Family Cookbook Version Three

I recently got the third version of my cookbook back from the printers. This book started with a spiral bound black and white typed version with black and white seasonal illustrations and really none of the food! Of course this was ages ago when a photo of each recipe wasn't expected. I created that book to be a collection of our family's favorite recipes, mostly from the time when I was growing up and it was meant for my Mom and my siblings.

About ten years later I created a printed version in full color with lots of photos of the food made. It also had an index, something the first book lacked, plus it was organized in a more traditional way...beverages, breakfast foods, side dishes, beef, chicken, fish, desserts, cakes, cookie...like that. The first version had been organized by seasons. I actually sold this version, so it's tone was aimed at non-family members.

So for this third version is back to being for the family. Because of that it includes seven pages of family photo collages focused on my siblings and their progeny, plus spouses and significant others, with another page showing thumbnails and all of the names of the folks in the photos. It has more stories and tips from family members, more recipes and more photos of food. It took months but I enjoyed every minute of it! Guess what family members will be getting for Christmas this year?

Because Thanksgiving is coming ever closer and because this year many of us will actually be able to have dinner with family on Thanksgiving, I think that sharing a recipe for my favorite stuffing is a good idea. This recipe makes enough to stuff a 15-19 pound bird, but I use it to stuff a 12-15 pound turkey, plus extra to bake in a casserole dish on the side. This is a version of my Mom's stuffing recipe and uses both stale bread and corn bread. Each time I make it I very it slightly. Sometime I use pecans, sometimes I add dried cranberries or chopped apple. The breads differ, too, because I'm often using ends from breads that I baked over the previous three months. I keep those ends in the freezer for just this purpose! The point is that if you keep the proportions the same, you can make your own signature stuffing. You'll be glad you did! This will taste so much better than the stuff you get at the grocery.

Stuffing

1 cup margarine, melted (you can use butter if you prefer...I think Mom did in the mid-century version)
4 medium onions, minced
¾ cup parsley, chopped
1½ cups celery leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons pepper
4 quarts soft stale breadcrumbs/bread cubes and corn bread - I use a mixture of leftover bread ends of many kinds, plus corn bread
1 cup chicken broth 

Saute’ the onions, parsley, celery leaves, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper in the melted butter for 5 minutes. Combine sautéed mixture with the breadcrumbs/bread cubes (may substitute some cornbread). Moisten with chicken broth. You may also add 1/2 to 1 cup chopped apples, dried fruit, chopped toasted pecans, or oysters. Use
stuffing to stuff bird. Extra may be baked in a greased casserole dish in a 425⁰ F. oven ‘til brown (after turkey is out of oven). Enough for a 15-19 lb. turkey.

Turkey A La King and Memories

Christmas is past, and so is our Boxing Day party. Tonight I had some left over turkey a la king over two pieces of toasted Irish wholemeal flour sourdough with sunflower seeds that I made today. First time I've baked fresh bread in weeks! It was nice. I want to thank my daughter for the Christmas gift of the King Arthur Flour Irish Wholemeal flour. It is such a pleasure to work with and imparts a great texture and nutty flavor to the bread.

The turkey recipe sure does bring back memories. It was one of my Mom's favorites for using up leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. She usually served it over toast, but sometimes we had it over waffles, which I loved. Rarely it was served over steamed rice, which my Dad loved, but then he loved rice and would have eaten it at every meal. Another favorite was to serve it over buttermilk biscuits. She also made something called Turkey Tetrazzini which had turkey and pasta, but I never cared for it (and it uses a lot of Parmesan cheese), turkey soup, and lots of grilled turkey sandwiches. Once I learned how to cook, I learned how to make all of them. I do miss my Mom at this time of year, and my Dad, too, so I guess making this dish is comfort food in a very real way.

I love turkey. Anyone who knows me knows that. So, of course, when I didn't get to make a full, roasted, big turkey for Thanksgiving since we purchased a pre-cooked one when we were in LA, I had to make one in December. Because Sweetie and K are not nearly as fond of turkey as I am, we didn't have it for Christmas dinner. A few days before K came I roasted it and then enjoyed grilled turkey sandwiches for a few days at lunchtime. Still, there was some cubed turkey left after we cleaned up the leftovers. I decided to make a variation of one of my Mom's Turkey a la King. This recipe is a kind of gravy and turkey sauce which can be served over rice, toast, or biscuits. I decided to make biscuits to serve it over and we had some hot peas on the side.

