Ah,
fellow Agents of Christmas, this was not an easy day to jump right
out of bed. Freezing drizzle, even though it was outside does not
agree with arthritis! The whole house seemed cold as well as empty.
Just slave all weekend as Master is traveling. It would have been so
easy to just feel sorry for myself, but that is not what the season
is all about! It is not what slave is about either, So Here We Go!
A
quick check shows that the turkey breast is not thawed yet. This is
no reason to panic because we have planed ahead. This also gives a
great opportunity to learn the proper way to speed thaw!
From
the Butterball web site:
To
thaw, place unopened roast (Turkey Breast) in cold tap water for 3
to 5 hours. Change water every 30 minutes to keep turkey cold!
OK,
this also gives us a chance to check out how much fluid we will need
for the brining we will do Tuesday night!
Place
the pot in the sink and add COLD water. Place the unopened turkey
breast in the water and keep filling for a bit after the turkey
starts to float. Yes it will float. We do not want that either
today to thaw or tomorrow night when we are Brining. So lets try a
plate! It is not going to perfectly balance: however if it keeps the
bird under, that is all we ask!
When
thawed, keep in refrigerator until ready to cook. Cook within 4 days
of thawing.
Now
then Set a timer for 30 minutes (this is important!). When
that goes off, remove the plate and bird. Pour out the water and
repeat the process with fresh cold water. It is going to take 8 to
10 fills of the pot to get the bird thawed safely! NO NOT TRY TO
HURRY the process with hot or warm water, not only can this make you
violently sick it is possible you could cause someone else to get
violently sick or worse. It is not worth it.
Note:
use a ruler to measure how much fluid you are going to need by
checking the level when you remove the bird. In this case the level
is right at 5 inches below the lip. That way we can have a good
guess how much we need each time and how much we will need for the
brine!
=========================
So
while this process is going on and we have to be in the kitchen
anyway: lets bake some cookies! These make great little thank you
gifts for the person who does your hair, or any service person who
has treated you fairly all year.
In
fact it is a tradition to do this for the Postal delivery person on
the day after Christmas or “Boxing Day” as it is called in Great
Britain!
The
other day slave got the chance to take some cookies to a friend at
the Bad Dog Bar and Grill, Tiger. He was so nice in thanking me. He
even shared a recipe from his grandmother for Butter Cookies and said
that slave could share it on the blog! Slave always gets requests
for its “dreamsicle” type of cookie, so here are both for us to
make!
Easy
Orange Cream type cookie
Since
it has appeared before in this blog, here is an easy way to make it:
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 5 drops yellow food color
- 2 drops red food color
- 1 ½ cups white vanilla baking chips
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Directions
1.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In large
bowl, stir all ingredients except baking chips until soft
dough forms. Stir in baking chips.
This
batter is very stiff and will take some muscle. If you aree having
to much trouble with it try adding 2 Tbs of milk, but be careful with
it.
2.
On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, drop dough with 1½
tablespoon-size cookie scoop or by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2
inches apart.
3.
Bake 9 to 10 minutes or just until dough is set (do not
overbake). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling
racks. Cool completely.
========================
Grandma Roth’s Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
4 ¾ cups sifted all purpose flour
7oz butter (2Tbs less than 1 cup) softened
⅓ c nuts (black walnuts work the best)
½ c sugar
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla
Sift your dry ingredients before measuring them. This puts air into the flour and you end up using less. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until it is a light lemony color.
Break the eggs into a bowl, slave usually adds any vanilla or flavoring to them and gives them a quick mix before adding to the mixer bowl and blending in well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the flour by thirds into the mixer, each time stopping to scrape down the sides. Add the nuts last. The dough should now be pulling from the sides. Slave thanks modern-day KitchenAid, because this dough is heavy. Grandma Roth had strong arms!
Roll out some wax paper on the counter and sprinkle with powered sugar.
With a rolling pin, roll out the dough till it is about ¼ inch thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the shapes you wish. If you have trouble moving the raw cookie, try sliding the spatula under the cutter and moving the whole thing onto the parchment lined baking tray. Collect the scraps and reform, roll out again and repeat until all the dough is used. Keep sprinkling everything with powdered sugar to keep the dough from sticking and don't forget to spread it on the rolling pin and your hands too.
When the cookies are arraigned on the paper, brush them with beaten egg yoke then sprinkle with colored sugar bits.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 to 14 minutes until they are firm, they will only brown a little so watch closely.
Slave is told this recipe dates back to the 1800's!
A
big Thank You to Tiger for being so generous and allowing slave to
share this treasure with you!
Don't
forget You are thawing the bird.
EVERY HALF HOUR, CHANGE the water!
Serving
my Master Indy
socialslave
To
satisfy and restore.
To
nourish, support and maintain.
To
gratify, spoil,
comfort
and please,
to
nurture, assist, and sustain
…..I
cook!
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