Turkey Pot Pie mmmmm Jan 27, 2012

   I made a turkey last Sunday, just about 10 pounds of bird. Yum, it was delicious. I stripped down the carcass and froze it for a future turkey soup, and made a leftover dinner with the mashed potatoes and gravy, extra stuffing, and all the rest of the trimmings. I still had a little breast meat, the 2 thighs and legs left, so I diced it all up with diced potatoes, onions, peas, fresh carrots, a new gravy, and made a homemade pie crust for the top. I do not like to make homemade pie crust, but I did it. It was okay for the topping of the pot pie, but it never would have held up as a pie crust---guess I will have to work on that some more.

  Start by peeling the potatoes and cut them into 3/4 inch cubes. For this application I usually 3/4 peel the potatoes as well--I don't like when the peels separate from the flesh and are free floating in the mix. I figure by keeping some of the skins I am not throwing all of the nutrition out...just one of my things. Toss the potato cubes into boiling salted water (1/2 teaspoon is enough--but trust me, you need SOME when boiling potatoes--yes, yes, pasta, too. Boil for about 10 minutes, just until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain them well. Set aside. Dice 1/2 of a large sweet onion--we only use sweet onions here. I like the pieces on the small size, I don't like long strands of onion in this dish. Melt 4 tablespoons butter (okay, okay, you can use margarine if you must) in a large skillet. Add the diced onion and sweat, adding diced fresh carrots in after about 5 minutes (I used 2 medium carrots--scrubbed well, not peeled). Continue to sweat the veggies until the onion is almost transparent, but do not allow to brown. You can add a stalk or two of celery, diced, along with the carrots if that's your thing--I use it in soup, otherwise I am not a fan.

   Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour into the mix, stirring constantly to prevent lumps, until the flour is completely incorporated and bubbly--(we all know this is a roux, right?) Add one tablespoon of chicken base (or two bouillon cubes or 2 packs), whisking constantly, add 2 cup of waters, and 1 cup of milk, to blend in the base. Bring to a slow boil, stirring. When the mix comes to a boil, that's how thick it will be...you can add more milk or water if it is too thick for your liking--we like it thick--stick to your ribs style.

   Toss in the potatoes, the leftover diced turkey (or chicken)--oh, anywhere from 2 cups up, and some frozen peas. Bring mix just to a boil. I add poultry seasoning, if I have it, if not I use ground thyme, rubbed sage, about a tablespoon of rosemary leaves run through the food processor, or through the fingers, and if I feel like Scarborough Fair, I add some parsley: you know, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme?
   This hot bubbling mixture is then tossed into a greased casserole dish, why greased? I don't clean up the pots and pan, so out of compassion for the one who does, I grease all my cookware, and pray the food doesn't stick too bad to make the cleanup a very difficult chore (man, do I love him). Then cover the top with a pie crust of your choice, to the edge. You can get fancy and flute the edge, if you want, but do not forget to poke about four holes in the crust toward the middle in a spoke fashion to allow steam to escape. I also put a drip pan under the casserole, for I tend to fill them to the top and when they start bubbling, well, the oven cleanup detail (I got this one) prefers less mess.
   Bake at 375 for about 25-30 minutes, you are really just cooking the crust here. Remove it from the oven and let it sit about 15 minutes before you try to serve it---it is HOT!
   This one came out fabulous, even my beef and potato eating man said it was excellent. Just another touchdown! How about any of you out there? Care to share a use of leftovers from your personal cookbook?
  'Til next time. Happy cooking!

