Comfort Food

The rains showed up, so I'm happy. There is something cozy about sitting in a comfy chair with a good book and a cup of tea and listening to the rain and wind beating against the house. I did have to go out in it to go to work today, but it wasn't too stormy at the time. We had lots of rain last night, too and more wind.

When the weather is cold and rainy I turn to comfort foods. The baked garnet sweet potato I had last night seemed particularly good since it was wet out and dry inside. Another great comfort food is meat loaf. I start with my Mom's recipe which used ground beef and oatmeal, onions, parsley, herbs and spices and tomato juice with egg as a binder.

My updated version uses ground pork and turkey instead of ground beef. I also added leeks and mushrooms and flax seed, used some diced tomatoes instead of part of the tomato juice and added dried thyme because it goes so well with mushrooms. Sweetie was quite taken with this meat loaf and I liked that it seemed lighter and more tender, but still savory and comforting.

Served with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, it makes an old-fashioned meal with a twist.
One of the great things about meat loaf is that you mix all the ingredients together, then put it in a loaf pan to bake...and you can do other things while it bakes since it needs no further help from you.

Notes: I tend to mix the oatmeal, onions, leeks, mushrooms and the ground meat and poultry together with my hands in a large bowl, keeping the mixture light, not packed, then add the rest of the ingredients except for the egg, mix some more, then add the egg and mix until everything seems well distributed. I use a light touch when packing the loaf pan, too. If you prefer a heavier meat loaf, just pack the mixture in more firmly.

Take a look at the photo: you can see the parsley and mushrooms and flax seeds and tomatoes and onions...but now imagine how wonderful it smells! Guess you might have to make some for your own taste of comfort. This loaf makes great leftovers, too.

Pork and Turkey Meatloaf
based on Mom's recipe in Family Food, June 1994

1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground turkey
1 cup rolled oats, uncooked
1 medium leek, well cleaned and finely chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
¼ lb mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon flax seed (optional)
½ cup tomato juice
½ cup diced tomatoes, chopped in fine dice
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten

Combine all ingredients (see notes above). Pack firmly into an ungreased loaf pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 1 hour to 1 hr 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Serves 8.

The Chicken and the Egg

Easter eggs are nice and all, but with only two people living in our house, the question arises at once. What to do with all those hard boiled eggs? Do I make deviled eggs? Nah, too much like picnic food and it's still a bit cool for that. Egg salad is always a winner, but I'm thinking about dinner and egg salad sounds like lunch to me.

After trolling through the recipe files, I came across a recipe that is from 1972 or earlier. I made a few adjustments to better comply with current nutritional guidelines, but it still tastes decadent and used some of those hard boiled eggs. It's also perfect for FF#1 (Food Fight #1) hosted by Allen at Eating Out Loud. He chose eggs for the monthly theme. Great choice!

Continental Chicken Casserole, where the chicken meets the egg, can also be made with turkey, it can be prepared ahead, it can serve a crowd, and it's fairly easy to make.

The key is in the mixture of spices in the sauce and the addition of sherry. You don't really taste the sherry as a strong note...it's more of a grace note. It's important to use a good sherry that you wouldn't mind drinking. I used an Amontillado sherry from Jerez de La Frontera in the district of Macharnudo in Spain. It's dry and light enough that it enhances the spices, but doesn't drown them. Don't forget the eggs. They bring all those flavors together. I served this with yolkless egg noodles and steamed peas, but you can use rice too.

Continental Turkey Casserole

3 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken broth (I used the almost fat free kind of canned, but fresh is better)

1 cup non-fat milk

1 teaspoon mustard (I used standard ballpark style yellow, but other kinds would be good, too)

1/2 teaspoon salt, dash pepper

1/8 teaspoon each: allspice, ground nutmeg, cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon each: paprika (I used sweet Hungarian), and seasoned salt

1/4 cup dry sherry

4 hard cooked eggs, cubed

4 cups cooked turkey (or chicken) cubed in roughly 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon butter

crumbs from one slice whole grain bread

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour until smooth. Using a whisk and over low heat, slowly blend in the broth, then the milk, stirring constantly until smooth.

Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until sauce is thickened.

Combine all the seasonings in a small bowl, then blend into the sauce. Stir in the sherry, fold in the eggs and chicken.

Turn the chicken and egg mixture into a buttered (or spray with cooking spray) 3 quart casserole dish.

Melt the 1 teaspoon butter in a small pan. Add the crumbs and stir to coat with the butter. Top the casserole with the crumbs, spreading evenly. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 - 30 minutes or until the sauce bubbles and the crumbs are browned. Serve hot. Serves 10-12.

Guilty Pleasures

How I love turkey!

Turkey is one of my favorite foods. Right up there with chocolate. Roast turkey is a pretty healthy food, especially if you feed the skin to the dog, as I do. What's not so healthy is some of my favorite ways to use up leftover turkey.

Top of the list is grilled turkey sandwich, a real guilty pleasure. Even thought I make it with multi-grain and oat bread and with the fairly low fat and high protein turkey breast meat, the fact that I slather on some butter on the out side of the sandwich on both sides, and even sometimes put a little more butter inside, makes this sandwich a real indulgence. I don't even add on cheese, although that is really yum. Sometimes I'll add some tomato slices, especially if the turkey is dryish. Even with the tomatoes added, the nutritional value is suspect. They remain a favorite guilty pleasure.



A second favorite way to use up leftover turkey is in a pot pie. There are lots of veggies in this one, so it is sounder nutritionally, but that crust, be it pastry or biscuit dough, is hardly diet food. This is one of thoes dishes that taste even better the second day. These days you don't even have to wait until Thanksgiving. The frozen section of your food store usually have turkey year round. Go on, give yourself a little treat. Cook up this pot pie, or even the sandwich. Then take a brisk walk. Right.

Turkey Pot Pie
2 medium baking potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup diced celery, about 2 ribs
1 medium onion, diced
3 or 4 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 to 1 1/2 cups leftover turkey, diced. I use both dark and light turkey
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, cooked in the microwave for 3 minutes, then drained
1 cup biscuit mix
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Scrub the potato, cut in half, cut each half in half and slice in roughly 1/3 inch thick slices. Place potato slices in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Then turn down heat to medium-high and cook until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and set aside.
In a dutch oven or casserole that can go on the stovetop and into the oven, heat the olive oil over mediumn-high heat. Saute' the celery, onions, mushrooms, and garlic until the onion is transluscent, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add there seasonings and stir well. Add the flour and stir, cooking for about 1/2 a minute. Add the broth all at once, stirring briskly until the contents of the pan are well mixed. Turn up the heat to high and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture bubbles and thickens.
Add the turkey, drained potato slices, and mixed vegetables. Stir. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for about 3 minutes to make sure mixture is very hot.While mixture is heating, mix the biscuit mix and milk (I use non fat, but any kind is fine) in a small bowl.
Once mixture is very hot, pour the biscuit mixture over the turkey-veggie mixture and place in the center of a pre-heated 400 degree oven. Cook 10-12 minutes, or until biscuit mixture is golden brown.
Serve from the casserole, giving each portion some of the crust and some of the turkey mixture.
Serves about 6.

guilty pleasures
pot pie
grilled turkey sandwich
leftovers
turkey