"fork you" news and stories

I spent Thanksgiving day with a friend and her family out in the suburbs of Philly. My family chose, for some strange reason, to celebrate today, so I'll be heading out to a different suburb in just a little while for another round of turkey, stuffing and gravy.

Yesterday, we cooked the turkey in the Orion Cooker that we used last month in the turkey episode of Fork You. This machine can cook a variety of things, including brisket, ribs, pork butts and of course, turkey. If you add smoking chips, the turkey takes on a deep, smoky flavor. My friend tasted the bird (and she's been a vegetarian for the last ten years or so) we made last month and was so taken with it that she knew her family had to try it. The other beautiful thing about this contraption is that it uses the power of convection cooking to cook really fast. Our 13.5 pound turkey was done in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The only downside to this cooker is that the coals are totally exposed, so if it starts to rain, like it did briefly yesterday afternoon, you run the risk of having your flame go out. When the rain started, we ran outside with umbrellas and stood around the cooker until the storm blew past. But the turkey was so good that it was worth it.

Source

Some of you may know that I make an online cooking show called Fork You with my friend Scott (of TUAW fame). Well we've taken our witty banter and channeled it into a new show called "Slashfood in the Kitchen" for your viewing pleasure. In this first episode, we make roasted brussels sprouts and a couscous salad, two recipes that I posted about recently here at Slashfood.

If the quality of the episode is a little wonky, fear not, a high resolution version will be coming your way soon.

(Slashfood in the Kitchen is brought to you by Tassimo, a cup for your every desire).

Source

Happy National Meatloaf Appreciation Day! If you haven't done so already, today is the time to take out your baking pans and your mom's (or dad's) recipe for meatloaf and put one together. Serious Eats (National Meatloaf Appreciation Day is their brainchild) is going to be posting meatloaf submissions throughout the day, so if you are looking for a little meatloaf inspiration, go check them out.

In order to get in the spirit of the holiday, I made not one, but two meatloafs. The first was a veggie-infused loaf that was close to what my mom used to serve when I was a kid. You can watch me make that one here. Another meatloaf I made strictly for Slashfood readers (and the happiness of my belly). Riffing on the traditional meatloaf recipe that calls for a variety of meats, I went with ground turkey and a Italian seasoned chicken sausage (1 pound each). Make sure to cut the sausage out of the casings and combine well with the turkey.

In a medium frying pan, I combined 1/3 chopped onion, 3 crushed cloves of garlic, 1/3 chopped green pepper, 2 chopped celery stalks (for crunch), one very finely grated potato (I used a microplane) and four large mushrooms, chopped (all chopping was done pretty finely). I cooked the veggies together just until they lost their rawness. I let them cool a little and then added them to the meat, along with a beaten egg, salt and pepper. I mashed it all together until combined and scooped it into a loaf pan. I baked it for about 50 minutes at 375 degrees. If you grate the potato finely enough, it gets really tender during baking, absorbing a lot of the juices. This one was a real winner.

Looking for a creative and tasty breakfast this weekend? Something a little out of the ordinary that isn't too energy intensive? Why not take a page out of Brys at Cookthink's book and whip yourself up a batch of Leek and Potato Latkes? Because latkes aren't just for Hanukkah anymore. He dresses a few up with a spoonful of caviar and tops the rest with a fried egg. After seeing this post, I wished fervently for the ability to crawl into my computer screen and magically travel through time and space to the kitchen where these puppies were created. Sadly, it was not to be.

On a different latke note, if you're the type of person who learns through watching, you might want to check out this here little video in which my friend Scott and I make up a batch of potato latkes. So yummy.

Source

Since it's New Year's Eve and you are either running around the kitchen putting the final caviar garnishes on the hors d'ouevre for your cocktail party, or you are running around the bathroom getting all dolled up for a party downtown, we're pointing you to ForkYou TV for a little bit of quick entertainment. There's some education in there, too, but we'll ignore that since we're on vacation right now.

Marisa and Scott are the folks behind ForkYou, and bring you short how-to vidoes from Philadelphia. I was originally introduced to them with their pilot episode, We Sushi So You Don't Have to. In keeping with the most recent Holidays, they've also done Holiday cookies and latkes.

So before you twirl off to watch the ball drop, take a peek!