Aga Goodies

Recipes from the Aga Thyme Kitchen!

Holiday Recipes

Thank you, Cindy, for sharing your Thanksgiving menu with us! (Fast, medium and slow methods for roasting a turkey are on the last page)

Cindy’s Upside-Down Turkey

Cindy starts the turkey in the usual way: remove the giblets, rinse, pat dry, salt the cavity. Then, a peeled half-carrot, an onion cut in two, some fresh thyme say, 10 sprigs salt and freshly-ground black pepper, and if you like, some sprigs of fresh parsley all go loosely into the cavity, half in front, half in the rear. Now, Cindy says, use either your hand or a rubber spatula to loosen the skin from the breast, and slip in a few fresh basil leaves, flat under the skin, on either side of the breastbone. Not only does this impart flavor and aroma, Cindy notes but it looks pretty, too.

Now, Cindy lards or butters the bird. True, an Aga-bound turkey doesn’t require this step, but neither will you see it walk away from such ministrations. If you don’t butter it, just rub it with salt all over. Close up the tail cavity, tie the legs, and tuck the wing tips back under the body, as if the turkey were putting its hands behind its head.

Before setting the bird in the roasting pan, Cindy lines the pan with an old, preferably expendable tea towel, or piece of cheesecloth, soaked with oil or butter. This will help keep the breast meat from sticking. Don’t put a rack in the roasting pan. Just set the turkey in the pan, breast-side-down.

Set the pan on the Roasting Oven floor, and roast for perhaps an hour. As soon as the skin is nicely-browned, take the pan from the oven, turn the turkey over, and remove the cloth.

Cindy dedicates a pair of oven mitts to this mission, which will flee to the laundry once their work is done. Rubber gloves also do the job. Once the turkey is breast-side-up, you can wring the juices out of the tea towel, onto the breast and drumsticks. And of course, you can baste at any time, but again, an Aga-roasted turkey browns superbly without basting.

Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh now unless, like Cindy, you’re using a Polder thermometer-timer, which can go in at the outset. (The Polder has a probe that goes into the turkey, and a wire that leads out to a digital gauge that clings magnetically to the outside of the Cooker. Cindy swears by it.)

Cindy finishes roasting her turkey in the Baking Oven, but you can finish in the Roasting Oven as well; make the determination yourself depending on what else is slated for the ovens. When you feel the skin is brown enough, tent the turkey loosely with foil. When the thermometer reads 180F, remove the turkey from the oven. Lift it onto a platter, and let it gather its thoughts for at least 20 minutes before you carve it, so the juices can settle back into the meat. Cindy’s 30-pound turkey was done this way an epitome of juiciness, flavor and tenderness in just 3 or 4 hours!  

The Great Birds Entourage

A prominent Turkey seldom arrives at the Social Event of its brief season without the usual retinue: gravy, and at least one good dressing.

Once the turkey is out on its platter, Cindy prepares basic gravy. She pours the pan-drippings into a large measuring cup, and separates the juices from the fat. A few spoons of fat go back into the pan for the gravy; discard the rest. She sets the pan on the Simmering Plate, and when the fat begins to sizzle, adds flour, whisking it to a smooth paste. Then, she blends in the reserved juices, along with some water if needed or, if you simmer the giblets in water while the turkey roasts, add the flavorful giblet stock now. Whisk and cook for a few minutes more, to thicken and cook off any floury taste. Add seasoning now, if you wish.

Dried Cranberry and Cornbread Dressing

This is one of Cindy’s favorite dressings, which she starts the day before she’ll serve it. A few days before that, she bakes a plain, Southern, unsweetened cornbread, giving it time to stale. On the holiday eve, she melts a stick of butter in a pan on the Simmering Plate or in one of the ovens, and uses it to sauté a cup each of chopped onion and celery. Meanwhile, she coarsely breaks the stale cornbread into a bowl, and tosses it with a half-package of store-bought crouton-style bread stuffing. To this, she adds the sautéed vegetables, a handful or two of dried, unsweetened cranberries, a lightly-beaten egg, and a can of chicken broth. It should be quite moist, she says; add a little more water if needed. Now, she lets the mixture sit overnight, to re-hydrate the berries. When its ready to bake the next day, Cindy transfers it to a low, buttered casserole, spooning it in lightly to make it fluffy. Cover, and bake till hot throughout. Cindy uses her Baking Oven; you could also set it on the rack on the Roasting Oven floor.

Near the end of the baking period, Cindy says, sprinkle the dressing with Aga-toasted pine nuts or any kind of nuts. Return it to the oven, uncovered, to develop a delicate golden crust.

Those Colorful, Inflatable Vegetables

Brown is as nice a color as any for food, but it can become tedious. Hence, vegetables with their native flamboyance and fondness for color.

