In the Kitchen With Mattie

Archive for November, 2009

I know most everyone will have some turkey leftovers so I will give you my favorite recipe for them. If we have any turkey left over after Friday I will be making this dish as it is my favorite, but the chances of it are slim as there isn’t much left this year. If by chance I do manage to have enough to make the dish I will post a picture for it  later in the week.

 

                                                      Turkey Tettrazini

 

4 tablespoons butter, divided

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup thin bias cut celery

1 small onion, diced finely

4 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 cups light cream or whole milk, heated to a low boil and set aside

2 tablespoons dry sherry

2 tablespoons pimentos, drained

8 ounces thick spaghetti broken into thirds, cooked al dente (underdone)

2 cups diced turkey (or chicken)

                                                              Topping

1 cup soft fresh bread crumbs

1 cup fresh grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix the topping ingredients together and set aside for later.

 

In a large heated saute pan put one tablespoon butter and add the mushrooms, cook until all the liquid from the mushrooms is evaporated and they start to brown, remove them to a bowl.

Add 3 tablespoons butter to the same pan and when hot add the onions and the celery and saute until they start to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add the flour, salt and the pepper to the onions and celery in the pan and continue to cook, make sure the flour gets coated well with the butter, cook for 2-3 minutes then add the cream little by little  whisking all the time. Continue whisking and cooking until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes………be careful not to let it scorch. When it has thickened nicely remove it from the stove and add the sherry, pimentos, turkey and the spaghetti. Mix it all together well and then place it in a shallow 2-3 quart oven safe casserole.  I use a Corningware low sided casserole from their French White collection that is perfect for this. Sprinkle with the topping mixture and place in a 350 degree oven until it is bubbling around the edges and the topping takes on a nice brown color.

This dish also freezes very well so if you have lots of leftover turkey you could make more than one and freeze the rest for a night when you’re tired and don’t really feel like cooking, serve it with a nice salad and you’re all set. You can even re-heat it in the microwave.  You could, if you wanted serve it over rice and just skip the topping and baking steps too. It is very versatile and the little bit of sherry in it gives it a great taste. I hope you try it and enjoy it!

 

Mattie

Dinner is over and hubby is off to go to work until the morning. Matt and Rachel left a few minutes ago and I am going to curl up and watch TV for a while. Most of the food is either on it’s way to other homes or put away in our refridgerators, it was a nice meal but very quiet here today……….Matt was behaving!!

 

I have to admit I did manage to dry out the stuffing this time……….there is a first time for everything I guess. I bought my stove with the two ovens almost 5 years ago and while I do love the stove I have actually never used the small side oven to cook anything. Today was the first time and I learned that the temperature in it may run hotter than it is set for. As I had multiple turkeys to cook in the larger oven I figured it would save some time if I didn’t stuff them but cooked the stuffing separately in the small oven. That way each turkey would cook quicker and I wouldn’t have to be up sooooo many hours to make sure they all cooked properly. I put the stuffing in 2 smaller pans that would fit the small oven and set the temp to 325 degrees, at the end of an hour they were very much overdone and the top wasn’t crispy, it was more like cement! O well, live and learn, besides Mick and I are the only ones who actually eat it anyway and there was certainly enough other things to eat. There was some other things that I didn’t get pictures of………..like mashed potaotes, green bean casserole, cranberry and breads. At the last minute Mick said he didn’t think we really needed the lasagna or manicotti so I didn’t make it, he was right, we really didn’t need it………..there was already too much food. The three fur kids also enjoyed themselves, they got a very large plate of turkey and ham, you had to see them dancing around, they really enjoyed it. If anyone who didn’t know us saw the way they were carrying on they would have though these 3 never got anything decent to eat, for the most part they eat the same as we do everynight, well, they get the meat and veggies that is, we don’t give them anything that might be spicy or not good for them.

 

I tried to get some pictures before we actually sat to eat but didn’t manage too well, everyone was hungry so the table never got everything on it, we just set stuff all over the kitchen and the table and helped ourselves then went and sat and ate. What pictures I did manage to get came out very fuzzy but I will put some of the better ones up here and hope you can make out what the food is.

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful day and enjoyed some good times.

Mattie

     This week is my favorite week of the whole year, the reason is THANKSGIVING!!! As someone who loves to cook I am in heaven. I get to cooks lots of dishes and spend time with others enjoying a meal. There is a side of it that saddens me too, I think about those who don’t have the luxury of a meal with those they love or a real home to keep them safe and warm. We are living in tough times right now and many people are hurting and I feel for them, we have been in those same shoes a few times in years past, we are thankful that we are holding on now and our heads are above water. I wish I could feed all those out there that have a need for it and let them know that someone does think about them.

     This year I will probably make our standard turkey, a small ham and either a lasagna or some manicotti. There will also be some mashed potatoes, fresh steamed broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, carrots and some baked beans and of course the dressing to go with the turkey and cranberry. I don’t know if anyone besides hubby and myself and Matt and Rachel will be here to eat but anyone who knows us knows that the door is always open and they are welcome for a meal, at times we have had up to 50 or more show up during the course of the day. If there is one thing I will miss,  it is that I don’t think I will ever see my childrens faces all together again around our table during this holiday in my lifetime and that leaves one with a somewhat empty feeling inside at times, hubby says it means that there won’t be any food fights and dinner will be peaceful and quiet, but give me those wild rambunctious antics the boys pulled all the years they were home and I will be happy, through all the good times and bad, no matter what was ever going on in our lives they could make us laugh with their antics.

