Honeyed Turkey Gobbler

The end of the turkey … the end of the year! It was a Big Bird, and we ate it all, with the scraps and bones destined for the soup pot. Oops! Not that kind of Big Bird …!

Headed for the soup pot? Oh-oh ...

Today’s recipe is dead - um, very - simple. It would be nice to have the turkey drippings the recipe calls for, but butter works equally well. As long as you can muster up the 4 c. diced turkey you’ll need to make this, you’ve got yourself a meal that serves 4, and a Big Bird that’s only a memory! Um … I’d best move on to that recipe before I scare someone.

Honeyed Turkey Gobbler:

4 c. (1 L) diced cooked turkey, in 1-in. (2.54 cm) chunks

1-½ c. (375 mL) liquid honey

¾ c. (185 mL) prepared mustard (“ballpark” mustard - the bright yellow kind)

1 tbsp. (15 mL) curry powder

¾ c. (185 mL) turkey drippings or melted butter

Cooked rice, to serve 4 (see Note)

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Place turkey in 1-qt. (1 L) ungreased casserole dish. Combine remaining ingredients in small bowl; pour over turkey, tossing well. Cover and bake 30-to-35 min. or until hot and bubbly, stirring occasionally. Yields 4 servings - over rice is nice. 

For more recipes using leftover turkey, see One Click: Turkey.

Note: See How to Cook Rice. 

Dice cooked turkey into 1-in. (2.54 cm) chunks.

Pour sauce over turkey.

Bake until hot and bubbly.

Turkey Stroganoff with Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

A very easy recipe, I thought. That’s exactly what I need about now. Campbell’s Soup™to the rescue! Oh, whew! And whew! again. This is not a true stroganoff recipe. Trust me on that, Dollinks. But on Dec. 29th, with the year counting down and Auntie Nicole falling asleep in front of the TV set (tonsils twisting in the wind), this will do j-u-st fine.

Turkey Stroganoff 

with Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup:

¼ c. (60 mL) chopped green bell pepper (“capsicum”)

2 tbsp. (25 mL) chopped onion

2 tbsp. (25 mL) butter or margarine

One 10-oz. (284 mL) can Campbell’s™condensed cream of mushroom soup (see Note)

½ c.  (125 mL) sour cream

¼ c. (60 mL) milk

2 c. (500 mL) cooked broad noodles

1-½ c. (375 mL) diced, cooked turkey

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) paprika

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Sauté green pepper and onion in butter until tender. Blend soup, sour cream, and milk in lightly greased 1-½ qt. (1.5 L) casserole. Blend in remaining ingredients. Bake, covered, about 30 min. Serves 4.

Note: Campbell’s™provided this recipe, so I have to keep writing Campbell’s™, but you just go ahead and secretly use any old brand you want, nudge-nudge, wink-wink. As long as it’s Campbell’s™...

For more Stroganoff recipes, see One Click: Stroganoff. For more recipes using leftover turkey, see One Click: Turkey.

Low-Fat Turkey Chili

I’m making this excellent chili for dinner tonight. It’s a smart way to use leftover turkey at this time of year: Easy, low-fat, and economical.

 

Low-Fat Turkey Chili. 

For more recipes using leftover turkey, see One Click: Turkey.

Low-Fat Turkey Chili:

2 tbsp. (25 mL) canola oil

1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. (250 mL) chopped celery

1 green bell pepper (“capsicum”), diced

2 tbsp. (15 mL) chili powder

1-½ tsp. 7.5 mL) cumin

1 tsp. (5 mL) dried oregano 

1 tsp. (5 mL) dried basil

¼-to-½ tsp. (1.25-to-2.5 mL) hot pepper flakes (“chili flakes”)

4-to-5 c. (1 L-to-1.25 L) chunked turkey

3-½ c. (875 mL) fresh, chopped tomatoes with juice (or one 28-oz. {796 mL} can diced tomatoes)

Two 13-oz. cans (398 mL each) tomato sauce (see Further Note)

6 oz. (175 mL) water

One 19-oz. (540 mL) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

One 19-oz. (540 mL) can chick peas (“garbanzo beans”), drained

Salt, to taste

In large, heavy, deep skillet or pot, warm oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, cooking until soft and onions are translucent, 3-to-5 min. Stir in celery, green bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, basil, and hot pepper flakes, and turkey, cooking until heated through, about 1 min. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, kidney beans, and chick peas, bringing just to the boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 30 min., stirring often. Season to taste. Serves six.

