The Perfect Roast Turkey

 The star of any Thanksgiving table is the roast turkey.it has to be golden brown perfection, with juicy meat and a buttery flavor. what does it take to get the ideal bird? A variety of different methods and ingredients some surprisng some traditional.

Regular contributor and chef J. Kenji Lopez-Alt explored this in today's New YorkTimes Food section. Thanksgiving is only two weeks away(!!!!) and hime chefs across the country are getting antsy about roasting the best version of turkey. There are many ways to achieve this and any one from the novice home chef to experienced cook can achieve this. Keep in mind that turkey ,like most poultry. has both dark and light meat.That means different conistencies that have to be cooked two different ways. Dark meat has an abundance of connective tissues which needs to be cooked hot and long  so that the tough , elastic collagen breaks down to essentially a gelatin. This moistens and tenderizes the meat. The temperature to enable this has to be between 170 and 180 degrees Farenheit, Unfortunately this will dry out the leaner, white met which only needs less than 160 degrees Farenheit before it turns dry and stringy. Home chefs need a method to figure out how to roas tht etwo meats or alter how the meat reacts to the temps.. Chef Lopez-Alt recommneds doing these simultaneously.

How though? It starts with brining. A salt brine is much better as it brings out the juices. You could go with a dry brine which is simply salnting the bird before cooking it. You can easily cook it in a wet brine. The salt breaks down the bundles  of protein sheaths call fibrils which wrap themselves around the turkey's muscles. The fibrils are like fiber optic cables which gives meat its' distinctive grain, A liquid brine can require a large pot which takes up fridge room along with diluting the turkey's flavor. Chef Lopez-Alt recommends an unusual brine - mayo. Dry brine it first then slather a mix of Hellmanns', parsley, sage and thyme. Also add in scallions lemons and kosher salt. Get this mix into every crack and crevice. Save what's left over for the next day turkey sandwiches. As for the roasting butterflying is the best way. You will need meat scissors for this.It's cutting the lengs and spreading them away from the body. The breastbone is broken and flattened. Cooking a "flattened" turkey allows for the meat to cook faster .It just requires a lower temp in a faster amount of time.It only takes an hour an half to thoroughly cook. You can even cook it with a layer of veggies to prevent th e drippings from drying out. keep in mind this only works for turkey's weighing between ten and fourteen pounds

The perfectly roasted bird can be had. It just taking an untraditional methods to get the crisp skin and juicy meat. It may be different but worth it,.

A Spin On Spaghetti

 Spaghetti is always good whether it's with a  traditional marinara sauce or just con burro with butter. yet they go to a new level with an Vietnamese - American spin on them.It's a tasty and  relatively easy way to enjoy this classic pasta.

Regular contributor and chef, J. Kenji Lopez Alt wrote about them in yesterday's New York Times Food section. They were the creation of Helen An at Thanh Long Restaurant in San Francisco and have become a much beloved classic of the city. It all started with Ms. An's family the Trans fleeing North Vietnam in 19955 and settling in the South Vietnamese city of Dalat. Twenty years later she was forced to flee again, this time with her husband and three daughters to San Francisco. It was here where they arrived penniless to live with her mother-in-law Diana, a small deli owner. Thanh Long's history is murky. Elizabeth An, Helen's daughter claimed her grandmother bought an Italian deli however there is an ad from 1971 promoting it as a Vietnamese one. Ms. An who had experience in both Chinese and French cuisine  felt the restaurant would have more success if the dishes appealed to a local clientele. A disappointing dinner at a Nob Hill Italian restaurant  gave birth to the garlic noodles.It a mix of whole wheat  noodle sauteed with fistfuls of garlic and a blend of fish oyster, and soy sauces. 

Chef Kenji Lopez puts his own spin on it. He uses spaghetti instead of  the whole wheat noodle  - a nod to its' Italian roots. and another innovation, cooking them in a skillet. Gone is the big pot filled with quarts of boiling water. It also means more concentrated pasta water which provides for a tasty plate. He cooks it for two minutes shorter than recommended for a chewy al dente texture and then transfers it to a wok or saucepan. The flavor comes from the addition of four tablespoons of butter (or a plant based one like Melt). There is a lot of garlic  - namely twenty cloves, mashed in a mortar and pestle . You could lessen it by half if it's not to your liking. It's then time to add the sauces. Keep in mind this will have a briny , fish flavor, thanks to the fish and oyster sauce. Chef Lopez-Alt uses four teaspoons of the oyster and two for the fish and soy. However you can adjust the amounts depending on your taste. It seems like a dish that can constantly be adjusted with each make,Scallions are added for color and flavor and Pecorino Romano cheese for more flavor.

Garlic noodles are an interesting spin on spaghetti. Try them for a different type of pasta dinner.It's a nice change up from the usual.

The Perfect Plate Of Scrambled Eggs

 Who doesn't like a plate of scrambled eggs? They're the perfect breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal, on their own or with any kind of breakfast meat. The key is creating a mix of creamy and firm curds together. Can it be done? Yes!

Chef J. Kenji Lopez Alt decided to experiment with this humble dish and write about his findings in yesterday's New York Times Food section. You would think a dish that only requires eggs butter and sometimes water would be a snap to create. It's not. Scrambled eggs can have textures that range from drippy to rubbery and sometimes with no in betweens. Chef Lopez Alt breaks down the recipe to give a dish of scrambled eggs something creamy and flavorful.  He first analyzes the egg - namely their proteins. All eggs contain ovalbumin and transferrin which start to denature as they're cooked over heat. The hotter these proteins become, the tighter the matrix becomes, resembling a sponge with all the moisture wrung out of it. Then there's the cause of this heat - the pan. It's best to start cooking in a cold pan which will result in dense and creamy eggs. The rising steam from it will give the texture an airy souffle like mouth feel. You could also preheat the pan with a bit of water in it, swirling it as the water evaporates., This also lets you know that the pans temperature is about 212 degrees Farenheit, the perfect temp for cooking eggs.

What about add in like salt and butter? Eggs that are salted before cooking will retain moisture better. Salt them and let them sit awhile. As for butter, yes use small cubes of it. Doing so will result in a more French style omelet. The eggs surround the butter cubes are kept cooler causing them to set more cooler. This creates a rich buttery sauce that mingles and coats the firmer curds. You could use creme fraiche or heavy cream too but butter is your best bet.Now, here's an ingredient you may not think of adding but it is vital in Asian egg dishes - cornstarch. Food blogger Mandy Lee was making a scrambled egg dish for her sick puppy and added cornstarch. She noticed how creamy the eggs were even though they were set. From there she experimented, adding a cornstarch slurry  to her own scrambled eggs , to keep them creamy and tender.Also the cornstarch, which can be replaced by potato and/or tapioca starch keeps moisture from escaping. The eggs will maintain their moisture thanks to the starch granules expanding during cooking. This means a scramble that's not dried out or tough.

Can you create the perfect plate of scrambled eggs? Absolutely! Follow Chef Lopez Alt's advice and you'll be enjoying a bite of creamy , scrambled deliciousness. It's easy now to turn something so simple into something so sinful!