Movie Night at Ru and Lou’s

Movie Night at Ru and Lou’s

When thinking about movie food one usually thinks popcorn.  When I think movies I typically think cake!  In most movie theaters, even the upscale ones, I have yet to find the quality of cake that I would be willing to spend the big bucks on.  So instead, we created our own big screen movie theater at home and I make the cake for our guests.  Also typically not in the local movie establishment, the coffee that we serve is from Italy (illy dark roast whole beans) and the tea is from France (THE’ NOIR EARL GRAY).

This time I chose to make two cakes.  One is a winter holiday favorite, Pumpkin Bread.  The basic recipe comes from The New Settlement Cookbook: The First Classic Collection of American Ethnic Recipes (edited by Charles Pierce in 1991).  I purchased this cookbook when my copy of The Settlement Cook Book: The way to a man’s heart (1945) that was given to me by my mother began to disintegrate.  My version of this cake includes chocolate chips, toasted pecans (pronounced as it is spelled), and candied fruits such as cherries and pineapple.

The second cake was a first time experiment.  I only try out new recipes on trusted guests who I feel will provide honest feedback.  As in life, some people value honest feedback and some are personally offended by it.  I for one use the feedback to trash it, keep it, or try it again with some variation until it becomes one or the other.  Before any recipe becomes part of our regular repertoire, it must receive multiple thumbs up.  This cake was derived from a recipe that was in the October 2009 issue of Food & Wine magazine.  Basically, make a pound cake batter and get a jar of Nutella Hazelnut Spread.  Lay down one-third of the batter in a pan, spread one-half of the Nutella on the batter, repeat, and then top off with the remaining third of the batter.  I used my favorite pound cake recipe in this fashion.  All of the adults and the teenagers seemed to like it, so I guess it will stay in the recipe file.

p.s. The movie that we watched was Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio.  My goal is not to do movie reviews but…. great special effects, however a plot that was nearly impossible to coherently follow from beginning to end.

What To Do With Leftover Turkey

One of the things we like to do with leftover turkey is to make Tetrazzini.  This dish can also be made by using freshly cooked or leftover chicken.  This recipe was handed down by Louise’s family so we do not know where it came from.  Probably from a cookbook that someone had.

This recipe serves four, but it can be multiplied or divided to make more or less.  However, one of our mottos is “Why make less when you can make more and freeze it for another day?”

The ingredients are:

2 pounds cooked turkey or chicken

½ pound broken up spaghetti or broad egg noodles

2 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons grated Gruyere cheese ¹

1/2 pound mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter

For the Béchamel sauce

½ cup butter

¾ cup flour

1 cup whole milk, warmed

2 cups turkey stock (or chicken stock), warmed

Salt and white pepper ²

2 tablespoons dry white wine

he assembly:

Cut turkey or chicken into large bite size pieces.

Sauté the mushrooms in the 2 tablespoons of butter in a hot skillet until browned.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside to cool.

To make the Béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan, then whisk in the flour (you are making a roux at this point).  Whisk constantly for five minutes to cook out the flour taste.  Gradually add in the milk and then the stock, whisking until smooth and thick.  Whisk in the cheese and salt and pepper to taste.  Add in the wine.  If too thick, add a little more milk.  Let cool for 15 minutes.

Cook the pasta in salted water until Al Dante ⁴.  Drain and place in a large bowl.  Mix in 2 tablespoons melted butter and 1 cup of the Béchamel sauce.  Add the turkey and mushrooms.

Spread the mixture in a buttered baking dish.  Cover with the remaining Béchamel sauce, grated Gruyere cheese, Panko bread crumbs, and a little more melted butter.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees until bubbly.  If not fully browned and crispy on top you can put it under the broiler for a few minutes (watch it carefully to make sure it does not burn).

Gruyere cheese, Panko bread crumbs ³, and 2 tablespoons melted butter for the top

Eat some, freeze some, but most of all enjoy!

A second and simpler option is to take the turkey stock and make it into soup.  Cut-up parsnips, carrots, onions, and mushrooms are added to the hot soup, and the vegetables are cooked until tender.  Since the stock never had any salt added to it, this is the time for seasoning.  Some diced turkey can be added and heated until hot. 

Most traditional would be to add some noodles, thus making turkey noodle soup.  However, in our household we typically add matzo balls.

1. Even simple dishes are only as good as the quality of ingredients that you use.  Gruyere cheese imported from Switzerland is available at most better supermarkets.

2. White pepper is preferable when making white sauces because you do not see black flecks in your sauce.  However, in a pinch, black pepper can be used.  A word about spices like pepper: their shelf-live is limited.  Packaged spices have expiration dates, check them.  I prefer to buy my spices in small quantities from a spice shop.  Having come from Illinois we still prefer to get our spices and spice blends from The Spice House in Evanston Illinois (http://www.thespicehouse.com/), a must stop for foodies when in the Chicago area.

3. Panko is a Japanese bread crumb that makes fried foods and toppings very crispy.

4. Al Dante is the Italian cooking term (“to the tooth”) typically used for pasta that is slightly under cooked so that it still has some resistance when bitten.  Since this dish will bake in the oven, you do not want the pasta to be mushy.