Turkey Pot Pie

As I said in my previous post, I have other recipes for leftover roast turkey. Turkey or chicken pot pie has been one of those comfort foods that have been familiar to me since my early childhood. It was one of those meals that mom would make whenever we were having a rough day and it never failed to cheer us up and make us happy. It is also a perfect meal to eat in front of a fire on a cold winters day. I am using turkey for this recipe but you can also use leftover chicken breasts or roast chicken. Some of the best pot pie is made from the roast chickens that you can get at Sam's or the grocery store. Like I said this recipe is a family favorite and I hope it will become one of yours as well.

Ingredients
(now I have to make a confession, I am kind of guessing at the quantity of the ingredients because I normally just add till it looks right. Because of this you might have to do a little give and take as well.)

unbaked boxed pie crusts (you could also use phyllo dough or puff pastry if your prefer that)
2 cups of chopped turkey
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables ( you can also use fresh vegetables if you choose)
1 10oz can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 15oz can of Chicken Broth (you can use the leftover broth from your roasted turkey or chicken if you have it)
1 onion, chopped finely
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all of the ingredients together. The consistency should not be to runny as it will melt down as it cooks and you don't want it to become to juicy.

Place the combined ingredients into a greased baking dish and cover with the pie crusts. Make sure that you poke a couple of holes in the crust so that the steam can be released. If you would like you can brush the crust with some melted butter or a beaten egg white to help create a nice golden crusts.

Bake until the ingredients are hot in the middle and the crust has become golden brown.

Serve this alongside a green salad or with some cheesy garlic toast and you will have a meal that your family and friends will beg you to make again!

Buon Appetito!

Reliving Thanksgiving...summer style

I don't know about all of you, but Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. This due in part because of the wonderfully delicious food. I think we sometimes forget that we can roast a turkey anytime and that it is not just for that wonderful holiday. I roasted a turkey this afternoon and paired it with some mashed garlic cauliflower (in place of mashed potatoes) and a green salad. It is a great thing that you can put in the oven and leave for a couple of hours. It is very simple and a way to relive that holiday meal.


Roast Turkey
1 fresh turkey (about 10 to 12 pounds)
1 stick of butter
1 lemon, zested 
1 tsp each of fresh herbs such as  rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage
salt and pepper
1 small apple, quartered
1 small onion, quartered
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
a handful of fresh herbs such as  rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees


Melt the butter (you still want it to have some consistency so don't melt it all the way). Add the zest of the lemon and the juice of one half of the lemon as well as the teaspoons of various fresh herbs. Stir together and set aside


Remove  the giblets and any other unnecessary items out of the turkey and make sure you rinse out the cavity and the rest of the turkey. Make sure you pat the outside dry, as it will help to create a nice crust. 


Take half of the butter and herb mixture and work underneath the skin. You will have to separate the skin from the meat, but do it gently as you do not want to rip the skin. It may take a little to do it. You want to make sure that you spread this butter mixture all over the body, on all sides and not to forget the legs! 


Salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity and then stuff with the fresh herbs, half a lemon, apple, onion and garlic. Make sure that they are stuffed well inside, to make sure that they do not come out during the cooking process.


Take the rest of the butter mixture and rub on the outside skin of the turkey. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the turkey. This will help brown the skin. Trust me when this melts and blends with the juices of the turkey it will make a great broth! Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wings underneath the turkey body. 


Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut in between the leg and the thing. Halfway through the cooking process pull the turkey out of the oven and baste the turkey with the juices in the bottom of the pan. This will help keep the turkey moist as it cooks. When it is done pull the turkey out of the oven and cover with aluminum foil and let sit for about 20 minutes. This gives time for all of the juices to soak into the meat and make it juicy and wonderful.


Mashed Cauliflower
My family loves mashed potatoes but the mashed cauliflower is a nice substitute and honestly you really can't tell the difference between them. 

1 medium head of cauliflower

1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup grated parmesan

2 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

salt and pepper

Put on a pot of water to boil and in the meantime wash and cut the cauliflower into small pieces. Cook this cauliflower until it is tender. Take out of the pan and pat dry between two towels. 

Place the cauliflower and the rest of the ingredients into a mixer and blend together until it is smooth. Adjust with salt and pepper to adjust the taste to your own preference. 

Pair this with the turkey and a green salad and you have a wonderful dinner!

More recipes to follow to make with your leftover turkey!

 Buon Appetito!

Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast with Lemon White Wine Sauce

We eat a lot of chicken in my house and it is easy to get stuck in a rut with the same recipes repeatedly. Sometimes chicken can be a very boring dish and sometimes it can be an amazing one like the recipe I am about to share with you. It is a simple recipe that you can substitute and add too at your heart’s content. It is one of my favorite recipes and is great for entertaining.  They will think you spent hours and tons of money to make this great meal!
 

