Turkey Flautas

These were called "turkey tacos" when the recipe was given to me but I'd think of them as more like flautas. Whatever you call them, it was a great different way to use up the last of the turkey. Fried some corn tortillas just a minute or so on each side, then drained on paper towels. Shredded the last of the turkey. Grated some cheese (a mix of Jack and Cheddar or the Mexican blend they sell at the store if you're buying the pre-shredded stuff). Put some turkey and cheese in each tortilla and roll them up, then fry them again until crispy. Lay in a baking pan, top with some cheese and heat in a low often (250) while you cook some rice and beans. Very simple. Very good.

Never-The-Same-Way-Twice Soup and Ham Lo Mein

Leftovers. A blessing and a curse at times. I went all out for Christmas and roasted a turkey and baked a ham. Our turkey gets used up pretty quickly between sandwiches and a great turkey soup I made. I made the broth from the carcass on Christmas evening after dinner. Refrigerated it in a big pickle jar that night. Skimmed the fat off it and divided it in half. Half went in the freezer for another day's soup. Half became one of my best turkey soups.

The soup was one of those recipe-less ones, but I followed the general guidelines in the book to the left, which consists more of "formulas" than recipes. I sauteed chopped onion, carrots and celery in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes, until the onions were soft. Added in some frozen green beans and cooked another minute. Then I added in the leftover scalloped potatoes (cut them up a bit first), a few cups of shredded turkey, a can of diced tomatoes, about 32 ounces of broth, some dried parsley, salt and pepper. Simmered partially covered about 30 minutes. The scalloped potatoes were a complete gamble but I think they added a lot.

The ham I wanted to do something a bit different with. I browsed through the "How to Cook Without a Book" (recommended by someone who found my CheapCooking.com site--thanks!) and saw Lo Mein, like fried rice but with spaghetti instead of rice. So I diced about 4 cups of ham and froze 2 cups for another night. Took the remaining 2 cups and sprinkled with a spoonful of soy sauce. Mixed up her lo mein sauce:

* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1/4 cup chicken broth (would have used the turkey if I hadn't frozen the extra already!)
* 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
* 2 tsp sesame oil
* 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (Could have used more, this wasn't too spicy)
* 1 tsp sugar

Cooked up some spaghetti to make about 4 cups worth (8 ounces dry) and drained it while dicing up the carrots and celery and cutting up an onion. Heated a tablespoon of olive oil on high; cooked the onion a few minutes; added the carrots and cooked a minute; added the ham and cooked a minute; added the celery and cooked a minute; added the minced garlic and ginger and stirred briefly, then removed everything from the pan.

Put another tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and cooked the spaghetti a few minutes, then added in all the meat and vegetables plus the sauce I'd mixed up before. Stirred around for a few minutes and served.

Kandy's Garlic Chicken

I don't think I've ever met Kandy. She's a friend of my sister's. But her chicken is divine!

Melt some butter (1/2 cup or a bit less) and then put a bunch of chopped garlic (4-5 cloves). Take some skinless boneless chicken breasts (3-4) and lay them in a single layer in a baking dish. Cover them with grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup) and pat it down a bit, then pour the butter and garlic over them. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so, until done.

Ellen's Steak Sandwich

Leftover steak? I used some of the leftover flank steak to make a delicious sandwich for my lunch today. First, I sliced up half an onion and pulled some red pepper slices from the freezer. (I always freeze leftover onions and peppers, diced and sliced, so I can pull them out as needed for cooking.) Cooked them in a bit of olive oil with some garlic salt sprinkled on top. Sliced up the steak and added it to the skillet while I toasted some sliced sourdough.

When the bread was toasted, I put a slice of provolone cheese on it, put the steak slices down, and then topped with the onions and peppers, then topped with another slice of toast. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! It's not a Philly Cheesesteak but it's awfully good in a pinch!

Another Flank Steak Marinade

On a roll lately.. New flank steak marinade tonight from Bittman's
How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food .)
I bbq'd like I normally do. (I know, it is December but I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and unless it's pouring down rain, I can easily barbecue--and do!)

