In the Kitchen With Mattie

Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Last year I was hoping to get some recipes up on here so you would be able to make a few dishes from all those turkey day leftovers we always have. I didn’t manage too well did I?

 

So tonight I am going to put one up here to go with the other from last year (you can do a search for Nov 2010 and find that one). Usually people make chicken ala king but I also like turkey ala king.  There’s no picture right now as I have to wait to have the leftovers from the big day, but at least if you want to you can read over the recipe and have what you need to make it on hand and save yourself a trip to the crowded stores on Friday.

 

Turkey ala King

 

4 cups of chopped turkey

 

1 green pepper diced

 

2 shallots diced, you can also use a small onion instead

 

1 package frozen sweet peas, defrosted

 

cooked rice, amount depending on how many you are feeding

 

1 quart half and half, heated to a simmer

 

1 cup strong turkey or chicken broth, no salt added, heated to a boil

 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

 

4 tablespoons butter

 

1 package fresh mushrooms sliced

 

1 tablespoon jarred pimento drained

 

salt and pepper to taste, added at the end

 

Place butter into a deep sauce pan and melt, add the shallot and the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms give up their liquid, add the diced pepper and saute another minute or two. Saute until the pan is almost dry and then add the flour, mix the flour into the rest and cook and stir for 5 minutes, be careful it doesn’t burn. When everything is well mixed start adding the turkey broth, stir it constantly to smooth out the lumps, when the broth is all added then start adding the half and half. When the sauce is smooth and thickened add the turkey meat and bring it all to a simmer, allow to simmer for 3 minutes then add the peas and pimento, turn off the stove.  Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.  I usually add a bit of dry sherry to the dish but it isn’t required. Serve it over boiled rice or buttered noodles, along with a salad it makes a nice meal.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

 

Today I wanted to clean out the fridge so I also needed to use up whatever was still good. I had a nice piece of the roast beef we had eaten the other night so I decided to turn it into a sort of shepherd’s pie.

 

Tradionally, the pie has some green peas in it but as hubby hates them I decided to use up some green beans in their place. I always keep potatoes on hand so I took three of the large russets and boiled them up and then mashed them, adding some butter and cream along with salt and pepper. I had some of the gravy from the roast left too so I used that up as well, unfortunately there wasn’t quite enough of it so I decided to try some new stuff I picked up at the store last week. It is called Knorr Homestyle Stock and comes four little tubs in a package, each little tub makes 3 1/2 cups of stock when added to water. The smell when I opened one of the little tubs was amazing, it smelled just like the stocks I make when I make them from fresh beef. I added about 2 cups of water to it and then added some of that to the leftover gravy, it intensified the taste a great deal. Then I cut up a few fresh carrots and steamed them , I then added the green beans and carrots to the gravy along with the cubed leftover roast and poured it all into a small casserole dish. I put the mashed potatoes into a pastry bag and piped them on the top of the casserole dish and set the whole thing into the oven at 375 degrees just to brown up the top a bit. It came out great and we really enjoyed it, plus it was a nice use of some leftovers that would have gone to the dogs or the trash can, I’m not too sure the dogs are real happy with not getting the last of the roast!

 

I have to say that I am really impressed with the taste of the Knorr Homestyle Stock that I used today. I’ll definitely be picking up more of this.

Sorry folks but I don’t have a picture for you today. Back when I was still able to work some of my favorite customers were a very nice couple named Ben and Megan, they were very sweet and always treated the staff nice.

 

I love to make pizza and often we would get in discussions on the way to do pizza at home when you don’t have access to a big commercial high heat oven. Seeing as I had been making it for years I told them I would be more than happy to show them how whenever they wanted. One day they took me up on my offer and that night I went over to their home with some already prepared dough and a few toppings. I also showed them how to make the dough from scratch and then we proceeded to make a few pizzas with the things I had already brought to use. They had invited two of their friends over and my boss at the time also came to enjoy some pizza. The one pizza that everyone loved was one I made with a Gorgonzola Roasted Garlic Cream sauce.

 

Quite by accident Ben happened to dial my phone number yesterday when he was trying to call a friend with a name similar to mine. It was so nice to hear from him again and to also hear that he and Megan are adding to their family in the coming months. As we chatted he said they would love to make that sauce I had brought over for the pizza. I told him about this blog and then remembered that I didn’t have it up on here yet so in honor of Ben and Megan here it is. You can use it on pizza, on gnocchi, it’s great on penne too, or as a dipping sauce for some great crusty garlic bread……….anyway you use it it can become addicting!

 

Gorgonzola and Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

 

1 large head of garlic, top 1/4 cut off

 

1 stick of real butter

 

6 to 8 ounces of gorgonzola cheese, use a good blue cheese if you can’t  find gorgonzola

 

1 quart of heavy whipping cream

 

LOTS OF PATIENCE so you don’t scorch or burn it!

 

First take the garlic and place it in a square of foil, add about 3 tablespoons of oil and wrap it all together tightly, place in a 350 degree oven and roast for one hour, set aside to cool a bit.

