I was prepared to be unimpressed with our brined chicken. After all, how much better could it be simply from soaking in salt, sugar and herbs overnight? Answer: a lot better. After years of trying to induce flavor into chicken–stuffing it with herbs, surrounding it with herbs in the roasting pan, pushing seasonings under the [...]
Can you believe that after all these years of cooking, I’ve never brined a chicken? Not a turkey, either. Well, our next project for Charcutepalooza is brining. They suggested pork chops. But I’ve already brined pork. I wanted to try something different. So I chose the chicken recipe ouf of our guiding text–Michale Ruhlman’s Charcuterie. Calling [...]
Tags: brining·Charcutepalooza·chicken
The menu my wife devised for a recent catered dinner party included a pork tenderloin brined, then grilled. The pork was so outstanding–as evidenced by guests visiting the kitchen to make comments–I thought the process was worth sharing. There’s nothing really new about brining meats to infuse flavor, but pork seems to benefit especially. This [...]
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
What's in your turkey? We killed and butchered more than 80 birds on the farm of Mike and Michelle Klein in Prince George's County. Thankfully, Michelle did the gutting. Unfortunately, Mike bought his turkey chicks earlier than usual and they did not stop growing. Our prize for helping was a carcass that weighed nearly 40 pounds. It barely fit in the oven. Here, Mike is subjecting a slaughtered bird to the "magic fingers," a machine with a nubby, rotating barrel that removes most of the feathers. 
© 2009 The Slow Cook — Design by Keri Marion
