The Leftover Experiment

What does one do with leftover stuffing, turkey, veggies and more?

The first post-Christmas dinner meals consisted of pressed turkey sandwiches: multigrain bread, a thin layer of stuffing, turkey and Hot Mamas Cranberry jelly (made with scotch bonnet peppers) then grilled to perfection on the panini press.  The press itself is a classic!  Waffle on one side, flat iron on the other.  No newfangled machine here as it just wouldn't be the same.

But, one tires of turkey sandwiches.  So tonight, we decided on something different.  Tonight's menu consists of Turkey Pot Pie with a twist.

Start by checking out the leftovers.  Plain boiled or steamed veggies such as broccoli and carrots work best.  Add in some potatoe chunks if you haven't already used them for hashbrowns.  (multi-coloured red, yellow, blue fingerling potatoes with shallots shown below ready for cooking into hash browns.)

Since I had used all my cooked potatoes, I quickly diced a few and boiled them in some chicken broth.

While that was cooking, I chopped up 2 large onions and 3 stalks of celery then sauteed same with just under a 1/2 cup of butter until soft.  Then, add about 1/2 cup flour or enough to turn everything into a thick paste.  Pour in the chicken broth used to cook the potatoes. (You may need to add more water or broth - I used about 6 cups).  Then add a tsp of pepper, thyme, savory, sage and a tblsp of parsley.  You can add more or less to your taste or change up the seasonings.  You can also add about a 1/4 cup of whipping cream at this point (or leave it out if milk is an issue).  Once the sauce had thickened, I added a medium ziploc bag full or carrots and broccoli, the potatoe cubes and a handful of peas plus lots of chopped up turkey (about 2 cups).  Note that my measurements are estimates as I cook by touch and seldom measure unless required.

Now, as a twist, I lined my 9 x 13 glass casserole dish with a thin layer of leftover potato stuffing (bread, onions & potatoe, sage, salt, pepper, butter and turkey drippings).  I have never tried this before but I had a lot of stuffing and didn't feel like making extra pie crust from scratch today.

Pour the sauce/veggie/turkey mix into the dish.  Then, cover the dish with pastry.  Tonight I used a Robin Hood pie crust.  The Pillsbury crust is also ok for a ready made crust.

Bake at 350 until the crust is cooked.

The pot pie with stuffing base was delicious!

Ooey gooey or hard and sticky?

This week is all about caramels! 

First off, many people insist you must use a candy thermometer.  After attempting this using the thermometer, I  found it was actually easy to prepare by sight.  When the caramel is nearing the right temperature, the bubbles slow down and become more infrequent.  It`s almost as if the bubbles are talking to you.  I liken the bubbles to those found in flowing movie lava, almost as if the concoction is yawning.  Let this cook a little longer and you are almost there!  Use the ice water trick to then test for doneness by dropping a bit of the mix into water and seeing if it forms a soft ball.  When I say ball, it is usually more of a raised blob instead of instantly turning stringy.  Caramel is done at this point!  If you cook it any longer, it will turn hard when you remove it.

I also found a new recipe that makes a delicious caramel.  Cooked the first batch a touch too long and ended up with hard caramels that are reminiscent of skor toffee.  Really yummy but hard on the teeth!  The next batch, failure to cook sugars a touch longer resulted in a lighter, sweeter caramel.  I also cooked the caramel to a lower temperature (to ensure I avoided the hard caramel) resulting in a slightly soft caramel that will be made into pecan clusters.  Thus far, I have failed to get the optimal result I desire - caramels that are firm enough to hold shape but still soft and chewy.  On next attempt, I will cook the caramel a touch longer to achieve those perfect caramel squares!

The third box of holiday clementines...and winged things

Ever find that the first box of clementines is always devoured in a day?  the second box, almost as fast?  Then, the third box sits.  Clementine consumption is down.  It is inevitable that one of the bottom clementines will decide to go bad.  The result?  Fruit flies!

So how does one combat fruit flies?

First, remove any spoiled fruit.  If your bananas are becoming overripe, throw them in the freezer for banana bread at a later date.

Next, prepare the following mixture in a shot glass or small dish: 2 tsp water, 2 tsp red wine vinegar, 2 drops dish soap.  Most people also add a tsp or two of oil however, it is not necessary.  Stick your finger in mixture to break surface tension (mandatory is using oil!)

Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap then, using the point of a knife or a skewer, poke holes in the wrap to let the flies in.  The flies are unable to get back out.