4 Tbs lime juice (I had frozen quartered limes when they were cheap and defrosted them for this)
2 Tbs soy sauce (huge container bought at Costco)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp sugar
salt and black pepper to taste (hmm..maybe 1/4 tsp of each)
1 flank steak

Mixed it all up and marinaded for only 30 minutes or so at room temperature. I typically would marinade a flank steak for longer but this was a last minute change of menu plans. Eldest daughter had to go to the library after the dentist, meaning I didn't get the split pea soup (with the leftover ham bone) started as soon as I would have liked. I knew we'd all still like that for lunch tomorrow and had gone to Costco yesterday and bought the flank steaks. I was going to marinade and freeze them for later but used one tonight and froze the other. (If you've never done this, it's a great time saver. Throw the steak in the freezer bag with the marinade and toss it into the freezer. The marinade may or may not actually freeze depending on the ingredients you choose, but either way the steak will marinade while it's freezing and again while it's defrosting, making it an easy dinner one night which will taste like you spent hours planning it!)

Ham and Swiss Cheese Noodle Bake

Leftover Ham? Let's see, there's scrambled eggs with ham, quiche, ham and Swiss cheese sandwiches, split pea soup, macaroni and cheese with ham, grilled cheese and ham sandwiches... Oh, the list could go on and on. This is similar to macaroni and cheese but is made with egg noodles and Swiss cheese. I cut the recipe in half because I didn't want leftovers. As listed below, it served an adult and two children comfortably. From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. (If I could only have one cookbook, I'd have a hard time choosing between this and Bittman's
How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food .)

2 Tbs butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 Swiss cheese, grated (this is more than the original called for but I liked it cheesy)
3/4 cup finely chopped ham
1/4 pound egg noodles, cooked

Cook the noodles and drain.

Meanwhile, heat the butter and cook the onion until soft.

In a bowl, combine the egg and sour cream and mix until smooth. Add the cheese, ham, and cooked onions and mix well. You could add salt but for me the ham was plenty. Add the cooked noodles and mix gently. Pour into a greased 1 quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. The original recipe called for 30-45 minutes, but that was with double the ingredients. It will cook a bit faster if it's shallow like mine was in an 8x8 pan.

Variations suggested: Use diced cooked beef, chicken, or turkey. If you have some leftover gravy, add that and cut down on the sour cream.

Rice Pudding

Another favorite from The Supper Book (see below). I've been searching for a great rice pudding recipe for some time. It has to be creamy but not pure mush, sweet, and rich-tasting. The last recipe I tried was a crockpot recipe and it was horrid. First, there was way too much milk for the small amount of raw rice and I was left with cooked rice sunk at the bottom of a huge puddle of warm milk. So I decided to add more rice. The rice never got done and was actually crunchy! Ugh. If anyone's found a successfully crockpot version I'd love to hear about it. I tossed it.

But I got brave and tried Marion Cunningham's rice pudding last night. Definitely found a winner!

1 cup water
1/2 cup rice (she says short grain but all I had was medium)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup cream (I used 1/2 and 1/2 which is as rich as we get around here!)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar (I just used a rounded 1/2 cup.)
2 eggs
cinnamon (I didn't measure, just sprinkled it heavily on top because we like cinnamon)

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 8x8 baking dish.

Bring the water, rice, and salt to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the milk and the raisins, stir, cover, and cook another 15 minutes. Your rice should be tender at this point, but there will be lots of milk and you might think it's too runny. In the meantime, put your kettle on and boil some water.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cream or half-and-half, vanilla, sugar, and eggs and add this to the rice mixture when it's done. Stir and pour it all into the baking dish and sprinkle with the cinnamon.

Place that dish in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with boiling water until the water is 1" high. You might want to slide out your oven rack, put the pans in, and then add the boiling water so you're not carrying a pan of boiling water across your kitchen. She says bake for 30-45 minutes. Mine took a bit longer to firm up in the oven than she had suggested, maybe another 15 minutes, but that might have been because I didn't start with boiling water but used the hot water out of my instant hot water thingy in the sink. Still, it was absolutely delicious!

Savoy Cabbage "Relish Salad"

This is definitely going on my wish list! I have been reading a copy I borrowed from the library and tried my first recipes from it last night. I've made sauteed apples for years, peeling, coring, and slicing apples, then cooking in a bit of butter until soft and sprinkling brown sugar on them. They go great with any pork dish or for desert. Cunningham's recipe had apple rings instead of slices, and cinnamon and white sugar rather than my brown. They were equally delicious--and my kids are picky about their cooked apples! The rings made them a bit fancier looking and took just an extra few minutes.
The other dish I tried was a sweet and sour salad she calls "Relish Salad."

1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/3 cup cider vinegar

Mix up the dressing and pour over some chopped savoy cabbage, sliced celery, and chopped green pepper. I didn't have a green pepper so used a red one, which added a nice bit of color and another touch of "sweetness" to the salad. Chill for a bit before serving.