You start with peppers. Mom used green peppers, but I really don't like green pepper, so I used red. There are also mushrooms. I found some nice whole small criminis and sliced them. The mustard and capers I added were my own variation and I think they really added some zest to the dish. I had leftover turkey stock, so I used that in the gravy, which really added a full on turkey flavor to the dish. Great if you love turkey like I do! You could also make this with cooked cubed chicken and chicken stock and it would still be delicious. It is the kind of dish that improves with a little age, so it was even tastier tonight.

Turkey a la Elle
serves 4

1/3 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup green or red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon mustard
1 cup chicken or turkey broth
1 cup cream, evaporated skim milk, or soy creamer
1 cup cooked turkey, diced
1 tablespoon capers (or fewer if you are not a big fan of capers)

Saute' mushrooms and bell pepper in margarine. Removed from heat and add flour, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the mustard, broth, and cream or milk or creamer. Slowly stir the broth mixture into the mushroom mixture. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Add cooked turkey and capers and continue cooking at same heat until poultry is heated through. Serve over toast, rice, biscuits, or waffles.

Using Up Roasted Turkey

This should probably be a post for November, but the truth is that I love turkey and eat it year 'round. With the easy availability now of turkey parts at my local market, it's easy to pick up a pack of turkey thighs and cook them in the toaster oven until roasted. Since my toaster oven is located in my studio, away from the house, this works well when the temperature is in the upper 80s as it was earlier in the week.

Once the initial dinner of roast, sliced turkey, mashed potatoes and peas passed, I still had plenty of turkey to use and it was more easily cut into chunks than sliced. Perfect for putting into a pasta sauce. In the past I've made a cream based pasta sauce with herbs and mushrooms, so I decided to try that but to use rice milk and soy creamer instead of milk, creating my own recipe as I went along.

It worked really well and since I included fresh rosemary along with dried thyme and sage, plus a large amount of green garlic (a gift from a neighbor), it was pungent in fragrance as well as delightful in flavor. Because this kind of sauce can be a bit staid, even with all of those ingredients, I used two strips of local bacon for added depth of flavor. I cooked the bacon first and used the drippings (after removing the bacon itself) to saute the mushrooms, celery and green garlic.

This made a wonderful pasta sauce and went well with a fresh green salad embellished with orange segments, avocado and a balsamic dressing. Although I did use gluten free pasta, I used regular flour for the sauce. I've figured out that I need to keep my gluten down to a low level but don't have to eliminate it altogether. If you do, just substitute a GF flour mix in the sauce and cut back the milk by a couple of tablespoons. Then, once the liquid has thickened, add more if needed to make the sauce the consistency you like.

Turkey Mushroom Pasta Sauce with Green Garlic

2 strips of bacon, cut into roughly 1-inch pieces
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
1/2 cup finely chopped tender green garlic bulb (no roots or skin or tough parts)
(if green garlic not available, used 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, plus 2-3 minced garlic cloves)

2 cups diced (bite sized) cooked turkey
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 tespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon fresh, chopped rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rice milk or other non-dairy milk
2 tablespoons soy creamer, unsweetened and unflavored

salt and pepper to taste

In a large, heavy bottomed pot cook the bacon over medium-low heat until browned and fat rendered. Remove bacon from pot with a slotted spoon to a piece of paper towel to drain.

Increase heat to medium-high and add the celery. Stir to coat with oil. Cook, uncovered 1 minute, stirring as needed. Add the mushrooms, stir to combine with the celery, cover, and cook 3 minutes. Remove cover, stir well, cover and cook 1 more minute. Uncover, stir in the green garlic, cover, lower heat to medium-low and cook 2 minutes. Uncover and stir in the turkey, thyme, sage and rosemary. Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning or sticking.

In a large measuring cup, whisk the milk into the flour slowly to avoid clumping. Uncover the pot, raise heat to medium, and pour the milk mixture in all at once. Immediately stir vigorously to combine all the ingredients in the pot with the milk mixture and continue stirring until the liquid thickens. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Cover, reduce heat to lowest setting and cook 1 minute to combine flavors. Uncover, add the soy creamer if needed to make the sauce the consistency you like.

