Chicken Asparagus Roll-ups Adapted from...lost in Antiquity

This is an easy left-over poultry recipe we have been using for years.  In a bowl, mix 2C diced chicken or turkey with 2T butter and 4oz. softened cream cheese, and 2T chopped chives.  Unroll Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and separate them into individual triangles.  Push them out until they are very thin.  Place 2T of the poultry mix on each triangle and roll them up.  We included 3 raw asparagus spears in each as well but they can be prepared without the asparagus.  Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.  For the sauce, mix 2T butter with 2T flour in a sauce pan.  Heat until the mixture is smooth (a roux).  Add 14oz chicken stock and heat until bubbly and thichened. Garnish with chopped chives.   A very nice quick and easy left-over meal.

Turkey Thigh Osso Bucco

This is a nice replace-ment for veal shanks in the usual Osso Bucco recipe. Thighs are tasty, and very much less expensive than veal. Start by browning 2 strips of diced bacon in an oven proof pan. Remove the bacon to a plate and add the thighs and 3T olive oil. When they are nicely browned, remove them to the plate and add 1 med. onion, 5 or 6 baby carrots, one rib of celery, 1 bay leaf, 1T dried thyme, salt and pepper to taste and 2 garlic cloves. We like to roughly chop the veggies in this recipe rather than a fine dice. When the veggies have softened, deglaze the pan with 1C dry white wine and 1C chicken stock. Add 2T tomato paste, 1-14 oz can diced tomatoes with their juice. Return the thighs to the pan, heat to the boil and then place, covered, in a 300 degree oven for about 2 hrs. Check the liquid level from time to time and add stock and wine if needed. The meat will be very tender but still have body. Adjust the seasonings. We served the dish with risotto but polenta or potatoes or pasta would be good as well. Green peas would be a nice addition.

Left-over Turkey and Stuffing Bake

This is another of our favorite left-over recipes the origin of which is lost. Stir together 2C diced left-over turkey, 1/2C mayo, 1/2Cmilk, 1C diced celery, one can of sliced water chestnuts and one can of cream of celery soup, undiluted (mushroom soup will work as well). Place the mixture in an oven-proof dish and top with left-over stuffing, about 4C for this recipe. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45 min. or until heated through. Topping with chopped parsley would be nice. We serve it with cranberry/orange relish. Comfort food, all the way.

Open-faced Turkey and Ham Sandwiches with Asparagus and Cheese Sauce

Here is a pretty easy recipe using left-over turkey and ham, both of which we had over the Thanks-giving holiday. We made a cream sauce by mixing 2T butter and 2T flour in a sauce pan. When the mixture becomes bubbly, add milk and thicken to your liking. Then add 4 oz. swiss cheese and stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add some cayenne pepper for some kick. Spoon the sauce over toasted bread, cooked turkey and ham and add some asparagus if you wish. A pretty good use, and a bit different, for ham and turkey. We served the sandwich with escalloped potatoes.

Thai-style Turkey Noodle Soup

We still have some leftovers from Thanks-giving and soup sounded good so we looked up a few Thai recipes for soup and shuffled them to come up with this soup. Start with 2 qts. of stock. Ours was made from the Thanksgiving turkey. Add the juice of 2 limes, 1/3C Thai garlic chili sauce, 2T fresh ginger, thinly sliced, 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced, 1-2C diced turkey, 1/4C chopped cilantro and 1/2- 14 oz. can of coconut milk (left from the curry beef below). Add as much extra heat as you wish. We added two crushed dried chilis. Add 1C of chopped mushrooms which have been sauted. Simmer the mixture for 30 min or so to allow the flavors to meld. Cook the noodles in the stock. Top with fresh chopped cilantro. A good hardy "hot and sour" soup.

Left-over Turkey and Stuffing

This is a very old recipe that we have been using for left-over poultry for years. Start by diceing 2C of turkey or chicken, 1C celery and 1C water chestnuts. Place the mix in a baking dish and add 1- 14 oz. can cream of chicken soup. Stir together. Cover this mixture with left-over stuffing. Bake in a 350 F oven for 30 min. If you have the time, this dish is even better if you make your own white sauce to replace the creamed soup.

Thanksgiving Day

This year, in addition to the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. we decided to have the kids cook with us. Greg and Mina prepared the appetizers and Karen the vegetable. All are pictured here....Pear and Prosciutto Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette, Garlic and Eggs in olive oil and Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Thyme. (Top is the Pear and Prosciutto plate, Middle Pear and Prosciutto with the Garlic and Egg and Bottom the Brussel Sprouts.)

Pears and Prosciutto - Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together 1/4C champagne or white wine vinegar, 1T white wine or water, 2T minced shallot, 1t Dijon mustard, 1t sugar, 1/4t salt, 1/4C extra virgin olive oil, 2T walnut oil, freshly ground black pepper. Quarter and core 2 Bartlett pears and wrap them tightly in the prosciutto. Brush lightly with the vinaigrette and grill until the prosciutto is browned and crispy. Toss 8C of arugula leaves (we substituted water cress) with the vinaigrette. Place the leaves on four serving plates, add the pears and crumble goat cheese over the salad.

Garlic and Eggs - Gently poach 20-30 cloves of garlic in hot olive oil until they are cooked to your liking; they can be soft to crunchy but be careful not to burn them because garlic becomes bitter if burned. Drain the garlic and add 1 egg which has been scrambles gently to the hot oil. Serve the garlic, the egg and the oil on thin slices of french bread.

