal temperature of turkey will rise 5 to 10 degrees).

For giblet gravy:  Skim off the fat from the surface of the pan juices. Place roasting pan over 2 burners set at medium-high heat. Add vermouth and Cognac to pan and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits.  Sprinkle in about 1/4 cup of Wondra and whisk.  As the pan juices start to thicken whisk in the giblet broth and bring to a boil.  Add more Wondra if necessary until gravy coats the back of a spoon or to the gravy consistency you desire.  Salt & pepper to taste.  

Carve turkey and serve with gravy.

Enjoy!!