Serve over cooked pasta or rice. Sprinkle each serving with chopped Italian parsley if desired.

Serves 4.

Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme and Bacon!

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."    - George Eliot

A few years ago I read about a challenge that sounded a bit overwhelming. Bloggers were going to do a post to their blog each day for the whole month of November. The idea was to encourage more writing and maybe even to spark an interest in writing as a way of life. At the time I knew it was impossible for me to do a post every day, especially in November. This year I decided that I just might be able to do it, so I began on November 1.

As you may have noticed if you have read my posts, I think of this primarily as a food blog, so it is only right that most of the posts should be about food. Even better if they contain a recipe. A photo or two is part of the look and feel of this blog, so I rarely do a post without at least one photo. Looking back over the month I feel like I've done pretty well, A third of the posts didn't have a recipe, but some of those were about food and all had a photo or illustration.

It's been a good month, although a few friends have had major health problems. I'm glad that the month finishes off with Thanksgiving and post-Thanksgiving thoughts since turkey is one of my favorite foods. Today I cooked a turkey for our family since last Thursday we were treated to our neighbor's heirloom variety home grown turkey for the holiday meal. Mine is a frozen bird from a chain grocery store, so it should be interesting to see the difference.

Soon fall will turn into winter and my favorite season will hibernate until next year. Of course the run-up to Christmas will keep me busy and it means lots of baking, so I have a smile on my face as I type this and think of what great posts there will be in December.

I spoke with my Mom yesterday and she has already gotten an early Christmas gift from me. I created a book of our kitchen remodel project for her and had it published by Blurb, so it has a nice hard cover and lovely paper to really show off the photos I took as we went along and the finished kitchen, too. So glad that she and the family enjoyed learning about how the project went as they read through the book over the weekend while they were visiting her.

I hope dear reader that you have enjoyed the November posts and are getting in touch with your inner elf as we jump into the winter holiday season!

But before we leave November I want to share with you the stuffing I made today. I'm glad I made the stuffing because the frozen bird was not as fully flavored as the turkey raised right across the street that we enjoyed on Thursday. This time I took my Mom's classic recipe and added corn bread, mushrooms, bourbon and bacon. It makes a wonderful stuffing with a hint of Southern style. If I hadn't used up almost all of my pecans for the pies I would have put some pecans in, too. When you make this, and your really should, you can add pecans and think of me.

Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme and Bacon! Stuffing 

4 slices bacon, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, minced
4 oz. mushrooms, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoons poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 quarts soft stale bread cubes and cornbread
1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons bourbon
½ cup parsley, chopped


In a heavy pot or skillet cook the bacon over high heat until almost crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Saute’ the onions, mushrooms, and celery in the bacon drippings (grease) on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and stir well. Continue cooking over medium heat another two minutes. Add the poultry seasoning, dried thyme, dried rosemary, salt and pepper and stir well to combine.

Pile the parsley on top of the bread cubes and cornbread in a very large bowl or pot. Pour sauteed mixture over the parsley. Combine sauteed mixture and the reserved bacon with the bread cubes (I always substitute some cornbread for some of the bread cubes).

In a large bowl or measuring cup combine the chicken broth and bourbon. Moisten the bread crumb mixture with chicken broth mixture. You may also add chopped apples, dried fruit, chopped toasted pecans, or oysters.

Use stuffing to stuff bird. Place inside bird lightly...don't pack tight.Stuffing expands a bit during cooking.  Extra may be baked in 425 degree F. oven ‘til brown (after turkey is out of oven).

Enough for a 10-14 lb. turkey.

It's the Stuffing

Everyone who knows me well can tell you that I adore turkey. Although we don't have the full whole turkey with all the trimmings that often during the year, we do have turkey sausage links on the barbecue, ground turkey as the meat for chili and spaghetti sauce, and sliced turkey for sandwiches.

They better watch out!

When late November rolls around it becomes easy to find whole turkeys in abundance in the U.S.A. because the celebration of Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I usually buy a frozen turkey and let it thaw in the fridge. I tried an organic, fresh-never-frozen turkey one year but it didn't seem to be much better than the flash frozen ones and was quite a bit more expensive.

