Saturday, November 26, 2011

Williamsburg Inn Turkey Soup

1 turkey carcass
4 quarts water
3 large onions, chopped fine
3 stalk celery, chopped fine
2 large carrots, chopped fine
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 pint half-and-half
3 cups diced cooked turkey
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning if desired
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

In a large kettle, cook turkey carcass with water to make 3 quarts stock (I cook it with carrots, onions, celery and garlic with peppercorns and thyme).  Strain stock, set aside.

In saucepan, combine onions, celery, carrots, rice and 1 quart of the stock.  Cook for 20 minutes, set aside.

In a large soup kettle, melt butter.  Blend in flour and heat until bubbly.  Add half and half and remaining 2 quarts stock to butter/flour mixture gradually; cook and stir until bubbly.  Stir in the reserved vegetable mixture, turkey and seasonings to taste.  Heat slowly to serving temperature.

Yield 4-4.5 quarts

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Spinach and Ricotta Quiche and Salad with Mustard Dressing

I found this recipe in Rachel Ray's magazine in one of those "Your Weeknight Meal Planner" tear out cookbooks and I finally tried it tonight.  YUMMY!!!!!  It was great because I had leftover ricotta cheese to use up from making lasagna last week.  It was full of flavor and definitely a keeper in the Snider house!  Oh - I'm posting as the recipe is given but I did change the dressing for the salad and it turned out great.  I made it up as stated but it just tasted like olive oil and mustard so I added about a Tbsp. of lemon juice but then it was SO strong that I added about a teaspoon and a half of brown sugar and mixed it up well.  That was perfect!!

Spinach and Ricotta Quiche

1 sheet (half of a 17.3 oz. pkg) frozen puff pastery, thawed (I used a refrigerated pie crust instead since I had it)
1/4 cup EVOO
6 cups (6 oz package) baby spinach
salt and pepper
1/4 lb. Italian sausage links, casings removed
4 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 8 oz. container ricotta cheese
1 1/2 tsp. grainy mustard
(I added 1 Tbsp. lemon juice and 1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar)
1 small head green leaf lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces

1.  Preaheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Press the puff pastry into a 9" glass pie plate; trim the excess.  Prick the bottom all over with a fork, line with parchment and fill with dried beans (or pie weights).  Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.  [I used the refrigerated pie crust and baked it for about 8 minutes).  Remove the parchment and beans; transfer the pan to a rack to cool.  Leave the oven on but lower the temperature to 350 degrees.

2.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. EVOO over medium-high heat.  Add the spinach and cook, tossing, until wilted, about 1 minute.  Season lightly with salt and then drain in a colander.  Add 1 Tbsp. EVOO and add the sausage to the skillet;  cook over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until golden brown and cooked through - about 3-5 minutes.

3.  Spread the sausage and spinach in the pie shell.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta cheese and cream; pour into the shell.  Bake until the eggs are set and the crust is golden, about 35 minutes.

4.  Meanwhile, in a salad bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 Tbsp. EVOO with the mustard [and lemon juice and brown sugar]; season with salt and pepper.  Add the lettuce and toss.  Serve with the quiche.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Sandi's Pumpkin Muffins

On a forum I was on, this recipe had been passed around over and over again.  It's simply wonderful!!!

Sandi's Pumpkin Muffins

3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup milk
1 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
Optional:  1 cup chopped nuts and/or 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and either grease muffin tins or put in cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until combined.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda.  In another bowl, mix together the milk and pumpkin.  Add half of the dry ingredients to the sugar/oil/egg/vanilla mixture in the large bowl then add half of the milk/pumpkin mixture and combine.  Add in the rest of both of the mixtures to the large bowl and combine well.  Fold in the optional nuts/chocolate chips if you are using.

Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full with batter and bake for 20 minutes or until inserted cake tester comes out clean.  Let cool on a rack.