Culinary Delights

Turkey Tetrazzini

Posted on by Ang Anderson

Are you looking for something to do with your leftover turkey? I have the answer for you with this delightful Turkey Tetrazzini. 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 delicious 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?)

My favorite accompaniments are 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!  Enjoy your holiday weekend!

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 (or Chicken), 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.

Almond Meltaway Cookies

Posted on by Ang Anderson

Almond Meltaway

This weekend I had a sudden spurt of sorting and organizing energy. This rarely happens so I had to take complete advantage of it. Miraculously, it lasted the better part of two days. School was about to begin and it seemed imperative to go through kids clothes and toys, along with the clutter that materializes and reproduces in rapid fashion at our house. By the end of the holiday weekend, I was ready to bake. Apparently, it is what I do best when I am feeling stressed deep down in my subconscious. Baking Coping Mechanism. Did I mention school was about to start? Everyone knows this requires some form of baking. It eases the minds of moms everywhere.

{Please don’t tell my family. They don’t know anything about my subconcious. They just think I like to bake. I was about to have a First Grader and the Kitchen Aid needed to be put to immediate use. You understand.}

I took one look at my Sweet Treats Pinterest board and found the perfect specimen. My love for Almond Extract was laid bare in this past post and my love has not waned in the slightest since then. I knew this was The One to calm my back to school jitters. Plus, the ingredients are all basic pantry essentials. This saved me the usual trip to the store that inevitably occurs when I set about to make something and am missing that one key ingredient. Yahoo!

I think the best outcome of this baking adventure is that our whole entire family LOVES these babies. {Plus, they made me forget, if only for a little while, that I was about to be the mom of a First Grader.} They are a very close sibling to the Kringler we make every Christmas. Which is the most beloved thing I can ever consume in this lifetime.

So, without further ado, I present to you…The Almond Meltaway Cookie.

Almond Meltaway Cookies

Yield: 32 Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt (or can use regular table salt)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons almond extract

Icing: 1 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon milk (or water) 2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and almond extract, mixing until combined. Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until completely combined.

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into small circles and then press with hands (or with the bottom of a cup) into a disk shape. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes. The cookies will not look browned or cooked, but they are! Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Ice:

In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk and almond extract – until smooth.

Using a spoon, smooth icing onto the top of each cookie and let set for 10 minutes, or until hardened. Store in the fridge, let come to room temperature when ready to serve.

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In case you needed further convincing…

Here is a close up and the Almond Meltaway Cookies – Printable Recipe.

Almond Meltaway

Special thanks to Jessica at The Novice Chef for her brilliant and generous sharing of this divine recipe. I can’t believe I am saying this but if you are not a fan of Almond Extract {gasp!} you could substitute the extract of your choice. These cookies are so simple and so delightful and they truly live up to their name.

Enjoy the melt in your mouth goodness! We certainly did.

We have the crumbs and the cookie-filled bellies to prove it.

Gorgeous Buns

Posted on by Ang Anderson

buns

I love bread. Love. If I were forced to choose one category of food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be bread. If I were stranded on a desert island but could have just one thing to eat, it would be bread. If I were given the chance to break one thing, it would be bread. With friends, of course. (Ha!) The baked goodness of fresh bread is soul-nourishing in every way. Of course, I may end up weighing a wee bit more on the scales than I would consider soul-nourishing…But I’d be happy. Fat and happy. Yes, it would be bread that would be my chosen food companion for the rest of my days.

Dearest Bread, I declare thee winner of the one food I would eat for the rest of my life. Amen.

Please understand that my brain is now going to the logistical arena where it is saying doubtful and dreadful things like, “Yeast? On a desert island? What about an oven to bake the bread?”. But you and I both know this is not reality. It’s just a pretend fantasy of mine where I must choose one food that I love. When I made these gorgeous buns, they reaffirmed my love, and my daydreams of being stranded on a desert island with all the bread-making ingredients I would ever need and all the ovens I could ever want. There would be no scales to weigh the inevitable pounds that would creep on with each loaf. Furthermore, there would be no people to see the breaded, up-sized version of me that would surely follow.

My family has enjoyed these buns with spicy pulled pork and also with hamburgers and all the fixings. They would be delightful served on their own as an accompaniment to a meal. They are also very quick and super easy to make. So, if you are in need of a bread fix or a bun to go with your favorite dish, read on for the recipe. It is extremely likely that all of the ingredients already reside in your pantry, which is why if you don’t have buns but need a bun…Voila! (Plus, I am secretly looking for people to join me in my Fantasy Bread Land.)

Special thanks to Jessie McKenney on Taste of Home for sharing this recipe with the world.

40-Minute Buns

Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets.
• Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 1 dozen.

Delighted Dreamer of All Things Bread –