Sweetie loves stuffing in much the same way I love turkey, so at Thanksgiving he is a happy camper, too. Since the stuffing I use to stuff the bird's cavity also flavors and perfumes the turkey and the whole house, if you want to do it right, pay attention to the stuffing!

There are all sorts of takes on stuffing. Maybe your family has a traditional recipe and you want to use that. If you are looking for a new one, you could try the one that I make. It is a slight variation on the bread stuffing that my Mom has made since I was tiny. It has the savory hit of sautéed onions and celery, herbal notes of poultry seasoning and parsley, plus the textural contrasts of mixed yeast bread cubes and crumbly baked corn bread. Sometimes I also add in some chopped apple or chopped pecans, but it's fine without.

What I like best is to stuff the turkey with about 2 cups of it and then put the rest into a casserole so that it can bake during the last 20 - 30 minutes the turkey is in the oven or right after the turkey comes out and is resting before being carved. That way you get all of the stuffing flavors inside the bird, but a nice side dish, too, with a crusty top.

Stuffing

1 cup margarine, melted
4 medium onions, minced
¾ cup parsley, chopped
1½ cups celery leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons pepper
4 quarts soft stale breadcrumbs/bread cubes and corn bread - I use a mixture of leftover bread ends of many kinds, plus corn bread
1 cup chicken broth 

Saute’ the onions, parsley, celery leaves, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper in the melted butter for 5 minutes. Combine sautéed mixture with the breadcrumbs (may substitute some cornbread). Moisten with chicken broth. You may also add chopped apples, dried fruit, chopped toasted pecans, or oysters. Use stuffing to stuff bird. Extra may be baked in 425⁰ F. oven ‘til brown (after turkey is out of oven). Enough for a 15-19 lb. turkey.

July and Meatballs

July is one of those months that hold beginnings and endings for me. It was the month I met my first husband and the month, years later, when I left him. I was the month of my first sleep-over camping experience as a girl, the month I started my last job, and the month we lost our son in an auto accident over a decade ago.


It was also the month, in 2008, when a wonderful blogger, Sherry Cermak of the What Did You Eat blog died of a heart attack. She was very young and touched a lot of hearts with her blog. A number of bloggers honored her by making something from her blog. I made Turkey Meatballs with Plum Sauce, inspired by a post of hers. Today, starting off the month of July, I made the recipe for dinner, making a few changes as I usually do. I always think of Sherry now when the plums come in. They are just ripening, so I used a few from my tree for the sauce. If you choose to make this dish, think for a moment of Sherry if you visited her blog or knew her, or of someone you know who died too young and was a sweet person. It never hurts to remember the good ones.

Turkey Meatballs with Citrus Plum Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. unsalted butter, divided
1 yellow onion, finely chopped, divided
1 small celery stalk, finely chopped
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup rolled oats, whirled in a blender or food processor until lightly ground
1 egg
2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup fresh citrus juice (I used a combination of orange and lime)
1 cup fresh diced plums, peels left on


Directions:
Make the meatballs

Preheat an oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.

In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and sauté two minutes. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons of the onions. Add the celery to the pan and continue to sauté’ until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon into a bowl and let cool. Set the pan aside.

Add the turkey, oats (I actually used Quaker Multi Grain Hot Cereal, mix of rye, barley, oat and wheat whole grains), egg, oregano, salt and pepper to the cooled onion mixture, and mix gently but thoroughly with your hands. Shape the mixture into 12 meatballs and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.

Cook the meatballs and make the sauce.

Bake the meatballs until opaque throughout, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the fry pan and combine the citrus juices, and plums in the fry pan and place over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until the juice comes to a boil and the fruit is warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the reserved onions to the sauce, taste for seasonings, add salt and/or pepper as needed.

Divide the meatballs among dinner plates, spoon the plum sauce over them and serve immediately. Serves 3- 4.

Almost Turkey Time

If you don't live in the U.S.of A., the coming of fall probably doesn't mean that it is time to gather up the recipes for cooking a big turkey for a family, or extended family, or family and friends dinner toward the end of November.

If you do celebrate American Thanksgiving, you probably have a raft of family traditions associated with the feast.

It might be Aunt Mabel's green bean casserole with onion rings or Uncle George's special meatball appetizer or Grandma's super sweet, marshmallow covered sweet potato casserole. With the way that tastes change over time, this might be the year that you decide to try something new and different...well, at least for one dish.

