Sunday, November 28, 2010

Turkey Dinner Leftovers

You know, like most people who aren't vegetarians, I love a turkey dinner.  Sure, it is a big production, but in the end, it is so worth it (It is even more worth it when you have said dinner at parents house, because it always tastes SO much better).  But, as with all turkey dinners, there is usually a plethora of leftovers.  And not just of the bird, but of potatoes, veggies, gravy stuffing...well, you get the picture.  So I came up with a creative way of presenting these leftovers to make them exciting.  I call in my turkey dinner pizza.  It may seem a little odd, but it is a big hit in my little household.  Here is what you will need (well, really, what you need is just what is leftovers, but this is what I like):

2 Thin crust flat bread pizza crusts
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic
One large potato, cooked and thinly sliced
2-3 cups of shredded pizza mozzarella
Lots of ripped apart turkey
Stuffing
cooked carrots
broccoli
corn
gravy
(Anything else you may have)

Take all of the leftovers out of the fridge and let sit for about half an hour to bring to room temperature.  In the mean time, saute the onions and the garlic until they caramelize then remove from heat.  On the flat breads, spread a thin layer of the gravy over them.  This acts as your tomato sauce.  Top with the potato slices, stuffing, turkey, broccoli, corn, carrots, onions (the previous in any particular order you wish) then top with generous amounts of cheese.  Toss the pizzas in a baking sheet or pizza stone and put in an oven set at 350 degreesF for about 10-15 minutes - until the cheese is nice and melting a bubbly and everything is nice and hot on the inside.  When it is done, warm up any left over gravy you have and drizzle over top of the pizza.

Alternatives:

-The reason I made two pizzas in the first place was to put mushroom on one of them.  Apparently it made the pizza that much better, but I fail to see how

-Really, put on anything you like, it will taste awesome.  If you are the people to have a ham as well (my parents are) add in some ham cubes to the pizza.

Enjoy!  Until next time,
-d

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Stroganoff Recipe

Prep Time: 30 minutes  Cook Time:  30 Minutes (ish)


I had a craving for Stroganoff the other day.  It just came to me that I wasn't feeling having simply steak and potatoes.  Stroganoff has such a wonderful flavour, it is definitely one of my favourite tasting sauces (minus the mushrooms).  I threw this recipe together and it seemed to turn out quite well; Sylvia really seemed to enjoy it and has requested it again, so I take that as the highest compliment.  Here is what is needed for around 4 normal sized servings (there was enough for us, plus Olivia and some leftovers):

2 striploin steaks (or top sirloin, just a really good cut of meat)
4 strips of bacon (because bacon makes everything better), chopped
3 shallots, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Mushrooms
2 cups of beef stock
couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp flour
2 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Egg noodles

Trim most of the fat from the steaks and cut into thin strips.  In a cold frying pan, toss in the chopped bacon and then warm up to a medium heat.  When the bacon starts to crisp, put the beef in the pan and cook just until the red is gone (stirring constantly), about a minute and a half.  Don't overcook the meat, that is just cruel to your mouth.  Remove the beef and bacon from the pan, but leave all of the wonderful juices in the pan.  Next, toss in the onions and cook them until they start to turn translucent, then add the garlic and cook for a little longer until the garlic starts to cook.  Add the tomato paste and cook for a further few minutes.  Add the two cups of stock and the Worcestershire sauce, paprika and mushrooms.  Reduce the heat and add in the cream cheese and let simmer for about 10 minutes, until the stock has reduced by about a third.  Add the meat back into the pan and reduce the heat to low.  Whisk the flour into the sour cream and put into the pan.  Stir constantly until the sauce has thickened.  Serve over the cooked egg noodles and enjoy.

Alternatives:

-For an even tastier dish, remove the mushrooms ;-)

-I assume, since this is a Russian dish, adding a little Vodka into the pan to de-glaze the bottom before the beef stock goes in would be good, but I think traditionally, some red wine would be poured into the pan to de-glaze

That's it for this week, enjoy

-d

Linking up with Skip to my Lou & Extreme Personal Measures & Funky Polkadot Giraffe & What's Cooking Thursday & Paisley Passions

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Rösti Recipe

You know, this whole "working for a living" thing sucks.  There is never enough time now to juggle work and kids and recipes.  I know most people have/are going through it, but I haven't since I have been married with kids up until a couple of weeks ago, so it is fairly new.  Anyway, to continue on with my Swiss fair recipes, I am going to share my version of rösti.  So what is rösti anyway, you ask?  Well, it is like a potato pancake or hash brown kicked up a notch.  You could have it for breakfast I suppose, but we typically make it for dinner, as it is really filling and takes some time to make.  Here is what you need and how to make it:

4-5 white potatoes (you could probably use any, but that is what I usually use) coarsely shredded
2 shallots or one medium onion, finely shredded
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 eggs, divided
4 slices of ham
Raclette cheese (if you can find it) or cheese curd
generous amount of salt
pepper

Shred the potatoes and put into a sieve.  Try to squeeze out as much of of the moisture in the spuds as possible.  Sprinkle some salt on the potatoes to help prevent them from getting brown.  Put the shredded potatoes in a bowl, add in one egg, the onion, pepper and garlic.



Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  In an oven safe frying pan (non-stick if possible), heat to medium heat, and put in a generous amount of olive oil.  Toss in the potato mixture into the pan and constantly stir for about 10 minutes to start cooking the potatoes. After the 10 minutes, form the potatoes into a patty and cook, for about another 10 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom.  Flip the patty over, (which may seem difficult, but you can either flip it in the pan, or slide it onto a plate and flip it back onto the frying pan), and cook for another few minutes.  Put the ham onto the rösti and then the cheese and toss into the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and gooey.  Fry up the remainder of the eggs (traditionally, served sunny side up, but we like them over easy) and put on the rösti when out of the oven.  Cut into sections and serve.





Alternatives:

-You could make the rösti smaller without the toppings and serve as a side with a steak.

-To kick it up a notch, toss some raw bacon or pancetta into the potato mixture.

-You could also toss in some finely chopped broccoli and/or cauliflower to hide some veggies (we've done it before, and turned out well)

Hopefully, I will be able to post again before another two weeks, but really, it is all chore dependent.  This post took around 12 hours to get through.

-d
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...