San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 16, 2011
Who would imagine that one of San Franciscos best Italian restaurants would be the source for a perfectly cooked, stress-free holiday turkey recipeserved with divinely inspired bourbon-gin gravy that would have had Julia Childs raising a toast or two?
Each year, loyal customers of Palio DAsti (http://www.paliodasti.com) flock to the downtown dining destination on Thanksgiving Day to partake of Chef Dan Scherotters family-style three-course feast, which includes multiple appetizers, seven side dishes like Nonna used to make, a trio of pies, organic chocolates, and of course entrees, including his incredibly succulent and flavorful turkey.
For those who come to dine at the Michelin-recognized comfortable dining restaurant, the cost is $ 59 per person and kids under 10 pay their age. But for those who prefer to try their hand at a home-cooked version, a little cooking skill and the ability to follow a recipe is all thats needed.
If youve ever eaten turkey, youre probably familiar with uneven cooking syndrome: if the breasts are juicy, the legs and thighs arent done, and if the dark meat is done, the white meat is cardboard. If that isnt bad enough, roasting the whole bird doesnt give you what you need for the most important part: the gravy, said Chef Dan.
So what I do is braise the legs, thighs and wingslike osso bucountil the meat is falling-off-the-bone tender. This part can be done up to 23 days beforehand, which is a big stress reliever. Separately, on the Big Day I roast the breasts off the bonelike prime ribuntil its medium and still juicy. The whole recipe requires a little more effort, but it saves a lot of time, guesswork and fiddling at the last minute.
SEPARATED TURKEY WITH BOURBON-GIN GRAVY
Ingredients
1 Turkey
4 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Yellow onions, chopped coarsely
1 Large carrot, chopped coarsely
1 Head of celery, chopped coarsely
1 Bunch of fresh sage
1 Stick unsalted butter
? cup All-purpose flour
1 lb ????Bacon, cut into pieces
1 cup plus one shot each of bourbon and gin
2 cups dry white wine or vermouth
Coarse grained kosher salt and black pepper to taste
COOKING THE TURKEY AND GRAVY3 PARTS
Separate the turkey into parts (instructions below) or ask the butcher to do it. Place chopped onion, carrot, several stalks of celery and two bay leaves in a 12 gallon stockpot. Add turkey bones and cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 4 hours, then strain.
Heat your largest frying pan until its HOT. Add enough oil to sear. Salt the legs, thighs and wings and brown over a medium-high flame in batches until golden on both sidesfive minutes or so. Place the browned meat in a casserole-sized baking dish. Discard the pan oil and add the bacon. Brown and render its fat; put all remaining vegetables and garlic in to the bacon fat to brown, scrapping the bottom of the pan. Add sage leaves and stir. When the vegetables start to brown and caramelize, carefully pour in a cup of bourbon mixed with a cup of gin. THIS WILL LIGHT ON FIRE, SO STAND BACK. Let it light and reduce a bit. When the flame dies and the alcohol is all burned off, add the wine or vermouth and the remaining bay leaves. Salt to taste, and pour over the legs, thighs and wings. Pour the strained turkey stock over that until the legs and thighs are just covered with liquid. Salt to taste.
Cover the casserole tightly with foil and bake in a 350-degree oven for 22? hours, until falling-off-the-bone tender. When its done, pull it out and uncover. You can do this part up to 3 days ahead of time. It will keep just fine in the liquid.
For the gravy, place some of the already strained braising liquid into a straight-sided cast iron or nonstick sauce pan. To make the roux, melt the butter slowly and add the sifted flour. Stir slowly with a wooden spoon until tan colored. Be careful not to burn any part. After the mixture is lump-free and has the consistency of thick batter, put it into a slow (350-degree) oven for 510 minutes. Stir in braising liquid, a little at a time, until its the consistency you like, and adjust for salt. Add one more shot each of gin and bourbon and let simmer for at least 2030 minutes, until the flour taste is gone and the alcohol has evaporated.
The breasts should be cooked the same day as the meal, as the breasts take only 3045 minutes. Tie them up in rings with butchers twine to be more or less log-like with nearly even thickness from end to end to guarantee even cooking. Oil, salt and pepper the skin very liberally. Put breasts on a roasting rack in a hot oven (500 degrees). Roast until the internal temperature reaches 130 degrees or, when you stick an ice pick into the center of the end, the juice that comes out runs clear-pink. (A classic rule of restaurant cooking is that you can always cook it more)
Remove the breasts from the oven and let rest 15 minutes before slicing, or the juices will run everywhere. While the breasts are resting, warm the separated braised dark meat by heating it in the liquid. When ready, remove the string from the breasts and slice in nice, even round slices. Sprinkle a little coarse kosher salt onto the meat for display.
SEPARATING THE TURKEY
Using a sharp boning knife, face the turkey toward you, breasts up. Cut straight down the middle of the bird along either side of the breast bone to separate the breasts one at a time by allowing the tip of the knife to slide parallel to the bone while peeling the breast away. Follow the bone, and try not to leave any meat on the carcass. Use long, slow swipes to separate the two breast halves and continue until each breast is off. Between the breast and the leg, there is skin attached. Cut it, leaving as much skin on the breast as possible, then put the breasts in the refrigerator.
The wings separate at the joint. Its better to pop them out of their sockets than cut them outbut either way works just fine. Cut the wings into three segments each and put aside. To separate the legs and the thighs, point the bird away from you, so youre facing the cavity. Slide the knife between the thighs and the body. Put your palms on both knees and spread them hard, pushing them down into the table. This should pop both thighs right out of their sockets. If it doesnt, put your hand beneath the thigh, feel the socket with your middle finger, push and bend it back till it pops out. Use the knife to separate the thigh from the back bone. Separate the drumsticks from the thighs and put them, along with the wings, in the refrigerator, covered.
Take whats left of the carcass and hack it up until it will fit in a small stockpot (1 to 2 gallons) to make the stock noted previously.
About Palio dAsti - Italian Restaurant San Francisco
Celebrating 21 years of authentic, seasonal Italian cuisine with a Slow Foods approach, Palio features classic and contemporary Italian regional fare as well as special holiday menus combined with exceptional white tablecloth service. The San Francisco Italian restaurant is open Monday through Friday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm for ala carte lunch, and Monday through Saturday from 5:30 to 9:00 pm for prix fixe dinner. Palio also hosts the best San Francisco Happy Hour, featuring a wide selection of artisan pizza for only $ 1 with the purchase of two adult beverages from 4:00 to 7:00 pm Monday through Friday.
Palio dAsti is also a top San Francisco party venue available for private dining 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner and midday corporate meetings and presentations. Located at 640 Sacramento Street between Kearny and Montgomery in San Francisco, Palio offers validated parking during lunch and dinner at the Portsmouth Square Garage, only 1? blocks
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