 

Next place the butter into a large saute pan and melt over medium heat, add the heavy cream and bring up to a low boil. Boil for about 15 -20 minutes until it starts to thicken and coats a spoon. Start adding garlic, squeeze it from the papery skin right into the cream and mash it with a spoon right in the pan, continue simmering for another few minutes and then start adding the cheese bit by bit and stirring to incorporate it all together, keep an eye on it and stir often so it doesn’t scorch or stick to the pan bottom. Altogether it will take about 30-40 minutes to make. Remove from the heat and pour into a container and cover lightly until it cools enough to put it into the fridge. Let it chill overnight and when you want to use it as a sauce for pasta or a dip for garlic bread scoop out a ladle into a small pan and add a bit of cream to loosen it up a bit, bring it up to a simmer and then use as you want. For topping pizza use it at room temperature without thinning it out. When it sets overnight it will thicken up considerably and become pastelike.

 

Ben and Megan, CONGRATULATIONS and I hope you enjoy the sauce!

 

It is Holloween night and all the little princess’ and gremlins are out and about. I was looking for something to make that wouldn’t need me to have a careful watch over it while also having to answer the door for the kids looking for their treats. I had some pork tenderloins in the fridge and a head of cabbage on hand so I took out my trusty two burner grill pan and set about to grill the tenderloins. I seasoned them heavily with Mrs Dash Salt Free Seasoning mix and a liberal dose of some garlic and herb seasoning too. When the grill had heated up enough I put them on it and began to sear them on all sides. Hubby came home then and he said he would handle the treaters so that left me to concentrate on dinner. I already had some potatoes mashed up in the fridge so into the microwave they went to heat up. When the meat had a nice sear on it I removed it from the grill and cut it into thick slices that then went back onto the grill to continue cooking, they needed another 10 minutes to get to the done stage.

 

My family were big cabbage eaters during my youth but I have to admit I couldn’t stand the stuff, I could never imagine how they could so willingly put something that smelled so horrific to me into their mouths! Typically it was just steamed or boiled back then.  It took me moving south to learn to appreciate  the lowly cabbage and to learn to do it justice in preparing it. If you too have a dislike for the lowly cabbage give this method a try, you too might well become a cabbage loving fool like me!

 

Smothered Cabbage

 

1 large head of cabbage, sliced thinnly either by hand or on a mandoline, place into a colander and rinse in cold water, leave in colander to drain a bit

 

1 small onion sliced thin

 

8 slices bacon

 

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

 

1/2 teaspoon Accent

 

1/2 cup broth, any kind

 

 

 

First get out a large (4 quart or more) saute pan with a cover, and heat it over a medium flame. When the pan is heated add the bacon strips and cook until crispy, remove the bacon from the pan and pour off most of the fat, leave just a film on the pan bottom along with the browned bits of flavor from cooking the bacon. Add the onion and saute until it softens a bit, add the wet cabbage gradually and continue to saute until the cabbage starts to wilt. You may need to add half the cabbage at first until it starts to wilt and then continue adding more until it all fits into the pan. When it is all in the pan add the Accent, the crumbled cooked bacon, pepper and the broth and cover the pan. Cook for 15 minutes until the cabbage is tender, remove the cover and cook until most of the liquid evaporates. Serve with ham, pork or some nice grilled sausages.

 

I have to admit that when I first discovered how wonderful cabbage tasted when prepared this way I became addicted to it and would often prepare it and eat it as a snack for myself. Hubby thought I had lost my mind as I was always known as a junk food addict and suddenly here I was giving up my chips and doodles for a bowl of cabbage. I still today will make it for myself and hate the thought that I missed out on enjoying something this wonderful for almost half my life. Give it a try you too might get addicted.

 

A word about the Accent in it………I know Accent gets a bad rap in a lot of places but used sparingly it really does up the flavors in many many dishes and it is always in my kitchen.

 

 

Is it chilly where you are? Do you have a pressure cooker? Do you have a few potatoes, some stock, some onions or leeks? If so you have the makings of a great pot of soup in all of about 20 minutes!

 

Our temperatures have dropped drastically in the past two days, we went from the high 80′s to the low 40′s literally overnight. It got so chilly so fast that we needed a light jacket today when we went out to the store, usually we don’t even get a jacket out until about mid December.

 

Hubby is working tonight so I was having dinner alone, a good enough reason to make something that only I liked! Although lately hubby has been eating and enjoying more and more of the soups that I’ve been making so I made enough for him to enjoy some later too.

 

This is a really simple and quick soup to make in the pressure cooker but even if you don’t happen to have one handy you can make it on the stove top in a regular pot in under an hour. You will need some cooked bacon and shredded cheese for garnish if you like (I do) and even sour cream if you have some on hand will up the taste of the soup.

 

 

Potato Soup

 

5 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced

 

2 large leeks or one large onion, peeled cleaned and diced

 

5-6 cups of good home made chicken stock, UNSALTED, if salted then leave out salt below

 

1 teaspoon ground pepper

 

1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

 

1 cup heavy cream optional, leave it out if you don’t want the extra calories

 

6 slices cooked bacon

 

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

 

1/2 cup sour cream, optional

 

1/2 cup chives or scallions

 

In 2 tablespoons bacon fat or butter saute the leeks or onions until they soften. Add the potatoes and the pepper, salt and stock. Close the cover on the pressure cooker and bring up to high pressure, time for 10 minutes and when finished do a quick release of the pressure according to your cookers instruction manual.

Remove half the contents and puree them in a blender until smooth, add the smooth puree back to the pot and add the cream, bring up to a simmer and taste for seasoning, adjust with more salt and pepper if needed.

 

Ladle into bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream some shredded cheese, some chopped bacon and either chives or scallion tops. Sit back and enjoy!