Turkey Soup

As I was going through pictures I've uploaded to my computer, I was surprised to discover that I had never shared this creamy soup recipe that is perfect for using leftover turkey at the holidays.

This satisfying soup is easy to prepare and doesn't take long to cook.  I think that a hearty soup is the perfect thing to serve on a cold, wintery day.  I found this recipe years ago in one of those small recipe books that are sold near the registers at the market.  This soup gets 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.

In my stock pot, I melt the butter and add the chopped onions and celery.  I cook the vegetables over medium heat until they are tender.

Once the onion and celery are tender, I add the carrots and cook for about 5 minutes.

In a cereal bowl, I combine the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, savory, and parsley flakes.  When all of the dry ingredients are mixed before adding them to the vegetables, it ensures they get more evenly distributed.

I add the flour and spice mixture to the vegetables, stirring to combine so the vegetables are coated.

I gradually add the milk, stirring constantly.  At this point, the mixture is very thick.

Then I add the turkey, stirring to combine.  I use a combination of white and dark meat that I've cut into  1/2-inch cubes.

As you can see above, the mixture is quite thick at this point.

I then add the turkey or chicken stock, which makes it look a lot more like soup!

I then cover and simmer the soup for 15 minutes.

The last ingredient I add is the frozen peas (yes, they get added in frozen form).  I put the lid back on and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Making this soup is a great way to use up leftover turkey, it doesn't take long to assemble or cook, and it will warm your innards (as my Irish mom would say) on a cold day! It's a win-win-win recipe!  Enjoy!

Creamy Turkey Soup

1 large onion, chopped

3 celery ribs, cut into ¼-inch pieces

6 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon savory

½ teaspoon parsley flakes

1 ½ cups milk

4 cups cubed, cooked turkey

5 mediums carrots, cut into 1/4 –inch pieces

3 cups turkey or chicken broth

1 package (10 oz.) frozen peas

In a stock pot, sauté onion and celery in butter until tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the flour and seasonings; gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened.  Add turkey and carrots.  Add enough broth; stir to combine.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add peas; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Alpine Garden Sandwich

We always get a large turkey for Thanksgiving.  This year we had a 23.5 lb. bird.  This always ensures plenty of leftover turkey for some of our favorite meals.  Other than making a turkey (dark meat) and stuffing sandwich, this has to be one of my favorite sandwiches using the white meat.

I first tasted this sandwich on my first day of work at an international accounting firm when a co-worker took me to lunch to meet some of "the girls" in the office.  We went to The Healthy Food Place restaurant and she ordered this sandwich for me, telling me it would be the most amazing sandwich I would ever taste.  Had I known what was in it I would have never ordered it for myself, for I was only 18 yrs. old and still a PB&J on white bread kind of girl.  But I was willing to try anything and loved this sandwich from the first bite.  Of course, I then made some for my family and we make these sandwiches following Thanksgiving every year.

The assembly begins with 7-grain bread.  Any whole grain bread can be substituted.

Both slices get spread with mayonnaise.  As you can see, I like to spread it a little thicker on the slice that will become the bottom of the sandwich.  It's just one of my weird quirks.

Next I place a double layer of fresh baby spinach leaves on one slice of bread.

I top that with the rings of one thin slice of red onion.

The onion is followed by the sliced turkey breast.

Then, I add Swiss cheese.  I know it doesn't have any holes in it, you'll just have to trust me that the cheese pictured is Swiss.

The final layer is alfalfa sprouts!  This is a generous amount.  You may want to skip this layer, but the flavor of the sprouts is a key ingredient in this sandwich.  One time I was making one of these sandwiches for my son and forgot the sprouts.  He took a couple of bites before I realized my omission.  I took it back and added the sprouts.  He said it made a huge difference in the flavor because the sprouts really added something special to it.  On that first day I ate this healthy treat, knowing that there were alfalfa sprouts in it would have kept me from ordering it.  I'm so glad I didn't have a choice!

The last step is to place the other piece of bread on top, mayo side down, cut it and consume.

I suppose a little leftover cranberries added couldn't hurt, but we've decided not to mess with an already terrific turkey sandwich!  Enjoy!

Liza's Award-Winning Turkey Chili

I love a good chili on a cold day!  I call this my award-winning chili because it has now won two Best Chili Awards at two different churches I've attended!  This hearty dish tastes a lot like a traditional ground beef chili, but it's healthier because I use ground turkey.  When I first started making it, my husband thought I had gotten his mother's recipe and was surprised to learn I hadn't and that it wasn't made with beef!

Not only has this chili gotten the approval of the judges, but my guys give this savory treat all 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.  I originally got the recipe for turkey chili from my friend, Joyce Giese.   I've made a few changes, over the years, to that original recipe in the amounts of some of the ingredients to make it my own.

I begin by placing the ground turkey and chopped onions into a Dutch oven, cooking them over medium-high heat until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are tender.  I stir this mixture often, breaking up the meat as it cooks.

As I've mentioned before, my first cooking teacher in Jr. High taught that when several dry ingredients are to be added to a dish, it's best to combine them in a small bowl first.  That way it's easier to get them  evenly distributed in the dish.  I always do was I was taught!  Here I combined the chili powder, dried oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and pepper.

Once combined, I add the seasoning mixture to the turkey and onions.  As you can see, ground turkey never browns, it remains pale but no longer pink once it's cooked thoroughly.  

By adding the seasonings directly to the meat, it gets seared to it in the hot pan.  In this case, it also gives it a color that closely resembles cooked ground beef.   That's one of the reasons this chili fools people into thinking it's made with ground beef.

Next, I add the cans of diced tomatoes, stirring to incorporate.

Then I add the kidney beans and stir again.

The chili beans go in next and I stir them into the mixture.  The chili beans I like to use are the S&W brand chili beans in zesty sauce.

Then, I add the diced green chilies and stir to combine.

The last ingredient I add is the stewed tomatoes.  These tomatoes are in bigger pieces than the diced tomatoes I added earlier, so I cut these down to be about the same size as the diced tomatoes.  I guess I just want them to be more uniform in size.

The picture above shows what the chili looks like when all of the ingredients have been assembled and it's ready to cook for a while.  The next step is to bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it for about 1 1/4 hours.

This next picture shows the chili after it's simmered for 1 1/4 hours.  It's now thicker and richer and if you compare it with the last picture, you can see how much it has reduced in that amount of time.  It's now perfect and ready to serve.  I usually top each bowl with some shredded cheddar cheese and either serve it with piping hot cornbread or Ritz crackers.  When transporting this chili, I take it in a crock pot.    Hint:  When filling a crock pot, always put hot food in a preheated crock pot and cold food in a cold crock pot so the ingredients can heat up with the pot.  This chili can be simmered in the crock pot instead of the stove top, but the lid needs to be off to let it reduce properly.  Enjoy!

Liza’s Award-Winning Chili

20 oz. ground turkey

2 large onions, chopped

2 (15 ½ oz.) cans kidney beans

2 (15 ½ oz.) cans chili beans

1 (28 oz.) can Italian tomatoes, cut up

1 (14 ½ oz.) can stewed tomatoes

2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chili peppers

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

¼ teaspoon pepper

In a Dutch oven, cook the ground turkey and onion until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain.  Stir in the undrained beans, tomatoes and green chilies.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer uncovered about 1 ¼ hours or until desired consistency.

Turkey Club Sandwich with Avocado Aioli

I tried this recipe for the first time recently and think it has become one of the favorites of my family.  One reason is the bread, which is embellished with parmesan cheese and oregano.  Another reason is the marinated vegetables, which give this sandwich a fresh taste.  Then, of course, the addition of bacon makes everything better, according to my guys!

I found this recipe in a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe magazine, which indicated that Helather Halonie of Webster, WI was the person who submitted this recipe.  This sandwich received 9's from everyone on the Melnarik rating scale.

I began by opening a tube of Pillsbury refrigerated Crusty French Loaf and putting it on my baking sheet seam side down.  Mine has a wonderful non-stick surface, so I didn't need to use any cooking spray, if yours does not have a non-stick surface, you'll want to cover it with baking parchment paper or use a no-stick cooking spray where the bread will sit.

With a sharp knife, I cut five diagonal lines into the dough, piercing the top about 1/4 inch.

In a small bowl, I combined the Parmesan cheese and oregano.

After spraying the top of the dough with a mist of oil (no-stick cooking spray or butter may be used here), I sprinkled the cheese mixture as evenly as possible.  Into the oven the bread went to bake at 350°F  for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, I began cooking my bacon (sorry no photo) until crisp.  Also, in a medium bowl, I combined the shredded lettuce, onion, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes and oregano.  Instead of shredding my own lettuce, I bought the pre-shredded lettuce that is found in the produce section of the market near the other bagged lettuces.  This mixture then went into the refrigerator  for 20 minutes to let the flavors blend and to slightly wilt the lettuce.

The kitchen was smelling great at this point.  When the bread was finished, I brought it out of the oven and left it to cool completely.

In a mini food processor, I combined the mayonnaise, garlic and avocado.

I processed this mixture until smooth, scraping the sides once.

When the bread was completely cool, I sliced it lengthwise and pressed down the bread on the bottom half to flatten it so it would hold the vegetable mixture.  Then I spread the avocado aioli on each half.

On the bottom half, I piled the marinated vegetables that I had put in the refrigerator earlier.

Then I added the thinly sliced deli-style turkey.

I then added sliced provolone cheese.

The next layer was the crisp bacon.

I placed the top half of the bread over the bacon and it was ready to slice and serve.

Just looking at this picture is making my mouth water!  There is another sandwich I make where the bread is "dressed" similarly and my oldest son refers to it as the "Jesus Sandwich."  It used to be his favorite sandwich.  When he tasted this one, he declared this one just a little bit better and called this one "The Holy Spirit Sandwich."  When I asked him why, he said it was because it spoke to him!  Enjoy!

Turkey Club Sandwich with Acocado Aioli

1 can (11 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated Crusty French Loaf

1 tablespoon fresh grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves, divided

1 ½ cups shredded lettuce

¼ cup chopped red onion

2 medium plum (Roma) tomatoes, chopped

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ avocado, pitted, peeled and roughly chopped

8 oz. thinly sliced cooked turkey from deli

5 slices provolone cheese

8 slices bacon, halved, crisply cooked

Heat oven to 350°F.  Spray large cookie sheet with no-stick cooking spray or line with cooking parchment paper.  Place loaf of dough, seam side down, on cookie sheet.  Using a sharp or serrated knife, cut 5 diagonal slashes about ¼ inch deep on top of dough.  In a small bowl, combine the Parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoon of oregano.  Spray top of loaf with no-stick cooking spray or oil; sprinkle with cheese/oregano mixture.  Bake 26 to 30 minutes or until deep golden brown.  Cool completely on cookie sheet – about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix lettuce, onion, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes and remaining 1 teaspoon oregano.  Refrigerate about 20 minutes to blend flavors and slightly wilt lettuce.  In a food processor, cover and process mayonnaise, garlic and avocado until smooth.  Cut bread in half horizontally.  Press inside of bottom half of bread to flatten slightly for filling; spread both bottom and top with avocado aioli.  Place lettuce mixture in bottom half.  Top with turkey, provolone cheese and bacon.  Place top of loaf over bacon; cut and serve.