Friday's Fave Foods***Turkey Tetrazzini

On Fridays, I'm not always quite sure where I'm going to go with these recipes. I tend to get on a theme and roll with that for awhile. Right now, my theme is the Faculty Center. I'm about to pull a dish for the summer for which I am going to hear alot of flack about, because it's popular when done right. However, it is too heavy to be summer fare. It will be back on the fall menu. I must confess that the recipe we use is rather utilitarian. It works well (most of the time) and is based on this on this original.

Turkey Tetrazzini***"The Joy Of Cooking" by Irma Rombauer**

4 cups of cooked pasta --spaghetti, macaroni or egg noodles

Creamed turkey *

1 1/2 TBS of unsalted butter

8 oz. of sliced mushrooms, or 2 1/2 cups

1/2 C of slivered or sliced almonds, toasted (see notes)

1/2 C of grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Butter a 13 x 9 " baking pan or other shallot baking dish

Heat in a medium skillet over medium high heat until the foam begins to subside: butter

Add and cook, stirring until tender, about 5 minutes: mushrooms

Stir the mushrooms into the creamed turkey*

Cook until tender in a large pot of boiling salted water, 8oz of pasta (should yield 4 cups cooked)

Drain pasta well and stir into turkey mixture along with the toasted almonds.

Pour mixture into baking pan and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Makes 6-8 servings

Creamed Turkey or Chicken (raw poultry)

3 1/2 lbs of turkey or chicken parts or 1 1/2 lbs boneless

Place in Dutch oven and add: 2 cups of chicken broth

Pour in just enough water to to cover the pieces.

Bring to simmer on high heat, then reduce heat so that the poaching liquid barely bubbles. Partially cover and cook until the meat releases clear juices when pierced by a fork, 25 to 30 minutes for chicken parts, 8-12 minutes for boneless. Remove the meat from the stock and let it cool long enough to handle. If using chicken parts, remove the skin and bones and discard. Cut or shred the meat into bite size pieces. Skim the fat from the stock with a spoon (hint: you wont have any if you use skinless boneless pieces).

Melt in a large sauce pan over medium low heat:

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

Add and whisk until smooth, 1/3 C of all purpose flour

Cook, whisking constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add 2 cups of the chicken stock, and whisk until smooth. Then whisk in 1 1/2 cups of whole milk, half and half OR light cream.

Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking constantly. Remove the pan from the heat, and sue a wooden spatula or heat-proof rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the sauce pan and whisk vigorously to break up any lumps. Return the pan to the heat, whisking, and bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in cooked poultry along with 2 to 3 TBSP of cooked sherry. Cook for one minute more. Remove from heat and season to taste with:

several drops of lemon juice

salt and ground white or black pepper

2 to 3 pinches of ground nutmeg (optional)

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Notes: You can use left over cooked pasta and left over cooked chicken or turkey for this recipe, just modify. I would still poach cooked poultry for about 2-3 minutes, and let it sit in stock to absorb some flavor, and some tenderness. In this case I would also use canned stock. Can also subsitute the grated Parmesan for shredded cheddar. I use this recipe in this modified manner during the holidays with left-over turkey. I usually make several batches, and freeze for those cold winter nights when I'm too tired to cook dinner!

This dish was created in the 19 century by the great French chef Auguste Excoffier in honor of the legendary opera star Luisa Tetrazzini, according to

**Irma S. Rombauer. The "Joy of Cooking" is, hands down, the best cookbook I have ever used. She knew her stuff!