Saturday, December 14, 2013

The Hawaiian Turkey Feast, a Nose-to-tail Tale

All You Can Do with one Hawaiian Turkey

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is to cook a Kalua Turkey.  It's a great way to utilize all parts of the turkey, and with the delectable shredded meat you can eat it alone or make an infinite number of Hawaiian style dishes.  If you follow these recipes, you'll have an entire feast with just one bird, and a few extra ingredients.

Kalua, in this case, has nothing to do with the alcohol, but everything to do with how it's cooked.  Traditionally Kalua Pigs are wrapped in leaves, and buried in the ground with lava rocks to cook for hours.  For our Kalua turkey, we use another tried and true method for achieving the tastes of meat cooked in the imu (underground oven), but cooked in a regular oven.  If you like BBQ, and that shredded pulled pork texture, you will love Kalua Turkey.

My recipe for Kalua Turkey is a combination of Sam Choy, Martha Stewart, and me.  The Martha Stewart comes from cooking rice inside the bird instead of stuffing, which we all know tastes way better cooked outside the bird.  The resulting Kalua rice is also a handy instant side dish that is guaranteed to please, and compliments the turkey well.



Ingredients for Dave K's Kalua Turkey (prep & cook time - 5 plus hours)

A 15-20 lb turkey
11-12 large ti leaves (banana leaves are a substitute)
1/2 cup soy sauce
garlic powder
2 TBSP liquid smoke (mesquite preferred)
3 quarts chicken stock
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper

Additional Ingredients for Kalua Rice (prep & cook time - 30 min)
3 cups sushi rice
2 cloves of garlic
4 cups of chicken stock


Clean the bird inside and out, pat, and let dry.  While bird is drying cook 3 cups of sushi rice with garlic & chicken stock in a rice cooker or on the stovetop.  If you need to, add additional stock or water.  When the rice is just done, set it aside to let it cool.

Pour soy sauce over bird inside & out, and then rub it in.  Do the same with the salt, pepper, & garlic powder.   Remove neck & giblets, and set aside for wrapping.  Fill the neck and body cavities full with the cooked sushi rice.  Get a roasting pan that will fit your bird.  If it has a rack, all the better.  Line the bottom of the pan with 5 of the ti leaves.  *Some florists on the mainland have ti leaves, or what I used to do was order them from Hawaii online.  There are a few websites that ship to the mainland at a reasonable price.  You can also use banana leaves instead, but the flavor will be slightly different.*  Place bird on top of leaves, and use 5 more leaves to cover the top.   Wrap the leaves around the bird, trying to make it as airtight as possible.





Add the chicken stock & liquid smoke to the pan.  Use the last 2 ti leaves to wrap the neck, gizzards, heart, and liver individually; season them first with salt, pepper, & garlic powder.  Use kitchen shears to cut the leaves down to size. Tuck the four small packages at either end of the bird.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil.


Bake at 350 degrees F for about 4 hours.  Voila!  You get a perfectly cooked bird with an aroma thats unmistakably Hawaiian.





Remove rack, and set bird aside.  Skim out the excess rice from the roasting pan.  Make sure you save all that stock and juices in the pan.  Remove the rice from the bird, and set in an oven safe dish.  The rice barely cooks inside the bird, but soaks up a lot of the juices and flavors of the bird, so what you get is an incredibly flavorful & aromatic rice, cooked just past done.


Remove the skin from the bird. Any non-crispy skin, set aside on a large baking sheet for cracklins' & turkey schmaltz (rendered turkey fat).  Put on some rubber gloves, and pull the turkey meat off the bone.  Hand shred the meat (this is the time consuming part), and place the shredded meat back in the pan with the stock.  Reserve the bones to the side for turkey stock.  Don't forget to unwrap and shred the meat from the neck.  It's the best dark meat on the bird, trust me.  Let it baste in the stock for a few minutes.  Throw it back in the oven covered in foil to reheat.



What you get is a bird with unparalleled succulence & juiciness.  It's magic meat, smokey pulled turkey BBQ.  You can add it to so many things, and make so many new recipes that leftovers won't seem like leftovers.

So now you have some meat, some skin, and the giblets.  Let's start by making some cracklins with the turkey skin.  Simply lay the skin as flat as possible on a large baking sheet, and cook at 400 degrees F until crispy (watch them closely).  Make sure you save all that gorgeous rendered fat (schmaltz), as we will be using it for a couple things.


The hearts and gizzards should be cooked to perfection by now, and all you have to do is unwrap them, slice them thin, and eat em up.  Great with some rice.


Next up we use some of that schmaltz and make a simple turkey liver pate, like a turkey liverwurst. 

Ingredients for Turkey Liver Pate aka Turkey Liverwurst

1-2 TBSP rendered turkey fat (schmaltz)
1 turkey liver
fresh cracked pepper

Unwrap the small liver from it's leafy packet.  Mix liver with the rendered turkey fat.  Pulverize the liver and fat with your hands until you have a chunky paste.  Start with 1 TBSP, and add schmaltz until the consistency of the pate is simpler to the picture below.  You should be able to stand a cracker up in it.  Add fresh cracked pepper to taste.



Now it's time for a different kind of ultimate holiday sandwich...

Ingredients for Dave's Ultimate Hawaiian Holiday Sandwich

2 TBSP Turkey liver pate
6 oz Kalua turkey
lettuce
dijonaise (equal parts mayonaise & dijon mustard)
light rye bread
fresh cracked pepper

Spread a thin layer of dijonaise on toasted rye bread.  Spread turkey liver pate (in this case it acts like liverwurst) on one slice of the bread.



Place turkey and lettuce on bread, add cracked pepper to taste.  Cut, and voila!  You have yourself an amazing and unique sandwich filled with homemade ingredients.





….and now for the main event Hawaiian Holiday Bon-Bons………..

I have a simple rule for leftovers and puff pastry.  Throw anything good into a puff pastry and it will be awesome.

Ingredients for Hawaiian Holiday Bon-Bons

2 packages of pre made puff pastry
the rest of the rendered fat
1 lb bag of peas (gonna have leftovers for the soup)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
Kalua turkey & Kalua rice
2 eggs

Time to defrost your puff pastry.  Set it aside for about 30 mites until pliable.  In the meantime, sauté onions in the rendered turkey fat for 5 minutes (add olive oil if you ran out or don't have enough schmaltz).


Add peas, and cook until peas are just heated through.


Heat up some of the rice to a luke warm.  In the oven at 300 degrees F for 15 min should do it.


Prepare an egg wash by whisking together 2 eggs, salt & pepper, and 2 TBSP of water.  Grab your defrosted puff pastry, and line up your ingredients assembly line style.



Cut squares of the puff pastry.  Fill each square about half with turkey, some white meat, some dark meat; the other half fill about 2-to-1 rice to peas.  First place the turkey, then the rice, and top it off with some peas.




Brush egg wash along the edges of the pastry.  To close, pinch all four corners together at a point, then to close the seams fold one edge over the other, and pinch closed.


Keep pinching the edges until there is no air getting through.  Place on a non-greased baking sheet, and repeat.  You should be able to fit all the Bon-bons onto 3 or 4 baking sheets.


Brush the bon-bons with a thin layer of egg wash, and then into the oven.


Following the instructions on the puff pastry box, bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, and super voila!  These Hawaiian Holiday Bon-Bons are sure to wow the guests of any holiday party.








Combine your trays one they are cooked for more convenient service or for travel to all your holiday parties.  When re-heating from room temperature raise the oven to 450 degrees F to re-crisp.



Another easy application for the kalua turkey is pizza or flatbread.

Ingredients for Kalua Turkey & Tomato Flatbread

1 sheet of pre-made flatbread
Kalua turkey
shredded pecorino cheese
cherry tomatoes
fresh cracked pepper

Lay out the flatbread on baking a sheet.  Add turkey, halved tomatoes, and then shredded cheese to the top of the flatbread to taste.


