Turkey Tetrazzini

We used to have a New Years's Eve party every year and some dear friends hosted another party the next day, to watch football and hash over New Year's Eve. I always served Turkey Tetrazzini just after midnight and the next day, Lynn always served Beef Stroganoff (the sour cream kind). She and husband Tony also served milk punch and Bloody Marys in two large white crocks with soup ladles. LOL. It was a tradition back then for our crowd and so much fun. I have such fond memories of those years. Lynn has long since passed away and I don't think I've made this dish since I moved to Florida so thought I'd make it as my last blog post for 2016. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find my old recipe, so went online and found this one, which is nearly the same as mine...tetrazzini is a classic dish and hasn't changed that much over the years. But if I recall correctly, I put fresh nutmeg in mine plus my sauce was much thicker than this one turned out to be, so I'd use more than 1/4 cup flour if I made this recipe again. I made the corrections in the recipe below.
Still, it brought back some fun memories. And I still have Lynn's Beef Stroganoff recipe!

Turkey Tetrazzini
From Epicurious

Ingredients:
10 ounces mushrooms, sliced thin (about 4 cups)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 to 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (I found 1/4 did not make the sauce as thick as I'd like.)
1 3/4 cups milk
some grating of fresh nutmeg
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
10 ounces spaghetti
3 cups coarsely chopped cooked turkey, including cooked giblets if desired
1 cup cooked peas
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup fine fresh bread crumbs

Method:
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. 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 it well. 

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 tablespoon butter, cut into bits. The Tetrazzini may be prepared up to this point 1 month in advance and kept frozen, covered. Bake the Tetrazzini in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the top is golden. 

Donna Hay's Sweet Potato, Leek and Sage Gratin

Here's my second Donna Hay recipe and it's a perfect potato dish for the holidays, although my photograph below doesn't look very Christmasy. I gave this a test run ahead of the holidays and loved the dish so much, I intend to make it for Christmas Eve dinner.
Use your mandolin to slice the potatoes...if you don't have one, slice thinly. I used fontina as it's such a nice melting cheese. Wonder how gruyere would taste?

Sweet Potato, Leek and Sage Gratin
Donna Hay, Issue 60

Ingredients:

40g (about 3 tablespoons) butter

4 leeks, cleaned and sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

sea salt and cracked black pepper

800g ( about 1 3/4 pounds; I used 2 large.) sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

800g (about 1 3/4 pounds; I used 2 large Idahos, they worked fine.) Desiree (waxy) potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sage leaves, torn in pieces

300g fontina or cheddar cheese, sliced

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the leek and garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes or until softened. Place the sweet potato, potato, oil and salt and pepper in a bowl and toss to combine. Layer the sweet potato, potato, leek, sage and cheese in a 10 by 13-inch baking pan lined with non-stick baking paper, finishing with a layer of cheese. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for a further 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Serves 6-8.

Brioche French Toast with Brown Sugar Cranberry Syrup

Christmas Breakfast! Oh yes, you must........because I can't begin to describe how divine this tastes! What else can you expect from Zoe Nathan? Something magical happens when you use brioche bread to make French toast.  Have you noticed? Nice thick slices soaked in eggs and cream. So extravagant and so perfect for breakfast on Christmas.
You can make the syrup the day ahead (this syrup is wonderful with anything, be sure to try it) and the bread can also be made in advance and frozen. Use your own recipe for the brioche loaf....mine will be in an upcoming post. Or hopefully, you have a French bakery nearby that has a lovely loaf of brioche! 

Brioche French Toast with Brown Sugar Cranberry Syrup
From Huckleberry by Zoe Nathan

Ingredients:
For the cranberry sauce:
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed and chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
4 large strips of orange zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 cup heavy cream

For the French toast:
6 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Unsalted butter, for greasing
Twelve 1-inch-thick slices of brioche (1 pound)

Method:
The cranberry sauce:
In a medium saucepan, combine the chopped cranberries with the light brown sugar, orange zest, salt and 2 tablespoons of water and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries are soft and the sauce is ruby-colored, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the cranberry mixture from the heat and whisk in the butter and heavy cream. Cook over moderately low heat, whisking, until the butter is completely melted and the sauce is hot, about 3 minutes. Discard the orange zest. Keep the cranberry sauce warm over very low heat. (The cranberry sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat gently before serving.)

The French toast:
Preheat the oven to 225°. In a large baking dish, whisk the eggs with the heavy cream, light brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Heat a large cast-iron griddle and lightly butter it. Working in batches, dip half of the brioche slices in the egg mixture, turning them, until they are well-moistened. Transfer the soaked brioche to the griddle and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until the French toast is golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer the French toast to a baking sheet, cover loosely with aluminum foil and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining brioche slices. Serve the French toast with the cranberry sauce. The recipe suggests topping with whipped cream, but it's just too much. A sprinkling of confectioners sugar is all and I didn't even use that.