If you are the brave soul that is willing to stand up against family pressure and make a casserole that has fresh green beans and no fried onions in sight, or something with sweet potatoes that is actually savory, perhaps with some sage butter, or even a different stuffing for the turkey, you might need some suggestions for new recipes to try. I'm selfish enough that I want you to make one of the recipes I've blogged about if thats teh case...besides they are good!

There will be round ups and lists to be found around the Internet. My group of Thanksgiving ready recipes will be limited to ones I've posted here in the Land of St. Honore' at Feeding My Enthusiasms. That might make it a short list, but that makes it easier for you to scan it, check out any that look interesting to you, then pop on over to the next blog (which might be one on my likely blogs list...if you are smart).

Here goes....drumroll please.....

Appetizers:

White Bean Dip, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-dip-made-with-canned-cannelli.html hits a lot of high notes - robust taste, not too filling, good-for-your-heart legume based, great with either crackers or crudites, easy to make and ...Yay!...can be made ahead and tastes even better if you do.

Caprese on a Skewer, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/11/catching-up-caprese-on-skewer.html is colorful, fun to make and fun to eat. Finding flavorful tomatoes might be a challenge, but you can use cherry tomatoes which are usually sold in pint baskets. They generally taste good. You can substitute flat leaf parsley (Italian parsley) leaves for the basil leaves. The flavor combo will be different, but the skewers are still pretty that way. You can Serve the skewers by sticking the end in a small pumpkin or you can corral a bunch of filled skewers in a tall glass, fanning them out.

Salads:

A tossed green salad is always welcome, but if you want a make-ahead salad, try this Composed Orange Salad, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/01/orange-you-glad-you-heard-about-this.html . You can arrange the lettuce and orange slices on salad plates, stack them up in the 'fridge, then dab on the mayo, add the cherry and sprinkle on the raisins and coconut shortly before guests sit down and put them a plate at each place. The orange is refreshing and light which is a good way to start a meal that is heavy on the starches.

Soup:

If the day is chilly as November often is, starting with a nice bowl of soup is warming and welcoming. Try a seasonal favorite like Two Squash Soup, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/11/soups-on-and-its-two-squash-soup.html rich with roasted butternut and pumpkin squashes, plus onions, sweet potato and apples. With a sour cream and diced red pepper garnish it's quite festive and flavorful.

Turkey:

The main event is usually a roast Turkey, golden and juicy. Turns out that I haven't blogged a turkey recipe, so I'm sending you to the experts. The Butterball turkey folks have a great helpline and website if you need a recipe or help. I usually cook mine in a brown-in-bag because it makes it difficult to over cook the bird, plus clean up is so easy.This one wasn't cooked in a brown-in bag and it is overcooked.

Sides:

What is a turkey without stuffing? No nearly as good! My Mom makes the best stuffing (you knew I'd say that, right?...well, it's true) and the Stuffing, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/11/stuffed.html recipe I posted last year is based on her bread and corn bread stuffing. You'll need a slightly drier stuffing if it is going inside the bird than if it goes in the casserole, so add a little extra broth to the casserole baked stuffing. You can make it your own by adding favorite dried fruit, different nuts, and so on. Make plenty because people usually want seconds of this stuffing!

Good turkey benefits by the accompaniment of cranberries. There's something about the sweet-tart fruitiness that brings out the best in the bird. Cranberries also ripen in the fall, making them a fall favorite since Colonial times. If you want to break away from cranberry relish, try Elle's Wild and Brown Rice with Cranberries, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/10/for-holiday-meals.html for a side dish instead. It has the nutty flavors of wild and brown rice, plus apple juice soaked cranberries and a dash of orange flavor for zest.

(You can still open a can of cranberry jelly for purists).

Swiss chard is a seasonal green that is all too often forgotten makes a wonderful side dish. It is refreshing and savory and light...just right with such a rich meal. Try it fixed as Swiss Chard and Spinach with Onions, Currants and Lemon Zest,
http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2007/12/sneaking-in-chard.html an interesting mix of greens, onions with the contrast of currants and the zip of lemon zest.

