Gute Essen

Brining and Ice Cream and Sweet Potatoes and Bread! Oh my!

      Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | Leave a comment »

pumpkinsI'm already exhausted and it's not yet Thursday. Shit; it's not yet Wednesday. Next year I'm letting someone else cook.

Tonight I've:
Made a brine (basic Cook's Illustrated brine)
Made sweet potatoes (mashed with a butter rum sauce)
Made the base for Pumpkin ice cream

And I should be starting the rolls tonight, but really, I'm just way too exhausted to do anymore. It just makes me tired to realize that I still have to smoke one of the turkeys, brine and roast the other, churn the ice cream, peel 10 lbs of potatoes for mashed potatoes, make those mashed potatoes and bake rolls. Maybe I'll just buy bread.

Basic Brine

This makes enough for a turkey. A 12lbs turkey. But probably for a bigger bird. I brine in a large drink cooler, since, well, it's food grade plastic. And it's big and insulated.

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 2 gallons water

  1. Combine and heat to dissolve. Let cool completely, put in fridge over night. Brine turkey for up to 8 hours.

Sweet Potatoes

I hate marshmallows on sweet potatoes. They're sweet enough as it is! This is a little more savory, but still has a good sweetness to it.

  • 5 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup dark rum
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 2 tbls butter
  • pinch kosher salt
  • 1 cup toasted pecans

  1. Steam the sweet potatoes until soft (20-25 minutes)
  2. Heat the rest of the ingredients, except the nuts, over high heat — let simmer for 5-10 minutes to cook out some of the alcohol.
  3. Put the potatoes and rum sauce together and mash until chunky.
  4. Top with nuts, 10 minutes before serving, sprinkle a thin yet even layer of white sugar on top and place under broiler to brûlée.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

  • 1 can pumpkin (not pie mix, actual pumpkin)
  • 1 pint half and half
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tbls grated ginger
  • 4 tbls dark rum

  1. Bring all ingredients together. Refrigerate overnight, and mix in your ice cream maker following instructions for machine.

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