Food on Fridays: Turkey Tetrazzini

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Here at the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome. Just write about a peanut allergy, snap a picture of your broken toaster, or describe your first attempt at once-a-month cooking.In other words, the Food on Fridays parameters are not at all narrow. I think of it as a virtual pitch-in where everyone brings something to share; even if the content of one item is unrelated to the rest, we sample it all anyway and have a great time.When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the broccoli button (the big one above or the new smaller option at the bottom) to paste at the top of your post and join us through Mr. Linky.Here’s a Mr. Linky tutorial:

Write up a post, publish, then return here and click on Mr. Linky below. A screen will pop up where you can type in your blog name and paste in the url to your own Food on Fridays post (give us the exact link to your Food on Fridays page, not just the link to your blog).You can also visit other people’s posts by clicking on Mr. Linky and then clicking participants’ names–you should be taken straight to their posts. 

Food on Fridays Participants

1. Trish Southard (Hummus)
2. Cooking During Stolen Moments (Chicken Confit & Asparagus Pasta Rags)
3. Stretch Mark Mama (Spicy Grilled Chicken)
4. Glimpse of Sonshine (Romantic Meal & Recipes)
5. Hoosier Homemade (Chicken Phillies)
6. Newlyweds! (Zucchini Quesadillas)
7. It’s Frugal Being Green (Does Cooking at Home Actually Save You Money?)
8. Like Mother, Like Daughter (Food for Thought: Discipline)
9. The Finer Things (Baby Shower Menu)
10. 4 Boys, a Husband, and God (Chicken Lime Soup)
11. Lavender *Sparkles* (Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix)
12. My Practically Perfect Life (Homemade Sour Cream)
13. Gravity of Motion (Food Allergies)
14. Life Signatures (Ponzu Sauce)
15. It’s All About Love (The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever)

Food on Fridays with AnnFor Mother’s Day, the Belgian Wonder and I decided that turkey would be a relatively easy main course. So we pulled out of the freezer one of the birds we bought on sale after Thanksgiving and stuck it in the oven to cook while we were at church.Later that day, I boiled the carcass with some past-their-prime veggies and ended up with a pot of great stock. I pulled off the remaining bits of meat to use in soup. The past few days, we’ve been heating up turkey leftovers or using slices for sandwiches. I didn’t follow Trish’s 7-day Turkey Couture instructions precisely, but she certainly inspired variations on a theme.Thursday night we diced up what was left of the meat and made Turkey Tetrazzini (also tapping into the stock I made to use in place of broth). We gobbled it up so fast, I forgot to snap a photo.I posted the recipe back in December, but here it is again: 

This is the Turkey Tetrazzini recipe from Peg Bracken’s “I Hate to Cook” book.Now, don’t get scared off when you read this through. It may sound a little complicated, but after you make it once, you’ll see that it really isn’t (especially if you already know how to make white sauce). I do have a lot of pans to wash afterwards, but it’s worth it. We polished off a big casserole dish and started digging into the second.Turkey Tetrazzini1/2 lb spaghetti5 T butter(some of the butter is used to saute the mushrooms, and some is used to make the cream sauce; I substituted oil when making the cream sauce)2 C turkey or chicken broth2 T sherry1/2 C grated Parmesan1/4 lb fresh mushrooms(I always add lots more; and if you possibly can afford it, they’re really best fresh, not canned)1/3 C flour1 C light cream2 C diced turkeySalt & pepperSlice and saute mushrooms in 1 T butter till light brown.Cook spaghetti.Make cream sauce: 4 T butter (I used part olive and part canola oil replacing the butter entirely) mixed with 1/3 C flour. Stir or whisk that until it makes a smooth base (or roux). Heat on medium until it cooks a little, then add broth and stir constantly (I use a whisk) on medium (or medium-high) heat until is smooth and thickens. Add cream, salt & pepper, and sherry (you simply must add the sherry–it’s not much, but makes a huge difference in flavor). By the way, don’t boil the cream sauce after the cream is added. Just heat through.Divide sauce in half–in one half, put turkey meat. In the other, put the mushrooms and spaghetti.Put spaghetti-mushroom half in a greased casserole dish. Make a hole in it (easier said than done with sauce-coated, slithery spaghetti). Pour turkey half in the hole. Top with Parmesan.Bake uncovered 400 degrees for 20 minutes.Dish it up alongside a simple lettuce salad with vinaigrette and some french bread, you may not hate to cook anymore!(By the way, I always double this recipe.)

As you know, I’m committed to decluttering the house.Looks like I started with the freezer.

More Friday Carnivals

Is Food on Fridays not fun enough for you?  Not in the mood for food? Check out these other great carnivals!

• Hooked on Houses hosts Hooked on Fridays
• Anne Glamore at My Tiny Kingdom is hosting Flashback Fridays
• The Inspired Room is hosting A Beautiful Life
• Amber at the run-a-muck is hosting Friday Funnies
• Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom
• The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
• 7 Quick Takes Friday, hosted by Conversion Diary
• Aloha Friday, hosted by An Island Life
• Favorite Ingredients Friday, hosted by Overwhelmed With Joy
• Fifi’s Fashionable Friday, hosted by Fifi Flowers Design Decor
• Finding Freedom, hosted by Cents to Get Debt Free
• Finer Things Friday, hosted by The Finer Things in Life
• Four Foods On Friday, hosted by Fun, Crafts and Recipes
• Friday Felicities, hosted by beckyperry.us
• Friday Fill-Ins
• Friday Show and Tell, hosted by Canada Girl
• Photo Story Friday, hosted by What Works For Us
• Say It Forward Friday, hosted by 5 Minutes For Mom

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