1 Turkey Biscuit Pie

If you have some leftover roast turkey or chicken, this is a super great way to use it up!

Turkey Biscuit Pie

You'll need:

3 cups shredded cooked turkey or chicken

10-12 frozen ready-to-bake biscuits

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

2 cups chopped frozen or fresh veggies of your choice (I used peas, rainbow carrots, mushrooms and corn)

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, minced

2 tsp sage

2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

water

salt to taste

butter or olive oil for sauteeing

Preheat oven to 375F

In a large sautee pan, begin by sauteeing all the vegetables in a bit of butter or olive oil, until they are just cooked through, but still crisp.  The onions and celery will be translucent, but not browned.

Add both cans of soup, then fill each can 3/4 full with water and pour into pan, and add pepper, sage and thyme. Stir well to combine.

Fold in shredded turkey and taste for seasoning.  Only add salt after tasting, as there is quite a bit already in the soup.

Pour mixture into a large baking dish, about 9x12.

Top with frozen biscuits, enough to cover the top.  Push each one down slightly.  It's okay if they sink in, they will rise and brown beautifully!

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the liquid is bubbly and the biscuits are golden brown.  Check the biscuits to make sure they are cooked through and not doughy (if so, keep baking.)

Ella says this is her favorite dinner ever!

1 Bento #183 - Earth Day Lunch

First, this lunch is in a Planet Box, and the pasta is Barilla PLUS with Omega 3s and a lot of other goodness.  I made a huge batch for the volunteers at school, and packed some for Ella as well.  It's tossed with roasted organic veggies in a balsamic butter sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Bento #183 - Vegetarian organic pasta salad, dried blueberries and cherries, pretzel sticks, roast turkey slices and vitamins.

Officially, Earth Day is today, but E's school had their Earth Day celebration on Wednesday, marked with a school-wide parade, awards, booths, activities and presentations.  It's such great fun, and so informative!  This year we had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute.  He spoke about the pollution, specifically plastic, that is inundating the Pacific with huge floating garbage patches.  He and his colleagues built a raft out of thousands of empty water bottles and an airplane cockpit and floated on it for 3 months from California to Hawaii, braving the elements and studying water and sea life along the way. It was so interesting!  Certainly makes one think twice about using disposable plastics.  One tip he gave which I hadn't even thought about was to skip the plastic straws when you go out to eat.

Dr. Eriksen speaking in front of the Earth Balloon in the community center.

Showing some of the empty cigarette lighters he picked up on remote Pacific islands that wildlife is ingesting.

A sea turtle which grew around a plastic milk jug ring.

 Later I sat with E's class as they ate.  Her friend L also brought a PlanetBox lunch!

3 Bento #156 - Chicken, Noodle & Veg Stir Fry

Today's lunch is leftover from last night's dinner.  It's very similar to the Korean barbecue I did last week, the only differences being I used the container of chicken, and instead of yellow squash I used lots of sliced mushrooms, and added a bit more soy sauce and ginger. Same idea, though.  Incidentally, a few of my knuckles are sorely abused from all the ginger peeling and grating I did last night.  Ouch!  

Since we have a complete meal in one dish, I just added some grapes on drink stirrer skewers.  I packed along her adorable pink piggy chopsticks, which I'm sure she'll use with zeal, becoming a conversation piece at the lunch table.

Bento #156 - Korean chicken, veg & noodle stir fry, grapes and a cheese stick (not shown.)

3 Surimi-Stuffed Mushroom Caps

I must write this recipe before I forget!  It was a huge hit at the reunion.  I was just using what I had on hand, because I certainly had never tried this recipe before since I just made it up as I went along.  I brought four packages of surimi, also known as imitation crab, figuring I could use it somehow (first time I've used it, however I didn't think fresh crab would travel well.)  It occurred to me to make a crab salad of sorts, and then I found that both my mom and I had brought a bunch of mushroom caps...so why not stuff them?

This makes a lot of stuffed mushrooms, enough for a party of 25, so halve the recipe for a smaller gathering.

3 pounds baby portabella or button mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
4 10 oz packages of surimi (or use fresh lump crab!), chopped
1 medium yellow onion, minced very finely
7-9 small red, yellow and/or orange sweet peppers, minced very finely
1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup of mayonnaise (more or less)
3 tbs Dijon mustard (more or less)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375, and lightly oil a couple baking sheets with olive oil.  Fold all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  With a small spoon stuff the mushroom caps with the crab mixture, and nestle on the baking sheets.  Bake for about 20 minutes, and enjoy!

Alas, I only have one picture, and that is pre-baking. Everyone started grabbing and gobbling them down before I got a chance to snap a pic of the after.  They got really nice and toasty on the bottom, and melty in the middles.

I had no bread crumbs, but I found that it really didn't matter too much, the cheese helped to hold it all together, but you could certainly throw in a handful if you wished.  If I'd had enough shredded cheese, I might have topped each one with some as well.  I'm super glad they turned out this well, good enough to make again!

5 Boeuf Bourguignon - At Last

I fear this recipe has taken  longer to blog about than the actual making of it.  I've put it off no longer.  I give you Boeuf Bourguignon, a la Julia Child.  It is amazing.  And spellbinding.  And extremely time-consuming.  If you love someone, make this.  Also, you have to say it in a very Frenchy way, and then your guests will know you really mean business!  (BTW, watch for my mish-mash of pictures...I found some I took months ago that fill in gaps that I forgot to take during this most recent foray.  Oops.)

Okay, *deep breaths*  here we go.

6 oz of good quality thick-cut bacon
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 bag of baby carrots (not the really thin ones, though)
1 onion, diced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy)
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon thyme
A crumbled bay leaf
*****************
18 to 24 pearl onions
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
bouquet garni (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth or coffee filter if you wish, but you can just add the herbs straight to the pan if you want)
1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered (any kind)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

You're going to want to do this in a large lidded stove-to-oven casserole dish, pan or pot, like a Le Creuset French oven, or even a deep sautee pan like the one I'm using in these pictures.  My French oven isn't big enough for the amount I am making (boo hoo, one day, one day.)

The original recipe calls for blanching the bacon rind.  You can do it that way by removing the bacon rind and cutting it into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer the rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry, and then brown lightly.  OR you can do like me and take the shortcut. Just get some good quality thick-sliced bacon, fry it up, (but don't crisp it) and reserve all the bacon by removing it with a slotted spoon, and leave the rendered bacon fat. Slice up the cooked bacon into 1/4 inch pieces.

Next, dry the stew beef in paper towels very well (don't skip this part, browning will be hard to achieve.) Heat bacon fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides.

Add it to the bowl with the sliced bacon (okay, my bacon is still sitting on the paper towel, but whatever works.)

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables.

Pour out the excess fat, and remove veggies to a second bowl.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole/oven dish and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly.

Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes more (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).

Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.  Stir in the wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.

Add the veggies, tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.

Cover casserole/pan/pot and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.  Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible.

...almost there...

Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herbs (the thyme is absolutely essential to the flavor, don't skip it.)

Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the most of the liquid has evaporated. Set onions aside.  There!  See how the sauce has thickened to almost a caramel consistency?

Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. When it's well heated (but not smoking!), add the mushrooms.

Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.  You can now combine it with the cooked onions, and keep warm in a serving dish on the side.

When the meat is tender after 3-4 hours, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.

Wash out the casserole and return the beef and veggies that are in the sieve to it. Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.  If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.

Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.  Serve in casserole, or arrange beef and veggies on a platter.

Serve with a yummy green veg like these balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts and the delicious Dijon fingerling potatoes I posted the other day.

Enjoy!