Shrimp Scampi

   Ahhh! Shrimp Scampi. What more can one say? Luscious, succulent shrimp, in a butter-garlic sauce with white wine, fresh parsley, a drop of  hot pepper flakes, and a spritz of fresh lemon. There you go, that's the recipe. Now if you think I have proportions, well, think again! In the true Italian spirit, I just wing this recipe, but today, just for you, I will try to come up with proportions.
  The most important proportion, naturally, is how much shrimp to use, and I hope we all realize that depends on how many people you are feeding. Well, normally, yes, but this household loves shrimp, so my proportion might be a little high. For five of us i make 2 pounds of shrimp. There will be leftovers, not much, but there will be a late night snack for someone. I use the 21-25 count shrimp, less peeling is how I see it.
   I use 1/2 pound of butter, that's 2 sticks, unsalted if you have it; 12 cloves of garlic, or 4 heaping tablespoons of jarred minced garlic; 2 tablespoons good olive oil; a palmful of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to your own family's liking; 1/4 cup white wine--I use sauterne, but any dry to semi-dry wine will do; and just a squirt of fresh lemon juice. Oh, and believe it or not, you still need a dash or two of Kosher salt.
   Heat the olive oil over medium heat until it starts to ripple, not smoke. Add the butter and stir it around to melt it. Once all the butter is melted add the garlic and let it come to a simmer. When you start to smell the garlic and LONG before it begins to color, add the wine, the red pepper flakes and the spritz of lemon. Allow it to simmer 3 minutes. Add the shrimp, and toss until the shrimp begin to turn pink. Toss in the parsley, remove from the heat, and keep tossing until the shrimp is fully cooked. Add the salt, toss again, and then serve over pasta, if desired. I made homemade noodles again, so we're having it over that, along with homemade bread, and a tossed salad. Who can say touchdown?

Ricotta Cookies December 17, 2011

  This is the one time of year I do extensive baking. Not normally something I do year round mostly because of the frustration factor. There is so much effort, for so little reward, and most of the time I get extra frustrated because my cookies seldom make it to the frosting stage, having so many cookie monsters in my household. It is a time I often become cross with my loved ones as they grab for un-frosted cookies by the handful. You might ask why I should get frustrated with that? There are no cookies to frost or decorate, less work. Well, yes, and no. I like to have platters of cookies ready for guests during the holidays, so my efforts have to be repeated and repeated until I finally throw in the towel, and say let them eat Aunt Alma's fruitcake that comes every year like clockwork and is always, surprisingly, wrapped identically to the previous years'--all the previous years. Either Aunt Alma wrapped about a thousand fruitcakes 25 years ago, or she bought miles of the same wrapping paper, either scenario frightening in its own right.
   So to my family, whom I love very much, I apologize for the snapping and slapping of little patties away from the cookie stash. Just give me the room and time to get all your favorites done and I promise you will be able to eat them to your heart's delight without fear of being scolded.   Now that my annual disclaimer has been published, I will tell you of the varieties of cookies and candies I make for Christmas.

   Tradition in my family goes back to the Struffoli that Grandma Julie made. Little Italian fried honey balls mounded into a conical shape piled high on her silver platter and liberally sprinkled with multicolored nonpareils, you know those tiny little round sugar sprinkle balls.  Not being one for most Italian pastries, it was nice to be able to enjoy something sweet at the Italian relatives' houses. Over the years I also learned that the "flag cookies" or "rainbow cookies" are simply almond cookies with layers of raspberry and apricot jam, and frosted with semi-sweet chocolate--definite winner in this house! Somewhere along the years my mother got a recipe for Ricotta cookies, and as they say, that was "all she wrote". 

   In the early years I only made chocolate chip or Toll House Cookies, sugar cookies, oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies and/or blossoms, and ricotta cookies. With the advent of the glorious internet I have now included: seven layer cookies, no-bake peanut butter cups, mint candies, rum balls, stained glass window candy, truffles,baklava, and raspberry-almond thumbprint cookies. This year I learned of a neat little trick with Ritz® crackers, peanut butter, and semi-sweet chocolate morsels. Any wonder why the prospect of re-dos gets me testy?