Further Note: If using canned tomatoes, use one can tomato sauce rather than two.

Oil, onions, and garlic. Mmmm … The fragrance!

Add chopped celery ...

Chopped bell peppers ...

Chili powder and other spices …

And plenty of turkey.

Stir in saucepan.

Add tomatoes (and tomato sauce, if needed) ...

With kidney beans and chickpeas.

Eccles Cakes

These delicate cookies are very fussy - but a worthwhile project sure to produce outstanding results! No one will believe you made them yourself, and no one will expect that you started with a package of puff pastry. Unless you’re a boffo baker or harbor a fantasy about being chained to a stove for what’s left of the holidays, buy frozen puff pastry and be done with it. I made these the day before Christmas, and they were a big hit. One of my daughters asked for the recipe, so this is for you, dear Erin! Named after the English town of Eccles, these little “cakes” - actually a cookie - were first mass-produced for sale in 1793.

                                      

Eccles Cakes: 

To Prepare the Filling: 

1-½ (7.5 mL) tbsp. butter

2 tsp. (10 mL) light brown sugar

¾ c. (180 mL) currants

3 tbsp. (45 mL) mixed candied peel

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) cinnamon

⅛ tsp. (0.63 mL) nutmeg

⅛ tsp. (0.63 mL) allspice

Milk, as required

Crystalline white sugar, as required   

Melt butter over medium-low heat in small saucepan. Stir in remaining ingredients except cream and sugar. Cool thoroughly and set aside. 

To Prepare the Pastry:

One 14-oz. (397 g) pkg frozen puff pastry, thawed

Preheat oven to 425 deg. F. Cut block of pastry horizontally in half. Roll very thinly on a well floured work surface using a well floured rolling pin. Cut into rounds with 3-½ in. cookie cutter. Working with several rounds at a time, assembly-line style, place 1 tsp. filling mixture into center of each round. 

Lightly dampen edges of each pastry round with wet finger, gathering edges together as a small bundle. Re-roll scraps and repeat. Flatten each cookie with palms to form a smaller round. Place on floured work surface seam-side down. Gently flatten tops to form thinner rounds with rolling pin. 

Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a sharp paring knife to slice three small slits into top crust of each cookie. Dab with milk, sprinkling generously with crystalline sugar. Bake 13-to-15 min. Do not over-bake! Cool on wire rack. Makes about 32 Eccles Cakes.

Note: These freeze well before or after baking. They are exceptionally good, and would make a delicious bite-sized treat for New Year’s Eve - especially with a glass of crisp champagne.

Roll pastry very thinly and cut into rounds.

Save and re-roll the scraps.

Add dried peel to center. Dab edges with water.

Pinch up dampened edges to gather into a small ball.

Roll out fruited pastry rounds.

A closer view of two rolled cookies or “cakes.”

Make three small slices with a sharp knife.

Dab with milk.

Add a generous sprinkling of sugar. Bake.

Happy Holidays, 2013

From Our House to Yours
On This Special Day!

Our Christmas table awaits!

Please take a seat!

With light, laughter, sharing - and giving thanks.

Frankie Extends a A Holiday Wish

On Christmas Eve ... 

Ron and I are reflecting on a year almost past. On this, his first Christmas Eve, Frankie - our pet fish, personal secretary, and chauffeur - is doing the same. Frankie battled the holiday crowds to buy us a gift …

He also plans to cook the Christmas turkey all by himself. How will he baste it, one child asked? With difficulty, I said.

Who says fish aren’t intelligent? Frankie’s favorite look-out
is the small Christmas wreath we recently hung at the edge
of his bowl. He spends literally hours there each day. 

This holiday season, offer the gifts of friendship, time, trust, commitment, kindness, visible appreciation, gratitude, and humor, and you will receive them in return. If you’re feeling a little blue over the holidays, buy yourself a fish! Or get a little silly and bring others joy! 

