Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup

Soup again! I even used the same bowl that I used when I recently blogged about salmon chowder. Oh well. It's a great soup bowl! We are trying to make more room in our tiny freezer, so we decided to cook the turkey that had been hanging out in there. We bought an extra turkey just for fun, last holiday season, and sometime last week, we took it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw. Since turkeys take so long to thaw, my cold/sore throat struck in the middle of the thawing process, and we had to cook the turkey anyway, a few days ago, even thought I couldn't taste or smell a thing. Oh well, everyone else enjoyed it!

With the turkey leftovers, I decided to make homemade turkey stock. I did this yesterday, and for dinner, we had homemade turkey noodle soup, made with my homemade stock. (For homemade stock, I just took some of the meaty turkey bones, one roughly chopped onion, a few stalks of celery and carrots, and 3 smashed garlic cloves. Covered with water, simmer for 2 hours. Add a little salt and pepper. Make sure bones are always covered with water. Strain, reserving broth and discarding veggies and bones.) I went all out and made homemade noodles, too. Since the recipe makes such a large amount of noodles, I almost want to call this "Turkey and Noodles" instead of "Turkey Noodle Soup". If you don't want so many noodles, I'd cut the noodle recipe in half. I used an Allrecipes noodle recipe. I'll provide the link below.

I live in a very humid climate, and I've found that when rolling out noodles, I should not let them rest on wax paper, or a towel, to dry. This method just produces many tears and ruined noodles. Instead, I took my 3 biggest cutting boards and generously floured them. I rolled out my noodle dough in 3 parts (one on each board), and it worked very well.

Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

10 cups turkey stock

2 cups cooked, chopped turkey meat

pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 recipe homemade egg noodles (a half-recipe may work better)

In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, and cook and stir about 5 minutes or until partly tender. Add garlic, celery, and onion. Cook 1-2 minutes, and add turkey stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer about 10 minutes. Add turkey, pepper and parsley. Simmer about 5 minutes more. Make sure veggies are tender. Bring to a boil, and add egg noodles, boiling until noodles are cooked to your liking.

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Happy Fifth Birthday!

My little guy turned 5 yesterday. We had his party on Monday, and he picked out this cake design from all of my suggestions. It was an easier cake to make. It was time-consuming to make so many different colors of frosting, though. I used Dorie Greenspan's Cocoa Buttermilk cake because the birthday boy requested chocolate- I found the recipe on Meet Me in the Kitchen. I honestly can't tell you how this cake tastes, because I've had a cold for a week now and can't really taste anything! What a shame. But it got good reviews from everyone, especially the birthday boy.

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Salmon Chowder

I know I've already posted a salmon chowder recipe, but this one is worthy of being posted, too. I just love both of these. I've been making this one longer than the smoked salmon one. It's easy and convenient to make, filling and super yummy. It goes so well with fresh rolls or a crusty baguette, warmed in the oven. I adapted this from an Allrecipes recipe.

I have a deep-seated love for salmon chowder. I first had it on a chilly day in Victoria, BC 10 years ago. I made this recipe a few years ago and was so excited to find that I could actually make it myself, and didn't have to wait until my next trip to Canada to have it! (Those trips to Canada are far and few between now, anyway!)

This chowder is delicious with fresh salmon, but for times when you don't have that on hand, canned works very well, also.

Note:  I made this yet again on 4/21/2011 and needed to use up some fresh zucchini and green beans.  I added a whole small zucchini, quartered and sliced, and a handful of fresh green beans and it was delish!  I had to add about 1/2 cup extra liquid (water, or you can use broth).  I used thawed salmon instead of canned.  I also added new photos!

Salmon Chowder

from Allrecipes

3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 garlic cloved, minced
2 cups diced potatoes
2 carrots, diced
chopped zucchini and/or fresh green beans, optional
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
2 (6 ounce) cans boneless, skinless salmon or 12 ounces fresh or frozen (thawed) salmon
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn
1-2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
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1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery, and garlic until onions are tender. Stir in potatoes, carrots, optional veggies, broth, pepper, and dill. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat. Cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

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2. Stir in salmon, evaporated milk, corn, and cheese. Cook until heated through.

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Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I've made this version of vanilla ice cream a few times now; it's time I posted it here so it'll be easier for me to find! This is my go-to recipe for vanilla bean ice cream. It's not hard to make, and is very creamy and delicious. I love it! Plus, it fits perfectly in my ice cream maker.

Rich Vanilla-Bean Ice Cream
Adapted from Good Housekeeping

1 vanilla bean
3/4 cup vanilla sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
3 cups half-and-half or light cream
4 large egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream

1. In heavy 3-quart saucepan, heat half-and-half to boiling over medium-high. Split vanilla bean open, and scrape out the seeds with the dull part of a knife blade. Add them to the half-and-half. Add the vanilla bean pod also. Leave in until boiling, and then remove vanilla bean pod.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, with a wire whisk (I used my KitchenAid), whisk egg yolks, vanilla sugar, and salt until smooth. Gradually whisk half-and-half into egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture coats back of spoon (do not boil, or it will curdle). Remove from heat.

3. Strain custard through small-meshed strainer into large bowl; add heavy cream. Cover bowl and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

4. Freeze in ice-cream maker as manufacturer directs.

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Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great Mother's Day. My husband made every meal today, and they were all wonderful. He did all of the grocery shopping for it, too. (By the way, when you and your husband both go grocery shopping but one of you doesn't want to talk about what you are getting, because the meals are a suprise, you could end up like us, with 3 dozen eggs, 9 lemons, 3 heads of romaine lettuce, a few loaves of bread, etc.) For dinner he grilled some delicious pork chops (photo above). He also made bacon-wrapped asparagus that was to die for-he did it without a recipe, too, so I'll be posting his method below. There was also a salad with a ton of fresh veggies, deviled eggs, and a warm loaf of french bread, with sparkling cranberry-apple cider.

For lunch, he made delicious sandwiches on onion rolls, with honey ham, muenster cheese (one of my favorite cheeses ever), lettuce and tomato. He also cut up a bunch of fresh fruit. It was so yummy.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus Bundles
Recipes and photos by "What A Dish"

Thin Asparagus Spears
Bacon

Use as much asparagus as you want- I think my husband used 6-8 per bundle. Steam until almost crisp-tender. Meanwhile, cook bacon until almost crisp (if it is too crisp, you won't be able to wrap it around asparagus). Using 2 pieces of bacon per bundle, wrap it around the middle of aspargus. Secure with toothpicks. Heat bundles on an outdoor grill about 5 minutes or until bacon is crispy. Remove toothpicks for serving.

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Portuguese Fava Bean Soup

Fresh fava beans are in season! Not that I have ever made favas before, or even considered making them, (a line from a famous movie comes to mind....) that is, until we went to the local produce market last Saturday. Our friend there, who owns and works at one of the stores, suggested we try the fresh favas, and then told us what to do with them- make soup. He described what to put into the soup and I understood most of what he said. (I definitely know more food-related Portuguese words than other parts of the Portuguese language. (He also told us our children were "too white" and we needed to take them to the beach at least an hour every day! Lol.)) The shop owner also showed us how to shell and peel fava beans. The shelling part- easy. Peeling the membrane-thingy off of each individual bean- not so much. I shelled them all, and then sat down at my kitchen counter with a paring knife, a bowl of favas to peel, and a few good songs. ;) I started out with over a kilo of fava pods, and ended up with exactly 8.5 ounces.

Here is the recipe I was able to make up from what our produce man described. It was very good, much better than I (or my husband) thought it would be. My daughter said it tasted exactly like a Portuguese soup she'd had at a local restaurant when we first arrived here. Score! :D We had these with fresh Parmesan rolls. More Italian than Portuguese (should have used Sao Jorge cheese!), but I'll work on that next time. ;) I used some beautiful rose-yellow potatoes in this recipe. Everything in this soup, except for the chicken broth, came from this island.

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Portuguese Fava Bean Soup

Recipes and photos by "What A Dish"

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 leek, white part only, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

3 medium-small red or yellow potatoes, chopped

8.5 ounces fresh fava beans (weighed after shelling and peeling)

3 ounces fresh green beans, chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 quart low-sodium chicken broth

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

fresh pepper, to taste

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, leek and garlic, stirring occasional; cook until limp. Add carrots, potatoes, and fava beans. Add the green beans, chicken broth, tomato sauce, fresh pepper, and paprika. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer, and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until all veggies are tender. Using an immersion blender, blend part of the soup right in the pot to thicken and add texture. Alternately, puree 1/3 to 1/2 of the soup in a standing blender very carefully. Heat about one minute more, and then serve.

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Ranch Potato Casserole

My mom has been making Ranch Potato Casserole- originally from the Taste of Home Family of magazines, for years. I'm so familiar with this recipe now that I can make it from memory. I do change it a little- I add more ranch dressing and sour cream, and I usually use crushed cheese crackers on top of it, instead of corn flakes. (Mostly because I never have corn flakes on hand- but it's really good that way, too). If you are in the US, especially the Western US, Litehouse makes a delicious dressing that is great in this casserole. I like the "Homestyle Ranch" by Litehouse. Now that I don't have access to Lithouse products anymore, I just mix up some Ranch dressing from those dry Hidden Valley packets, but I'm wanting to try making ranch dressing truly from scratch sometime.

This dish is definitely not low in calories or fat, so I only make it for certain occasions. It's great for a holiday dinner with ham. It's one of our fave potato dishes. I'm not really sure of the amounts I actually use, so the following recipe is just my best guess (especially for the potatoes, sour cream, and ranch dressing). This recipe is great with red of yellow (such as Yukon gold) potatoes. I wouldn't try using light or lowfat products with this recipe- sometimes it doesn't make a difference, but it does here!

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Ranch Potato Casserole

8-10 medium unpeeled red or yellow potatoes, cubed (about 2-1/2 to 3 pounds)
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup prepared ranch-style dressing
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

TOPPING:
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup coarsley crushed cheese crackers (such as Cheez-It)

Directions: Cook the potatoes until tender; drain and set aside. Combine the sour cream, dressing, bacon, parsley and 1 cup cheese. Place potatoes in a greased 2 or 3 quart baking dish. Pour sour cream mixture over potatoes and gently toss. Top with 1/2 cup of cheese. Sprinkle crushed crackers on top. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes. Yield: 8 servings.

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