Sesame Street says "Let's Cook!"

Most of my audience are not the Sesame Street set. But, maybe some of you are parents and you struggle with getting your kids to eat a variety of foods. I know how that goes. My daughter is now all grown up and her palate has expanded a great deal but she was a fairly picky eater as a kid. The fact that her mom was a trained chef meant nothing to her. I introduced new foods until they became old foods and familiar to her. I cooked more simply. The wonderful folks at Sesame Street have just released a cookbook for families, which uses many of the concepts I used with my daughter. It has recipes that appeal to children (children-tested too) wrapped up in that lovable Sesame Street package of Grover, Elmo, and Zoe.

One recipe, Zoe's Tortellini Soup with Tiny Turkey Meatballs, is printed in a story in the New York Times. Check it out. It's a very easy soup that takes advantage of pantry staples and pre-made food to make a filling dinner that kids and adults will love. You buy the tortellini. You make your own tiny turkey meatballs. You use packaged stock and canned tomatoes for the soup. Simple and delicious. Pre-made food isn't bad food if you are careful about what you use. And, it definitely makes the parent's job of getting a meal on the table a lot easier.

“Sesame Street Let’s Cook!” by Susan McQuillan, RD. Copyright © 2015 by Sesame Workshop.

Photo credit: By cyclonebill (Tortellini med svampe og mascarpone) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Chinese Ground Meat and Rice Casserole

I made this one with cooked leftover leg of lamb.

This recipe was inspired by one for Lamb Crepes Oriental. Just a hunch...most people reading here are not going to make crepes. I simplified things by using rice and making this a layered casserole. This is a delicious way to use up all sorts of cooked meats: beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, pork. If you don't have 2 cups of cooked meat, you can substitute 1 pound of ground meat. See the instructions for changes if you start with raw meat.

We don't usually think of cooking lettuce, but romaine is hardy, holding up to some gentle cooking, and adds some nice crunch here.

Chinese Ground Meat and Rice Casserole
(serves 4)

non-stick cooking spray
4 cups cooked rice (brown or white)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (if using cooked meat only)
1 onion, minced
2 cups of cooked chopped meat or poultry
OR
1 pound ground meat
¼ cup beef broth
½ large head of romaine lettuce, shredded
½ teaspoon black pepper


Sauce:
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon dry sherry, sake, or rice wine
1 cup beef broth

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 9"x11" baking dish with cooking spray. Spread the rice in the dish and set aside.

If using cooked meat, heat the oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauteacute; for 5 minutes. Add in the cooked meat and beef broth. Simmer until meat to warmed. Remove from heat, mix in lettuce and black pepper.

If using raw ground meat, heat up a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the meat until no longer pink. Drain off most of the fat, leaving about 2 Tablespoons. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook the onion for 5 minutes. Add beef broth and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, mix in lettuce and black pepper.

Pour the meat-lettuce mixture over the rice.

Make the sauce: Combine the cornstarch, soy sauce, ginger, dry sherry, and beef broth in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Spoon the sauce over the meat. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Adapted from a recipe for Lamb Crepes Oriental in Cooking with Cornelius: The Corning Cookbook by Cornelius O'Donnell, Random House, 1982

Turkey Posole Soup

I have an old cookbook called Half a Can of Tomato Paste and Other Culinary Dilemmas. It's one of my favorites because it has recipes for using up little bits of this and that. Like a cup of milk or half a can of tomato paste (something I don't have to deal with much now since tomato paste started coming in squeeze tubes). It was published in 1980 and the culinary world has changed quite a bit since then. This recipe for turkey soup was inspired by that book - using up leftovers in an interesting way.

Back in the day, everyone had a bottle of ketchup in the fridge for who-knows-how-long. Now, it's a jar of salsa. This recipe is a good place to use up that old red or green salsa. Any brand you like will do but I like green salsa best.

Posole is dried corn, commonly used in the Southwest. The kernels are whole. It was a wonderful corn flavor and a chewy texture. You can find it dried or easier still, rehydrated in cans. The canned posole makes this soup soup-er fast.

Though this is a turkey soup - because I had leftover Thanksgiving turkey in the freezer along with homemade turkey stock - you could make this with cooked chicken and commercial chicken stock for an even easier version.

