Turkey Tetrazzini: Jan/Feb '03

[valchemist]

I thought this was very good and my DH thought it was great. I read a review of this that was buried in another thread. The reviewer said this was a bit bland (that it needed more spice -- onions or cayenne). Well, I read that review but decided not to add more spice the first time around. I just figured this was supposed to be plain old comfort food. Yesterday we had the very spciy and different "Firecracker Vegetable Roast." We both liked it a lot. But this dish was a nice change of pace from that. Simple and Homey. Sometimes that is what you want.

I did add more parmesan than was called for. Also, I wasn't sure whether or not to add all of the cooking liquid from the mushrooms. I thought that might make things too watery. I decided that I would use all of it for flavor but just use less milk. I only used 1/3 cup milk instead of the 3/4 cup in the recipe.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Turkey Tetrazzini
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
10 ozs uncooked vermicelli
2 tsps vegetable oil
1 lb turkey breast cutlets
3/4 tsp onion powder -- divided
1/2 tsp salt -- divided
1/4 tsp black pepper -- divided
2 tbsps dry sherry
16 ozs presliced mushrooms
3/4 c frozen green peas -- thawed
3/4 c skim milk
2/3 c fat-free sour cream
1/3 c grated parmesan cheese -- about 1 1/2 oz
10 3/4 ozs reduced-fat cream of chicken soup -- such as healthy choice
1/3 c dry bread crumbs
2 tbsps butter -- melted

Preheat oven to 450. Cook pasta and set aside.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle turkey with 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Add turkey to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove turkey from pan.

Add 1/4 tsp onion powder, sherry, and muchrooms to pan. Cover and cook 4 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.

Combine peas, milk, sour cream, cheese, and soup in a large bowl. Chop turkey and add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, pasta, turkey, and mushroom mixture to soup mixture, tossing gently to combine. Spoon mixture into a 13x9 pan coated with spray.

Combine butter and crumbs in a small dish, tossing to combine. sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over pasta mixture. Bake at 450 for 12 minutes or until bubbly.

Source:
"Cooking Light, Jan/Feb 2003"



NOTES : This is a great recipe to make ahead and refrigerate; bake just before you are ready to serve it. the recipe is freezable, too.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size 1 2/3 cups)

459 calories(29% from fat), 14.8g fat, 30.5g protein, 3.1g fiber

[erinl]

I made this for dinner last night. I was kind of surprised, but we gave it 2 thumbs up. I added all of the milk and all of the mushroom cooking liquid and it came out fine. The only thing I would do differently would be to break up the spaghetti/vermicelli into smaller pieces. It was a little difficult to dish up.

[mandarin2j]

As DH said, this was way better than dinner the night before (the Jan/Feb Creamed Chicken). Flavorful enough for comfort food, and the portions were nice & generous, too. Looking forward to my leftovers today for lunch! BTW, I also dumped in the cooking liquid from the mushrooms and used the full amount of milk, and the consistency was fine. I was too lazy to go to another store for turkey cutlets, so I just used chicken breast, but I doubt there's much difference in the flavor. Oh, and instead of plain vegetable oil, I sauteed the shrooms in garlic olive oil. I made this on Sunday and served it last night (Tues), which made it easier to deal with the noodles. I just cut the casserole while it was cold, and heated up the individual portions.

[emily]

I whipped this up last night to eat tonight. I used some left over cooked turkey I had in the freezer, so I skipped the sauteeing step. The only other change I made, shocking I know, was to use whole wheat spaghetti. To save on clean up, I sauteed the mushrooms in the pan the pasta had boiled in and then just dumped everything into that pan with the mushrooms and their liquid. In tasting it last night, I thought it was going to be bland, but when I went home during lunch to make the bread crumb topping I sampled some and thought it was much better, maybe resting is the key? I'm excited to try it hot tonight ;)

I think I'll follow Amanda's lead and just heat up the individual servings though, because there's no way the two of us will eat the whole pan - this is one CL recipe that provides huge servings!

Emily

[swquilts]

Made this tonight....it was very good! Nice comfort casserole type food. I might have used a tad more parmesan than called for, but I stayed true to the recipe pretty much. 3 other people were here (wasn't planned on either! :( ) and they all liked it too. Well, maybe except for friend John who doesn't like mushrooms. He just picked them out. Which actually is better than another friend who is really mental about those little lovely thingies.

