Half Assed Kitchen

Turkey Tetrazzini

We're not overly fond of casseroles around here. To us, they smack of 1971, cream of mushroom soup and canned vegetables.

Though some might call this a casserole, we refuse to acknowledge it as such. We call it yummy. It's a great way to use leftover turkey or can be made with chicken as well.

Here's what you need and how you do it

8 ounces spaghetti, cooked & drained

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup flour

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine (or milk)

1 small onion

1 teaspoon garlic (optional)

1-1/2 cups crimini mushrooms (optional)

2 cups shredded turkey or chicken

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Pepper, to taste

Sprinkle of sage

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter or margarine. Blend flour in gradually. Stir in broth. Add wine or milk and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens.

In separate pan, saute onion, garlic and mushrooms (if you use them). Add salt, pepper and sage.

Add shredded meat into butter/flour mixture. Then add mushroom combo and spaghetti. Pour into 9x13 baking dish and scatter breadcrumbs over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Mashed potato patties

Our favorite thing about Thanksgiving is actually the day after: when we get to enjoy all the food (in the form of leftovers) without doing any of the work. And the best Thanksgiving leftover? Mashed potatoes shaped into patties, fried until golden and served with butter, salt and pepper.

Here's what you need and how you do it

Leftover mashed potatoes

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Form the leftover mashed potatoes into patties, about the size of hamburgers. Place each one in an individual sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate over night (or for at least a few hours).

Warm griddle on medium high heat. Add butter and let it melt. When griddle is fully heated, slap down the potato patties and cook for several minutes. Flip and cook other side. Remove from heat. Add more butter, salt and pepper.

Mmm, dawgies!

P.S. Don't fret if these fall apart a bit. They're still to die for.

Cranberry Crumble

 

We got our hands on this recipe a few days ago and promptly made one for a school Thanksgiving party and one for home. We whipped up our cranberry crumble in less than 10 minutes, and we recommend that you give it a try, too. It's simple, easy and deliciously sweet-tart.

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 package fresh cranberries (you can use canned)

1-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups oatmeal

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup melted margarine or butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare cranberries according to package directions (usually one cup of water, one cup of sugar and cranberries simmering on the stovetop for 10 minutes).

Mix remaining ingredients. Press half of oatmeal mixture into an 8x8 or 9x9 pan. Spread prepared cranberries on top.

Sprinkle rest of the oatmeal mixture on top.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping starts to turn ever-so-slightly golden.

Our take on traditional green bean casserole

Our Thanksgiving green beans are a whole lot simpler and healthier than the traditional casserole style green beans. Granted, they're not as fatty and decadent, but with the fried onions, sea salt and pinch of parmesan, they're still amazingly tasty.

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 pound fresh or frozen green beans (It's hard to find really good ones this time of year, so you might want to opt for high quality, frozen whole green beans.)

Butter or margarine

Sea salt

Fried Onions (like French's)

Parmesan (optional)

Steam fresh green beans until crisp-tender (5 to 10 minutes depending on method). If using frozen beans, just heat until very warm.

Toss with butter.

Sprinkle with salt, onions and parmesan.

Dry brining your turkey

Becky Luigart-Stayner; Melanie J. Clarke

We have to admit, we want to try brining our turkey this year. Everywhere we look brining is touted as the best way to keep your turkey moist and to infuse flavor.

However.

The idea of dealing with the 12-pound bird and a vat of salmonella-y water that will most likely slosh onto the floor and down our fronts is a little daunting.

We just learned about dry brining, and it seems like the perfect solution. All you need is salt, a large plastic bag and the bird. No spills. No yuck.

The L.A. Times covers it better than we ever could. Here's the link.

One caveat: you need to start today. Or, at the latest, tomorrow.

Happy (Dry) Brining!

Cocktail sausages in honey-sesame glaze

Who doesn't like cocktail sausages? Everyone who eats meat loves them, right? They're scrumptious. And that's why we're honoring them in our feature, Half Assed Holiday Apps.

Add a little honey-sesame glaze and they're irresistible. We put some out this afternoon and they disappeared fast.

Here's what you need and how you do it

75 cocktail sausages

1/2 cup honey

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

Preheat oven to 425.

