Roasting Pans

I have been married for 12 years and today I finally bought my first roasting pan. I stood in the middle of the isle at the store and tried to remember why I have never bought one and yet I have cooked the darn bird for the last 5 years. I am still trying to understand it and it's been 5 hours (in the mean time I did actually come home). I don't believe I'll ever figure my brain out but I am sure I have had some reason for not buying one.

So, how do you choose a roasting pan? My first criteria is always cost. I just cannot afford to buy the ultimate roasting pan when I plan on using it only a few times a year. I draw the line at tinny sounding pans with no heft and scratch easily. So, somewhere in the middle is a big range of pans, standard and now electric (what??) to choose from.

Yes, electric. This is what I found on an end display:

It's a good old crockpot style roasting "oven" that will free up your own oven on the important day. Yes, it stopped me in my tracks. I stood there, looking at it and at the pan I had selected and thought about the pros and cons of each. Going for the electric roaster is the ease of use, the simple settings on the front, freeing up my oven, cooks 30% faster than an ordinary oven and still has multiple other uses and inserts for keeping buffet style foods warm. It even holds up to a 20 lb. turkey. Did I buy it? Nope. Why? It's BIG and it's UGLY!

I bought this:Yup, pretty boring. It black, slightly shiny and has a non-stick interior. It has a nice domed top to sit over the bird and holds a 25 lb. turkey. And it was on sale. So, why this one that takes up space in my oven and has to negotiate for cooking time with rolls and potatoes and pies? It's sturdy, it's easy to lift, It holds enough bird to feed everyone twice, and if it gets left out on my counter, it's OK. It actually looks nice and inspires some of those Alton Brown meals that seem so intense but are deceptively simple. This is a pan that will keep me cooking through the winter. This is a pan that can carry apples for pies and do more than one duty. How on earth was I supposed to use that electric one for anything else? I would have died from tripping on the cord!

So what do you do when faced with oval and rectangular pans? Oval pans often have lids so I'm not sure if that rules out the rectangles. Perhaps you can get more veggies into the rectangular pans. Personally, I find birds just slide a lot more in squarish pans. I'm not big on trying to rescue the bird off the floor when he's decided to go flying. I will admit that a rectangular pan may be easier to store in cabinetry and nestle with other baking pans better. I guess it is up to personal choice but if anyone has any scientific insight, let me know.

Lid on or lid off? Foil tent? There are so many "family secrets" about the perfect way to cook the turkey. Do you keep the foil on through the whole process and remove it 15 minutes before it's done to brown the top? Do you brown your bird before to "seal" in the juices? One year I said, "forget it all" and tossed the bird into my huge pressure cooker. That was one of the best tasting turkeys ever! Moist! Rich! Juicy! Not a poster child for a brown turkey ad....infact it wasn't the type of bird you would really set at the table. It was a bird that you prep in the kitchen and present fully sliced and ready to eat. I have to think that if I could have fit my pressure cooker in the oven to brown the top of the turkey it may have been a total success. Well, next time!

One last reminder......the size of roasting pan determines the size of turkey you cook. So make it big enough to do the work and make it beautiful so you don't mind looking at it.

Favorite Fall Flavors

Fall is not my season of choice, and living as we do near the Rocky Mountain Range we don't really get a choice but to experience Fall. It truly is stunning and the leaves are divine to play in, so I guess it must be how it makes me feel. I don't like to see the flowers and leaves go away. I love to spend time outside and getting my hands dirty, so to be holed up in the house seems nearly a punishment for all the work.

The one thing my family never complains about in the Fall is that I get back to making some fun and yummy food in the kitchen. When the colors fade outside I create new colors in the kitchen. The flavors, aromas and textures of autumnal food are so incredible to work with. The veggies that have no appeal all year look alluring and seductive when the snow starts coming down.

Here is a picture of what I had today for lunch.....

I have a bag of the most incredible looking yams sitting in my pantry and they seemed ideal paired with dried cranberries and pecans. I quartered and sliced one yam and placed it in a microwave safe dish. I steam cooked it for 4 minutes on high until they were fork tender. A handful of dried cranberries and a sprinkle of pecans along with a small scoop of brown sugar was all it needed. Those with more time could add sliced onions for a kick, pumpkin pie spice for more of a dessert flavor, or a crumble of warm bacon to make the ultimate combination of comfort food flavors. All in all, it was a divine lunch and I feel better having eaten something so simple and easy to digest.

The flavors of fall fruits and vegetables are too enticing to pass up at this time of year. Some of my favorites are:

squash, every shape size and color
yams and sweet potatoes (whatever you have left in the pantry come spring works very well tossed in the garden to make sweet potato plants....)
big, juicy onions
fat heads of garlic
oranges, lemons and limes
clementines for a burst of sunshine in your mouth mid-winter
red grapefruits in a spinach salad
beets....oh my, I love beets
carrots, parsnips and turnips
celery root (thank you friends who grew this and filled my freezer)
cranberries....toss a few extra bags in the freezer, too

In all honesty, a choice of fruits or veggies, a few meats in the freezer to select from and a batch of fresh pasta dough or fluffy rice is all it takes to make this crowd happy. There is something so nourishing to my soul when I can make chicken noodle soup with big fat chewy homemade noodles, roasted chicken pieces and plenty of carrots, parsnips, celery, onion and parsley. Surround it all with a fragrant thick broth and you have a meal for kings.

Send in your favorite fall recipe. This is the time to be thinking about those favorite flavor combinations so you don't get tired of turkey and stuffing in a few weeks. I'll have some ideas for those leftovers, too.