A definite repeater! I actually have leftovers for lunch! Yum!! :D

[greysangel]

this got kicked back to the weekend because I was really anxious for browneye's enchiladas :cool: :cool: But I'm looking forward to it after these reviews!

JeAnne

[bkiaj]

I made this last week with a few changes. I skipped the peas altogether. I added a 1/2 teaspoon of bottled garlic and a pinch of chiptole chile powder. I used Italian seasoned bread crumbs. The entire family loved it (well, DD picked out the mushrooms). I will definitely make this again. I made it the night before going out of town with the children for a few days and DH immeaditely asked if there was enough leftover for him to eat everynight we were away! (the answer was yes, by the way).

[greysangel]

two thumbs up...I thought it was good and DH thought it was great.

My only change is adding Fox Point seasoning :D

JeAnne

[Lchiles]

We tried this last night and we give it a 2 thumbs up!! It's a comfort food, so we didn't use any extra spice, did add a little more cheese than recipe called for. Very good!! And servings were more generous than usual. LaurieC

[Canice]

I'm really glad to see all these positive reviews! I'm on the lookout for nice, straight-ahead casseroles for Friday dinner (w/leftovers for DBF to fire up on Sunday) and this looked like a classic. However, I have to say that I'm traumatized for life (;) ) by a youth of many dinners containing a can of -who called it this?- "cream of mystery soup" -LOL! So I'll be OK with this, right? :p What do you think of using fettucine instead of spaghetti? Or should I just leave well enough alone?

Mostly-OT: I've been in SF History mode today, so I can't resist giving a little history on Turkey Tetrazzini, if anyone cares. (And why would you, really? :rolleyes: )
There is a monument on Market Street (a major thoroughfare) called Lotta's Fountain - a gift to the city from singer/entertainer Lotta Crabtree in 1875. In 1906, with virtually every water main in town broken, Lotta's fountain pulled through with enough water to save the extraordinary Palace Hotel, a gem of the city. Ever since then, every April 18, survivors have gathered at the fountain at 5:AM, in remembrance of the catastrophe. But in 1910 a special Christmas Eve concert was held at the fountain to reward locals for their efforts in rebuilding the city, and Italian soprano Luisa Tetrazzini - who'd captured the city's heart some years before - gave a free performance. 250,000 people showed up for it. Legend has it that this dish was created by a local restaurateur in her honor.

[valchemist]

fettuccine would be fine. breaking it in half prior to cooking it would still be a good idea.

[elissaballard]

I made this about a week ago and used only 1/2 the amount of mushrooms, in addition to that I thought they should be smaller. But I agree with the first post that it was a bit bland, good consistency and all but needed a little something else to it, maybe I will try garlic like one of you did.

['lil cooker]

I know this is an older recipe, but am trying to diligently review all new dishes I make. I prepared this last night, and it got a unanimous "thumbs up" in our family. I did increase the parmesan to 2 oz. instead of 1 1/2, and also did not do the turkey part, since I had some leftover chicken from Carraba's to use up (leftovers for three people)! Wonder if it will be as good next time with plain 'ole chicken, since Carraba's is hard to beat (no, it's not low-fat, either)!

[Vicanddi]

I made this last night and it was a winner. DH loved it! I used chicken instead of turkey and used seasoned bread crumbs. I also ended up doubling the sauce because I used 6 chicken breasts. This sure makes a lot! I will make half a recipe next time. This is a great comfort meal, but it does take a little time to put together. I used spaghetti noodles, and cut them a little up as I was mixing everything together, because the long strands made it difficult. Next time, I will cut the noodles in thirds before adding all the other ingredients; it will make it more manageable.

[sweetpea]

This is probably the best thing i have made in a while...yummy comfort food! DH even agreed it was really great! I also used chicken because it was handy and didn't have any mushrooms so i left them out (can only get better with them in, i am sure!)...and used ritz crackers rather than breadcrumbs/butter for topping. Delicious and very forgiving recipe--i only had about 1/2 cup of milk in the house so that is what i used! (can you tell today is grocery day?)