Wrapping gifts can be tedious - and sometimes frustrating:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6E1wPwOaE4

Hugs to you all!   xox   Nicole

Ask Sadie: Holiday Tips You Already Know But Need to Hear Again

My dear friend Sadie has stepped away from her post at The Chicago Bugle to offer a few words of heartfelt advice! You’ll find more of her meandering messages indexed under Sadie. Sadie normally offers Advice to the Lovelorn. Unless you follow these common-sense tips, you’ll be lovelorn, too!

Two words: Thank. You. Say them. Write them. But do not neglect them. Teach them to your children. Remember them yourself. Why I need to state this as a “tip” baffles me, but unfortunately, I do.

Feign complete and utter delight: Essential during the holidays and in life. Someone selected this item for you. Tell that person s/he couldn't have chosen anything better! Better yet, mean it. Every gift has worth. 

Give with a sense of fun: A friend once gave his daughter-in-law one boot. One! The other was gift-wrapped elsewhere. A wonderful gift! Another friend gave her daughter a pair of gloves for washing dishes - a follow-up on the dish-drainer rack the daughter’s boyfriend had given her earlier. With one difference: Tucked into the gloves was a gift certificate for the daughter’s favorite store.

Give something you made yourself: Gifts that are knitted, crocheted, potted, cooked, originally written, or painted are gifts from the heart.

Give quality time: Take a senior out for tea, have a video weekend with nieces, nephews, or grandchildren, enjoy a fancy lunch with your kids … Whatever you do, spend time. Sadie often wants to give a clop in the chops to mothers and fathers who talk or text on cell phones while ignoring those actually in their company.

Give charitably: Someone once planted a tree in Israel in my name. I found that a memorably welcome present. Give blood, give to the food bank, give to registered charities in another’s name or memory. 

Do Yourself a Favor: It may seem like the holiday season’s all about money, but that’s not true. It’s about giving of yourself. Giving enriches the giver. It’s better to give than to receive. Why do you think those expressions were penned? If you don’t believe Sadie, consult two of the best pieces of writing on the subject: O. Henry’s short story titled The Gift of the Maji and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Each is a recipe for happiness.

You booze, you lose: On average, one problem drinker affects the lives of 10 other people. Two more words: Moderate. Quit. Take the path that’s right for you.

And oh, yes …! Mazel tov.

Glazed Cherry-Almond Bundt Cake

I’ve often made this moist and delicious cake in the final few days before Christmas - and this year was no exception! I rose early to watch it snow yesterday, glad of the warmth of the fireplace. As I admired the lit trees outside our window, I began to make this recipe. This was what I saw as dawn crept over the tiny village in the Time Zone and at the Latitude Where We Live.

Our village is brightly lit for the season!

Everywhere, lights to brighten the dark ...

Of a cold December day!

Glazed Cherry-Almond Bundt Cake:

To Prepare Cake:

2 c. (500 mL)nhalved red candied cherries

½ c. (125 mL) slivered almonds

2 c. (500 mL) all-purpose flour, divided

1 c. (250 mL) butter, softened

1 c. (250 mL) granulated sugar

1 tsp. (5 mL) vanilla

1 tsp. (5 mL) almond extract

4 eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp. (10 mL) baking powder

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) salt

⅓ c. (80 mL) milk

Preheat oven to 300 deg. F. Stirring by hand, combine cherries, almonds, and ½ c. flour in medium bowl. Set aside. Using electric mixer, cream butter. Gradually add sugar until light and fluffy or until no grainy feeling remains when mixture is rubbed between thumb and forefinger, about 5 min. Stir in extracts, blending well. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. 

In separate bowl, combine remaining 1-½ c. flour with baking powder and salt, blending well. Starting and ending with flour, alternate additions of flour mixture and milk to creamed mixture. Stir in floured fruit and nuts. Spoon into greased and floured 12 c. or 3 qt. (3 L) bundt pan. Bake 45-to-50 min. or until cake tests done with a skewer. Cool in pan 10 min. before turning from pan onto wire rack. 

Wrap fully cooled cake in cello covered with a layer of foil. Store in a cool place, allowing to mellow at two or three days before serving. Prepare and decorate with Icing Sugar Glaze on the day you plan to serve this excellent cake.