Turkey Posole Soup
(serves 6)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced into thin half moons
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in your palm
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ to 1 cup green or red salsa
8 cups turkey or chicken stock
1 pound 9 oz can posole, drained
2 cups chopped turkey meat
salt (may not need any if using commercial stock)

Possible Garnish
chopped avocado
crushed tortilla chips
grated jack or cheddar cheese

Heat up the oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir around and cook for a few more minutes. Add the salsa, turkey stock, posole, and turkey meat. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, until carrots are tender. Taste for salt; add more if necessary. Serve with your choice of garnish on top.

Chinese Curried Noodles

Need a recipe using the Fresh Chinese Noodles from a couple of days ago? Here you go! This is an easy stir fry that becomes a delicious saucy dish. Comes together in no time. If you have some fresh noodles stashed in the freezer, you can make dinner appear in about 15 minutes. It will taste better than anything you could find in a box or jar.

There are a couple of important general cooking facts in here:

1. Cook the curry in oil to release its fragrance. If you add it with a bunch of liquid, this won't happen and the flavor won't be as good.
2. Cornstarch needs to boil to activate the starches that do the thickening, so make sure you boil your sauce. Good to know for any cornstarch thickened sauce.

Chinese Curried Noodles
(serves 4 to 6)

1 pound ground meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken, or turkey)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon + 1 ½ Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons curry powder

Sauce
2 cups no or low salt chicken stock
3 ½ Tablespoons soy sauce
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch

1 8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 ½ cups frozen peas or shelled edamame, thawed

1 pound fresh Chinese noodles (or ¾ pound dried fettuccine or linguine pasta)

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

While it's heating up, combine the ground meat with the 2 Tablespoons soy sauce. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Heat a wok or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of oil. Add the meat and stir fry until it is no longer pink, stirring to break up big lumps. Remove the meat to a clean bowl using a slotted spoon. If there is a lot of fat in the pan, pour it off and discard. If you are using chicken or turkey, there will be almost none.

Return the pan to high heat. Add 1 ½ Tablespoons vegetable oil. Add the onions and stir fry for 4 minutes until soft. Add the curry powder and stir fry until you can smell the curry, about 10 seconds. Stir the sauce to dissolve the cornstarch (it settles to the bottom on standing) and add to the pan. Add the water chestnuts and peas. Stir. Bring to a boil, add the meat, and reduce to a simmer. Add more salt if needed.

Cook the fresh noodles for 1-2 minutes (7-9 if using dried) until just done. Drain and add to the sauce. To serve, put noodles in a bowl with some of the sauce spooned on top.

Reheats well in the microwave.

Adapted from Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1997.

Corn Chowder

As an Ambassador for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, I get challenges each month. One was to cook the Food Revolution recipe for corn chowder and the other was to use leftovers. I had frozen corn, leftover bacon, leftover stock, and leftover cream. Sounds like the start of corn chowder to me. This recipe ended up being a combination of two of his recipes: the Food Revolution one and one he posted as his Recipe of the Day. It's not very thick because there is only a small bit of cream. Feel free to use any type of cream you have in your fridge, even the half&half you usually put in your coffee.

Corn Chowder

(serves 6-8)

1 large stalk celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 slices thick bacon, chopped
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
8 cups chicken or turkey stock
3 cups corn kernels, fresh or frozen
2 medium boiling potatoes, cut into ½" dice
½ to 1 teaspoon black pepper, depending on your taste
salt
½ cup cream (half & half, light, or heavy)
4 Tablespoons chopped parsley for garnish

Heat the oil and bacon in a soup pot. Once the bacon fat starts to melt, add the celery and onion. Cook slowly so the onions don't brown until the vegetables are soft, 10 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the corn, potatoes, black pepper, and salt*.  When the soup returns to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Add the cream and cook for 5 more minutes until hot. Check for seasonings. Garnish with parsley before serving.

*The amount of salt will depend on what kind of stock you use. My stock was unsalted and I needed a little bit more than 1 teaspoon. If your stock is salted, don't add any at this point and taste at the end to add more if you need it.

Easy Stroganoff

With the emphasis on easy. I'm laid up with a badly sprained ankle so my husband is doing the cooking. He's not exactly a gourmet cook and he doesn't want to spend too much time in the kitchen. I'd say he perfectly represents the type of cooks I'm trying to reach with this blog. He got to test my latest recipe, a very easy stroganoff.

