Happy Good Friday! 4/2/21

That looks fantastic! I love Salmon :slight_smile:

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To safely defrost a whole bird overnight, make a brine:

Dissolve 2 cups of kosher salt (or pickling salt) in a gallon of water, warming it on the stove top until the water clears. Allow it to cool.

Pour the brine into a container with enough capacity to hold the bird + about an equal volume of water. Add the bird (no packaging), and fill the container the rest of the way with cold water.

Cover and refrigerate, or place outside or in un-heated shelter (in ambient temp of 28°F - 46°F) for 12 hours or longer.

Ideally, if time permits before cooking, another 12 hours of refrigeration, out of the brine, uncovered, will allow the skin to dry so that it crisps nicely. Applying a rub of fine salt for this step also helps produce a curing effect.

Tune in next week when we’ll discuss slicing eggplant thin enough to make it nearly edible.

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I love eggplant. I just made some the other night by cubing it up and pan frying it until the sides were a tad crisp. (people will laugh but crispy eggplant is very similar to a bacon flavor and crunch) I then added diced potato and onion and then ground beef. I added a touch of Siracha and Worcestershire and all the usual suspects. Salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, chili powder and a some adobo.

It was fannnntastic :slight_smile:

I usually do the eggplant parm stuff … but I was in no mood for all that prep of dipping and frying :wink:

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Sounds great.

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For me, brine ruins a bird. May as well soak it in mag citrate, if you get my drift. Don’t like that much salt. I usually get a fresh duck at a farmstand a ways up the road. Gotta order ahead. No brine, nice skin, cooks great. I usually don’t outright forget holidays, LOL!

As for Eggplant parm, we stopped frying it a long time ago. I grow the skinny snakey ones that are about 1" d, so the seedy middle is very small. Sliced thin and boiled, then stacked in a pan like lasagna with italian bread crumbs (dampened and mixed with melted butter,) a layer of sliced tomato, a couple layers of mozerella cheese and a whole jar of spaghetti sauce.

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That sounds great. I’ll have to try the eggplant that way next time :slight_smile:

gotta put the spaghetti sauce in the layers, like lasagna or it’s too dry

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It’s going on my to do list :smiley: How long do you let it boil?