Bread:

Even though the usual Thanksgiving meal has plenty of carbs without it, everyone loves freshly baked rolls. Pile the bread basket with these Refrigerator Rolls, http://breadbakersdog.blogspot.com/2009/03/refrigerator-rolls-ready-when-you-are.html which can be partially made ahead. They are from my other blog, Bread Baker's Dog, devoted to bread baking. Pop them in the oven when the turkey comes out. They'll bake while it's resting and being carved and you will be a star when you pass the bread basket and people get a whiff of freshly baked bread.

If you are feeling artistic and want to really impress, make the Harvest Sheaf bread, also found on Bread Baker's Dog. It is easier to make than it looks. To serve, I just sliced across the sheaf.

Dessert:

The last morsel of turkey has been polished off and the coffee is brewing. Now comes my favorite part, dessert. Here are three desserts that use seasonal fruits. They make a nice addition to the dessert table, which can also include a traditional pie.

The first Double Apple Bundt Cake with or without Rum Glaze, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2008/05/its-not-tuesday-but-its-still-dorie.html features crisp, tart apples complemented with spice in an easy to serve bundt cake with a decorative rum glaze.

The next two are a bit unusual but delicious. Try Stuffed Figs and Plum Clafouti, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2007/09/fun-with-fall-figs.html with the added kick of bittersweet chocolate hiding in the figs.

Pomegranate Lemon Tart with or without Spiced Poached Pears, http://feedingmyenthusiasms.blogspot.com/2009/03/some-kinda-wonderful.html makes use of the season's pears and is very pretty with the sweet-tart pomegranate lemon pastel tart filling and the fan of bi-colored pear slices on top.

Still need some recipe ideas? Check out the index by clicking on the set table photo at the top right corner of this blog.

Happy Thanksgiving! East well and enjoy time with family and friends. XOXOXO Elle

That's One Huge Stuffed Squash!

Despite our best efforts, a giant yellow zucchini grew and grew, hidden by the big squash leaves, and became large enough to stretch from one end to the other, lengthwise, of a half sheet pan. Once these babies get to that size, there are limited ways to use them. One that works well is to stuff them. I'm only showing this blurred photo so you get an idea of how large this sucker was. Even this photo isn't of the whole thing.

Sweetie sliced this yellow behemoth into two along the length of the squash, then removed the seeds from one of the halves. I sliced a bit off the bottom to let it sit a little flatter on the Silpat (silicon baking mat). You can also line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Some of the stuffing always seems to escape the squash, so lining the pan is just smart.

The stuffing sort of came together from things on hand. I found a rice mixture in the pantry. It has wild rice, brown rice, arborio rice and medium grained white rice in it. If I had been smart I would have used all medium grained white rice because the wild and brown rice (an probably the arborio, too) made it pretty chewy, still a problem for me. Sweetie thought that it was a great combo, especially since I had added a half of a sauteed onion and some dried rosemary to it before it cooked, and cooked it using chicken broth for part of the liquid (but it would also taste great if you used vegetable broth).

The meat part was browned ground turkey, just seasoned with some pepper, broken into small pieces after browning. Another addition was spinach. You chop it, steam it, drain the excess liquid out of it and then measure a cup of it. Once the rice, meat, and veg cooled down, I added cottage cheese and feta cheese and an egg. This is one great stuffing! You could also use it to stuff savory turnovers or to make a meat pie or stuff peppers, etc.

Once the stuffing had been stuffed into the squash we added some pine nuts and put the whole thing in to bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

If you wanted this to be vegan, you could replace the turkey with smoked tofu or seitan and leave out the cheeses. I would also increase the spinach amount and maybe even add some corn.

The filling gets nicely crusty on top, the pine nuts brown, and the squash softens. A nice slice of this and a salad is a fine summer meal,

as long as it is cool enough to heat up the oven. I suspect that you might be able to duplicate this dish on the grill, but can't be sure until we try it. Although I didn't look at the recipe, this is reminiscent of the Zucanoes the Molly Katzen wrote about in the Moosewood Cookbook.

Giant Stuffed Squash

One half giant squash ( or 1/2 dozen halved medium zucchini), halved lengthwise, seeds removed to make a shell with some squash left in the shell

2 cups cooked rice (I used a rice mix, but use your favorite rice)

1/2 yellow onion, chopped finely

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. ground turkey, browned and broken into bite sized or smaller pieces

1 cup chopped, steamed and drained spinach

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup feta cheese, broken into small pieces

1 tablespoon pine nuts

Place the squash shell(s) on a large baking sheet, lined with silicon mat, parchment or foil. Set aside.