This recipe is for two people so if you are cooking for more just add as you need it.

Ingredients

Stuffing:

• 1 cup cooked, chopped, and drained fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 1/2 cup Gorgonzola (if you don't like Gorgonzola, the Italian version of Bleu cheese, then you can also use Parmesan cheese)
• 4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup homemade chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped Italian parsley leaves, for garnish

Chicken:

• 2 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

Beginby making the stuffing: In a bowl, combine the spinach (make sure that you have drained all of the water out of it), ricotta, Gorgonzola, and bacon and mix well. Season with salt and pepper (make sure you taste before you add more salt as the bacon and Gorgonzola will be salty). Add the egg, mix well, and then set aside.

 Place each chicken breast between 2 doubled-up sheets of plastic wrap, and pound to an even 1/4-inch thickness with a meat-pounder or rolling pin. Divide the stuffing between the breasts, mounding it along the center of each. Fold the bottom edge of each breast over the stuffing, fold in the sides, and roll forward until completely wrapped, to form a tight rolled package. Secure each flap with a toothpick. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper, to taste.

The original recipe says that you should cook the chicken in a skillet over medium heat. You want to cook the chicken on each side about 2 minutes until they are browned and then cover the skillet, turn down the heat and cook until just cooked through...should take about 5 minutes.

Here is another option for cooking. This way you can stick the chicken in the oven and enjoy your time with your guests. Place the chicken in a greased baking dish and cook in the oven on about 350 degrees until the chicken is cooked. Halfway through the cooking process spoon the juices that have formed in the dish on top of the chicken.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.

Now for the sauce: combine the wine and stock in a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a sauce-like consistency. Whisk in the mustard, lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

If you cook the chicken in the saucepan, you can add the sauce to this after you have removed the chicken to scrape up all of the tasty little bits left by the chicken...

Slice the chicken into medallions, divide among plates, and spoon some of the sauce over each.Garnish with parsley and serve immediately...

Buon Appetito!!!

The wonders of Scottish food...

My dad's side of the family is from Scotland and as such I have come to love everything to do with Scotland, including the food. My dad and I traveled to Scotland last summer for my graduation trip and spent 14 amazing days traveling all over Scotland from Edinburgh to the Highlands. I loved every single moment of it and I truly miss it. My dream is to one day live and work in Scotland, but until then I must make do with looking at pictures and reliving my memories.

My dad and I standing in front of Edinburgh Castle on one of our first days there...

One of the things we loved was sitting in a booth at one of the local pubs and enjoying a delicious dish of steak and ale pie on those cold wet Scottish nights. This of course was sometimes followed by a great cup of strong coffee and some Sticky Toffee Pudding. So since these are two of my favorite things of all time I am going to share these recipes with you and I hope that they can become some of your favorites as well. 

These dishes are ones that are perfect comfort food and they are so simple to make. I mean what could get better than steak simmered in spices and ale topped with some kind of pastry dough? Or sweeter than a sticky toffee pudding covered in a rich delicious custard? I can't think of anything....

Steak and Ale Pie

2lbs of stew beef (I usually just buy a round roast and cut it up or buy stew meat) 

Olive Oil

1 Medium onion, peeled and diced

1 Tbsp flour

1 Tbsp Ketchup

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tsp English Mustard

1 bay leaf

1 handful of fresh thyme and marjoram (if you don't have fresh you can substitute dried)

1/2 cup beef stock

1/2 cup of dark ale ( I find that guinness does really well...you have to make sure that it is a dark ale or you will lose the flavor of it when it cooks)

1 box of puff pastry or fillo dough 

Salt and Pepper

You want to make sure that the pan you use is big enough to hold the meat and the liquids as they will all be combined in the end and will simmer for about an hour. 

Cut the beef into small cubes. You want them about 1 inch or bite size and make sure that they are pretty consistent so that they cook evenly. Pat the meat with a paper towel to absorb some of the moisture so that it will brown more evenly. You want to make sure that the meat is room temperature before you add it into the pan.

Add some oil to the pan and put in the onions. You want them to cook until they are just tender and then add in the beef and cook until it is medium brown. Add the flour and cook until the flour is mixed in with the juices and it is dark brown. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, herbs, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Slowly add in the beef stock and the ale and then bring to a boil. Taste test this to ensure that you have the proper seasonings.

Simmer this until the beef is tender. It will probably take about an hour or so. You want the meat to be extremely tender. You may have to add more ale or beef stock depending on if it cooks down. You don't want a runny sauce, but a thick juicy sauce. 

Remove the meat from the pan and put it into a pie dish and then cover with the pastry and cook in the oven until the pastry is risen and golden brown.

You can pair this dish with some mashed potatoes and English peas for the full Pub experience.