Arrange sausages in a large, shallow roasting pan.

Whisk together honey, oil and soy sauce. Pour over sausages. Stir to coat.

Roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Thanks again to Nigella Lawson for the great idea.

45-minute roast turkey

Short on time this Thanksgiving? Check out Mark Bittman's 45-minute roast turkey over at Oprah.com. You have to be stalwart enough to cut out the backbone, but apparently the bird ends up juicy and the skin crisp.

The recipe is here.

Quick Thai curry

This is probably the best curry we've ever made. The most restauranty. The most flavorful. And the easiest to throw together on short notice.

It's adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe and is a creamy, filling meal. You control the heat, so you can keep it at a low simmer or jack it up to knock your socks off.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

2 Tablespoons canola oil

3 Tablespoons scallions

3-4 Tablespoons green Thai curry paste

2-1/4 lbs. chicken thigh fillets, cut into strips

1 14-ounce can coconut milk (We used light)

1 cup chicken broth

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 Tablespoon fish sauce (a good thing to have around if you like Asian food)

1-1/2 cups frozen peas or frozen soybeans

1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen slender beans

3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro

Several drops of chili oil (depending on how hot you like it)

Cooked rice or noodles

Lime wedges

Heat oil, drop in scallions, stir for 2 minutes. Add curry paste.

Add chicken, turning every 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, cornstarch mixed with a little cold water, stock and fish sauce, then frozen peas or soybeans.

Simmer 10 minutes. Add beans and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve with rice or noodles. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Snickerdoodles

Folksy name and easy-ass recipe aside, these are really tasty cookies. You can usually make them with ingredients you have on hand and almost everyone likes them.

Here's what you need and how you do it

3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk (or soy milk or rice milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Stir together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Cream the butter and sugar together and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix well.

Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture and stir until combined. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in the 3 Tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon. Place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

And here's an amazing recipe we found for vegan snickerdoodles (ie, no eggs or cow's milk):

1 cup margarine

1-1/2 cups granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 Tablespoons soy milk whipped with 2 tbsp cornstarch (I needed more liquid than this and ended up dumping in an extra 1/4 cup or so of soy milk)

3 cups unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon tapioca starch or cornstarch

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

4 Tablespoons granulated white sugar

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder (optional)

(I also added 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar because I love the flavor it lends these cookies.)

Preheat your oven to 300 F.

In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together until smooth. Add the vanilla, and the cornstarch/soymilk mixture, and beat until well-mixed.

In a smaller bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and tapioca/corn starch. Stir this into the wet ingredients and combine well.

In a very small bowl stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder (if desired).

Begin rolling the cookie dough into balls of about 3 Tablespoons each. Roll each ball in the cinnamon/sugar/cocoa powder mixture until completely coated and place on an ungreased baking sheet. 

Continue until all the dough is used up. Using the bottom of a glass, press down on each ball until they are about an inch thick. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes, and no more. The cookies should still seem very soft when you remove them from the oven. Let cool on the pans for about 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire baking rack and let cool completely.

Hokey Pokey--confection at its finest. And easiest.

We remember peanut brittle being a staple around our grandmother's house during the holidays. We were always lukewarm on the peanuts, but we loved the "brittle". And now that we have a son with severe nut allergies, there's no way peanut brittle is coming within 100 feet of our house.

Hokey Pokey is a confection that hails from New Zealand (or so we learned while researching the recipe). And it is a lot like the "brittle", without the nuts. We've heard some compare it to the insides of the British Violet Crumble candy bar.

And it's so easy that we let our kids help us make it.

Here's what you need and how you do it

1/2 cup sugar

4 Tablespoons dark corn syrup

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Mix the sugar and corn syrup together in a pan. Turn on heat and bring to a boiling, bubbling mass. Let it cook like this for at least three minutes (if it does not cook long enough, it won't harden. If you have a candy thermometer, you might want to check that the temp reaches 300 degrees. But our hokey pokey turned out fine without a thermometer.)

Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. It should look like spun gold. Poor onto parchment paper or greased aluminum foil. Let harden (takes 15 to 20 minutes). Then crack it into small pieces.

If you want to step this recipe up a little, you could melt some chocolate, swirl the hokey pokey through it and let cool.