Stroganoff is usually made with beef (if you want to impress, make it with beef filet), but I had some ground turkey that needed to be turned into dinner. Sometimes you need to use what you got (or what's on sale) and ground turkey isn't that different than ground beef. Generally, I'm not a fan of canned condensed soup because it contains a lot of ingredients that are far from natural. But, in an emergency, canned soup would work. My perspective is you shouldn't depend on convenience food all the time, but it has its moments. And, I offer a homemade replacement for the creamy soup here too, which is what I'd make if I wasn't stuck on the couch.

It's important that you remove the stroganoff from the heat before adding the sour cream. Sour cream (regular or low-fat) is not able to withstand boiling and it will separate if overheated.

Easy Stroganoff
(serves 4-6)

2 Tablespoon oil or butter, divided
1 pound ground turkey
8 oz. sliced white mushrooms
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet (optional; it's for color, not flavor)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (see homemade version below)
½ cup sour cream (full-fat or reduced-fat)

Heat ½ Tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey and cook until cooked through and browned. Remove to a bowl. Heat the rest of the oil in the same skillet. Add mushrooms and cook them for about 4 minutes. Add back the turkey, dried onion, beef bouillon, garlic powder, ketchup, Kitchen Bouquet (if using), and cream of mushroom soup. Heat to boiling, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add sour cream, stirring to combine. Serve over hot noodles.

To make a homemade version of canned condensed cream of mushroom soup:

2 tablespoons butter
a couple of mushrooms, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup low sodium chicken or beef stock
½ cup 2% or whole milk

a healthy pinch of dried thyme
a pinch each of onion and garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Heat butter in a medium saucepan. Sauté the mushrooms until softened. Sprinkle on flour and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring. Whisk in broth and milk until the mixture is smooth. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens. Stir in seasonings.

You can also use this recipe to make other cream of whatever soups. For cream of chicken, leave out the mushrooms and use chicken stock. For cream of celery, replace the mushrooms with a stalk of minced celery.

Turkey Meatloaf with Curry and Dill

I recently made a chicken mousse with curry and dill. It's not a recipe for beginners but the flavor profile is easy to translate to a more traditional meatloaf. The curry flavor is fairly subtle; you can use up to 2 teaspoons for a bolder flavor. This is a sturdy meatloaf, making it great for meatloaf sandwiches, as in the photo of my lunch above.

I also cut it into chunks and used it instead of meatballs in chicken and matzoh ball soup:

A very spicy bowl of matzoh ball soup!

Turkey Meatloaf with Curry and Dill
(serves 8-10, costs $10.50)

cooking spray
½ cup oatmeal, quick or regular
⅔ cup milk
3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 ½ pounds ground turkey
½ to 1 red or green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 large eggs
1 ½ - 2 teaspoons mild or medium curry powder
2 teaspoons dried dill weed or 2 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 8"x4" loaf pan with cooking spray.

Place the oatmeal in a large bowl and add the milk. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and smoosh until combined. Pack into the loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven, cover and let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

Reheats well and makes a delicious meatloaf sandwich.

Baked Meaty Pasta

Don't you love recipes where you dump the pasta in with everything else, and it magically cooks just right? I do! I used ground bison, you could use any ground meat: beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, even vegetarian "meat." This is extremely simple and extremely satisfying, with a layer of gooey cheese on top. Gets even better on reheating.

This recipe uses homemade creamed spinach, which is easy to make. You make a Bechamel sauce (a milk sauce thickened with butter and flour, one of the classic French sauces) and mix in chopped spinach. You could use a package of frozen creamed spinach, but it's so easy to make your own, why not make it from scratch? Tastes a lot fresher too.

Baked Meaty Pasta
(serves 6-8, costs $9.50, though the cost will vary depending on meat used)

non-stick cooking spray
1 pound ground meat
about 1 teaspoon salt
about ½ teaspoon black pepper
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups water
8 ounces dry penne, regular or whole-wheat
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup milk (skim, low-fat or whole)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (see Note)
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese, about 1 cup

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 3 quart baking casserole dish with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

Spray non-stick cooking spray on a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat and brown. Break up the big chunks into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the tomatoes, garlic powder, dried onion, oregano, basil, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Spoon enough sauce into the baking dish to cover the bottom. Add the penne. Spoon the rest of the sauce over the penne.

