I've Died...(part 2)

...and gone to turkey heaven. Again.

As I mentioned yesterday, my husband and I are deeply committed to cooking the perfect holiday turkey. This year we think we may have found it....

But before I unveil the finished bird, let's review. First there was the 24-hour brine.

And then the butterflying technique whereby the turkey is cut in half and laid out flat.

One additional intermediary step that I unfortunately forgot to snap photos of is the herbed-butter rub. This is where you create an intoxicating blend of herbs (the trifecta again: rosemary, sage and thyme), garlic, salt and pepper, and mix it into a buttery spread.

Then you rub the buttered mix in between the skin and meat of the turkey. This makes the turkey taste divine. Trust me. Divine.

And finally it is ready for the grill. As I said yesterday, this is the first year we have grilled our bird. And it is unquestionably the only way we'll cook our turkeys in the future.

It was that good.

That good, people.

The charcoal briquets were laid into the bottom of an old propane grill we had along with a drip pan and hickory chips (ummm...hickory...), and the turkey was laid out directly over the grate.

I only wish you could smell it.

And here, my friends, is the final result. It is a golden masterpiece if I do say so.

It took about two hours on the grill to get up to 165 degrees (the temp needed to avoid nasty things like food poisoning), and then another 10 minutes to rest.

And the flavor. Oh the flavor. The smoky goodness hits you first, followed by the more subtle hint of herbs. And both the white and dark meats were so juicy.

Let me just say that there were lots of high-fives and self-congratulations at the Hillberry house.

And of course some very hungry dogs hoping to get lucky.

They know a good turkey when they smell one.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the sides, like the artichoke parmesan stuffing I tried, and of course homemade apple pie!

in case you want to try:
recipe for grilled butterflied turkey from Sunset Magazine

Pizza Adventure on the Grill

"You have to blog about this."
"This is the funnest thing I've Ever done with a grill."
"I can't believe how cool this is."
"This is the kind of cooking men like."

The above were all comments made by my husband this past weekend when we decided to try one of Sunset's recipes for homemade pizza on the grill. Seriously--I've never seen anyone so enthused about cooking. He was like a kid. And even I have to admit that it was one of the best times we've ever shared in the kitchen. It started with homemade dough...


I used the dough recipe from the magazine, but dumped it into my bread machine instead of following their instructions. Which turned out okay...except that I had to add more flour and let it rise again. Once it was finished rising, I flattened it into rounds on oiled parchment squares as instructed.

At this point I admit that we were very skeptical. The dough was very thin and we were convinced that it was going to slip right through the grill grates, forcing us to order delivery at the last minute.


But as you can see, it bubbled up perfectly on the grill. We laid ours over charcoal to give it a nice smoky flavor, but you can also use gas. The tricky part is getting the dough onto the grill and then peeling the parchment off--it's a little awkward. But once you get the hang of it, it is smooth sailing.


The dough grills up quickly, so we definitely needed to have the toppings ready to go. All told we made 6 pizzas with four different topping combos. They were:


Leftover rotisserie chicken with onion, mozarella and barbecue sauce. Delicious! This was definitely one of our favorites.


A classic tomato sauce with basil and mozzarella. I made the sauce using a can of diced tomatoes (Sunset called for fresh, but I didn't have enough so I improvised) and the basil was from the garden. I did splurge a little and buy "fancy" mozzarella instead of the standard rectangular block or preshredded variety. We both agreed that it was indeed more flavorful, and I highly recommend it.


This one was rosemary, onion and cheese, and it was probably my favorite. The flavor from the rosemary was unexpectedly earthy, and balanced out the onion and cheese really well. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.


Finally, our last recipe was sundried tomato with basil and goat cheese. I confess that this was our least favorite combination, but if you are a goat cheese pizza fan, this is a great one to try!

We've certainly made homemade pizza before, but I think the thing that set this apart from our other efforts was the grilling. Not only was it fun to watch the dough bubble up on the grill, but it created a light, crispy crust with a smoky taste. If you've never grilled your pizza before, you've got to try it before summer ends!

Thanks to Sunset for a great idea!

Previous Related Posts about summer cooking:
What a Tart!
Peach Cobbler
How to Eat your Garden Peas (aka last night's dinner)

Crave

For some reason lately I've been craving this yellow-cake recipe I read about in one of Sunset's spring issues.

I don't even like yellow cake.

Or, at least I don't prefer it to all the other cakes and pies out there in the world of homebaked goods. But the Sunset recipe just looked so tasty, and even though it's the season for fruit tarts and stacked trifles, I've been drawn to a little more substance.



So I creamed the butter and the sugar. There are 2 sticks of butter in this recipe, folks. That's right--2. It's not for the faint hearted.



And I chopped the chocolate for the frosting. As is the case for homegrown veggies and homemade apple pie--the real thing tastes Much better than the stuff in a can. Chocolate frosting is no exception.



Then of course there was the cooling and the frosting.

And then the cutting....



And of course I had to try some. The cake was...I'm not going to lie...a little on the dense side, most likely due to the high elevation I live at. But it tastes fabulous. Especially the frosting.

Ahh...Craving satisfied.

Here's the recipe, if you want to bake one up for yourself (and others, of course. Please don't eat it all yourself!):
Fudge Butter Cake from Sunset Magazine

Previous Related Posts:
Sundae Social
A Tale of Backyard Tomatoes
How to Eat Your Garden Peas

It's So Trendy!

I consider it just plain lucky that gardening is getting so popular during the midst of this Recessionista series. Because, as I've said before, growing your own food is an excellent way to save money, meet new friends, and increase the sustainability of your community.

Edible Paradise?
I was therefore thrilled when I received my new copy of Sunset magazine (a great glossy for us Westerners) and saw that they had a feature section on turning your backyard into an edible paradise. The magazine highlighted three different gardeners, each demonstrating a different style of growing food. Living in an apartment with a balcony? Learn great container garden tips from a couple from San Francisco. Love to cook your own herbs and veggies? Read how from a Seattle foodie. Or be a real overachiever and turn your entire lawn into an edible feast using tips from a cookbook author.

Beyond these motivational stories, Sunset also provides a Ton of information about gardening in the West, including tips for soils, composting, planting schedules, garden designs, and more. It is certainly the place I went to this year when I wanted to know if I could plant lettuce seeds in March (yes), or basil in shade (no).

Plotting More to Come
I'm plotting some fun gardening ventures for all of us Recessionistas this spring, so stick around to hear more about those, or subscribe to my newsletter and get the inside scoop delivered directly to you!

Well, I'm signing off for the weekend--hope you enjoy yours! See you next Monday for more on Recessionista!

Catch up on this week's posts:
Los Angeles Weekend: spring break vacation update
At Least a Lighter Wallet Weighs Less...
The Two-Step Shuffle
Smarty Pants: Is Staying Home Foolish in a Recession?
Kicking my Budget into Gear
I'm Lovin' It!