Well, what a beautiful Lord’s Day we have had today!  Yes, it has been COLD!  But thankfully we have been snug as a bug in a rug and are so thankful for blessings such as warm throws, plenty of  food, Sunday naps, and cherished time together. 

During the afternoon I caught up with my friend Naomi Tolar in Kentwood, LA and we had a nice long telephone chat about everything from reliving camping memories, to dealing with clutter (avoid it!), health, and quilting!  She is the most accomplished quilter that I know of and it was so good to hear that she is once again having some time to pursue one of her favorite hobbies.  In recent years her life has been centered around the loving care of her father who is now deceased, and also her husband Jimmy has gone through some rough health issues but is now improving!   She's quite a lady!

So, it's been a great day!  Great day at church and a great rest of the day at home.

I wanted to share a new recipe that I experimented with yesterday.  It’s very similar to lots of other pasta type dishes, but it turned out pretty well.  I will warn you: it makes enough to feed a small army of hungry folks, so you might want to know this in advance.  I made it in two separate dishes rather than in the long casserole that the recipe called for; I’m sure it would freeze well, too, if you choose to enjoy one now and freeze one for later. 

The recipe is for Turkey Tetrazinni.  Random, huh?  Here's why.  One day last week during the snow/ice storm, I baked a turkey.  I’ll admit that I did not get enough turkey to my liking during Christmas!  You know, there’s a “turkey fix” and if you don’t get it, you’ll never be satisfied until you do.  Too much anticipation before Christmas is the culprit, I think.  I’ll just be up front with that confession.  So, since Wal-Mart still had some in its freezer the other day, I was sure I saw my name on one of them, so I bought myself one, thawed it for several days in the fridge, and decided to bake it while imprisoned and homebound during the blizzard.  Little did I know what I was getting into!

Truly, turkey has to be THE gift that just keeps on giving!  Even after sharing about half the BIG BIRD with others, we still had turkey and turkey and more turkey!  I assure you we were almost gobbling! It would not go away!  (I DID get my hunger for turkey satisfied, as you might can tell!)  There was plain turkey, turkey salad, turkey sandwiches, and turkey vegetable soup.  The possibilities were endless, but those were the ones I chose for starters.

At a loss as to what to do with so much leftover turkey, I had frozen a large bag of chopped turkey and then decided to look for a recipe in which to use it. Now, my very good friend, Dora Magee, is always writing about her Chicken Tetrazinni that she often shares with folks near her.   "She done flung a cravin' on me," to paraphrase a Jerry Clower saying.  Her's sounded so fancy that I wondered why I could not use my turkey instead and call it Turkey Tetrazinni, right?  Seemed like a reasonable assumption to me.  Then I might sound like a fancy gourmet cook, too!

There are a bazillion recipes of this nature floating around the Internet, but if you are looking for comfort food on a tight budget, one that is filling, and on the opposite end of difficult in preparation, you might want to try this or a similar one.  Especially if you are looking for new ways to disguise the leftover turkey and transform it into an unidentifiable casserole, then you’ve hit a homerun with this one!

A word of advice: next time you have a hankerin’ for turkey, don’t buy a 20-pounder!  I almost needed a fork lift to get the bird into/out of the oven!  But bless him/her heart!  She came through like a champ and kept us well-nurtured and satisfied all through the blizzard – and with a proper amount of tryptophan, I might add.  As if we need any help in bringing on an afternoon winter's snooze!

So, as promised, here is the recipe I confiscated from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/turkey_tetrazzini/

There is also a very similar one for chicken tetrazzini at: http://www.americanprofile.com/recipes/view/21587/chicken-tetrazzini.html

I have tweaked my version just a bit, but if you prefer the unadulterated version just click on the link above or try the American Profile Magazine version of chicken tetrazzini. 

Here’s my version, with only minor adjustments based on the ingredients I had on hand, 9such as using a larger package of egg noodles, and increasing the broth since I had more noodles, etc.)  You can't miss on this one.  Just follow your instinct and go with it – very forgiving recipe:

Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe (TWEAKED BY VELTA)

Ingredients

• 16 oz egg noodles (I used the medium, “twirly” kind); any pasta will do
•  2 small cans sliced mushrooms (original called for fresh)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/4 cup cream
• 3 cups turkey broth (frozen from turkey hereinabove described)
• 3 cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey
• 1 cup small, frozen, green peas
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (divided into 1/3 and 1/3 cups)
• (I used the Great Value grated Parmesan in the package)
• 1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese (also used Great Value grated)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 large jar chopped pimientos (added this, not called for in original)
• Salt and Pepper
• Ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup finely crushed Ritz crackers (in lieu of bread crumbs)
• About 4-5 Tablespoons melted butter
• Freshly chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Start heating 2 to 3 quarts of water for the pasta. Add 1 teaspoon of salt for each quart of water.

2 Cook the mushrooms in 3 Tbsp of the butter over medium heat, stirring, until all of the liquid the mushrooms give off has evaporated, 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

3 In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of butter. Stir in the flour, and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes.

4 About now, put the pasta into the boiling water you've heated. Follow the package directions and cook until al dente. While the pasta is cooking continue on with the recipe.

5 Into the saucepan with the butter and flour, slowly whisk in the milk, cream, broth.  Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 to 8 minutes.

6 When the pasta is ready, drain it. In a very large bowl combine the pasta, the sauce, the mushrooms, the turkey, and the peas. Stir in 1/3 cup of the Parmesan and the 1/3 cup of Swiss cheese. Stir in the lemon juice and the chopped pimientos. Add salt and pepper to taste. Note that if you have been using unsalted butter, and/or unsalted or low sodium stock, you will need to add more salt than you might expect. Just keep sprinkling it in until it is seasoned to your taste. Add a pinch of ground nutmeg if using, again to taste. Transfer the mixture to a buttered 3-quart casserole.

7 In a small bowl combine well the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan, the Ritz crackers, and the melted butter.   Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the tetrazzini, and dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, cut into bits.

8 Bake the Tetrazzini in the middle rack of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the top is golden.

Garnish individual servings with chopped parsley.  I think chopped black olives would be a nice add-in on this one.

Serves 4 to 6.  – (this is not true! Would serve 4-6 Goliaths!)

(Below is a fairly good representaiton of how mine turned out.)