In the same skillet that you cooked the sauce in (no need to clean it out), melt the butter. Add the flour and stir to combine. Add the milk, stirring to smooth out the lumps. Cook until the milk thickens. Add the spinach, stirring to combine. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour spinach over sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes until the casserole is hot and bubbly. Sprinkle on the cheese and return to the oven, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Note: Instead of frozen spinach, you can use a 10 ounce package of fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped, or 2 cups cooked broccoli. You can even use a combination, which is what I used.

Turkey Meatloaf - a place to use those frozen diced peppers

Last week, we told you how to save some money by buying bell peppers when they are on sale and freezing them. This week, a recipe for using those frozen peppers. This is also a great recipe for stretching a fairly expensive meat: ground turkey. It runs about $5 a pound (more if you get the really lean version). This recipe utilizes some "filler" ingredients: kernel corn and rolled oats. Filler has a bad connotation but neither of these fillers are bad. Kernel corn adds texture. Rolled oats help keep the loaf moist. Both ingredients add fiber. I'd rather call them "stretchers" because they are inexpensive wholesome ingredients that stretch the number of servings you get from a given quantity of an expensive ingredient. If you look back at our Pasta with Mushroom-Tomato Sauce, the fresh mushrooms are also a stretcher. They carried the flavor of the very expensive dried porcini mushrooms and added bulk to the dish. Nothing wrong with that!

Dallas Turkey Meatloaf
(serves 6, costs $12)

1 12 oz. bottle chili sauce
¼ cup water
¾ cup rolled oats (not instant)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon chili powder (hot or mild, according to your tastes)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ pounds ground turkey
1 cup diced bell peppers, frozen if you have them and whatever color you like
½ medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

If using frozen peppers and/or corn, thaw them before mixing up the meatloaf.

Preheat the oven to 350 F°. In a large bowl, combine ½ cup chili sauce with water. Mix in oats, egg, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Mush in ground turkey, bell peppers, onion, and corn kernels. Grease a 9x5x3" loaf pan. Put meatloaf mixture into loaf pan.

Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Spread the remaining chili sauce over the top of the loaf and continue baking until the internal temperature of the loaf reaches 165 F°. If you don't have a cooking thermometer, this takes another 30 minutes. Cover with foil and let loaf stand 10 minutes before trying to cut it.

Adapted from The Turkey Cookbook, Rick Rodgers, John Boswell Associates, 1990.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Penne, spaghetti - fuhgeddeaboudit! They both work. But, you'll need spaghetti to recreate the scene in The Lady and the Tramp.

What's more romantic than a big plate of Spaghetti and Meatballs? "You have a funny sense of romance, lady." Go watch The Lady and the Tramp, that Disney classic, and then tell us Spaghetti and Meatballs isn't romantic. We used a couple of different recipes (including my mom's that I've been eating most of my life) and took the best parts, streamlined them a bit so it's do-able on a weeknight, and voila! You have a romantic meal that's easy to pull off in about an hour, where half the time is enjoying the smell of the sauce simmering away on the stovetop.

Put some Frank Sinatra on, open a bottle of red, and you have yourself one heck of a romantic dinner. And the leftovers are every bit as good.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Spaghetti and Meatballs
(6 servings, costs $11.50)

Meatballs

1 pound Lean Ground Meat (beef, chicken, turkey, veal or some combination of them)
1 clove Garlic, minced

½ cup Dry Breads Crumbs

2 large Eggs

¾ teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon Black Pepper

¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, chopped (about 4 large sprigs)

½ teaspoon Dried Oregano, crushed in your palm

¼ teaspoon Dried Basil, crushed in your palm

¼ cup Milk


¼ cup Flour

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Sauce

28 ounces canned Diced Tomatoes, undrained

16 ounces Tomato Sauce

1 teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon Black Pepper

1 teaspoon Dried Basil

¼ teaspoon Dried Thyme

½ teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 Tablespoon Dried Minced Onion (see Note)
2 teaspoons Sugar

1 pound Dried Spaghetti

2 teaspoon Salt for salting the pasta water


Grated Parmesan Cheese, for garnish

Combine all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Mix to combine but don't squeeze too much or the meatballs will be dense and tough. Form into meatballs (small or large, whatever size you like). Put the flour on a plate and roll each meatball in the flour.

