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Perfect Gravy Every Time

Pan juices from the turkey and roasting pan

1/4 cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

5 cups turkey or chicken broth

1 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Strain the pan juices into a fat separator or bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes. Skim and discard the fat from the surface; set the juices aside.

Place the empty roasting pan over 2 burners over medium-high heat. Add the wine and cook, stirring and scraping to dissolve any bits stuck to the pan, for 2 minutes. Add the butter and melt. Sprinkle with the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Still stirring, slowly add first the broth, then 1 cup of the reserved juices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently until the gravy has thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and season with the salt and pepper. Strain just before serving.

If Your Gravy Is Too Thin: Whisk 2 teaspoons cornstarch into 2 teaspoons cold water, or combine 1 tablespoon room-temperature butter with 1 tablespoon flour to form a paste. Whisk into 4 to 5 cups of barely simmering gravy and cook, stirring constantly, until the gravy thickens.

If Your Gravy Is Too Thick: Add more of the reserved pan juices or warmed turkey or chicken broth, 1 tablespoon at a time. Or try a splash of a flavorful fortified wine, such as Madeira or sherry.

The Leftovers

1. Store all leftovers in clean airtight containers.

2. Smaller portions cool faster than larger, so divide your dishes into more manageable amounts and place them in the refrigerator. Try and begin refrigerating the leftovers within about two hours of cooking. It is not necessary to let piping hot items cool before refrigerating.

3. If you have prepared stuffing, remove it from the cavity before storing.

4. Never store food in cans. This can result in a metallic taste left in the food.

5. Make sure the cool air in the refrigerator can circulate by not overstuffing it.

German Chocolate Cake Recipe

For cake layers

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 3/4 cup boiling-hot water

For filling

• 14 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
• 8 ounces coarsely chopped pecans (2 cups)
• 28-ounces, 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla

For glaze

• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 10 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
•   

• Make cake layers:
  Preheat oven to 350°F and oil cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk together whole milk, butter, whole egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond extract in another large bowl until just combined. Beat egg mixture into flour mixture with an electric mixer on low speed, then beat on high speed 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in water until just combined (batter will be thin). Divide batter among cake pans (about 1 1/2 cups per pan) and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans and rotating them 180 degrees halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes total.

  Cool layers in pans on racks 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove parchment or wax paper and cool layers completely.

  Make filling:
  Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

  Spread coconut in a large shallow baking pan and pecans in another. Bake pecans in upper third of oven and coconut in lower third, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 18 minutes. Remove pans from oven.

  Increase oven temperature to 425°F.

  Pour condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Bake milk in a water bath in middle of oven 45 minutes. Refill baking pan with water to reach halfway up pie plate and bake milk until thick and brown, about 45 minutes more. Remove pie plate from water bath.

  Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla and keep warm, covered with foil.

  Make glaze while milk is baking:
  Melt butter in a 3-quart saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate and corn syrup, whisking until chocolate is melted. Transfer 1 cup glaze to a bowl, reserving remaining glaze at room temperature in pan. Chill glaze in bowl, stirring occasionally, until thickened and spreadable, about 1 hour.

  Assemble cake:
  Put 1 cake layer on a rack set over a baking pan (to catch excess glaze). Drop half of coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly over layer and gently spread with a wet spatula. Top with another cake layer and spread with remaining filling in same manner. Top with remaining cake layer and spread chilled glaze evenly over top and side of cake. Heat reserved glaze in pan over low heat, stirring, until glossy and pourable, about 1 minute. Pour glaze evenly over top of cake, making sure it coats sides. Shake rack gently to smooth glaze.

  Chill cake until firm, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a plate. 

Chicken Parmesan Recipe

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
Pinch sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 11/2 pounds)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1 (8-ounce) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained
Freshly grated Parmesan
1 pound spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente

1. Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves; cook and stir for 5 minutes until fragrant and soft. Add the olives and some hand-torn basil. Carefully add the tomatoes (beware of oil splashing), cook and stir until the liquid is cooked down and the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes; season with sugar, salt and pepper. Lower the heat, cover, and keep warm.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

3. Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little assembly line. Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/2-inch thick. Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, season with salt and pepper.

4. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

5.Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil. Bake the Chicken Parmesan for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti.

Quick Guide to Buying and Preparing Fish

Fish is such a great option for a lighter dinner. It is healthy and quick to prepare. Still there are many of you out there who are completely intimidated with it comes to buying and cooking fish. The following guide might help.