Mix the cooked rice with the sauteed onion, dried rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. (I used chicken broth for part of the liquid to cook the rice, but all water is fine or you can use vegetable broth.) Set aside to cool.

In a heavy skillet, preferably non-stick, brown the ground turkey, seasoning with pepper to taste, then break up to small pieces. Set aside to cool. When cooled, stir in the rice mixture, the spinach, cottage cheese and feta cheese.

Stuff the squash shell(s) with the turkey mixture, packing the mixture in and mounding it slightly over the top of the shell(s). Sprinkle evenly with the pine nuts.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for 45 minutes to one hour for the large squash, and for 35 to 45 minutes for smaller shells. Squash should be tender when pierced with a sharp knife and top of filling should be brown.

Remove from oven and let sit 2 - 3 minutes, then cut in slices and serve while still hot.

Serves about 5 or 6.

Loves Meatballs

It is always tragic when the world loses a vibrant, creative, caring, talented person when they are still young. If you are younger than 30, then Sherry Cermak might have seemed old, not young, but from where I'm sitting she was a spring chicken and should still be with us blogging at What Did You Eat and saving cats and rescuing wildlife and being an inspiration to many. She was such a good writer and often made one smile. Unfortunately, a sudden heart attack took her a week ago. As a tribute, some bloggers are cooking things from her blog in her honor and posting today.

In going through her blog, there were lots of good recipes to choose from, but she mentioned that she loves meatballs. Indeed, there were quite a few good meatball recipes, too. I chose a recent post of meatballs that evoke some of the flavors and fragrance of Thanksgiving. They are easy to make, cook quickly, and are fairly healthy, too.

Anyone who knows me well knows I love turkey. I could probably eat it every night for a month and not be tired of it. Since Sweetie doesn't share my super enthusiasm for anything turkey, we have it in one form or another about once a week. These meatballs let turkey shine by staying simple. The original recipe on Sherry's blog called for a sauce using fresh or frozen cranberries and she said her sauce looked like nail polish :) Seems that the frozen cranberries I though I had are not in the freezer, so I substituted some ripe plums, keeping the skins on to approximate the tart sweetness of cranberries. I also left all of the sugar out of the sauce, which helped keep it tart.

The onions and celery, fresh oregano and salt and pepper add just enough flavor since turkey can be bland. The egg and bread crumbs hold it all together. The savory goodness of the meatballs made a great counterpoint to the sweet-tart sauce which uses fresh orange juice along with the plums. I also cooked extra onions and kept a tablespoon of them to put in the sauce...sort of tied it all together.

Here's to you Sherry! You are missed.

Herbed Turkey Meatballs With Plum Sauce
A variation of a recipe from What Did You Eat

Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, divided
1 yellow onion, finely chopped, divided
1 small celery stalk, finely chopped
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
1 egg
2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup fresh diced plums, peels left on

Directions:
Make the meatballs

Preheat an oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet.
In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and sauté two minutes. Set aside 1-2 tablespoons of the onions. Add the celery to the pan and continue to sauté’ until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon into a bowl and let cool. Set the pan aside.
Add the turkey, bread crumbs, egg, oregano, salt and pepper to the cooled onion mixture, and mix gently but thoroughly with your hands. Shape the mixture into 12 meatballs and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.

Cook the meatballs and make the sauce.

Bake the meatballs until opaque throughout, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the fry pan and combine the orange juice, and plums in the fry pan and place over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until the juice comes to a boil and the fruit is warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes.

Divide the meatballs among dinner plates, spoon the plum sauce over them and serve immediately. Serves 3- 4.

The Many Moods of Turkey

For some of us eating a few slices of turkey at Thanksgiving is enough turkey for the whole year, thank you very much. For others turkey is a treasured treat as often as possible. I fall into the latter category. This has been a good week because I had turkey apple sausages on Wednesday

and an open-faced hot turkey sandwich with stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy (call in the carb police!) last night.

If I had roasted a turkey myself for that meal I might be eating a grilled turkey sandwich for lunch tomorrow, turkey a' la king with rice for dinner, and some turkey rice soup by Monday. To change the flavors a bit, I could make spaghetti sauce with true Italian flavors with ground turkey, or make teriyaki meatballs for an Asian dinner, also with ground turkey. There is also the joy of a turkey pastrami sandwich on rye....I could go on and on.