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Thyme - Clean and quarter 2lb. of brussel sprouts and set them aside. Brown about 5 rashers of diced bacon in a pan then remove it to a plate. Discard the fat. Add 4 finely chopped shallots and 2T finely chopped thyme leaves. Transfer the shallots and thyme to the dish with the bacon. Add 1/2C chicken stock to the pan to deglaze it. Pour this stock over the bacon. Add the brussel sprouts to the pan and gently cook for 3-4 min. Stir in 1/4C stock and continue cooking until the sprouts are tender. Add the bacon and stock mixture back and stir to incorporate and serve.

The rest of the Thanksgiving meal was the same as the one pictured here last year.

Turkey Thighs with Roasted Lemons and Olives - Adapted from Bon Appetit

This is an easy tastey recipe that originated as chicken breasts, but we had some turkey thighs left over from another recipe. Start by boning and skinning two turkey thighs. Slice two lemons and bake at 350 F for 30 min. Remove the lemons and set aside. Dredge the thighs flour seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Add 1/4C olive oil to an oven proof pan and brown the thighs. When they are brown, add 1C chicken stock, cover and bake in a 350 F oven for 45 min. Add the lemon slices and 1/2C sliced olives and return to the oven for 30 min. Remove the thighs, lemons and olives and reduce the liquid by 1/2. We served the thighs with steamed broccoli and pasta with the reduced sauce on the side.

Leftover Turkey and Stuffing

This is a favorite for Thanks-giving leftovers. Mix 2C diced cooked turkey, 2C mayo-nnaise, 1C water chestnuts, 2C diced celery and 1 can of cream of chicken soup. Place in a baking dish and top with leftover stuffing. Bake at 350 F for 30-45 min. uncovered. Variations could use chicken or mashed potatoes. We served it with a green salad but leftover cranberries would work well too.

Our Thanksgiving Table

We have a pretty traditional Thanks-giving. Turkey cooked on the Weber; stuffing..we put the meat thermometer in the stuffing rather than the bird to assure that the stuffing is completely cooked. This year we had carmalized shallot-sage mashed potatoes which used 2C of thinly sliced shallots carmalized in 2T of olive oil along with 1t fresh sage and 2t sugar. The mixture is finished with 1T white basalmic vinegar and folded in the mashed potatoes. Gravy is made by making a roux of the drippings from the Weber and flour. Stock prepared from the gibblets, celery, onion and carrots is added to thin the roux to the desired thickness. We also like cabernet-cranberries. They are prepared by mixing fresh cranberries and sugar with 2T orange zest and dry red wine and simmering until the mixture thickens. The yam is baked with rosemary sprigs. We served a chilled Rose wine.

For dessert this year we had a cheese cake which our daughter Karen and Dee prepared. The cheesecake is a pretty traditional recipe but has a gingersnap crust, a caramel topping with toffee crunch supplied by crushed Heathbars......VERY rich.

Turkey Breast Mole with Orange Salad and Re-fried Beans

Mole sauce is one of our favorites and also very com-plicated to make. So, we didn't....we got it from a bottle that my brother sent me. For those of you not familiar with mole, it is cocoa based and while not sweet, it has a definate chocolate taste. We prepared the mole according the the package directions and coated a boneless turkey breast with it. The meat was precooked so we cooked it at 350 F for about an hour. The salad was sliced oranges and thinly sliced sweet onion (or red onion) and kalamata olives. The dressing, found at http://fooddownunder.com/ , a very nice site, by the way, was made by mixing 3/4C oil with 1/4C terrigon vinegar, 1t sugar, 1/4t chili powder, 1/4t ground cumin, 1/4t dry mustard, 1/4t dry thyme, 1/4t paprika, 1/4t Worchestershire sauce and a dash of Tabasco to suit. One clove of garlic, halved, was soaked in the mixture for about an hour before dressing the orange mixture. The proportions were altered a bit from the original because of personal taste. The re-fried beans were canned. We served a Pinot Grigio from Cavit http://www.cavitcollection.com/html/collection_pinot_grigio.asp

Ground Turkey Pie

The origin of this recipe is another that is lost in time. Put a pie crust in a 9" pie plate. It is best if you slightly cook the crust, perhaps 5 min. at 400 F. Set the crust aside. In a skillet, brown 1 lb. of ground turkey and then drain it. Add to the turkey 1 can of cream of chedder soup, 5 1/2 oz. unsweetened condensed milk and 1 generous cup of mixed vegetables. Mix well and transfer to the pie shell. Bake at 400 F for 30 min. We serve it with a green salad or just sliced tomatoes.
The dish is a bit too thin to maintain a pie slice shape so we just scoop it out with a spoon. Comfort food all the way.

Dee's Chedder Turkey Pie

Prebake a 9" piecrust according to package instruc-tions if you use a prepared crust, or, whatever recipe you use. In a skillet, brown 1 lb. ground turkey. Drain the meat if necessary. To the skillet add 5 oz. unsweetened condensed milk, 1 10 oz can of cream of chedder soup and a package of mixed veggies. Stir the mixture together and pour into the crust. Bake for 25 min at 400 degrees. You can serve with a green salad and good crusty bread. A dry white wine would go nicely.