Turkey Leftovers: Day Two

It seemed appropriate this week to combine the Thursday dinner feature with more turkey leftovers.


So far, Mr. Bird has given us (including the initial meal) eight servings. EIGHT. So tonight I used up the last of the leftovers and made Turkey Tetrazzini, which made another eight servings. That means this 11.5 pound bird has given us SIXTEEN SERVINGS. For a little more than $5! Whew, I can hardly stand it.


And the Turkey Tetrazzini....was awesome. If I do say so myself. Scott had about three of the eight servings in one sitting, if that tells you anything. It was a little more involved than most of the recipes I do, but still probably didn't take more than forty-five minutes to assemble.


This delicious recipe came from Epicurious.com, so I give them all the credit for coming up with this!


Turkey Tetrazzini:


Ingredients:
10 ounces mushrooms, sliced thin (about 4 cups)
5 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
10 ounces spaghetti
3 cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey
1 cup cooked peas
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup fine fresh bread crumbs


Directions:
In a large heavy saucepan cook the mushrooms in 1/4 cup of the butter over moderate heat, stirring, until most of the liquid they give off has evaporated. Stir in the flour, and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes.

Mmm... mushrooms.

Ready to add the flour.

After cooking in flour for a couple minutes.

Add in a stream the milk, the broth, and the wine, stirring. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, and simmer the sauce for 5 minutes. In a kettle of boiling salted water cook the spaghetti until it is al dente and drain well.

Bringing to a boil.

Mushroom sauce ready to be mixed with other ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine well the spaghetti, the mushroom sauce, the turkey, the peas, and salt and pepper to taste, stir in 1/3 cup of the Parmesan, and transfer the mixture to a buttered shallow 3-quart casserole. In a small bowl combine well the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan, the bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the Tetrazzini, and dot the top with the remaining 1 tbsp butter, cut into bits.

Exciting note: The Tetrazzini can be prepared up to this point up to 1 month in advance and kept covered and frozen. Awesome make-ahead dish! All you have to do is pop it in the oven and you have fresh dinner!

Bake the Tetrazzini in the middle of a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the top is golden.

Hello, Tetrazzini. I think this might be love at first sight.

A new favorite for our family.

I'm pretty sure I'll be roasting turkeys more now, just so that Scott can eat more of this. He was like a little kid staring at a chocolate cake, and it's not too disgustingly unhealthy (not much cheese!), so I think I'll indulge him.

Tricks of the Trade:

• Two things about this recipe made me take longer than usual: I always do chicken broth from bouillon cubes, and I realized a good way into the recipe that I needed milk, which was precisely what Scott was out at the store to get at that same moment since we were out. Fortunately, I had powdered milk in the cupboard, which worked fabulously. I'd say I recommend it, since this is almost 2 cups of milk and powdered milk is MUCH cheaper! Scott had wrinkled his nose at it but couldn't tell at all in the end.
• Freshly grated is always relative term for me. To me, freshly grated cheese is what you buy in bags at the grocery store. So, my Parmesan cheese was pre-packaged and pre-shredded...and no one was the wiser.
• I cooked my spaghetti right from the beginning, that way the sauce wouldn't be kept waiting once it thickened. Better to have cold spaghetti than overcooked sauce.
• Instead of getting another dish dirty, I combined everything in my large saucepan that the sauce was already in - worked out very well.
• Word of advice: keep your last tablespoon of butter chilled if you plan on "dotting it". I had just left it out and by the time I got to this step it was pretty soft and I couldn't exactly cut it into bits.
• I am PUMPED about "making-ahead" this recipe once I have a big enough freezer. If you're ever making meals for friends who have recently been hospitalized or had a baby, this would be a great one for sure.

And that, my friends, is the last of Mr. Bird. Although, I heard a rumor that we might be meeting Mrs. Bird sometime in December... hmm...