One of the reasons that I can have turkey so often is that a local family, the Benedettis, grow turkeys commercially locally and have a Willie Bird's retail store about a 10 minute drive away. There they sell fresh turkey products from a refrigerated case, to order, but there are also packs of frozen turkey products, usually at a lower price than a similar item can be found in the grocery stores. They also make great sandwiches to go.

Those turkey apple sausages came from the freezer case. We are trying to empty the freezer and fridge in preparation for tenting the house for termites (termites just LOVE Sonoma County), so these sausages joined some frozen green beans, some apples off the tree, and some red potatoes from the pantry for a warm and cozy dinner on a wet and gray evening.

The wonderful turkey dinner with all those carbs can be found, year 'round, at Willie Bird's Restaurant in Santa Rosa. It is almost a throwback to the 50's or 60's restaurant with booths, those little wrapped butter pats brought with the bread basket, and they even have liver on the menu for dinner...and it's very nicely cooked liver, the way you wish Mom used to make it.

Since it is that time of year, you can also pre-order a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving, although the lines to pick up the bird can be a dozen or so people sometimes. Still, a fresh turkey is superior to my taste to a frozen turkey, and it supports local agriculture.

Turkey Apple Sausages with Potatoes and Apples
This is a classic flavor combination

1 pound sausage in casings - turkey apple is a favorite - Willie Bird's if you can get it
1 tablespoon grapeseed or safflower oil
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed, halved, and sliced in 1/4 inch slices
1-2 tablespoons grapeseed or safflower oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
4 medium apples, halved, cored, and sliced in 1/4 inch slices
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a cast iron skillet, heat the oil until hot and saute' the sausages, turning to brown all sides. Remove sausages to a microwave safe plate and keep covered.

Meanwhile put the potatoe slices in a medium saucepan and add water to barely cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced. Drain the potatoes, then add them to the cast iron skillet once the sausages are removed. Add the additional oil and saute' the potatoes, turning over a few times with a spatula to allow more sides to brown. When browned to desired amount, season with salt and pepper to taste, keep warm, covered.

While potatoes are boiling and sausages are cooking, place the butter in a small cast iron skillet, put the skillet over low heat until the butter melts. Add the apple slices and turn and stir them until the slices have been slicked with the butter. Add the water and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon, then stir the apple slices again the distribute the spice over all the slices. Raise the heat to medium-high and saute' the apples for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender and a bit carmelized. Add a little more water if needed to keep them from burning.

Take the microwave plate of sausages and cover, leaving a vent for steam to escape. Microwave on 1/2 power, a minute at a time, until cooked through but still tender. If you poke the sausage, it will be resistant when it is done.

Place the sausages, potatoes and apples on a serving platter and serve warm, at once. This meal is good with steamed green beans or a green salad with a light dressing.

Willie Bird's Restaurant
1150 Santa Rosa Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
(707) 542-0861
www.williebirdsrestaurant.com

If you phone the Restaurant, they can give you information for the retail store.

A Burger with Gobble Power

What could be better, now that the weather is warmer, than some burgers cooked on the outdoor grill? As part of the Burger Ballyhoo, created by Paul and Freya of Writing at the Kitchen Table, I decided to play around with some turkey for burgers.

For starters, I diced in a very small dice, some mushrooms and a couple ribs of celery and a clove of minced garlic. Those were sauteed in some olive oil, then mixed in a bowl with some Italian flavored turkey sausages from a local company, Willy Bird Turkey. I used three sausages, about a half pound. To these I added a pound of plain ground turkey, also from Willy Bird Turkey, an egg, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme and 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, plus 1/2 teaaspoon dried oregano. These were well combined in the bowl, then lightly shaped into 6 patties. Sweetie grilled them until they were just done (overcooking is the bane of turkey burgers) and served them on whole wheat buns that he had toasted on the grill.

They did not dry out and held their shape, partly due to the egg and oatmeal. In fact they were juicy. The combination of the Italian sausage and the sauteed vegetables and the herbs gave them lots of flavor. Even the guys who usually prefer beef said that they enjoyed these as a change. I like them because they are lower in fat than beef burgers and, well, I LOVE turkey.

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