To Prepare Standard Icing Sugar Glaze:

⅓ c. butter or margarine

2 c. sifted icing sugar (“confectioners” sugar or “powdered” sugar)

1-½ tsp. white vanilla

2-to-4 tbsp. cold water

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in icing sugar and vanilla. Add water, 1 tbsp. at a time, stirring until glaze reaches desired consistency. Drizzle over top and sides of cooled cake.

Note: Or make this fuss-free Basic Icing Sugar Glaze by combining sifted icing sugar with a whisper of light cream to the consistency you desire. Drizzle it over the cake with a squirt bottle or through a funnel.

Flouring fruit and nuts prevents their sinking to cake bottom.

Cream sugar and butter until no grainy feeling remains.

Starting and ending with flour, beat between additions of 
flour mixture and milk. Stir in floured cherries and nuts.

Test with a skewer for doneness.

Cool on rack.

I forgot to mellow this cake and had to serve it!

Almond-Mocha Rum Balls

Ohhhhh, my! That describes these well. My, oh, my! ’Nuff said. 

Almond-Mocha Rum Balls:

One 4-oz. (125 g) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 c. (250 mL) ground almonds

1 c. (250 mL) sifted icing sugar (“confectioners” sugar or “powdered” sugar)

1 tsp. (5 mL) instant coffee powder

¼ c. (60 mL) dark rum

3 squares (1-oz. or 28 g each) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

5-to-6 oz. (150-to-160 g) chocolate shot, as needed

Combine cream cheese, ground almonds, icing sugar, instant coffee powder, and rum in electric mixer. Blend in chocolate. Chill 30 min. Use two small spoons to drop chilled mixture onto parchment-lined work surface as roughly shaped mounds. Working quickly, roll mounds into ¾-to-1-in. (1.9-to-2.54 cm) well-formed balls. 

Roll and press each ball into chocolate shot (I do this in a muffin pan with paper liners; the small amount of shot in each remains cleaner than it does in a big bowl. Rest the pan on a damp cloth so it doesn’t slide around). Store finished rum balls in airtight container in refrigerator or freezer. Allow to mellow at least 1 week before serving. Yields 30-to-36 rum balls.  

Note: For another excellent rum ball recipe, try Nicole’s Sinfully Good Rum Balls.

Grind whole blanched almonds or
use already ground almonds.

Add rum. Rhymes with yum!

Melt chocolate over simmering - not boiling - water.

Cool and add to almond mixture. 

Drop mounds of chilled dough onto work surface. 

Roll into smooth balls - a sticky job! Wear gloves.

Press balls into chocolate shot. Mellow in fridge.

Present in festive paper candy cups.

Leslie’s Jalapeño Jelly

My friend Leslie makes the best Jalapeño Jelly I’ve ever had: It’s addictive, delectable, and makes an incomparable hostess gift. Yesterday, a too-kind Leslie took time from her busy day to show me exactly how she prepares it. Leslie has served this jelly over cream cheese with crackers, and as an accompaniment to sausages and other meats. She’s used it as a wet rub for chicken, too. While she generally uses home-grown peppers in the Time Zone and at the Latitude Where We Live, she’s also used Mexican jalapeños when she visits there. She says those peppers give her jelly a nice “bite.” Leslie prefers to mellow this jelly for a few weeks, adding that she never waits that long to consume the first jar!

Leslie’s Jalapeño Jelly:

1 large, sweet green bell pepper (“capsicum”)

16 medium jalapeño peppers, each 4-to-5 in. in length, divided

1-½ c. cider vinegar

A pinch or grinding of salt

4-¼ c. granulated sugar 

4 oz. (120 mL) liquid pectin (see Note)

Rinse, wipe, and section bell pepper and 12 jalapeño peppers into halves or quarters. Remove seeds from bell pepper; leave jalapeño pepper seeds intact (Set remaining 4 whole jalapeño peppers aside for later use). Cut prepared bell and jalapeño peppers into 1-in. chunks. Add bell and jalapeño peppers with seeds to food processor or blender, working in batches. Process until finely chopped. 

