Turkey Tetrazzini alla Casa

My philosophy of cooking is that a recipe is merely a suggestion. 

Most everything I cook is del giorno (or d'jour for you French chefs) based on what I have on hand. Or alla Casa - the way I do it at my house.

We recently had Turkey Tetrazzini at a friends' home and it was delicious.  As I had leftover turkey from Christmas dinner, I figured I'd give it a try...sort of. I looked up recipes on the web. Ok, well, I use those as suggestions.

So I got a pot boiling for the fettuccine (had no egg noodles) and put some broccoli in the microwave to cook al dente. (We eat a lot of broccoli).

I just happened to have about a half pound of Baby Bella mushrooms (small Portabellas) so I sliced them up and put them into my cast iron skillet along with a sliced onion and two chopped cloves of garlic and plenty of olive oil. 

I also happened to have one small eggplant (I recalled Pasta alla Norma). So that got peeled, diced and sautéed in the skillet as well. As things got cooked to soft I added about two tablespoons of butter. (I never understand recipes that call for unsalted butter, then add salt) and let that melt into the mixture.

Olive oil, garlic, onion, mushrooms, eggplant

Then I added about two or three tablespoons of flour (I never measure) to coat the veggies and absorb the butter like doing a roux. I looked for an open bottle of white wine, alas I only had a little dry vermouth, about two fingers left in the bottle, so that got added and mixed in to begin the sauce. Then a large splash of 2% milk (cream is way too heavy for me). The sauce thickened. Added pieces of turkey meat to heat in the sauce.

We had a little take-out container of sour cream in the fridge, about three tablespoons, and that went in along with some more milk to thin the sauce as it was thickening.

I had about 1/3 of a container of ricotta cheese, so that too went into the sauce. A little salt and pepper and finally Turned off the heat and added a few tablespoons of grated parmigiano (or was that Romano cheese that I grated last week?)

Butter, Flour, Vermouth, Sour Cream, Milk, Ricotta

When the pasta was al dente I drained it over the broccoli in a large colander (to re-warm the broccoli) and returned it to the pot. I spooned the Tetrazzini sauce over it and tossed it well.

DINNER'S READY! 

More grated cheese at the table and Leon and I pigged out. Found some white wine in the garage (where it is cool).

I think we both went for thirds tonight. 

Served with Fettuccine and Broccoli

Boneless Chicken Breast in White Wine Sauce with Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Steamed Broccoli

This was an impromptu meal - as mine usually are. It is also simple insofar as it does not have complex flavors or over spiced. 

Someone gave me a bag of sweet potatoes which I microwaved the other night. We ate a few, but had plenty left over. And today boneless chicken was on sale along with broccoli. I only wish I had thought of buying some mushrooms - that would have made the dish even better.

First I prepared the broccoli and placed it into a pot with about an inch of cold water, ready to be steamed.

Then I sliced the chicken breasts into medallions - small thin slices - and sautéed them in some olive oil, added salt and fresh ground pepper and some thyme. (I just thought thyme would go good with the chicken and the sweet potato gnocchi. I think rosemary would also be a good choice.)

I removed the chicken, added a couple of tablespoons of flour into the skillet, whisked the flour to make a roux and added some white wine (I think it was Chardonnay) and let it thicken. 

(I didn't have chicken broth and I suppose you can substitute chicken broth for the wine, but I think the wine gives it a more sophisticated fruity flavor.)

Now if I'd had some mushrooms, I would have sautéed them and removed them with the chicken before making the sauce.

Once the sauce was thickened to the right consistency by adding more wine as needed and thickening a  little more, I returned the chicken to the skillet with all of its juices (the cooked chicken releases some good juices as it sits) and let it simmer a little over low heat.

Meanwhile I got a big pot of salted water on to boil and made the gnocchi. I used about a cup and a half of gently mashed sweet potato and about an equal amount of flour to make a dough which I mixed by hand just until the flour was incorporated. Don't over work the dough.

Roll pieces of the dough into ropes, cut one-inch or slightly shorter pieces and roll each gnocco with one or two fingers while making an indentation with the finger and place them on a plate.

I slid the gnocchi into the boiling water, and as soon as they start floating to the top of the pot, I spoon them out with a slotted spoon and place them into the skillet with the chicken. Continue until all the gnocchi are cooked and removed from the pot.

 Serve along with steamed broccoli. No grated cheese for this dish. The gnocchi and the chicken-white wine gravy really go nicely together.

Dinner's ready!

A Lower Fat Mac and Cheese

I am on a low-fat "diet"- lowering my fat intake for the doc.

I was making broiled fish tonight and thought fennel would be an excellent accompaniment because of its delicate anise/liquorice flavor. My favorite fennel recipe is the one with bechamel sauce - basically the same sauce you would use as a base for mac and cheese. And I happened to have a little cooked pasta (plain without any sauce) - about 2 cups of cooked pasta -  left from the other night.

So I came up with a nice side dish - Mac and Cheese with Fennel.

For the fennel, I first sauteed two large fennel bulbs that I cut into eighths, in a little olive oil, garlic and dry vermouth - but with only a smidgen of olive oil.

For the sauce I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter or less and 2 tablespoons of flour (usually the proportion is 1:1 but this will just barely work - the roux may be a bit dry, but oh well, I am cutting down on fat.

I added 1% milk a bit at a time, letting the sauce thicken each time until the sauce achieved the proper consistency. Off the heat - you don't want the parmesan clumping -  I added about 4 oz of fat-free feta cheese and about 1/4 cup of grated parmesan (parmigiano) and a few grates of black pepper. Forgot the nutmeg, but you can add a little if you like.

I put the sauce over the pasta and fennel, dusted with bread crumbs and baked it at 350 until the top browned. The flavors all go well together, the anise vegetable and the chew of the pasta with melted cheese sauce. Scrumptious. I don't miss the taste of sharp cheddar which is my usual base along with whatever other cheese I have on hand, including sour cream. talk about FAT. This, on the other hand is very low on fat and just as tasty I think.

If you like you can  use broccoli or other vegetable in place of the fennel - I've often added broccoli to my mac and cheese but this version uses more vegetable than pasta, less fatty cheese and so it is "healthier" of course.

This makes about 4 servings - but I could easily eat half the recipe. I restrained myself however and had only one fourth of the casserole. There's always tomorrow.

Dinner's ready! Buon appetito!