How long can you eat those leftovers?

Deep in the recesses of most people's refrigerators lives a half-eaten bottle of salsa, some takeout Chinese food and last week's chicken dinner. Pulling one of those things out, you wonder: Can I eat it? Is it safe? A lot of commercially prepared items, such as sauces and condiments, have best-buy dates on the packaging to ensure flavor, not safety, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 Packaged foods tend to last a big longer than those suggested dates. Last night's dinner, though, is not as hearty. Cooked food leftovers can usually stay in the fridge for only three or four days. And if you want to put food in the freezer, it will last indefinitely, but at some point it will start to lose flavor. Of course, if something smells off or looks funny, you shouldn't eat it.

Here's the eat-it-or-chuck-it guide to your slightly suspect leftovers, based on advice from the Agriculture Department and the food safety site stilltasty.com.

StillTasty.com

Measuring Chart

Handy Measuring Chart

Brining Tips for the Turkey Bird...

It's a classic Thanksgiving scene: A beautiful showpiece of a turkey graces the center of a Dwell-worthy tablescape, with its blistered golden skin glowing brightly like a first-place trophy. The sharpest of knives is drawn, the bird's aroma amping up the anticipation of that first bite. And, finally, when that bite happens . . . wait, what the #%!&? It's stringy, flavorless, dry, and not even gravy can save it.

Brine Basics
At the most basic level, brining refers to presalting protein before it gets cooked. Think pork shoulder, chicken legs and even fish. Salt loves water, and when it's sprinkled onto the skin of these proteins, it draws out the water and then fills that empty space with salty brine. While the salt is creeping inward, it is simultaneously breaking down the meat, tenderizing and allowing it to retain moisture. When the poultry is cooked, proteins coagulate and prevent the absorbed liquid from escaping, ensuring juicy and flavorful meat. This is never more necessary than with a Thanksgiving bird.

Team Wet Brine vs. Team Dry Brine
There are two schools of brining, wet (where meat is submerged in a salty liquid) and dry (where meat is given a nice salt rub). Both produce a great bird, but chefs will go to the mat for their team.

For a wet brine, dissolve salt in water, often with sugar, to create a well-seasoned liquid. Food science author Harold McGee suggests using a 5 percent salt solution (by weight) for an optimal job of tenderizing. That translates to roughly a scant three tablespoons of salt per one quart of water. Of course, this number slides up and down depending on how long the turkey sits in the brine. (Be warned: If a turkey sits in the brine for too long, it will turn into a salty and almost-mushy piece of meat.)

On the other end of the spectrum, dry brining also helps achieve juicy, flavorful meat and has the added bonus of not requiring a giant bucket to let your turkey brine away in. Chef Matt Lambert of The Musket Room in New York strongly supports dry brining his turkey, saying this method offers a more controlled flavor and ensures a better sear. He breaks the turkey down, then places the legs and breasts on a large tray lined with parchment paper and seasons the meat "reasonably heavy and lets it stand until the salt is completely dissolved, about one hour."

Flavor: What Aromatics Do Chefs Recommend?
Brining isn't just about keeping turkey moist; it's also a time to infuse the meat with flavor. George Mendes of Lupulo submerges his turkey in a brine made with warm spices, like cinnamon and star anise, before basting with a Spanish paprika marinade and roasting it.

More Turkey Brine Tips
Dry out wet-brined turkeys. After the turkey has soaked in the brine, rinse and let it dry. Thorough drying of the turkey ensures crispy, golden skin when the bird's roasted.

Be aware of cooking times. Brines are a curing method, and curing is a form of cooking. Brined turkeys cook faster than those that have not been brined.

Turkey Tips for the perfect bird

Roasting a turkey is easy. Roasting a juicy turkey with perfectly blistered golden brown skin? Not so easy. But it can be. Follow these five tips, and you'll be responsible for a flawless Thanksgiving turkey your guests will always remember.


Brine and Dry
You must brine your bird using either a wet or dry brine. Both produce a seasoned, juicy turkey, but in different ways.

• A wet brine is a salt solution in which you submerge your turkey for four to 48 hours. As the turkey soaks, the salt draws out moisture and replaces that lost moisture with seasoned brine, adding flavor and tenderizing the meat.
•  A dry brine refers to a salt cure that you slather onto the bird and then let sit overnight in the fridge and/or at room temperature for one hour before going into a hot oven. The salt works like the wet brine, but because there is no additional liquid, the bird's own juices yield a more pronounced meaty flavor and a crispier skin.

The Perfect Rack

DIY your rack instead of buying one, like George Mendes of Lupulo does for his Portuguese Roast Turkey. Layer the bottom of your roasting pan with carrots, onion, celery and bay leaf. As the vegetables cook, they release steam, helping keep the turkey juicy and preventing the bird from being overcooked. 

Tricks to Avoid Overcooking

Never put a frozen turkey, or even a refrigerated one, directly into a preheated oven. Let the turkey sit at room temperature for at least one hour to raise its internal temperature. This will ensure even cooking from skin to bone.
Always use a meat thermometer to take the temperature of the thickest part of the turkey, located around the thigh, avoiding the bone. The ideal final temperature for a juicy turkey is 165°. The meat will cook an additional 10° as it rests, so remove the turkey from the oven when the temperature reaches 155° to 160°.

Photo: USDA via Flickr

Now, this is important: Breasts cook faster than the legs. Different tactics can be used to avoid overcooking the breasts. Food science writer Harold McGee puts ice packs onto the turkey breasts while letting the bird sit at room temperature before roasting. Mendes removes his turkey from the oven when the breasts reach 155°, lets it rest for 20 minutes and then carves off the breasts. Then he returns the turkey to the oven and continues to roast it until the legs reach a slightly higher temperature, around 160°.

Start Hot, Then Double Drop
Always start with a hot oven. To achieve perfectly blistered, golden brown skin, preheat the oven to 475°. After the turkey goes in, immediately reduce the oven temperature to 425° and cook for 20 minutes. Drop to 350° and continue to roast until done. Oh, and you'll need to invest in an oven thermometer to know the exact temperature of your bird as it cooks.

Give It a Rest
Resting a turkey is not optional. It's as necessary as any step in this process. Let the turkey rest for at least 20 minutes and up to one and a half hours after taking it out of the oven and before carving. This ensures maximum flavor and juiciness. Covering with foil isn't necessary and risks steaming the skin and overcooking the turkey, which, of course, is very bad.

Shrimp Etouffee base by Zatarain's

I normally don't make Shrimp Etouffee being its almost as time consuming as making gumbo. with that being said ... I was at Foodtown doing my grocery shopping and run across Zatarain's Etouffee Base which was on sale for 1.50$ a box. So i justified it by saying if it taste like crap you only spent a 1.50 an maybe 5$ for frozen popcorn shrimp. Into the basket it went.

Well much to my surprise it was very simple to make, you use 2.5 cups of water, 2 tablespoons butter and 2 table spoons tomato paste and mix in the base. instruction said to cook on simmer for 15 mins then add shrimp and cook another 15 mins, then serve over rice. On my stove simmer is more like trying to heat a pot of water w/ a box of matches, slow and unproductive. so i kicked up the heat "BAM" and 15 mins later added shrimp then another 15 for the shrimp to cook.

So into a bowl it went w/ rice and a dash of hot sauce

i have to say i was very very impressed, it was flavorful and had just the right amount of heat before i kicked it up a know w/ the hot sauce.

Score 1 for Zatarains

So next time you happen to pass the Zatarain's section in your grocery store pickup a box. i have seen it as low as 1.50$ a box to 3$ a box. Regardless of the cost its a keeper in my book.