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Custard

(this is more like a cake than a pudding, and is one of THOSE desserts that you dream about afterward)

Unsalted butter for baking dish
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup chopped, pitted dates (about 4 oz.)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cups boiling water
8 tablespoons packed brown sugar (1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Custard (see recipe below) or Ice Cream and Whipped Cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8x8 broilerproof baking dish. Sift the 1 cup of flour and the baking powder into a bowl; set aside. Toss dates with 1 tablespoon flour in small bowl. Beat 4 tablespoons butter and ¾ cup sugar in large bowl until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, along with a little of the flour mixture; beat for 1 minute. Beat in remaining flour mixture. Add dates, baking soda, and vanilla to the boiling water, stirring to combine; add to batter, beating until well blended.

Pour batter into prepared dish; bake until set and well browned on top, 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven to wire rack. Heat broiler. Heat remaining 4 tablespoons butter, brown sugar, and heavy cream in microwave on simmer until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour over hot pudding. Place pudding in broiler, about 4 inches from heat; broil until topping is bubbling and becomes sticky, about 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately, top with custard or vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

Custard
¾ c. sugar
3 T. cornstarch
¼ t. salt
2 c. milk

Combine above and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir a small amount into:

3 egg yolks – slightly beaten

Add egg yolks to the rest of the mixture when tempered and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add:

2 T. butter
1 t. vanilla

Mix and chill. Serve atop sticky toffee pudding

I hope you love these recipes as much as I do!!! 

It is a leftover kind of night...

So do you ever have those nights that you are hungry for something hot and homemade but just way too tired to make it? Well that is how I felt tonight. So I stood at the refrigerator door and stared trying to figure out what to make for dinner (my mom is out of town, so it is up to me to take care of my dad...i.e.: make sure he has something to eat :). We love sandwiches in our family, but not just the regular ham and cheese kind of sandwich. Because we go all out on our sandwiches, I decided to make a chicken sandwich with some leftover chicken from the night before and pair that with some sweet potato fries.

Sweet Potato Fries

Peeled Sweet Potatoes - (avg. about 1 potato per person depending on how big the potato may be.)
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper
Red Chili Flakes (if you don't like it spicy then you can leave these out)
Dried Herbs (I use Herbs de Provence which you can get in your grocery stores. It is just a mixture of a bunch of different dried herbs).

Preheat your oven to about 400 degrees

After washing and peeling your sweet potatoes, you want to cut them into about 1/4 inch long slices. You want them all to be about the same size so that they will cook evenly. You can make them thicker if you want, but then they will take longer to cook. After cutting them, put them into a bowl, drizzle with some olive oil and top with the remaining ingredients. Toss the potatoes until they are evenly coated in the olive oil and spices.

Place them on a greased baking sheet and bake them until they are crispy. They are an easy and delicious alternative to french fries. You could also make them a sweet side by using some cinnamon, nutmeg, a little brown sugar instead of the savory spices.

Chicken Sandwiches.
This may seem very simple and you may  be wondering why I am even writing this down. Sometimes it helps to see how someone else has made something simple and added their own twist to it. I took some leftover chicken that I had put into a egg wash and then coated in Panko crumbs (Japanese version of bread crumbs) and paired it with a special mayonnaise and my favorite sandwich toppings.

Special Mayo
1 c. Mayo
1 Lemon Juiced
2 cloves of garlic
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
salt and pepper

Combine all of these together for a gourmet touch to a regular sandwich. The longer this mayo sits the better it becomes so you can make it a day ahead and let it sit in your fridge.

Now for the sandwich.

Ciabatta Bread
Leftover chicen (or any leftover meat you may have)
Tomatoe slices
Fontina cheese (you can use your favorite cheese, but I just love Fontina because it so creamy when it melts)
Arugula (you can use any kind of lettuce or spinach you like. I like arugula because it is a little spicy)

Cut the Ciabatta into the size of sandwich that you want and then slice this in half. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the top to help with the browning process. On one half of the sandwich add the fontina cheese. Put this and the sliced chicken into the oven until it is toasted and the chicken is warmed through.

After this is done it is just time to put it together. Add on your favorite sandwich toppings and enjoy!

You could also add sundried tomatoes, olives, pesto instead of the mayo or anything else. It is just a matter of finding the perfect ingredients for you.

Like I said I know that this was simple but sometimes the simple things in life are the best.

