Turkey Pot Pie

I know there are a ton of these recipes out there, especially at this time of year, but I had to throw mine out there too.

It's a great recipe and easy to make.

That's all I'm gonna say about it. Oh...and of course, it's delicious!

Start by giving the veggys a good saute in some butter until they're tender.

Then, you're gonna add the broth, then the potatoes. 

Once the potatoes are tender add in the turkey.

Melt the other 2 tbsps of butter and stir in the flour. Cook for a few minutes.

Whisk in the cream,

and then whisk the flour/cream mixture into the vegetables/turkey mixture.

Once it's thickened, stir in the peas and parsley. 

This is after it's cooked, obviously, but as far as the crust goes, 

you just lay it over the top of your baking dish and give it a brush with a beaten egg.

And finally, you get to serve your family this. 

Believe me, they will thank you for it.

TURKEY POT PIE

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, divided       

1 small onion, minced              

2 stalks celery, chopped               

2 carrots, small dice

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon dried oregano [or 1½ teaspoons fresh]

1½ teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped  [or ½ teaspoon dried]

Salt & pepper to taste

2 clove garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed small

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ cup cream or milk

1½ cups cubed, cooked turkey (dark meat is good)

1 cup green peas

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 pkg. Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry, thawed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425° F. Butter a 7x11 baking dish or or casserole dish/bowl, and set aside.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add the onion, celery, carrots, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft. Stir in garlic and cook a few minutes more. (If using fresh herbs, I would add them at the end with the parsley.)

Stir in the broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir in the potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm. Add in the turkey.

In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter then stir in the flour. Cook for a few minutes the add the cream. Whisk the flour/cream mixture into the vegetable mixture, and cook until thickened. Stir in  parsley and peas. Cool slightly, then pour mixture into the pan.

Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface to a size large enough for the corners to drape slightly over the edge of the pan. Place puff pastry on top of filling, then drape the edges of the pastry over the edge of the pan. Brush with an egg wash (beat up an egg).

Bake pot pie in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Apple and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Thighs

The flavor in these is spectacular.  

I used Honey Crisp apples, which are great right now, and they held up perfectly. 

Super easy to make.

I could eat this stuffing as is.

In fact, with a little hit of red wine vinegar or balsamic and maybe 

a little cinnamon, it would be great as a chutney with chicken, pork chops, 

or whatever you wanted.

And here are the stuffed thighs.

These drippings were a great touch drizzled over the finished dish.

You should give it a try. I know you won't be disappointed.

Linked with Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday. 

Apple and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Thighs

5-6 Chicken Thighs

1 tbsp olive oil

Pat of butter

1 red onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp sage

1 apple, chopped

1/3 cup white wine

2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oven to 400*

Saute onion in olive oil and butter until they start to caramelize, 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic, ½ tsp sage and 1 chopped apple, saute 5 min. Add 1/3 cup white wine and simmer until reduced; cool. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper. 

Loosen the skin of the chicken with your finger and stuff with onion mixture. Season the thighs with salt and pepper, place in a baking dish and bake for 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and skin is golden brown.

Pour drippings into a skillet; add a little chicken stock if needed and reduce. Drizzle over chicken.

Stuffed Mushrooms

These have to be one of my favorite things.

They are so quick and easy to make, and the flavor, oh my goodness.

They're not very photogenic, but once you taste one...it doesn't even matter. 

The pictures almost make them look like they could be dry, but they aren't. When you bite into one, all the juice from cooking the mushroom explodes in your mouth. Combine that with the warm creaminess of the cheese...it's simply delightful. 

It's important to not over cook them. You don't want any of the moisture from the  mushroom to be lost in the bottom of the pan. I think the best way to determine doneness is to pop one in your mouth, or 3 or 4. Whatever it takes.

I cook mine on a tinfoil lined cookie sheet with a bakers rack. 

Yea, my mushrooms were getting a little old. 

Tent the pan loosely with foil, you don't want to loose any of the cheesy filling on the cover.

They tasted wonderful along side Turkey Feta Burgers.

You gotta give these a try.

 I usually use 1/3 less fat cream cheese, but I've even made them with 

fat free cream cheese and they still tasted delicious.

STUFFED MUSHROOMS

1 small carton of button mushrooms

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

4 oz of cream cheese, I use 1/3 less fat

1-2 oz of cheddar cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375*

Gently remove the stem from the mushrooms and gently wipe clean with damp cloth. Chop half the stems into small pieces and reserve.

Saute the onion, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper, in a little bit of olive oil for a couple of minutes or until softened. Add the chopped mushroom stems and the garlic and saute until the stems soften and release any liquid they might have.

Stir the onion mixture and both cheeses until combined. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if desired. Stuff the mushrooms and bake, loosely covered/tented with tinfoil, on a bakers rack for 20-25 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.

Note: Amounts and type of cheese used can be easily adjusted to taste and amount of mushrooms you want to stuff.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I never think to make these much.

My hubby loves 'em. I on the other hand, was forced to eat them when I was young. Back then, I was forced to eat a lot of vegetables I thought were from the devil. I had to hold my nose and chew really fast, then I would drink whatever "thing" it was, down with my drink. Oh, the memories.  My mom was very conscientious about us 5 kids and our veggys.

Of course, now that I'm much older, I thank God she did. Besides the fact that I was, and am, blessed, and with good genes, I think that's one of the main reasons our entire family is so healthy.

Anyway, I like many vegetables now, including these and cooked like this, they're extra tasty.

Aren't they so pretty. I'm glad I can actually appreciate them now.

Ooo-la-lah,,,these are pretty too. Kept the entire meal easy by serving up a couple of  ribeye steaks.