1. Find out when the fish arrived at the store. In many stores fish arrives fresh on Wednesdays and Fridays.

2. If possible smell the fish before buying. This is one of the best indications if the fish is fresh. The odor should be sweet and clean, with no strong fish smell.

3. Examine the flesh of the fish. Cracks indicate that the fish is drying out. Make sure that the skin does not feel slimy.

4. Even through the packaging you can press the meat to see if it is firm and will spring back to shape. If it does not them the fish is old and beginning to break down.

5. Cook the fish on the day you buy it. Keep the meat as cold as possible on the way home from the store by packing it is a shallow container with ice.

6. Count on about six ounces per person when serving. This is just the edible meat. If serving whole fish add about another six ounces.

7. delicate - sole, flounder, turbot, plaice and fluke. Delicate fish will break apart easily and should be treated gently. Usually these are sold as fillets are are best poached or baked.

8. medium - trout, catfish, salmon, mahi-mahi, grouper, snapper and tilapia. The meat is firmer and incredibly versatile. You can bake, broil, pan fry or grill with success.

9. firm - pompano, amberjack, tuna, shark and swordfish. The texture of these is going to be meatier and they tend to respond best to high heat cooking, such as grilling or pan frying.

Cornmeal Crusted Grouper Recipe

If you are new to preparing fish and worried about the fish drying out while cooking then use a coating. This will keep the meat tender and juicy and is a little more forgiving.

3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt (additional to taste)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (additional to taste)
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 to 6 grouper fillets (about 6 ounces each 3/4 inch thick)
6 tablespoons canola oil
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place rack in the upper third.

1. In a resealable plastic bag combine the bread crumbs, cornmeal, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and shake to mix.

2. Place the eggs in a shallow dish.

3. Season the fish with salt and pepper to taste on both sides. Working with one fillet at a time, place the fish in the bag and shake to coat well with crumbs. Dip the fish into the eggs, then shake in the crumbs again to thoroughly coat. Transfer to a plate. Continue with each fillet.

4. In a large over-proof skillet (cast iron is perfect), heat 3 tablespoons of the oil on high heat until hot but not smoking. Fry the fillets until the undersides are golden brown, about one minute. Turn the fillets and add the remaining oil and fry one minute more.

5. Place the skillet in the preheated oven and bake until the fish is just cooked through, about five minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Espresso-Raspberry Macarons Recipe

This is one of our trickier recipes. But your patience will be rewarded with some delicious cookies that have a satisfyingly chewy texture.

You will need a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, and a pastry bag (or quart size resealable zip lock bag with the corner cut off) fitted with a 3/8 inch plain tip, and an offset spatula.

Makes about 2 dozen cookie sandwiches.

for the macarons:

3 oz almond flour (2/3 cup) or blanched sliced almonds (3/4 cup) or slivered almonds (2/3 cup)
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon instant-espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 large egg whites, at room temperature 30 minutes
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

for the filling:

3 1/2 cups raspberry jam

preparation

1. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Grind almond flour or almonds with confectioners sugar in food processor until powdery, 30 seconds for almond flour, about 2 minutes for almonds. (If using grinder, grind in small batches.) Sift through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl (if not fine enough for almost all of nuts to go through sieve, regrind). Sift again into a large bowl.

3. Stir together espresso powder and vanilla in a cup until powder has dissolved.

4. Beat egg whites with salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. Beat in granulated sugar, a little at a time. Increase speed to high and beat until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks, about 1 minute. Add espresso mixture and mix at low speed until incorporated. Fold meringue into almond mixture with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. (Meringue will deflate and batter will be loose.)

5. Put small dabs of batter under corners of parchment to secure to baking sheets.

6. Spoon half of batter into pastry bag. Holding bag vertically just above baking sheet, pipe 1 1/2-inch-wide mounds of batter about 1 inch apart, stopping pressure and flicking tip sideways to avoid peaks (tamp down any peaks with a wet finger). Refill pastry bag and repeat. Let macarons stand, uncovered, at room temperature until a light crust forms, 20 to 30 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

8. Bake macarons, switching position of sheets halfway through, until crisp and interior does not give easily when a macaron is gently pressed, 22 to 28 minutes total. Cool completely on baking sheets (for residual heat to harden bottoms) then on racks, about 30 minutes. Loosen macarons from parchment with offset spatula (they will be fragile).

