Turkey Tetrazzini

Yes, we have the mushroom lovers and the mushroom haters in our family.  You probably do too.  For some reason mushrooms elicit some pretty strong reactions from both sides.  Seems like folks tend to love them or hate them.  Very little middle ground.  The haters can scope out one of those little, teeny, tiny flecks of mushroom in Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.  ZAP!  It's banished to the edge of the plate.  My brother, John, is married to a mushroom hater.  He, however is a mushroom lover.  So, whenever he can, he gets a mushroom fix.  I helped him on Christmas.  You see, the family meal after the stockings and brunch and presents and naps is turkey tetrazzini.  He always has to make it with a cream sauce, turkey and spaghetti.  Even though John could probably make poop taste good, turkey tetrazzini without mushrooms is kinda boring in my book.  So, I volunteered to bring a pan of tetrazzini - the real deal with lots of mushrooms and some other goodies.  John made a pan of his.  About half the crew ate his and half ate mine.  It was fun to see a couple of mushroom deprived folks - John included - who thoroughly enjoyed having the kicked up version.  LOL - so as I was typing that last sentence I missed the k on kicked and ended up with icked - exactly what the other half probably thought of my tetrazzini!

I pulled out about a dozen recipes for our leftover turkey.   Guess what?  Connie asked for more tetrazzini.  Last night while I was fixing our Eggnog Monte Cristos for dinner and our Meridian Hills Special Salad for today's lunch, I fixed the sauce for tonight's tetrazzini.  Good thing too since we'll be lucky to get home from the office by 8:00.  How true.  The tetrazzini's in the oven as I type this at 8:43 pm...  Here's how we make it:

Turkey Tetrazzini

Ingredients:
1/2pound spaghetti, cooked until al dente and drained
2 c cooked and cubed turkey
1 4 oz jar pimento
1/2 c chopped black olives (ripe olives to some of you)
16 oz sliced baby bellas
1/4 c dry sherry
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c grated parmesan or romano cheese

Saute the mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil. 

When they're nice and brown, pour in the sherry.  Then, add the mushroom soup, black olives and pimento. 

If we're doing this just for us, we use the lowfat mushroom soup. If it's for company, it's the full fat version.  Mix the sauce and turkey. 

Put the cooked spaghetti in an oven proof baking dish,

MIx in the turkey and sauce mixture, then top with the grated cheese

and bake at 400 for about 20-30 minutes or until it's bubbling.

Leftover Turkey Time

I supposed I'll get tired of the leftover turkey in a few days. But, not now! Lunches have been turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches. Connie introduced me to those when we spent Thanksgiving at his eldest son's house. That was the first Thanksgiving dinner Kara ever prepared on her own. Scientist that she is, she had everything timed to the minute. It was perfect! Tonight I made turkey tetrazzini. Now, don't get me wrong here. I love my sister-in-law and her family. They are still the pickiest eaters I've ever met. A speck of mushroom in a sauce will find it's way to the edge of the plate... Consequently, my brother is reduced to making pretty bland turkey tetrazzini. Not around here. I quartered then caramelized in a small amount of olive oil, a 16oz container of button mushrooms. In another pan I cooked a diced red bell pepper. When the mushrooms were done I scooped them out into a bowl and added more olive oil and some butter to that pan. Once the butter was melted, I sprinkled on a few tablespoons of flour. When it was nice and light brown, I poured in a good bit of sherry and added some water. Then, when the sauce was about done, I added some half and half. As everything else was cooking, I cooked a small box of whole grain thin spaghetti. When it was cooked and drained, I mixed the whole mess together and put it in a 9x13 pan. Topped it with a bit of finely grated romano cheese and baked it for 20 min at 350. YUM! Salad with Penzey's peppercorn dressing and tomatoes from the garden. Doesn't get much better than that.