Contest winners & Turkey Tetrazzini recipe

When most of us start thinking of Thanksgiving, we're really looking forward to the traditional turkey dinner. Personally, I've always believed the side dishes are the best part. Next to turkey sandwiches with cranberries on them. Since about our third year of marriage, when I found this recipe, we've ended our Thanksgiving weekend with turkey tetrazzini. This is so not a healthy meal, but hey, what about Thanksgiving is?



Researching is one of my favorite parts of writing, so of course, I had to look up where the name actually came from. Seems that Luisa Tetrazzini was considered the greatest coloratura soprano of her time. The brilliant diva delighted San Francisco when she made her American debut there in the early 1900s. When she gave a memorable Christmas Eve concert on a street corner to the massive audience who'd gathered to hear her (and anyone who's spent Christmas in that city knows how cold it can be!), she inspired the chef of the Palace Hotel to create a dish in her honor. The original Chicken Tetrazzini was made with -- duh -- chicken, but along with turkey, you can also use shellfish with equal bravura.

Just in case you're doing the turkey thing again for Christmas, or want to save this for next year, here's our final turkey leftover recipe:

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons butter or margarine (I WARNED you it's not exactly heart healthy!)
5 Tablespoons of flour
2 1/2 cups of chicken or turkey broth (I use homemade stock, but canned works fine.)
1 1/4 cup half-and-half (light cream)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I use the same wine I'm drinking, but make about 1/4-1/3 of that 1/2 cup marsala for extra richness)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced (I just use regular white for this recipe.)
12 ounces spaghetti (I use linguini)
3-4 cups cooked turkey, cut into 1/2 in cubes (this is a great way to get rid of dark meat from the legs by mixing it with breast meat.)
Salt and white pepper (If you've only black, that'll do, too.)

Melt 3 Tablespoons of the butter over medium heat in a 2 quart pan.
Mix in flour and cook, stirring, until bubbly.
Remove pan from heat and stir in broth, half-and-half, and wine.
Return to head and cook, stirring, until sauce is smooth and thickened.
Stir in Parmesan.
Measure out 1 cup of the sauce, then reserve both portions.

Melt remaining 3 TB butter in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat.
Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until juices mostly evaporate and mushrooms are browned.

Following package directions, cook pasta in a large kettle of boiling salted water until al dente.
Drain.
Combine Spaghetti with larger portion of sauce, turkey, and mushrooms. (Save some mushrooms for garnish.)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Turn into greased or foiled 2 qt casserole dish.
Spoon the remaining 1 cup of reserved sauce evenly over the surface and top with reserved mushrooms.

Bake, covered, in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes (1 hr if you made it ahead and refrigerated.) Remove cover and broil for a few minutes to brown the top lightly.


Enjoy and make plans to exercise later.

Winners of last week's blog contest, chosen at random, are: Kara C, Mitzi, and Amber Leigh! Just choose a book from the book page on my new website, and email your mailing address to joann@joannross.com and we'll get those out to you!