Cindy uses her mothers method for preparing sweet potatoes; simple, delicious, and you can slip them into the Baking Oven or lower Roasting Oven, as soon as the turkey emerges. They’ll be done by the time your ready to carve. Cindy peels and slices them into half-inch slices, which she puts in a shallow layer in a low, buttered casserole. Cover the slices with granulated sugar, cover the dish with foil, and into the oven it goes, till the potatoes are tender. Then, uncover, gently stir in the syrup that has formed and put the dish back into the oven. Stir gently and often until a lovely glaze develops.

Acorn squash with cranberry sauce , Cindy says, is wonderful in the Aga Cooker. Cut small acorn squashes in half, scoop out the seeds, and arrange the halves on a cookie sheet or in a shallow casserole. Pour maple syrup into each cavity don’t use butter then consign the sheet to a moderate oven to bake for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on size: mid-Baking Oven, or on the rack on the Roasting Oven floor. When you see that the syrup has cooked down and the squash is tender, spoon some cranberry sauce into each piece of squash, and continue baking just for long enough to warm the cranberry sauce.

Cindy prepares mashed potatoes the Aga way (refer to your cookbook if this sounds at all occult to you), then plies a trick she learned long ago, from a friends mother, for one might say inflating them. At the last minute, when you’re about done mashing, add a half-teaspoon or teaspoon of baking soda, Cindy says not enough to taste, but enough to set off a little benign chemistry that aerates the potatoes, making them light and fluffy.

Green beans cooked the Southern way boiled with garlic and peppercorns and tossed with butter or Italian dressing carrots cut in half and quickly baked in butter in the Baking Oven or lower Roasting Oven you’ll find these on Cindy’s table as well. Add to them the Thanksgiving-Day fragrance of fresh cranberries, brought to a boil in water on the Aga Boiling Plate, then simmered to tenderness in the Simmering Oven. Cindy adds orange sections and a little sugar, then pours the glistening sauce into a colorful pitcher for the table. And dinner is served.

Best Ever Pumpkin Pie

Note that your Aga Cooker likes to bake a pumpkin pie such as this or a custard pie or a quiche on the Roasting Oven floor, from beginning to end. The result is a crisp, light under-crust, and a creamy filling par excellence.

This recipe makes enough filling for two pies. If you’re having company, you might do well to bake both; you may need them. Otherwise, freeze half the filling, or the extra pie, for next time.

• 1 unbaked single pie crust
• 28 oz. can, solid-pack pumpkin (about
• 4 1/2 c. cooked, mashed pumpkin)
• 2 c. evaporated milk (3 small cans)
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 heaping tbsp. flour
• 1 jigger whiskey (1 1/2 fl. oz.)

Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour half into pie shell; set the rest aside for The Future.

Bake on Roasting Oven floor for 30 to 40 minutes. Check at mid-time. If surface begins to crack, or crust is already brown enough, slide cold Plain Shelf into mid-oven, or tent loosely with foil or, 4-Oven Owners, move pie to mid-Baking Oven. It is done when a knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean; center will continue to cook as pie cools.

Roast Turkey

Three methods

 

Fast Method : Clean, stuff and truss the turkey. Rub with butter or oil, if desired. Place turkey in Roasting pan without wire rack. Place roasting pan on roasting oven floor. Once it is nicely-browned, perhaps after an hour, tent loosely with foil.

The following roasting times are for a stuffed turkey. An unstuffed turkey takes roughly 80% of the time shown.

• 8-12 lbs 1 ¾ - 2 hours
• 12-16 lbs 2-2 ½ hours
• 16-20 lbs 2 ½ - 2 ¾ hours
• 20-24 lbs 2 ¾ - 3 ½ hours
• 24-28 lbs 3 ½ - 4 hours

Medium Method: Proceed as with fast method. Once turkey is browned, tent loosely with foil and transfer to the baking oven. Plan 1 hour in roasting oven, then the following times in the baking oven:

• 8-12 lbs 1 ¾ - 3 hours
• 12-16 lbs 3 – 4 ½ hours
• 16-20 lbs 4 ½ - 5 ½ hours
• 20-24 lbs 5 ½ - 7 hours
• 24-28 lbs 7 – 8 ½ hours

Slow Method: Remember that it’s important for the internal temperature of poultry to go from 40 degrees F (your refrigerator) to 140 degrees F within 4 hours. Turkey must be thawed. Do not stuff the turkey; cook the stuffing separately. Don’t truss the turkey. Put turkey in roasting pan without a wire rack and directly on the oven floor. Place toasting pan on floor of roasting oven for 1 hour. Tent loosely with foil when nicely browned. Transfer to simmering oven for following times:

• 8-12 lbs 3-5 hours
• 12-16 lbs 5 – 7 ½ hours
• 16-20 lbs 7 ½ - 10 hours
• 20-24 lbs 10 – 12 ½ hours
• 24 – 28 lbs 12 ½ - 15 hours

All Methods: Meat will continue to cook approximately 10 degrees after it is removed from the oven. Let meat rest 20-30 minutes before serving, to make carving easier.