    And that's just the standards. Some years I try new recipes; for example one year I made half moon cookies the size of saucers, another year I dipped pretzel rods in almond bark and decorated them. Another trial was Santa's Whiskers cookies, sometimes I include chocolate snickerdoodles, and gingerbread men--actually this year I made reindeer that don't look very much like reindeer, but they taste, and smell,marvelous, so deal with the funny looking reindeer.
   I have made spiced tea mixes, and hot cocoa mix from scratch as gifts. This year I am putting together a few "brownies in a jar" mixes for gifts. And I am in four college classes, which don't break until the 26th of December. Okay, I am stressing myself as I await the last 1/2 dozen of the 8-1/2 dozen ricotta cookies I baked today to finish. then its time to frost them. maybe I picked a good time to do this, as not one cookie has disappeared yet. With some luck I'll get them all done and stashed before anyone gets home. I'll post photos of the completed cookies. But, for now, here's the recipe for Grandma Ann's famous Ricotta Cookies. Well, maybe not worldwide famous, but in this family they sure are!


Ricotta Cookies

Drain 15 oz ricotta in a fine mesh strainer for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.

1/2 lb unsalted butter softened to room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (pure, please)
Grated rind of one orange-no white pith please
4-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda


Cream the softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl (I use the Kitchen Aid® stand mixer). Add the eggs and the vanilla. Mix well. Sift together the dry ingredients and add to batter in increments--don't just dump all of it in at once, just about a cup at a time, just until all mixed--be careful to not over mix the batter- you know the drill it will make the cookies tough if the flour gets over worked.
Drop dough by heaping teaspoons (a measuring teaspoon) onto a greased cookie baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 9-10 minutes. You are looking for a slightly browned edge of the cookie only. Remove from the oven, cool one minute, then transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before glazing (recipe follows). I got 8 1/2 dozen from this recipe today! Yay!


The Glaze

2 cups confectionery sugar (powdered sugar) 
1/4 cup butter softened
3 teaspoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Mix all ingredients well, working out all lumps of the sugar until smooth. drizzle over cookies and then sprinkle with multicolored sprinkles or nonpareils. Let glaze harden before trying to store in a covered container.
   As promised here's a photo:

 

   Want more cookies? Just let me know!

Cranberry Sauce 11/22/2011

   Thanksgiving is almost here. Probably the biggest food holiday of all! And a tradition in this country since 1621. Or so we are lead to believe. I am taking an early American History class and things I am learning now are news to me. Maybe because when I first learned history I was a child, trying to find out who I was, and my place in this big world. Certain things evaded me. Okay, many things evaded me. And I have learned that the talking point headlines of yesteryear do not paint an accurate picture of everything that was going on. But I am not going to go into a history lesson here, that's another blog out there, somewhere. I thought that over the course of the next few days I would share with you some of my recipes, and, well, whatever else may pop into my head that I think you might find entertaining, or maybe educational. We'll see where it goes, how's that?

   Let's start with cranberry sauce. All while growing up I remember cranberry sauce, jellied, sitting in a bowl in the shape of the can it came out of. My mom would slice the roll into 1/4 inch slices, so when you took some cranberry "sauce" there would be a round slab of red stiff jelly on your plate. That's how I thought cranberry sauce was supposed to look.

   Then, when I got a little older and ventured to other family's thanksgivings I learned there was something call "whole berry" cranberry sauce. Mixed in the "jelly" were berries of the "cran" variety, and this stuff did not come out of its can in a formed lump. Very interesting and dang, good!

   Fast forward about a hundred years, years that included both the jellied and whole berry versions on my Thanksgiving table. Then, just about five years ago I decided to make my own cranberry sauce. They wouldn't sell bags of whole cranberries by the truckload if this was a difficult task. So I bought my first bag of cranberries and set out to make my own.

   Upon researching how to make cranberry "relish" I was shocked to see most recipes required on three ingredients: cranberries, rinsed and picked through for mushy ones or the occasional stem, water, and sugar. Of course some recipes got exotic, so I quickly dismissed those. A few recipes included orange, either grated peel, or strips of peel, and/or chopped up orange segments. That sounded interesting.

   So you wash and pick through your three cups of cranberries while you have one cup of water and one cup of sugar on the stove. the sugar-water concoction come up to a boil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. I quickly realized is a light syrup. Interesting. I grated the peel of half an orange, and cut slices from the other half, avoiding the pith (that bitter white stuff under the peel but before the flesh), like you do for marmalade. When the sugar-water comes to a boil, add the cranberries and the orange peel. Keep it up to a boil, stirring.

