Thanksgiving Solution!
from Hank Phillippi Ryan
Thanksgiving
is coming! (You don’t need me to remind you, I know.) Every time I think of
Thanksgiving, I think of my mom. She taught us that turkey was best if it was
dry, not juicy. Seriously. I grew up thinking that juicy turkey was
undercooked.
At our
Thanksgiving table, you’d hear—“Oh, yum, Mom, this turkey is great, it’s really
dry.”
Good going,
mom. Fooled us all these years. (I still prefer dry turkey. But that is another
blog.)
TRUTH BE
TOLD, there’s no such thing as a holiday for a reporter, so the last time Jane
Ryland (the lead character in my latest series) sat down to a fabulous holiday
dinner is—well, never. I know the
feeling. As a reporter for the last 40 years, I’m often working on Thanksgiving,
so all I get are the leftovers.
However!
Making something out of nothing is the hallmark of a good reporter—as well as a
good story-teller. And in this case, it’s especially wonderful if the “nothing”
includes wine and fresh mushrooms. And leftovers.
First, get
the leftovers from a roast turkey. (Okay, I know this may be a problem. If
you’re doing Thanksgiving, it’s easy. If not, get some turkey. But it can’t be
sliced deli turkey. It’s got to be authentic turkey that a real person actually
cooked.)
Then, read this
recipe all the way through before you start because its success depends on
doing several things at the same time--and having the ingredients prepped and
the utensils ready to go. It sounds a little more complicated than it actually
is, and the first time I made it I burst out laughing--it looked like I had
used every pan I owned. Now I've made it so often I don't even need the recipe
anymore!
You can use
more or less pasta and mushrooms and turkey--it doesn't really matter. An added
bonus--your kitchen will smell fantastic while this is cooking.
This serves
about 6-8 people-- and reheats beautifully. This is so delicious and decadent,
we look forward to this just as much as our holiday turkey.
And read to
the end for a special MLK only giveaway!
INGREDIENTS:
*1 pound
mushrooms
*1/4 to ½
pound spaghetti or macaroni
*two or
three cups shredded cooked white meat turkey (leftover from your holiday
turkey!)
*3
Tablespoons butter, plus three more tablespoons butter
*I clove
chopped garlic
*3
Tablespoons flour
*2 cups
chicken broth
*1 cup
heated whipping cream (fat-free half and half will also work)
*3
Tablespoons dry white wine
*salt and
pepper
* grated Parmesan cheese.
* grated Parmesan cheese.
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the
oven to 375.
Saute:
*1 pound
sliced mushrooms
Saute' in butter and chopped garlic...keep
warm, while at the same time you
Cook
*1/4 to ½
pound spaghetti or macaroni.
While this
is cooking,
Take the
leftover meat from your holiday turkey--shred it so you have
*two or
three cups shredded turkey
(I like
just using white meat--but it works with dark too)
Set aside
in a bowl large enough to allow you to add to it.
Okay, I
know this sounds complicated, but at the same time you're going to make a
sauce:
Melt
*3
Tablespoons butter
Sprinkle
with
*3
Tablespoons flour
Stir to
make a paste, then add (a little at a
time…)
*2 cups
chicken broth
Allow to
thicken...this will take about 15 minutes.
Remove from
heat, then stir in
*1 cup
heated whipping cream (fat-free half and half will also work)
*3
Tablespoons dry white wine
*salt and
pepper
Now
**Drain the
pasta, put it back into the pan and mix in the sautéed mushrooms. Add one half
of the sauce to this mixture.
**Add the
other half of the sauce to the bowl of shredded turkey.
**Put the
pasta and mushroom mixture in a greased baking dish. Make a hole in the center,
and
**put the
turkey/sauce mixture in the middle.
**Sprinkle
the top with
* grated
Parmesan cheese.
Bake till
lightly browned and cooked through...at least 20 minutes.
SO
delicious! You will not believe it. So--make a lot.
HANK: Well, now I’m hungry. But do
you have any turkey secrets? Leave a comment..and you’ll be entered to win the
Hank book of your choice: THE OTHER WOMAN, THE WRONG GIRL, or TRUTH BE TOLD! Remember to leave your email address so Hank can contact you if you win.
Here's a teaser for:
TRUTH BE TOLD begins with an all-too-familiar tragedy in today’s headlines: a middle-class family evicted from their home in the suburbs of Boston. In digging up the facts on this heartbreaking story—and on other foreclosures—reporter Jane Ryland soon learns the truth behind a big-bucks scheme and the surprising players who will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep their goal a secret.
Boston police detective Jake Brogan may have a liar on his hands. A man has confessed to the Lilac Sunday killing, a long-unsolved murder that haunted Brogan’s police-commissioner grandfather. While Jake’s colleagues take the confessor at his word, Jake is not so sure.
In the meantime, Ryland and Brogan’s paths are once-again intertwined—and as their private relationship heats up, it may mean difficulties in their professional lives.
Financial manipulation, the terror of foreclosures, the power of numbers, the primal need for home and family and love… What happens when everything you believe is true turns out to be a lie?
