Recipes

Roasting a Brined Turkey

Allow 4 hours

1 Brined Turkey

4 ounces butter, schmaltz or lard, softened

Black pepper, optional

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels, or place in front of a fan for a few minutes to dry the skin out thoroughly (this will help crisp the skin). Place the turkey on a roasting rack in a roasting pan and rub all over with the softened butter, schmaltz or lard. Grind black pepper over the bird at this point if desired. Place in the oven and roast hot for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350°F and continue to cook the bird for about 12 minutes per pound, or until a probe thermometer reads 160-165°F at the thickest part of the breast and leg. Allow to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving, loosely tented with foil.

Baking and Glazing a Wild Boar Ham

1 smoked Wild Boar Ham

8 ounces of Bavarian Sweet Mustard

4 TBSP softened butter

45 minutes before baking the ham, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to temper. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the butter and mustard in a small bowl and brush the ham with half of this mixture. Place the ham on a wire rack in a deep-sided roasting pan and add enough water to come up 1/2” from the bottom, but not touching the ham. Cover the ham tightly with foil or a lid and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the foil carefully and top off any water that’s evaporated. Bake for another 20 minutes. Increase the heat to 450°F, remove the lid, brush the ham with the remaining half of the mustard/butter mix and return the ham to the oven for 10-12 minutes to brown and caramelize the glaze.

Place the ham on a cutting board and slice into 1/4” thick slices with a sharp serrated knife.

Brined Quail

These quail are already brined in a salt, brown sugar and spice brine, so there's no need to season them with anything other than a little black pepper, if you prefer. These are semi-boneless, and only have the leg and wing bones, making the breast section completely bone-free.

To cook them in a pan:

Season the quail with a little pepper

Brown each side in a little olive oil, butter or fat over medium-high heat until nicely browned, about 5 minutes per side
Rest for about 5 minutes, then serve

To grill:

Start a medium fire in a charcoal or gas grill
Rub the quail with a little olive oil, and some black pepper
Grill until nicely browned, about 5 minutes per side
Rest for about 5 minutes, then serve

Brined Quail Stuffed with Sausage

Preheat oven to 350
Heat pan over medium-heat
Add 2 tbsp oil or lard to pan and sear each side of quail until nicely browned, 3-4 minutes per side
Place breast side up in oven for 25 minutes or until sausage stuffing is completely cooked and reads 160F on a thermometer
Rest for about 5 minutes, then serve

Roasting the Easter Bunny

Allow 3 hours

2 TBSP lard, schmaltz or butter

1 Easter Bunny (boned and stuffed rabbit with sweetbreads, mushrooms and bacon)

1 pint rabbit glace or demiglace

Preheat the oven top 350 degrees. In an ovenproof pan large enough to hold the rabbit, heat the lard or butter over high heat until melted. Add the rabbit and brown on all sides, turning occasionally. Once browned, add the rabbit glace and enough water to come halfway up the rabbit. Roast for one hour in the oven, uncovered, then turn the rabbit to expose the submerged half. Roast another hour. Remove the rabbit from the pan and allow to rest in a warm place. Put the pan back over high heat and reduce the sauce back to a pint. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, if necessary. Remove the fore and hind legs and slice the rabbit into thick one-inch slices and serve with the sauce spooned over

Roasting a Brined Chicken

Substitute other vegetables for those listed depending on what's in season.

1 2 ½ lb brined roasting hen

1 medium sweet potato, cut into 1” squares

4 medium new potatoes, quartered

1 pint Brussels sprouts, stems trimmed

1 medium onion, sliced thickly

1 rib celery, cut into 1” slices

2 medium carrots, cut into 1” pieces

1 TBSP olive oil

salt and pepper

Brine the chicken for 24 hours in the refrigerator, submerging it in the completely cooled brine and weighting it with a plate, if necessary.

Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Alternately, leave the chicken uncovered in a refrigerator for a few hours to dry the skin as much as possible; this will aid in crisping the skin.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Arrange all of the vegetables in a roasting pan just large enough to fit them all in one crowded layer, then drizzle with the olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper. Mix to coat the vegetables, then place the roasting pan on the lower rack of the oven. Place the roasting hen, breast side up, facing the back of the oven, directly on the oven rack over the pan of vegetables. This will allow air to flow completely around the chicken and crisp all of the skin, as well as let the juices form the chicken drip onto the vegetables below.

Roast for 55 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees.

Remove the chicken from the oven by inserting a wooden spoon into its cavity, then tilting the bird back, allowing the accumulated juices within its cavity to drain into the roasting pan of vegetables. Do this carefully. Then, lift the chicken and place it on top of the vegetables. Remove the pan of vegetables and allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.