    Within minutes you will start hearing this popping sound. The cranberries are bursting, letting their pectin go, just stir and continue on for ten minutes, if you want a little tighter concoction just stir and boil until the stuff gets thick, however, it gels up pretty good without much help. Remove from the heat and pour into a glass bowl or container. Allow to fully cool to room temperature without covering. Then when it is room temperature, cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

    Upon completing my first batch of whole berry cranberry sauce I looked at my husband and said, "I cannot believe we have bought this all these years and it is so easy to make." We have never bought it again. I usually buy a big 3-pound bag once a year. Take out what I need for Thanksgiving, and then seal the bag and toss it in the freezer. You can use these babies in muffins and scones without thawing them out, just add more sugar to your recipe because they are bitter in their natural state.
    So next time you want cranberry sauce, why not give it a try? I'd like to see some of your cranberry recipes if you want to share. I'm always looking for ideas.

Whole berry Cranberry relish

Beef on Weck November 7, 2011

    We've made it to November. I cannot understand when I was young I thought a year took FOREVER to go by; now, as an adult, time just flies by so fast, it almost seems impossible. Youth may be wasted on the young, but time? The older you get, the faster it goes.

   We never even covered all of the food celebrations for October, and now, since I have started taking classes again, I am not making any promises for covering all the celebrations for November, either.

   November starts out being Georgia Pecan Month; Good Nutrition Month; National Peanut Butter Lover's Month; National Pepper Month; Raisin Bread Month; and finally Vegan Month. Not as power-packed as October, but a nice variety, wouldn't you say?

   The first week is National Fig Week. The second week celebrates Split Pea Soup. There are no weekly celebrations for the third and fourth weeks, probably because we will be coming up to Thanksgiving, and with all the food we Americans traditionally prepare for this celebration of our blessings and family, what would the point be to use an entire week on just one food? Whomever designated these food celebrations was thinking!

    November 3rd was National Sandwich Day, and I posted that fact on Facebook, which started a conversation of favorite sandwiches. One of my friends, who shares wonderful recipes with me, posted that her favorite sandwich was Beef on Wick. I had to ask what Wick was, as I never heard of it. My friend replied with an internet link on the sandwich and the Kummelweck roll that makes this roast beef sandwich so special' it also is called beef on Weck.

    Kummelweck rolls are similar to Kaiser rolls, but are shaped differently and topped with a salt-caraway seed mixture. The sandwich is a traditional sandwich from Buffalo, NY. Apparently Buffalo is not just known for its wings. Who knew? Probably people from Buffalo.

   I ended up making the Kummelweck rolls from the recipe my friend sent. Although they seemed to look like the pictures I've seen, I, personally was not impressed. Next time I try to make them I am not going to make them only 2 ounce pieces of dough. I would have preferred if they were bigger, like twice as big as they came out. I do not know if I messed up, as I have never had them before. I will try them again, just making them larger.
      I had made a roast beef on Sunday for dinner, well, hubby made the beef, I made all the sides, but we had leftover roast beef, and it was delightfully rare. Hubby lubed up the commercial slicer we have in the kitchen (thank you, Grandma!) and sliced the beef extra thin. I even made homemade horseradish, which also needs some tweaking, but overall, it was not a bad attempt at beef on weck.

Here's a link to Beef on Weck recipe Beef on Weck

   If you ever get to try this, please let me know. 

Source:

Beef on Weck Sandwich Recipe  retrieved 1/26/2022 from https://whatscookingamerica.net/sandwich/beefonweck.htm

© 2011-2022 Aunt Barbara 

 

Pasta Fagioli Ethel's version (with beef added!) October 31, 2011

   Updated instructions /ingredients 3/19/2023

   Pasta Fagioli is a traditional Italian bean soup with pasta, or macaroni to some. Well, that might be what it is traditionally, but if you know anything about me, my household likes to go non-traditional at times. This is one of those times.

   As a child the word "bean" would normally send me running, I am quite embarrassed to admit, and once I really tasted beans, as an adult, I decided I had been missing this wonderful nutritious-packed food item in my diet. 