Tonight,  I had caught over 9 flies within 2 hours and they seem to all be gone (flies only noticed this evening from very rotten clementine at the very bottom of the fruit bowl). I did not use oil in tonight's mix.

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"

Perhaps not the Great Pumpkin but our large pumpkin was the bearer of many pumpkin seeds, soon to be roasted to yummy goodness!

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (preferably Lowry's)
• 8 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 6 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds

Separate your pumpkin seeds, drain well and then mix with above seasonings.  bake at 275 for 1 hr, stirring frequently.

Add additional seasoning salt or seasonings to taste.

Happy Halloween!!

Spooky mice

What better to serve for a Halloween party than spooky mice covered in blood?

These mice are simply meatloaf shaped into an oval shape with little carrot or pea eyes and a bean or noodle for a tail.  Cover them in bbq for a bloody look!

Darn Facebook!  The final pics are missing and lost in a hardware crash :(

70 lbs of potatoes!

Yes.  I did it!  I bought 50 lbs of white fingerling potatoes and 20 lbs of red fingerling potatoes from Brookland farms.

Why?  These potatoes are low-glycemic and have a less starchy taste than other potatoes.  the red ones are pink inside when cooked.  And, they are very yummy!  I am told they will keep til June in my fridge - we'll check back on that later...

Tonight, I have simply boiled them and topped with shredded cheese and a touch of butter and pepper.

They go great with sauteed beans and chicken stuffed with brie and shallots and topped with a black pepper sauce.

MMMM Bread!

Nothing beats a dreary day like the smell of fresh homemade bread.

Today was one of those days.  So, I decided that a batch of Rosemary Garlic bread and cinnamon pecan roll was in order!  (Making bread also is a great stress reliever as dough must be punched and kneaded).

The first loafs up were the rosemary garlic loaves.  These babies were made with fresh garlic, rosemary, thyme and oregano from the garden and a handful of dried herbs (and a touch of pepper).

I also made a batch of brioche style dough (sweet yellow dough) to make cinnamon pecan rolls later.  Ooey goey rolls filled with pecans, melted brown sugar and butter, lots of cinnamon and drizzled with icing.  Haven't even baked them yet but my mouth is watering!
Ask nicely and I'll post the recipe.

Well off to make supper.  It will be the perfect peppered roast. (recipe follows)

Take 1 (approx 2.5 pound) round roast (or any cheap cut) thawed - best to let it sit on counter 20 minutes before cooking
Cut slits in roast and stuff with pieces of thinly sliced garlic
Cover roast with coarse ground pepper, some sea salt and rosemary.
Place in baking pan (I prefer a glass dish)
Heat oven to 500 degrees for 20 minutes
Put roast in oven and cook at 475 - 500 for 7 (seven) minutes per pound (9 mins for medium)
Turn oven OFF.
DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR.

Continue to let roast cook by heat left in oven for another 1.5 - 2 hours.

If your oven is gas like mine or loses heat more quickly, you can turn oven back on to lowest possible setting about 30 minutes before you take it out.

Let roast sit for 10 minutes before slicing.  Slice thin.

This method will create a restaurant quality medium/medium-rare roast.

Serve with veggies etc. cooked on stove top such as carrots, steamed broccoli or cauliflower, sauteed green beans or mashed potatoes.

To market, to market...

The best part of summer and early fall is the bounty available from the local farmer's markets!

Thursday nights are the south end farmer's market, and, with a meal idea in mind, I visited the small market to pick up some fresh baby carrots and tiny red potatoes.  They sounded like a good side to the main dish - Shallota Chicken and Brie.  (Ok my naming skills suck)  The shallots in this recipe are from my favorite farm stand, Brookland Farms (located on Butter & Egg Road, Milford Bay). 

Ingredients to feed family of 5 - 6:

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 wheel Brie cheese cut into thin wedges (I scrape off the white stuff because I don't like it!)
• 4 shallots (this recipe is yummiest with fresh, young shallots with green tops but aged shallots will work as well)
• Salt and pepper 
• Glaze, if desired.  (I love the Kraft Black Pepper sauce from their Chicken Caesar kit)

Slice each breast in half length-wise (do not cut right through) similar to a hot dog bun.  Place slices of Brie on one side of chicken and top with thin slices of shallot.  Sprinkle with pepper.  Fold half back over.  Sprinkle top of breast with a touch of salt and a generous dose of coarse ground black pepper (reduce if using pepper glaze).