Heat the olive oil in a large covered skillet over medium-high heat. Place the meatballs in the hot oil and brown on top and bottom. Turn with care to keep them from breaking apart. Remove the meatballs to a plate. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add all the sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Add back the meatballs and any juice that collected on the plate. Cover the skillet and simmer for 30 minutes, reducing the heat further to keep it from boiling too vigorously.

While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the spaghetti and salt. Cook spaghetti until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain. To serve, place a portion of spaghetti in a bowl, ladle on some sauce and meatballs (how many depends on how big you made them) and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Like many sauce-y things, the sauce tastes even better if chilled then reheated.

Note: Dried Minced Onion is a great pantry item. Inexpensive and lasts forever. You can add it directly to sauces and over long cooking, it will dissolve into the sauce, imparting a bit of onion flavor without any crunchy bits of onion. It's my go-to onion in slow cooker recipes where you don't want to bother with sautéing the onions before putting them in the slow cooker.

More Turkey Leftovers - Turkey Mac & Cheese

Are you sick of turkey leftovers yet? I'm not. I love turkey. But, maybe you want to save those turkey leftovers for a couple of months down the road, when you will make some hearty turkey soup in the middle of winter. You can freeze the meat if you wrap it well. I wouldn't recommend thawed frozen cooked turkey for a sandwich but it works great for soups and salads where the soup or mayo can moisten the turkey. It's a dry meat that only gets drier after freezing.

Here's another option: make a casserole with it and freeze the casserole. Or eat it this week, if you aren't sick of turkey. :-)

This is a great recipe for extending a fairly modest amount of turkey. You don't even need to use turkey. It's good with chunks of ham or tofu too. This isn't creamy, cheesy mac & cheese. It is extremely easy, however.

Turkey, Tomato & Cheese Casserole
(serves 6-8, costs $11.80)

1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked to al dente and drained (see Notes)
2 cups cooked turkey, cut into ½ to 1" cubes, about 12 ounces
1 large can (28 ounces) diced peeled tomatoes, drained
15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese (that's a whole medium container)
1 cup milk or cream
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
4 - 6 medium scallions, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano or dried marjoram (see Notes)
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon black pepper
1 slice of bread, grated to make crumbs, about ½ cup of fresh bread crumbs (optional)
2 Tablespoon butter, melted (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray with non-stick spray a 9 x 13 x 2" baking pan.

Combine the macaroni, turkey, tomatoes, ricotta cheese, milk, cheddar cheese, scallions, oregano, salt and pepper in a large bowl and pour into the prepared pan. You can even mix it directly in the baking dish but it is a bit challenging to mix it without making a mess.

If you want a little bit of a crunchy crust, combine the bread crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake for 40 minutes until hot and golden brown on top.

Notes:

• You don't want to overcook the macaroni because it's going to cook some more in the oven. You want it just done, which takes about 8 minutes of cooking.


• You know those packets of herbs you get with take-out pizza? That's mostly oregano. They can be used here if you have them.

This recipe is loosely based on one in The Turkey Cookbook by Rick Rodgers.

Turkey and Corn Chowder

Turkey leftovers will abound next week. We are here to help you turn them into something delicious. Last year, we posted a turkey curry recipe. This year, it's soup. This is a rich, warming soup, perfect for a cold night. If it's too rich for you right after the eating bacchanal that is Thanksgiving, toss that leftover turkey meat in the freezer (tightly wrapped to prevent freezer burn) and save this recipe for a future chilly night.

If you can find turkey stock in the box, this will have better turkey flavor. It is often available right around Thanksgiving. Chicken stock is a perfectly acceptable substitute. If you are inspired,  you can turn a Thanksgiving turkey carcass into great stock for this soup.

Turkey and Corn Chowder
(serves 8)

3 strips Bacon
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 medium Carrot, chopped
1 rib Celery, chopped
1 medium Onion, chopped
3-4 cups Corn Kernels, fresh or frozen
1 large Baking Potato, cut into 1 ½" cubes
½ teaspoon Dried Marjoram, crushed
¼ teaspoon Dried Rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper
6 cups Turkey Or Chicken Stock, preferably low-sodium
3 cups Leftover Cooked Turkey, cut in bite-size pieces
1 cup Heavy Cream
4-5 dashes Hot Pepper Sauce
¼ cup Chopped Parsley, for garnish

Heat a soup pot over medium until hot. Add bacon and cook until done but not too crispy. Remove from pot and set aside. Add butter to pot. Then add carrot, celery, onion, ½ of the corn, and potato. Cover and cook for 5 minutes until onion is softened.