   Beans are high in iron, and many B Vitamins that are now known  to stave off certain cancers and birth defects. Beans are loaded with fiber, which keeps you regular, and helps to remove cholesterol from your body, they are a low-to-no-fat food, depending on the variety, AND coupled with a grain (bread or pasta) they form a complete protein.  Wow, the power of beans! Now that we've had the nutrition lesson, let get back to the Pasta Fagioli. 

   Traditionally, pasta fagioli is made without meat, being paired with pasta, as I stated in the previous paragraph, it forms a complete protein. This made pasta fagioli a perfect meal when meat was scarce, or too expensive to include in the everyday diet of peasants. So when Grandma said it was good for you, she knew what she was talking about. Like I said earlier, this household is anything but traditional and we tend to break rules, or stretch them might be a better way to say it, but my late Mother-in-law always made her pasta fagioli with ground beef. Upon hearing this I thought, well, let's just say I thought it was "odd". But it was definitely delicious. Unfortunately, Ethel passed away without divulging her secrets for a good pasta fagioli. My husband and I embarked on the quest to recreate her pasta fagioli. There was no internet at the time, no Internet Explorer, or Firefox, or Google, and no TV Food Network, either, believe it or not. We had to look through cook books, both purchased and borrowed. And we did a lot of testing.

   Most tests were edible, but they lacked that one little ingredient that made the whole dish come together with just that certain...mmmmm factor.

   Finally, and quite innocently, we found the one ingredient that made the soup taste like Ethel's. Green peppers. Not red or yellow or Italian or hot. Just ordinary green bell peppers. Without them, it is a bean soupy thing, edible but just not special. Another little trick I started was to not add the pasta to the soup. If there was any leftover the pasta would soak up all the broth, while sitting in the fridge and become mushy--we didn't like that. I now make the pasta separately. Once drained I put a teaspoon of olive oil in the pasta to keep it from sticking and serve the pasta in a bowl, then drown it with the soup. The "eater" can mix it up or leave it in layers. Oh, and pass the grating cheese. Coupled with homemade Italian or French bread, buttered, and you have one of those comfort foods that ranks right up there with Macaroni and Cheese or Chicken and Biscuits. 

   Occasionally we do add red or yellow peppers, if we happen to have them, but without green peppers, we don't even bother to make it. Period. We have also added sliced cooked sausage and a tablespoon of dried crushed red pepper to give it some kick, and the results just keep getting better and better. How about you? What do you add to your pasta fagioli to make it "yours"?

Ethel's Pasta Fagioli

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 oz diced pancetta
• 3/4 - 1 lb. lean ground beef (use the lesser amount if you use the sausage)
• 4 sweet Italian sausage casings removed 
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 large Green Bell peppers, seeded and sliced into strips or diced- your choice-separated
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 oz tomato paste
• Two 28 oz. cans tomatoes--diced, crushed, or whole peeled - your choice
• One can water
• 2-3 15 oz. cans kidney beans (or black or red beans) rinse & drain 1 can
• 1 tablespoon beef base (optional)(Better than Bouillon-is a perfect example)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon dried crushed red pepper (optional) more or less to your liking
• parsley, basil, salt and pepper to your own liking or omit
• cooked short pasta--your choice--and please AL DENTE!
• Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated for the table
• 1/2-1 tsp dried crushed pepper flakes (optional)

In  a soup pot heat the olive oil, add the pancetta, and render the fat. Add the deconstructed sausage, render that, also, then the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Brown the meat thoroughly. Add the onions and sweat until they become sweet. You can let them start to brown around the edges. Bloom the red pepper flakes for 30 seconds then add the garlic and stir until it becomes fragrant, then add the tomato paste. Sauté until the paste turns dark red. If there is a lot of excess oil, drain it now, but we usually don't have much left by now. Add the 2 cans of tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of the wooden spoon. Add the water, the bay leaf, the beef base, the green peppers and the cans of beans. Bring up to a simmer and simmer on low for about an hour. You can add the parsley and basil, but do not add any salt yet. You have to let the flavors marry before you can judge if it needs salt. Many times it does not, because the liquid from the canned beans has a lot of sodium--that is why I don't use all of the liquid from the cans. 