Repeat with remaining breasts and place chicken in single layer in glass oven dish.  Bake at 400 degrees until cooked through. (approx. 30 minutes depending on size of breast).

Serve with baby carrot, fresh potatoes topped with chives and shredded cheese, asparagus or green beans.

Speaking of veggies, if you are ever in the Milford Bay area (outside Bracebridge) I strongly recommend that you stop and visit the nice people at Brookland Farms.http://www.brooklandsfarm.ca/  The produce selection is amazing and includes mulit-coloured carrots and potatoes (even purple!), bok choy, shallots, french green beans, squash, peas and many other specialty veggies I cannot even name (including a form of broccoflower - at least I think that's what it is!)

Noodles, noodles and more noodles!

After enjoying a delicious dish of Chicken Lo Mein at Rickshaw (Gravenhurst), I decided to try my hand at noodles.

For this first attempt, I used two types of store bought noodles  - 1 pkg of refrigerated chow mein yellow skinny noodles (prepare as directed) and 1 pkg of soft thicker noodles (in the grocery aisle).

I then cooked cut up chicken breast with onion (jn a touch of oil) until the chicken was cooked.  Then, I stir-fryed a plethora of veggies - broccoli, snow peas, carrots, celery until soft.

I split the chicken and veggies between the two types of noodles.  to the skinny noodles, I added 1 pkg of Sun Star chow mein seasoning (also in noodle aisle).  To the thicker noodles, I added House of Tang Szechewan sauce (note its hot!).

Overall, I preferred the thick noodles but liked both sauces.  Next time, I would use an additional pkg of chow mein seasoning or make my own.

Here are the results:

Bathing my cheesecake!

I really wanted something sweet today after a long work day so I decided on Caramilk cheesecake.

To start, one needs a basic cheesecake recipe.

I use the following for a round or square tinfoil pan (8"):

• 2 bricks of Philly cream cheese (softened to room temp)
• 2 eggs (also at room temp)
• 1/2 up white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix cream cheese and sugar together till well-mixed.  Add eggs one at a time and mix in to batter.  Stir in vanilla.

You can add a base - graham cracker crust, brownie base (my fav), a shortbread crust or pecan shortbread crust (another fav).  The crustless cheesecake is yummy enough on its own!

Now add your flavour ingredients (plain cheesecake is also yummy!)

For the Caramilk cheesecake, I use half a pkg of chocolate chips (mix into batter) from a Caramilk Fondue kit (thank you Giant Tiger!). Pour it into a pan. I then drizzle the caramel (1/4 to 1/2 a bag) over the cheesecake and swirl it around using the tip of a sharp knife to drag the caramel through the batter.

I make flavours based on the desire of the moment.  Chocolate caramel is a fav - just stir  good quality melted chocolate into the batter.  For apple pecan cheesecake, top with cooked apple slices then a crumb mix of butter, flour, pecans and brown sugar and, if possible, drizzle with caramel when cooked (the pecan shortbread base is best here).  you can always use the old standby of cherry or blueberry pie filling as a topper as well or try fresh berries.

Place the cheesecake pan inside another larger pan (I use a large, beat up former cake pan)  and fill the larger pan with water to just below the edge of the batter.  This water bath allows the cheesecake to cook at an even temperature and results in a creamy, yummy cheesecake!

Bake until the centre springs back - 35 - 40 minutes?  Sadly, I bake by touch, taste and feel and rarely remember to time my recipes.

Here is the before pic.

The outdoor spit!

For the first time this year, we used the outdoor spit to spit a whole sirloin tip during Western weekend at our trailer!

I made lots of slits in the beef and inserted slices of garlic.  Then I covered the entire ball of meat with a mix of coarse ground pepper, sea sale and some rosemary.  It smelled heavenly!  Let it sit overnight.

Around 1pm, they started the charcoal.  At 2pm, the beef was spit and placed over the coals.  by 5:30, it was a perfect medium/medium-rare!

This 12.5 lb roast fed an ample crowd with lots of leftovers!  Over the next day or two, we made lots of Philly cheese steak sandwiches with beautiful carved roast, fresh peppers from the farmer's market and lots of crusty fresh bread (Walmart bakery).

An Epicurean Delight!

Due to popular request, you will soon find pictures and details about the many baked goods and meals I create.

Be sure to watch for items like enchiladas, spanakopita, butter tarts, pecan squares, brownies and so much more!