Add marjoram, rosemary, salt, pepper, and stock. Increase heat to high to bring to a boil, then reduce to low to maintain a simmer. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes until vegetables are very soft. While soup is cooking, dice bacon and set aside.

Using a slotted spoon, remove ½ the vegetables to a blender. Add about 1 cup of broth. Puree until smooth. Add back to soup along with turkey, bacon, and the rest of the corn. Cook over medium heat to reheat turkey and corn. Reduce heat to low. Add cream and hot sauce. Check seasonings. Depending on the stock, you may need to add more salt.

Add parsley and serve.

Note: if you happen to have leftover roasted potatoes from Thanksgiving, those work just fine. That's what I used. Soup is a great repository for all sorts of leftovers.

Chinese-style Minced Meat Lettuce Wraps

This is a popular appetizer at a nation-wide Chinese restaurant chain. It's not traditional but it sure is tasty. You can use whatever ground meat you like: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, or lamb. I'm sure vegetarian ground "meat" would work too. The flavors are big, making up for any blandness in the meat (or meat substitute). Our recipe makes 3-4 entree portions, so this is a cheap way to get your lettuce wrap fix.

The water chestnuts and the lettuce add a wonderful crunch. It's usually served with iceberg lettuce which gives maximum crunch but any large lettuce leaves will work. Those are green leaf lettuce in the photo.

Nothing terribly exotic here. Hoisin sauce, water chestnuts, and Asian sesame oil are all available at your average large supermarket.

Chinese-style Minced Meat Lettuce Wraps
(serves 3-4 as an entree; total cost $6.75)

16 large Lettuce Leaves Such As Romaine Or Iceberg, washed and patted dry
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 pound Lean Ground Beef
½ medium Onion, minced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
¼ cup Hoisin Sauce
2 teaspoons Minced Fresh Ginger
1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar
1-2 teaspoons Chinese Chile Paste Or Chile Oil, optional
1 8 ounce (5 oz. drained weight) can Water Chestnuts, drained and cut into ¼" dice
3 Green Onions, chopped
2 teaspoons Asian Sesame Oil

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef in oil, stirring often and breaking chunks into small bits. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile paste or oil to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions,  and cooked beef; continue cooking another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add sesame oil.

Spoon beef mixture into center of each lettuce leaf and serve.

Notes: Ground pork, turkey, chicken, lamb, or a vegetarian ground meat substitute all work as well as ground beef.

Curry: tasty solution for turkey leftovers

Thanksgiving means turkey, and if you are lucky, you will find yourself with a bumper crop of leftover turkey. There will be turkey soup bubbling on stoves Friday and turkey sandwiches to last through the weekend. Here's a different spin on turkey leftovers - a curry. It's a great quick stew for using up all manner of leftover protein. If you don't have turkey, use cooked chicken, cooked shrimp, tofu, or a favorite in my house, leftover leg of lamb.

Quick Turkey Curry
recipe adapted from The Turkey Cookbook by Rick Rodgers
(4 servings)

3 tbl butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbl curry powder
2 tbl flour
1 1/2 cups Turkey Stock or Chicken Stock
3 cups turkey, chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 1 pound)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt (nonfat, low-fat or full-fat)
3/4 cup frozen mango, thawed  and chopped (or 1 medium banana, cut into 1/2" slices)
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds (see Note)

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, apple, and garlic and cook until the onion is softened and just golden.

Sprinkle onions with curry powder and stir for 15 seconds.

Sprinkle onions with flour and cook for another minute.

Stir in broth, bring to a simmer and then cook on medium-low for 5 minutes.

Stir in turkey and salt. Cook for 5 minutes to reheat turkey.

Add yogurt and mango. Stir to combine and remove from heat. If you cook the yogurt too long, it will separate and you'll see little flecks of white. Your sauce won't be as smooth either but it's still perfectly fine to eat.

Sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve over rice.

Note: to toast nuts put them on a cookie sheet and place in a preheated 300 degree oven for 5 minutes. Don't forget them - they burn quickly!