    Here’s where YOUR taste comes in. Personally, I prefer a long-slow cooked tomato-based dish, so I leave the soup in a very low simmer for a couple hours, technically, it’s cooked by now so you can taste it and see if it meets your palette’s fancy… 

    When it makes your tastebuds smile, bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil and cook the macaroni.

  Drain the macaroni, put it back in its pot, or a bowl, add 1 teaspoon olive oil and toss.

   To serve, spoon a few serving spoonfuls of pasta into individual bowls, ladle soup (oh, pull out the bay leaf and discard) over top. Top with grated cheese--we use Pecorino Romano, but its your kitchen use whatever you like! Served with fresh Italian or French bread, butter, and a tossed salad, you have perfection!

   Thank you, Ethel, we miss you!

What the heck is a Kerplunka?

   Kerplunka-(KER-plun-ka)-n. A large wad of ground beef mixed with large chunks of onion, bread, bread crumbs, garlic, eggs, and seasonings, that is roasted until cooked through. Resembles a large, abstract meatball.
   Not too long ago it was Greasy Foods Day, and in researching burgers I found all sorts of "terrific" turkey burger recipes. Not being one to indulge in "turkey burger", although I have had one or two, their mixtures reminded me of an old family favorite--kerplunkas. Whether that is a genuine name, I cannot tell you, but both my husband and I have been eating these since childhood, and our families did not know each other. Its one of those go-to-in-a-pinch meals when you just run out of ideas for what to make for dinner. And since I usually cook seven out of seven nights a week, well, once in a while a "go-to" is just what the doctor ordered. Besides, my husband, the beef man, likes a wad of beef on his dinner plate every so often. Of course he would prefer roast beef, or better yet, steak, but that turns to a touchy subject, so we won't go there.
   I usually use 90% lean ground round. If you go to the 93% the result can be just too dry, so I try to stick with the 90%, but I am known to drop down to 85%, but that requires more draining, but you know what? The flavor cannot be beat. 
   Today, I am using 1-1/2 lbs. 90% ground round. Here's a photo of the ingredients:

   
Starting in the middle there are 2 large eggs (you can only see one), then at 12 o'clock there's bread crumbs, to the right and going clockwise, there's Parmesan cheese, instant minced onion (for the wonderful flavor) garlic, parsley, the beef, and 2 slices of white bread torn up. What's not in the photo is the 1/2 large vidalia onion, cut up in "large-ish" chunks, salt, pepper and a little "essence", by that very famous chef from Fall River, Massachusetts. (Love you E.L.)
   Using the best kitchen tools ever invented, your clean hands, mix this stuff up, gently, but thoroughly, avoid over-mixing and causing the kerplunkas to become tough. This is also true for meatballs and meatloaf, as well. You might have to add more bread crumbs if the mixture is overly soggy. Once everything is mixed, grab a handful and slap a wad in a greased roasting pan. I got 7 beauts out of the mix today, there's only three of us again, no, no Number Two is home, this time Number One is away for the weekend. Cheeze, I cannot get everyone home at the same time anymore. Here they are on their way into the oven:

   Aren't they just beautiful?  I already have potatoes baking in the oven, and I'm just making steamed broccoli. Butter, sour cream, and ketchup, yes, yes, you can use ketchup on these babies. Sometimes I do make a gravy, sometimes au jus, but with the dessert I have planned, we don't need the extra fat (ketchup is a non-fat food).
   Oh, before I forget, I washed and pierced potatoes and baked them at 425°F for about 40 minutes, then I lowered the temperature to 350° F when I added the kerplunkas. 20-30 minutes and they're done. You might have to remove the potatoes so they don't overcook. I do cook these all the way through, just don't kill them, they will get dry.
    So what's for dessert, you ask? That Almond Joy Friendship Cake I made today and blogged about! 
    Can anyone say Grand Slam?