Eggplant and Asparagus Lasagna

So one night this week I looked in my fridge and discovered that I had asparagus, eggplant and ground beef that I needed to use so I decided to make an eggplant lasagna. I used the eggplant in place of using noodles in trying to make it a little bit healthier. The result of the combination of these ingredients became a cheesy, meaty, vegetable dish of deliciousness. Because I can never just stick to one recipe the following is a combination of a few different recipes that I found on foodnetwork.com as well as my own ideas put in as well. The amazing thing about lasagna is that there are so many different ways that you can make it. You can add different kinds of vegetables, mushrooms, meat or no meat. It is one of those dishes that is hard to mess up.  As you will see below you can use ingredients that you may already have in your fridge and pantry and just mix and match to your heart's content. Follow the recipe below or add and subtract as you would like

Recipe:

1 pound ground beef (you could also use turkey or lamb)

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

Chopped fresh herbs to taste (I used thyme, rosemary, basil and oregano...you can also use dried herbs)

2 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 bottle of your favorite marinara sauce

2 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise, about ¾ inch

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese

Cayenne pepper (optional) if you like to have it a little spicy

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking dish on all sides, I recommend using an olive oil spray. Spread enough of the marinara sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. You want just enough so that it covers the bottom of the dish.

After slicing the eggplant brush both sides with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. I cooked them on the grille until they are cooked and tender. You could also cook them in a pan if you like. The point is to go ahead and cook them so that it cuts down on the time that the lasagna is in the oven. Grilling them adds that wonderful slightly smoky flavor to the lasagna

In a large skillet add olive oil, your chopped onion and the garlic. Make sure you season each layer with a little salt and pepper to ensure that each layer has flavor. The salt and pepper also helps to break down the onions and garlic. Cook this until you can smell the garlic and then add the ground beef. Cook the ground beef until it is almost cooked all the way through and then add the chopped herbs and a little salt and pepper along with the cayenne pepper if you choose. Stir this all together and then add in the asparagus. Make sure that you stir the asparagus into the ground beef so it is covered in the juices and flavors from the ground beef and herbs. You want to cook this until the asparagus is cooked. It will turn bright green and be tender but not mushy. You don't want mushy asparagus.

Meanwhile combine the ricotta cheese and the rest of the marinara sauce. Once the beef and asparagus are cooked add this to the ricotta and marinara sauce. Stir these together until everything is coated in the ricotta. Taste this mixture to make sure that the seasoning is where you want it to be. You may need to add more salt and pepper.

After all of this is combined together it is time to put together the lasagna. Place slices of eggplant on top of the marinara sauce, then add the ricotta/beef mixture. On top of this put some of the shredded mozzarella and then Parmesan cheese and then repeat The size of your baking dish will determine how many layers you will do. 

On the top of the lasagna add the rest of the Parmesan cheese and then drizzle with olive oil to help create a wonderful brown cheesy crust. Bake until the insides are warm and there is a brown and cheesy crust. After you take the lasagna out of the oven you want to let it set for a few minutes so that the juices and sauce can set.

You can pair this with some other kind of vegetable or a nice green salad with a light dressing. This is definitely a new favorite in my family! 

Buon Appetito!

The beginning....

Hello all! I am new to the 'blogesphere' so it will be a learning experience for us all. It took me quite a long time to determine what I wanted to write a blog on and at this point I am still not really sure. I decided that I wanted to write it on something that I love to do.....cooking! I love to eat and create new things with food. Cooking has become a getaway of sorts for me from the stress of work, school, and the everyday life. It is during my time in the kitchen that I can to relax and enjoy doing something that I love. This idea arose while watching one of my favorite movies, Julie to Julia. As I watched the movie, I found myself thinking "I can do that"! So here we are. However, unlike Julie who worked her way through Julia Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" I will just be sharing experiences and different recipes that I come across.

My love for cooking began about 5 years ago when my dad bought me a cookbook by Giada de Laurentiis titled "Everyday Italian". It contains the most delicious Italian recipes that even the most novice cook can master. I recommend that if you are wanting to learn to cook or if you are wanting to learn to make Italian food that you go out and buy this book! You can find it at Half Price Books for cheaper than Barnes and Nobles. Ever since opening this book I have been hooked on cooking. My first dish that I created was Chicken Piccata and it was love at first taste. You definitely need to try this recipe.

There is something about Italian food that makes a long hard day so much better. It is the simplicity of the ingredients and flavors that blend together to form a dish of delight. It makes you want to go back for that second helping even though you know you shouldn't. Though Italian is my favorite food to cook and create , I will be exploring all types of food. My main goal is to try and create  wonderful mouth watering meals that utilize herbs and seasonings to flavor the meal instead of adding a lot of fat. Though Emeril Lagasse is noted to say that the the way you spell flavor is F-A-T, I believe that it can be done in other ways. With this said though don't be surprised if there are some fatty foods stuck in here and there. Especially when it comes to desserts.

  Throughout this blog I will be providing recipes as well as some tips and suggestions that I may have come across on the way. For some reason I can never follow a recipe to the letter and always have to add or subtract certain things in the recipe. I hope you all enjoy this blog and will welcome any feedback, comments and suggestions!

Buon Appetito!