Transfer chopped peppers to large, heavy-based pot. Stir in cider vinegar. Bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 15-to-20 min. 

While peppers are simmering, section remaining 4 jalapeño peppers, removing seeds. Hand-chop fine to equal ¾-to-1 c. (To minimize contact with the pungent peppers, Leslie does the chopping job faster with a hand-chopper; she doesn’t want them chopped as finely as a blender or food processor would do).

Strain simmered cider vinegar-jalapeño mixture through at least two layers of cheesecloth or a reusable jelly bag, saving juice to produce 1 c. liquid. Discard pulp.

Pour liquid into same large pot, adding salt and sugar, stirring until both dissolve. When mixture reaches rolling boil, boil 1 min. before stirring in liquid pectin. 

Note: Liquid pectin sells in different-sized packages around the world. 

Use a measuring cup to get exactly the amount this recipe needs. Add finely chopped jalapeños, bringing mixture to boil over medium-high heat.

Leaving ¼-in. headspace, ladle into sterilized jars (see Further Note). Seal with new, never-used lids that have been immersed in simmering water. Screw lids on moderately tight; screw more tightly after processing jars 30 min. in hot-water bath (see One Last Note). 

Cool jars almost to room temperature. Chill. When jars are half-cooled and jelly has not fully set but lids have “popped” to indicate an airtight seal, Leslie “jiggles” each jar several times to prevent the finely chopped jalapeño peppers and seeds from floating to the top. This recipe yields approximately five 1-cup (250 mL) jars.

Further Note: Jams and jellies are tremendously easy to make - so I was surprised to  read that the method for making them has changed. If you make jams, jellies, and preserves, the information and Q&A on the website below (including notes about paraffin wax seals!) are a must-read. See: http://www.pickyourown.org/FAQ_jamsandjellies.php

Even if you think you know the method for sterilizing jars, this method has also changed! For the latest scoop, see: http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Equipment/ht/How-To-Sterilize-Canning-Jars.htm

One Last Note: Jelly jars are considerably smaller than the standard, 1-qt. (1 L) jars used in home-canning most foods. Because of that, Leslie does not use her large home canner, but instead preserves jams and jellies in a hot-water bath using a regular, covered pot deep enough to fully immerse the jars and their tops with at least an inch of boiling water. In place of the rack home canning pots have, Leslie secures the jars on a metal steamer to keep them from touching the hot base of the pot that sits directly on the stove top. When Leslie preserves other foods, she uses her large home canner.

As I read over the instructions for this recipe, I fear I’ve made everything sound very complicated. I promise you, it’s not! Leslie and I want you to enjoy your canning experience - particularly with a jelly as delicious as this one - but we also want you to do it with confidence and in safety.

Use 16 medium-sized jalapeños, divided into two batches.

Rough-chop jalapeños and bell peppers. 

Batch-chop jalapeños with seeds and seeded bell peppers.

The result? A very fine chop resembling relish.

Spoon into large pot.

Very large! You’ll need it as this recipe progresses.

Add cider vinegar. Bring to a boil before simmering.

Leslie affixes reusable jelly bag over clean pitcher.

A great improvisation and smart thinking!

As pepper-vinegar mixture simmers, section and
seed remaining jalapeño peppers.

Use hand chopper for a fine dice.

This is the result!

This is the hand-chopper! I want one, Santa! 

As for those cooked peppers …

Spoon them into jelly bag, letting jelly drip through.

Immerse jars in boiling water to sterilize at least 15 min. 

Measure 1 c. (250 mL) pepper juice.

Return juice to pot in which peppers were cooked.

Add sugar ...

And a grinding of salt.

Bring to rolling boil for 1 min.

Like this! 

Add pectin ...

And seeded, finely chopped jalapeños. Stir well.

Transfer jars from simmering water when ready to use. 
Lids and screw tops await in more simmering water.

Ladle hot jelly into hot jars.

Wipe drips from jar with clean paper towel. Center   
lid over jar top; screw ring moderately tight.  

Process jars 30 min. in boiling hot-water bath. This is
Leslie’s improvisation in place of a large canner!

Re-tighten lids of processed jars. Less than 2 hr.,  
from start to finish. Estimated cost: $1.25 per jar.