The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook (59 page)

¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint, plus sprigs for garnish

Three-Grain Pilaf (recipe follows)

½ cup sliced blanched almonds, toasted

1.
Season chicken with salt. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown chicken in batches (so as not to crowd pot), turning once, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer cooked chicken to a plate as you work.

2.
Reduce heat to low. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in pot. Add spices, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, garlic, ginger, and onion. Cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and juices, and stir to coat with spice mixture.

3.
Raise heat to medium. Stir in cream, scraping bottom with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer. Add stock; return to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cook, partially covered, until chicken is tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Season with salt.

4.
Just before serving, grate apples into a bowl using the large holes of a box grater. Stir in zest, lime juice, and mint.

5.
Spoon curried chicken mixture over pilaf in bowls. Top with about 2 tablespoons apple-mint mixture. Sprinkle with almonds; garnish with mint sprigs.

three-grain pilaf

SERVES 8

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1½ cups jasmine rice, rinsed

½ cup red rice, rinsed

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

¾ teaspoon coarse salt

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and pale gold, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in 4 cups water, the grains, and salt. Raise heat to high; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and stir. Cover, and cook until grains are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat, and let stand, covered, 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, and serve.

roasted quartered chicken and shallots

SERVES 4

If you can’t find precut chicken quarters, ask your butcher to quarter a 5-pound chicken and remove the backbone.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

4 pounds chicken quarters, skin on

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

4 large shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise

1.
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly brush a rimmed baking sheet and the chicken pieces with butter. Lay chicken, skin side up, on sheet; season with 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper.

2.
Roast chicken 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Carefully arrange shallots, cut side down, around chicken; season shallots with salt and pepper. Return to oven. Continue roasting, basting chicken occasionally with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165°F and shallots are tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes more. Transfer to a platter; loosely tent with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

moroccan b’steeya

SERVES 6 TO 8

Season the chicken a day ahead so it has time to absorb the flavors.

1 whole roaster chicken (about 4 pounds), cut into 8 pieces

Coarse salt

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

¹
/
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teaspoon crumbled saffron

½ teaspoon ground ginger

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

½ cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

¼ cup unsalted butter, plus ½ cup melted (1½ sticks total)

6 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground pepper

1¾ cups blanched whole almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus more for sprinkling

¼ cup orange-flower water

1 package (17 ounces) store-bought phyllo dough

1.
Put the chicken and
¹
/
₃
cup salt in a medium bowl; toss to coat. Refrigerate 1 hour. Rinse the chicken with cold water; pat dry. Mix the chicken, onion, garlic, saffron, ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ cup parsley, and ¼ cup cilantro in a large bowl; cover, and refrigerate overnight.

2.
Transfer the chicken mixture to a medium heavy pot. Add enough water to cover (about 4 cups). Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Add ¼ cup butter; cover, and simmer until chicken is falling off the bone, 1 to 1½ hours, adding water to cover if necessary. Transfer the chicken to a plate; let cool. Reserve the poaching liquid. Remove the meat from the bones and shred; discard the skin and bones. Set the chicken aside.

3.
Bring the reserved poaching liquid to a boil over high heat; cook until reduced to ¾ cup. Reduce heat to medium-high. Slowly add the eggs; whisk constantly until the mixture is almost set, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the remaining ½ cup parsley, ¼ cup cilantro, and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

4.
Stir together the almonds, sugar, and remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

5.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush a 13-inch paella or pizza pan with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Stir together the remaining melted butter and the orange-flower water in a small bowl. Assemble the b’steeya: Brush a sheet of phyllo with butter mixture. Put it in the pan, leaving a 4-inch overhang. Repeat, buttering and adding 7 more sheets of phyllo, overlapping the layers and fanning out around the pan. (Keep unbuttered phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp kitchen towel.)

6.
Arrange the chicken mixture evenly over the dough. Pour in the egg mixture. Top with 5 layers phyllo brushed with butter mixture. Sprinkle evenly with almond mixture. Fold up the edges of the phyllo to enclose. Top with 5 layers phyllo brushed with butter mixture; tuck the edges inside the pan. Slightly crinkle 2 unbuttered layers phyllo over top. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

TURKEY

perfect roast turkey

SERVES 12 TO 14

We brined our turkey for 24 hours, so leave plenty of time for this recipe. If you don’t brine yours, skip steps 1 and 2. The USDA recommends cooking the turkey until the thickest part of the thigh registers 180°F. For a moister bird, we cooked ours to 165°F; it continues to cook outside the oven as it rests.