Bake at 450 degrees F for 4 min or until cheese is melted.  It's best to watch this closely.  Add pepper to taste.



…and it wouldn't be leftovers without a soup!….This year I made a simplified version of gumbo with all the leftovers.

Ingredients for Hawaiian Holiday Leftovers Gumbo-like Soup (cook & prep time 4 1/2 hours)

2 slices of smoked ham shank
bones from 1 turkey
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped white onions (Maui onions if you can find them)
Kalua turkey
Kalua rice
peas
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 TBSP dried or fresh dill
1 TBSP chili powder
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1 TBSP chicken stock powder
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper
4 quarts of water

This version of gumbo-like soup doesn't have green peppers, okra, or a roux, so it's not a gumbo, but it's rich flavors will remind you of one.

Add ham shanks and turkey bones to water with the chicken stock powder.  Cook covered at a rolling boil for 4 hours, or until meat falls off the ham shank bones.  Strain the stock into another pot.  Add back the ham shank meat.  Add celery & onion, cook for 2 min.  Add some of the left over Kalua turkey.


Add the rice and the peas.



Add the dry spices.


Lastly, add the parsley.




Mix well, and seve hot…



Still have a ton of Kalua turkey left?  It's great for freezing…


In this post we have only scratched the surface of what you can do with this versatile ingredient.  Challenge yourself, make the turkey, and see what recipes you can come up with.  You could make a real gumbo, a sloppy joe, or Kalua turkey is always great in tacos, burritos, or nachos.  There is so much you creative cooking you can do with just one bird.  The holidays are upon us, and it's time to celebrate and eat well.  With these recipes, you can have a warm Hawaiian Holiday wherever you are…

Happy Holidays from Cooking Hawaiian Style & David Kupferberg Photo & Video!



All photos taken with my iPhone.

Friday, October 4, 2013

we're back... & I can cook Vegetarian...

I will be resurrecting the old blog to display my photos from Burning Man.  I will continue updates from time to time, sharing all my art, including food art.

For my first post back, a food post reflective of changes in my life.  I went from a hard core carnivore, who had to have meat with every meal, to a man who enjoys eating vegetarian sometimes, and cooks it often.  I've been dating a vegetarian for the past 9 months.  She is actually a very talented and successful chef, and she has opened my world up to vegetarian cooking.  She works long hours, and I often have the pleasure of cooking for her.  She eats eggs & cheese, but tries to limit them, so sometimes I cook ova-lacto, and sometimes vegan.  Many times she brings me fresh produce from her restaurant that is all sourced locally on Maui.  So the following dishes aren't Hawaiian per say, but were made with fresh Hawaiian grown ingredients in many cases.  Here you go, the first 15 dishes.  Who knew...

I can cook Vegetarian...


1. [Ziti with Fresh Simple Tomato Sauce Zucchini Steak with Fennel Seed]


2.  [Hearts of Pomlette]


3. [Vegetarian Chili with Matzoh Balls]


4. [Mustard & White Wine Sauce]


5. [Tomato, Dill, Green Peppercorn Salad]


6. [Zucchini, turnip, & red pepper Ratatouille] I replaced eggplant with turnip and red pepper because I'm not that big of an eggplant fan, it turned out even better.


7. [Mushroom and Pepper Enchiladas]. A collabo with my girlfriend]


8. [Asparagus & Leek Dairy Free Custard Tart with Cashew & Pine Nut Romesco Sauce]  I replaced the milk/cream with vegetable stock.


9. [White Bean & Celery 7-Minute Soup]  Fresh celery, and a can of beans.  Total prep & cook time, 7 minutes...


10. [Bell Pepper Omelette]



11. [Turnip & Leek Stuffed Portabellos with Tomato & Onion Top Salad]


12. [Veggie Lasagna Turned into Brunch]  Egg cooked perfectly by my girlfriend.



13. [Avocado Chawanmushi]


14.  [Vegetarian Hawaiian Long Noodles]


15. [Mock-lox Cheesy Pepper Bagel]