     Most of the prep for my cooking fest is already done, if I have learned anything in all the years I have been making this massive dinner it is DO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN IN THE WEEK BEFORE! Seriously, such little things as chopping the onions and celery for your stuffing and then bagging them in ZipLocks will go a long way in preserving your sanity come the big day, it will also allow you to be relaxed and spend time with whoever you are spending your time with rather than rushing around trying to get everything done on the big day. Tomorrow night the turkeys will be put in to brine overnight and the stuffing will be assembled and refridgerated, Thanksgiving morning the potatoes will be peeled once the turkeys in the oven and then the veggies will all be steamed right before we sit down. The turkey stock for the gravy and to moisten the stuffing has already been made and frozen. All the veggies have been cleaned and prepped and then bagged, ready to be simply steamed Thursday. The cheese mixture for either the lasagna or manicotti is already mixed and containered, if I do the lasagna I already have the meat mixture frozen and will just have to defrost it and assemble the pan of lasagna and bake it, the manicotti doesn’t use meat so that can just be put together in about 5 minutes and baked in the little convection oven while the big oven has the turkey in it, the little side oven on my stove is just big enough for the ham.

     I hope all the readers of this blog have a wonderful holiday with great food and friends to share it with. I will try to upload some pictures of the table before it gets attacked on Thursday.

Mattie

Tonight we are having some leftover brisket so I thought I would pair it with some old fashioned potato pancakes. This meal reminds me of my grandmother so much, it is one that my grandfather loved and as my grandparents aged it became harder and harder for my “Nana” to grate the potatoes that were needed for the pancakes, her eyes would light up when Mick and I would come visit and I would grate the potatoes for her on that old box grater……it was a knuckle busting job and often resulted in scraped hands, but I loved doing it for her and Gramp because of the love they had always shown me. Today brought back so many memories and made me realize how much you can miss someone when they are no longer visible, but as I grated the potatoes today I felt them  right beside me, it’s a comforting feeling. Now on to the pancakes.

                                                      Potato Pancakes

5 medium russet potatoes, washed and peeled

1 large onion peeled

2 large eggs

1/4 cup flour or matzo meal

2 tablespoons bacon fat melted

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

oil for frying

On an old fashioned box grater, grate the potatoes on the fine side. Grate them into a strainer set over a large bowl to catch the water and starch from the potatoes. When finished set the potatoes on a clean lint free towel or some doubled up paper towels and squeeze all the moisture out of the potatoes, you want them very dry. Pour the liquid out of the large bowl they were resting over but try to save the starch on the bottom of it. Add the potatoes back to the large bowl and grate the onions into the potatoes.  Mix them together well and then add the eggs, the flour or matzo and the salt, pepper, parsley and melted bacon fat to make a thick batter.

Heat a large skillet and when it is hot add oil to a depth of about 1/4 inch, let the oil heat. When a drop of water sizzles when added to the pan the oil is ready. Take about a 1/4 cup of batter and place carefully in the pan for each pancake, watch the heat and lower it if needed.  Allow the cake to cook on the first side until the top looks dry and the bottom is browned, flip them over and let them continue cooking until the second side is nicely browned. Remove them to a plate lined with paper towels to remove any extra oil. Serve them right away while they are still crispy and hot, we eat them with applesauce and sour cream

If you have to hold them for a while before you have enough for everyone then put them on a rack over a cookie sheet in a 225 degree oven to keep them warm and crispy. If you do manage to have any leftover you can heat them up the same way when you need to.

While the old fashioned knuckle busting box graters work for this I wish the new Microplane grater was available when Nana was still here.  It is a true pleasure to work with and makes short work of grating the potatoes and onions due to the extra sharp grating surface. You can see a glimpse of it in the photo above. If you love potato pancakes you need this!  While you can make these in a food processer they will never match the texture of a true old fashioned potato pancake.

Mattie

Tonight I made a fresh beef brisket in the digital pressure cooker, so easy, just set it and forget it until it chimes, then thicken up the gravy and you’re good to go with a nice dinner. We had this with some buttered noodles and fresh carrots. Hubby will take some sandwiches with it tomorrow for lunch at work.
Fresh Beef Brisket

1- 4 to 5 pound thin cut fresh brisket.
1 large onion diced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine

Heat pressure cooker on the brown setting, when hot add the brisket fat side down. Brown for 5 minutes until it is seared nicely on the first side then turn over and brown the second side, when the second side is browned, lift the meat and add the onions, let them cook a minute or two then add the salt, pepper, wine and beef broth. Lock the top on the pressure cooker and set it for between 60-75 minutes depending on the size of your brisket. When the pressure cooker chimes, release the pressure and remove the top. Put the meat on a platter to rest and turn the pressure cooker to the browning setting once more to heat the remaining broth in the pot and reduce it some,make a slurry of 3 tablespoons of flour and 1 cup of water, after the liquid has reduced add the slurry while whisking and allow to boil for another 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and serve with the meat. Leftovers make great sandwiches or you can use the meat in pot pies or Shepherds Pie.
Mattie