3 cups coarse salt, plus more for seasoning

5 cups sugar

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

2 medium leeks, white and pale-green parts only, rinsed and coarsely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

2 dried bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns, plus freshly ground pepper

1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), rinsed and patted dry, giblets and neck reserved for Gravy (recipe follows)

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

1½ cups dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

Chestnut Stuffing (recipe follows)

Crab apples, fresh rosemary sprigs, and fresh sage, for garnish (optional)

1.
Put the salt, sugar, onions, leeks, carrots, celery, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, peppercorns, and 10 cups water in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, stirring until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from heat; let the brine cool completely.

2.
Add the turkey, breast first, to the brine. Cover; refrigerate 24 hours. Remove from the brine; pat dry with paper towels. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours.

3.
Preheat the oven to 425°F, with a rack in the lowest position. Stir together the melted butter and wine in a medium bowl. Fold a very large piece of cheesecloth into quarters so it is large enough to cover the breast and halfway down the sides of the turkey. Immerse the cloth in the butter mixture; let soak while you prepare the turkey.

4.
Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan. Fold the wing tips under the turkey. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper inside the turkey. Loosely fill the body and neck cavities with stuffing. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Fold the neck flap under; secure with toothpicks. Rub the turkey all over with softened butter; season with salt and pepper.

5.
Remove the cheesecloth from the butter mixture, squeezing gently into a bowl. Reserve the butter mixture for brushing. Lay the cheesecloth over the turkey. Place the turkey, legs first, in the oven. Roast 30 minutes. Brush the cheesecloth and exposed turkey with butter mixture. Reduce temperature to 350°F. Roast, brushing every 30 minutes, 2½ hours more; cover with foil if browning too quickly. If making gravy, add the giblets and neck to the pan 1½ hours after reducing the temperature; roast 30 minutes, and reserve.

6.
Discard the cheesecloth; rotate the pan. Baste the turkey with the pan juices. Roast, rotating the pan halfway through, until the skin is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 180°F and stuffing reaches 165°F, about 1 hour. Transfer to a platter. Set the pan with drippings aside for gravy. Let the turkey stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes. Garnish, if desired.

gravy

MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS

Add the giblets and neck to the pan with the turkey 1½ hours after the oven temperature is reduced to 350°F in step 5 (recipe above).

Giblets and neck from turkey

5 whole black peppercorns

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 fresh or dried bay leaf

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 small carrot, coarsely chopped

1 leek, white and pale-green parts only, rinsed and coarsely chopped

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

¾ cup dry white wine or turkey stock

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1.
Trim the fat and membranes from the giblets. Rinse the giblets; pat dry. Add the giblets and neck to the pan with the turkey. Roast until browned, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

2.
Make a bouquet garni: Tie the peppercorns, thyme, parsley, rosemary, and bay leaf in a square of cheesecloth. Set aside.

3.
Make the stock: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables. Cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, 7 to 10 minutes.

4.
Reduce heat to medium; add the giblets, neck, bouquet garni, and 1 quart water. Cover, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, uncovered, until reduced to about 3 cups, 50 to 60 minutes. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean medium saucepan. Keep the stock warm over medium-low heat. Roughly chop the giblets; shred the meat from the neck with a fork. Set aside. Discard the other solids.

5.
Transfer the turkey to a large platter. Reserve 3 tablespoons drippings from pan. Pour the remaining drippings into a gravy separator; let stand until separated, about 10 minutes. Discard the fat.

6.
Deglaze the roasting pan: Place the roasting pan over 2 burners. Add the wine; bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Reserve the deglazed liquid.

7.
Make the gravy: Put the reserved 3 tablespoons pan drippings from the turkey in a medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until hot. Add the flour, whisking vigorously to combine. Cook, whisking constantly, until fragrant and deep golden brown, about 9 minutes. Whisking vigorously, slowly add the hot stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer.