Culinary Delights

Turkey Tetrazzini

Posted on by Ang Anderson

If you know me at all, you know I love pasta. It makes my heart go pitter-patter. The discovery of this recipe is a true gem for me. It makes twelve servings which means there is plenty to share, which is just one of the reasons that I love it. Combine pasta and the generosity factor with wine, mushrooms, and creamy sauce and the swoon factor deepens. Plus, there is bacon for the men in your life. The first time I made this, my husband couldn’t believe that I was planning to serve it to his parents. My husband protested that his dad was never going to like this. (My father-in-law stems from the meat and potato generation and the meat and potato gender so you can imagine what I was up against and why my husband thought I was clearly insane.) But when both my husband and his father reached for second and third helpings, I knew the Tetrazzini was a hit with the men. I also did a little happy dance for a successful pasta conversion. Of course, I knew beforehand that it would be a hit with the women. The love of pasta runs deep in our veins.

Of course, the fact that I retrieved this recipe from the one and only Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) only adds to the splendor of this delightful pasta. I will warn you that it is a labor of love. Preparation and assembly of the ingredients will take about an hour of your precious time. But in return, you will receive twelve beautiful servings of pasta goodness with which you can do whatever you like. Have a dinner party and share it all.  Feed your family and freeze the rest. Make little gift dinners for your loved ones.

I discovered that it makes very good sense to prepare all the ingredients first when making this pasta. The first time I made this, I just started going along with the instructions and cutting and measuring as I went along. My counters were a disaster and my mind in disarray. So, I highly recommend taking the time to cut everything up and measure things out before you begin. Also, the pasta begs to be broken up ahead of time and placed in a bowl. Listen to the pasta. I promise that your kitchen and your brain will thank you.  (Or go for the chaos. Who am I to tell you what to do?)

Ree’s recipe is for Turkey Tetrazzini, which she posted around Thanksgiving. It makes wonderful sense for your leftover turkey after the holiday. I just grab a rotisserie chicken and use that in place of the turkey. Ree has gorgeous step-by-step photos. I highly encourage you to check out her site.

I served this with a French baguette with rosemary herb butter, pear gorgonzola salad, and of course wine. (Some of you may be thinking “you had me at french baguette”.  You are my people.)

Cheers to the lovely baguette, delicious pasta, and wine!

Turkey Tetrazzini

Click here for the Printable Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1-½ pound Thin Spaghetti, Broken In Half
  • 4 Tablespoons Butter
  • 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 1 pound White Mushrooms, Quartered
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • 1 cup White Wine
  • ⅓ cups Flour
  • 4 cups Turkey (or Chicken) Broth
  • 1 block 8 Ounce Cream Cheese
  • 3 cups Cooked (leftover) Turkey, Shredded Or Diced
  • 1 cup Finely Chopped Black Olives
  • 1-½ cup Frozen Green Peas
  • 4 slices Bacon, Fried And Cut Into Bits
  • 1 cup Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
  • 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Salt And Pepper, to taste
  • Extra Broth For Thinning
  • 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta until not quite done – al dente according to package instructions (it will finish cooking in the oven.) Drain, rinse, and set aside.

In a large pot, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add mushrooms and salt, then saute for a couple more minutes. Pour in the wine and allow it to cook with the mushrooms for several minutes, or until the liquid reduces by half.

Sprinkle in flour, then stir the mushrooms around for another minute. Pour in the broth and stir, cooking for another few minutes until the roux thickens.

Reduce heat to medium low. Cut cream cheese into pieces and add it to the pot. Stir it to melt (don’t be concerned if the cream cheese remains in little bits for awhile; it’ll melt eventually!) Add the leftover turkey, the olives, the peas, the bacon, and the cheeses. Stir to combine, adding salt and pepper as needed.

Add the cooked spaghetti and stir it to combine. Splash in more broth as needed; you want the mixture to have a little extra moisture since it will cook off in the oven. If it’s a little soupy, that’s fine! Add up to 2 more cups of liquid if you think it needs it.

Pour the mixture into a large baking dish and sprinkle the top with Panko crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbly and the crumbs are golden brown.

Sweet Valentines

Posted on by Ang Anderson

I am not usually on the ball when it comes to holidays.  I would really like to be.  In fact, I try to be.  But I never seem to have enough time in the day to achieve everything that I would like to.  Instead, I find myself laying awake in bed at night thinking of things I wish I would have done that day or thinking of the things I should definitely accomplish tomorrow.  This year, I decided that we would be on the ball for Valentine’s Day and actually make some treats ahead of time.  So, last Friday, in addition to the Pretzel Treats, we made my Great-Grandma Congdon’s Rolled Sugar Cookies.

The morning went something like this…

Make dough.  Chill dough.  Roll dough.  Cut out dough.  Bake.  Cool.  Ice.  Sprinkle.  Eat.

It also went something like this…

Make coffee.  Turn on cartoon for kids to watch.  Assemble cookie dough.  Put cookie dough in refrigerator.  Wait for dough to chill.  Drink coffee.   Do something productive (check Facebook).  Dough is chilled sufficiently.  Get kids.  Roll out dough on cutting board on dining room table so kids can help.  Let kids cut out hearts from dough.  Be patient.  Let them transfer cut out heart to baking sheet with spatula.  Be more patient.  Praise kids for doing a good job.  Put cookies in oven.  Set timer.  Drink coffee.  Get another tray of cookies ready.  Begin to wake up.  Get a system down.  Eva cuts out heart.  ‘Good job Eva!’  Easton transfers heart to cookie sheet with spatula.  ‘Good job Easton!’  Timer goes off.  Remove cookies from oven.  Transfer cookies to cooling rack.  Repeat cut out, transfer, patience process.  Lots of praise exchanged between siblings.  Kids are done with cookie factory jobs.  Turn on another cartoon for kids.  Make icing.  Get kids.  Spread icing on cookies.  Allow kids to distribute sprinkles on cookies.  Heavily.  Find more patience.  Let go of need for cookie to look perfect.

Daughter insists on high fives for everyone.

Kids are having the best time ever.

*heart bursts*

It was such a good morning.

Thankful for my sweet valentines (pictured above at bottom right) and for being on the ball this year.

Grandma Congdon’s Rolled Sugar Cookies

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup shortening or butter
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cut shortening into dry ingredients (I used an old-fashioned pastry blender).  Beat eggs and add sugar, then vanilla.  Add dry ingredients to egg/sugar mixture.  Refrigerate 20 minutes before rolling.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.  Makes about 6 dozen depending on size of cut out.

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The icing has almond extract in it.  Almond extract is so divine.  It is one of my most favorite things on earth.

Icing

Icing Ingredients

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 teaspoons milk
  • 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • assorted food coloring

Icing Directions

  1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and milk until smooth.  Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy.  If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
  2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

Icing Note:  I ended up making two separate batches of icing since i wasn’t sure about the cookie/icing ratio – you may just choose to double this upfront.  Recipe given above is for single batch.  Printable Icing Recipe Courtesy of All Recipes

Happy Heart Day to you and yours –

Ang

Easy Pretzel Treats

Posted on by Ang Anderson

First, let me get your attention.  Three ingredients.  Ten minutes.  That’s it.

Second, I do not like one of the ingredients.  They are something I have to be “in the mood” for and I am rarely in the mood for these guys.  I am referring to pretzels, the crunchy little kind.  To me, they taste like the flavor I imagine cardboard to possess.  I avoid them at all costs.  I remove from Chex Mix and discard them in the trash.  Of course, there are good versions of pretzels that do exist.  For instance, the bread-like kind glazed with butter and giant pieces of salt that you might find at the mall.  That’s a pretzel.  (Please note that I have been diagnosed with a bread disorder.  For more details, please see recent post on Artisan Bread.)

While at my friend Gretchen‘s house in early December, she made these delightful little pretzel treats.  There was my usual objection as soon as I heard the word pretzel but Gretchen insisted.  She is pretty persuasive because I agreed to try them (although secretly I thought they could not possibly be any good).

You are about to find out exactly why I am able devour these pretzels with no qualms whatsoever.

Hershey’s Hugs.

and sweet, candy coated chocolate M&M’s.

(Notice how those last two items are sugar/chocolate items?  Those are the two very good reasons that I will fervently consume pretzels.)

Since we are in the season of L.O.V.E., I used Valentine M&M’s.  Back at Christmastime, we used the gorgeous holiday ones.  I snapped some photos and had the good intention of blogging about them back then but the holiday season got the best of me.  I decided that I could make them for any holiday using the appropriate M&M’s so I didn’t fret a whole bunch.

That is the fantastic thing about these treats.  You could make them anytime, using any variety of chocolate M&M’s.  Regular multi-colored ones. (Gorgeous!)  Easter. (How pretty!)  Fourth of July. (How patriotic!)  The list goes on and on.  The variety of M&M’s provides a colorful way to…(I can’t believe I am thinking this…eat pretzels!…but really)…to make these delightful treats for any occasion.  Thank you Gretchen!

So, if you are ready, here are the details.

First, pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread out the pretzels.  Unwrap the Hugs and place one on each pretzel like so…

Next, pop them in the oven for about 4-5 minutes.  Watch them carefully.  You just want to melt the Hugs so they begin to flatten.  Mine got a little too melty this time but still worked out fine.  Remove from oven.  Insert an M&M into the center of each like so…

Then, if you live in the frozen tundra like I do (and it’s February) you can set the tray outside.  They just need to be chilled for about ten minutes.  You could also set the tray in your freezer or refrigerator, wherever you have the space.  The M&M will attach to the Hug and the Hug will harden, making a sweet little pretzel treat.  Enjoy!