Products I Love
19 Nov 2010

Gioia Cheese

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Gioia Cheese, Inc. - South El Monte

Heaven is located 9.7 miles from my house on an industrial stretch in South El Monte. Don’t believe me? Well, then you’ve probably never tasted freshly made burrata from Gioia Cheese, an Italian-style fromagerie owned and operated by Vito Girardi since 1992. The unassuming factory churns out 2,000 pounds of the creamiest, stringiest, most delectable burrata daily and delivers it to restaurants across the country. Gioia is one of a small number of domestic burrata producers, and best of all, its wares are available for sale to the public.

I’ve been meaning to procure a hefty stash for months, but didn’t make the trip until my mom rolled into town to celebrate her 58th birthday. My present to her was a three-course celebratory feast, and gooey mounds of burrata were slated for the starter. A half-pound probably would’ve sufficed for the evening’s meal, but I went ahead and hoarded two pounds for good measure ($6 per pound).

Gioia Cheese, Inc. - South El Monte

I blasted the AC on the car ride home and refrigerated the tubs as soon as I arrived at the apartment. Without any preservatives in the product, I wasn’t taking any chances with spoilage. For those unfamiliar with burrata, here’s a quick primer from the article “Burrata di Andria” by Gary Allen on Leite’s Culinaria:

Burrata cheese begins life like other mozzarellas, with rennet used to curdle the warm milk. Whereas for fresh mozzarella the curds are plunged into hot whey or lightly salted water, kneaded, pulled to develop the familiar stretchy strings (pasta filata), and then shaped into whatever forms, during the making of burrata the still-hot cheese is instead formed into a pouch which is filled with scraps of leftover mozzarella and topped off with fresh, rich cream, called panna.

Gioia Cheese, Inc. - South El Monte

Even though I’ve eaten burrata dozens of times at restaurants, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I cracked open the lid. The cheese was pristinely white with rounded edges and a smooth surface. The perfection of it all reminded me of a cityscape after a fresh snow fall. Burrata inspires the poet in me.

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Recipe
17 Nov 2010

Sausage, Sage, and Thyme Bread Stuffing

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Sausage, Sage, and Thyme Bread Stuffing

If I had my way, stuffing would be the centerpiece of Thanksgiving. An expertly roasted bird has its merits, as do silky potatoes dotted with butter and doused in gravy, but for as long as I can recall, my heart and stomach have belonged to stuffing. I grew up on the Stove Top variety that my aunt brilliantly doctored-up with onions, celery, and chicken gizzards. I later moved on to a gourmet version made with cornbread and dried fruit that my brother outsourced from his neighborhood Dean & Deluca. From low end to high end to everything in between, I’ve yet to encounter a stuffing that didn’t appeal to me.

While my soy sauce-brined turkey was roasting in the oven at 325 degrees, I got started on making the stuffing, which fortuitously called for similar temps. Preparing a turkey and stuffing all in one day was admittedly a lot of work for a first-timer, but it would’ve been a travesty eating a thirteen pound bird without some proper dressing on the side.

I chose a classic sausage, herbs, and French bread recipe from this month’s Cooking Light magazine. Its straightforward flavor profile and manageable ingredients list spoke to me, and I couldn’t have been happier with the results. The bread had an awesome custard-like consistency, while the trio of herbs perfumed each bite. The stuffing-specific sausage that I picked up from Trader Joe’s was too crumbly and mild for my taste, but it didn’t detract from the overall success of the dish. Next time, I’ll be sure to use my favorite spicy Italian sausage instead.

My mom’s already called dibs on stuffing for this year’s Thanksgiving feast, but hopefully next year I can share this gem with the fam. And for good ‘ol times’ sake, I’ll even add in some chicken gizzards.

  • 10 cups (1/2-inch) cubed French bread (about 1 pound)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 cups finely chopped onion
  • 1 cup finely chopped celery
  • 15 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
  • 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • Cooking spray

Sausage, Sage, and Thyme Bread Stuffing

Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange bread in single layers on 2 jelly-roll pans. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden, rotating pans after 10 minutes. Turn oven off; leave pans in oven for 30 minutes or until bread is crisp.

Sausage, Sage, and Thyme Bread Stuffing

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery; cook 11 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Transfer vegetables to a large bowl. Add sausage to pan. Increase heat; sauté 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.

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Recipe
16 Nov 2010

Soy Sauce Brined Turkey

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Soy Sauce Brined Turkey

When the folks at Kikkoman approached me to soy brine a turkey for Thanksgiving, my first inclination was to turn them down. I love turkey and all, but preparing one from scratch seemed rather difficult for a novice poultry cook like myself. My worst case scenario was that the big ‘ol bird would turn out unattractive and dry and that the whole experience would scar me for Thanksgivings to come.

What eventually motivated me to change my mind was exactly what scared me at the start—the challenge of brining and roasting a turkey all by myself. I felt that if I didn’t step up to plate this year, it’d probably be a solid decade before the opportunity would present itself again. I had to do it.

For the brining process, I adapted a simple recipe from Kikkoman, and for roasting, I turned to my beloved cooking bible, The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Now, that everything’s been prepped, roasted, carved, and eaten, I must say that the process wasn’t as difficult as I had imagined, and the results were definitely stellar. The soy sauce brine made for an all-around juicy bird and imparted a mild savoriness upon the flesh. The Test Kitchen’s “flipping” method (details below), yielded an evenly cooked bird with a golden and crispy exterior from top to bottom.

Turkeys are notoriously fickle creatures with a penchant for dryness, but thanks to the brine and the Test Kitchen’s tried and true methods, everything turned out just right. From one first-time turkey roaster to another, you can totally do it!

For brine [recipe for a 16-24 pound turkey]

  • 2 gallons cold water
  • 10 ounces naturally brewed soy sauce
  • ½ cup kosher salt
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dried sage
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  • 4 bay leaves

For roasting turkey

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • Salt and pepper

Equipment

Brining the turkey

Soy Sauce Brined Turkey

The night before roasting, remove the giblets and turkey neck from the bird. Rinse the turkey inside and out. In a large stock pot, combine all the brine’s ingredients. Stir well, making sure that all of the salt is dissolved. Place the turkey inside a brining bag and pour the brine mixture over the turkey.

Soy Sauce Brined Turkey

Seal the bag tightly using a twisty tie and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. Right before roasting, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well. Pat the turkey dry using paper towels. [The least messy route is to snip off a corner of the bag and to let the brine drain into the sink.]

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