Baste

My family, like many, has a bad habit of Late Turkey Syndrome. Traditionally, we'd plan for Thanksgiving Dinner to be served at, say, six. The turkey wouldn't be done for another hour or two. A few years ago, my brother had our family over for Thanksgiving at his place in California, and he let me cook the turkey. I've been doing it since, and we've been free from Late Turkey Syndrome.

How did I do it? Read on...

Image by LD CrossApples tend to release a lot of moisture and lose their shape when cooked. We've developed strains of apples that retain their shape better, and we call them cooking apples.

While cooking apples are great for pies or other places where we want apple to be a featured part of a cooked dish, we can make use of the properties of other apples that don't normally "work" when cooked (like Fuji or Gala apples). With these apples, we can use the liquid they release as basting juices.