 I just let them hang out a few minutes with Worcestershire, salt and pepper on both sides, 

then threw them on the grill. Easy & delicious!

I think they would be a great Thanksgiving side dish. 
They're super easy and I love the look of them.

Here's the recipe. It's pretty much exactly like Ina Garten's recipe, but I finished off the cooking of mine differently.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Serves 6

• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt ( I like these salty like French fries), and serve immediately.

I thought mine were getting a little too much color compared to tenderness, so I pulled them out about 10 minutes early and put them in a bowl with a splash of water, sprinkled them with salt, then covered with plastic wrap and finished them off in the microwave for another minute or so. I let them sit in there until I was ready for them.

Crusty French Bread

I have to say...I do enjoy me some homemade bread. 

Just the fact that something that looks like this,

ends up looking like this, is just magical. 

There's also the fact that it tastes even better than it looks.

Like most homemade breads, this recipe is a cinch to make. 

The "time" to make it, is what you need to plan ahead on. 

It's a straight forward recipe with delicious results. 

Crusty French Bread

1 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 c. warm water
1 pkg yeast
1 c. warm milk
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
5 1/2 - 6 c. flour
Cornmeal for dusting

In a small bowl, combine sugar and water. Sprinkle with yeast and let stand 10 min.

In a large bowl mix milk, butter and salt. Stir in yeast mixture and 2 1/4 cups flour. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Knead 5 minutes. Let rise 1 1/2 hours.

Sprinkle baking sheet or stone with cornmeal. Make 2 loaves; slash the top of each loaf 3 times with knife and let rise 30 minutes. Bake at 400* for 25 minutes.

Stovetop Mac-n-Cheese

This is my new go-to recipe for a quick creamy cheesy delicious Mac-n-Cheese. Nothing fancy, kinda like my picture. Just tons of gooey goodness. (It tightens up just slightly as it sits).

I, like many of you I suspect, have resorted to using box macaroni and cheese. You know the stuff, the one with the powder mix. 

I personally never cared for it so much, so I started hunting good recipes, with real cheese, sometimes several different kinds, thinking my family would be so happy and thankful. Well, they weren't. They actually liked the stuff out of the box. I think it's because it's not cooked in the oven and stays looser in consistency. That's the only reason I could come up with.

Well, this recipe is the answer. It was so good. I stood at the fridge off and on for 3 days eating it with my fingers, cold, out of the bowl. That's normal, right?

I think what put it over the top for me was the cheese I used. I had a small chunk of smoked white cheddar and a small chunk of mozzarella that I combined with the yellow cheddar. I loved the hint of smokiness. Oh, and I used  2% condensed milk, it made me feel better.

Definitely a keeper,,,,Thank you Ezra Pound Cake.

Oh, yea, I thought this was cool. I used up some leftover shells that I had on hand. Some large and some small. While they were cooking, the small ones got stuck inside the larger ones and gave it this great bite and the cheese got stuck in the layers inside the big shell. BONUS! I may do it on purpose next time.

Stovetop Mac-n-Cheese

1/2 pound (8 ounces) elbow macaroni

4 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

6 ounces evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh black pepper

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard (optional)

10 ounces cheddar, shredded (can be replaced with your choice of cheese or cheeses)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper and ground mustard (if using). Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add two pinches of salt to the water, and cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain the pasta, and put it back in the pot, keeping it off the heat.

Add the butter. Toss until the butter has melted.

Stir in the egg mixture, and add the cheese.

Place the pot back on the stove over low heat, and stir the pasta for 3 minutes or until creamy.

Chinese BBQ Nachos

These are such a fun change-up from the traditional nachos. Great for football day.

They're not hard to make, but you do want to cook the meat ahead of time.

Cut the pork shoulder into cubes.

Season with all the yummy spices.

Next you'll want to get a good sear on all sides. I cooked them in batches.

Put them back into the pot and pour in the stock, cover and stick it in the oven.

Here's what it looks like after it cooks. All the broth condenses down to a wonderful sauce in the bottom of the pot.

I actually separated the fat from the sauce. There wasn't a ton of it, so I imagine it would be no biggy if you choose not to.

After you shred it, mix in an entire jar of hoisin sauce. Yum!

It was a lot of fun frying the wonton wrappers. They only took seconds to cook.

Make sure to turn them half way through.

Don't these look good. So simple with HUGE flavor. 

The slaw was delicious. I could eat it on its own. 

To top the whole thing off, I mixed up a little chili sauce with some thai sweet chili sauce 

and a little water, then drizzled it over the top. The perfect finish.

Here's the way I like to eat mine. Very little meat and a ton of slaw. 

This wrapper got a little dark but was still delicately crisp and scrumptious.

Linked with Weekend Potluck.

Chinese BBQ Nachos

For the pork:
2 pounds pork shoulder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
4 cups chicken stock
1 jar of hoisin sauce

For the slaw:
1 head of Napa cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp water

For the wontons:
1 package wonton wrappers
3 cups vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400*.

Cut pork into 2 inch pieces, and season with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper.

In a large sauce pot, pour in 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, and sear the outside of the pork. Make sure you don't overcrowd the pot, so you may need to sear them in batches.

Pour in the stock, cover and cook for 2 hours.

Shred pork with forks and mix with the hoisin sauce.

In a large bowl, combine rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and water. Stir together until sugar dissolves. Toss Napa cabbage in the mixture and set aside.

In a large sauce pot, heat the oil and fry wrapper to golden brown, trying to keep their shape square. Dry on paper towels.

Place one small scoop of pork on wanton crisp, finishing each with a small pinch (or large pinch) of Napa cabbage slaw.