9. Sandwich flat sides of macarons together with a thin layer of jelly.

10. Layer macarons between sheets of parchment in an airtight container and let stand at room temperature at least 2 hours to soften before eating.

Filled macarons can be kept in an airtight container wrapped in plastic wrap, chilled 2 days or frozen 1 month. Bring to room temperature in wrapped container (to avoid condensation), about 1 hour if chilled or 2 hours if frozen.

Pavlova Recipe

A Pavlova is a meringue based dessert. It isn't known whether Australia or New Zealand can lay claim to the Pavlova, but it is known that it was named for the Russian Ballerina Anna Pavlova who toured both of those countries back in 1926.

It is important with any meringue dish that the egg whites reach their maximum volume. Make sure that the mixing bowl and whisk are clean and grease-free.

Separate the eggs while they are still cold and then allow them to reach room temperature before starting. We recommend that you use superfine castor sugar because it dissolves faster in the egg whites. Make your own by placing granulated sugar into the food processor for about 60 seconds.

Cook the meringue is a low temperature oven and then turn the oven off and allow it to cool in the oven very slowly with the door slightly ajar.

4 large (120 grams) egg whites
1 cup (200 grams) superfine (castor) sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (corn flour)

Topping:
1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tablespoons (20 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Fresh fruit - kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, passion fruit, peaches, pineapple, or other fruit of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a 7 inch circle on the paper.

2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks. Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. (Test to see if the sugar is fully dissolved by rubbing a little of the meringue between your thumb and index finger. The meringue should feel smooth, not gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers). Sprinkle the vinegar and cornstarch over the top of the meringue and, with a rubber spatula, fold in.

3. Gently spread the meringue inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper, smoothing the edges, making sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher than the center. (You want a slight well in the center of the meringue to place the whipped cream and fruit.)

4. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the outside is dry and takes on a very pale cream color. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar, and let the meringue cool completely in the oven. (The outside of the meringue will feel firm to the touch, if gently pressed, but as it cools you will get a little cracking and you will see that the inside is soft and marshmallowy.)

The cooled meringue can be made and stored in a cool dry place, in an airtight container, for a few days.

Just before serving gently place the meringue onto a serving plate. Whip the cream in your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, until soft peaks form. Sweeten with the sugar and vanilla and then mound the softly whipped cream into the center of the meringue. Arrange the fruit randomly, or in a decorative pattern, on top of the cream. Serve immediately as this dessert does not hold for more than a few hours.

Serves 6 to 8.

Whole Grain Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup

for the syrup:

1 (6-ounce) basket blueberries, rinsed
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons water

for the pancakes:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter, melted (melt in the pan skillet you are going to use)
butter, to serve (and for pan)

1. To make the blueberry maple syrup put 1/2 of the blueberries, maple syrup, and water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer for 5 or 6 minutes or until the blueberries begin to split. Remove from heat and press the blueberry mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl. Throw out the solids. Stir the remaining blueberries into the warm syrup and set aside.

2. To make the pancakes combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir all the ingredients until they are just combined. Don’t worry if the batter is a bit lumpy, you don't want to over mix.

3. Heat your skillet medium-hot and brush it with a bit of butter. Test for the right temperature. water dropped on the surface will start to sizzle. Pour about 1/3 of a cup of batter into the skillet. Wait until the pancake bottom is deep golden in color, then flip with a spatula and cook the other side until golden and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve hot with butter and plenty of blueberries and syrup.

Makes about 12 large pancakes.

Lavender Panna Cotta

For the lavender flowers

1 cup water
3 1/2 ounces caster sugar
handful lavender flowers

For the panna cotta
1/3 cup skim milk
1 (.25 ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method
1. For the lavender flowers, heat the water and caster sugar together in a pan.
2. Stir until the sugar melts and then boil steadily, so that the liquid can reduce a little.
3. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool.
4. When the sugar has cooled, add the lavender flowers to the pan.

1. for the panna cotta, pour milk into a small bowl, and stir in the gelatin powder. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, watching carefully, as the cream will quickly rise to the top of the pan. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six individual ramekin dishes.
3. Cool the ramekins uncovered at room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving.
4. Turn the panna cotta out onto individual serving plates and drizzle the lavender syrup over them. Decorate with the sugary lavender flowers.