Leftover Turkey Enchiladas

Finished off the last of the turkey with the great after-Thanksgiving turkey enchiladas. I like jazzing up a canned sauce, which makes it much better but faster than starting from scratch.

I used green enchilada sauce, pepper jack cheese, and didn't bother deep frying the corn tortillas or saving sauce in a gravy boat. It was very good.

The Great After-Thanksgiving Turkey Enchiladas

Bon Appétit | November 1998

Serves 6. ingredients 3 tablespoons plus ½ cup vegetable oil 1¾ cups finely chopped onions 1 28-ounce can enchilada sauce 5 plum tomatoes, finely chopped 1½ teaspoons finely chopped canned chipotle chilies* 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro 3 cups coarsely shredded cooked turkey 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese ¾ cup sour cream 12 5- to 6-inch corn tortillas *Chipotle chilies canned in a spicy tomato sauce are sold at Latin American markets, at specialty foods stores and at some supermarkets. preparation Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1½ cups onions and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add enchilada sauce, tomatoes and chipotles. Cover; simmer 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat. Stir in ½ cup cilantro. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Mix turkey, 1½ cups cheese, sour cream, ¼ cup onions and ½ cup cilantro in bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat 1/2 cup vegetable oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Cook 1 tortilla until pliable, about 20 seconds per side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish.

Spoon 1/4 cup turkey mixture in center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas. Arrange seam side down in dish. Spoon 2 1/2 cups sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake enchiladas until heated through, about 30 minutes.

Rewarm remaining sauce in saucepan over medium-low heat.

Transfer to sauceboat. Serve enchiladas, passing sauce separately.

Heat ½ cup vegetable oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Cook 1 tortilla until pliable, about 20 seconds per side. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Spread ½ cup sauce in 13 × 9 × 2-inch glass baking dish.

Spoon ¼ cup turkey mixture in center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas. Arrange seam side down in dish. Spoon 2½ cups sauce over enchiladas. Sprinkle with ½ cup cheese. Bake enchiladas until heated through, about 30 minutes.

Rewarm remaining sauce in saucepan over medium-low heat.

Transfer to sauceboat. Serve enchiladas, passing sauce separately.

Okra-Free Gumbo

Inspired by an article from the Sunday New York Times, I thought I'd try to turn some of our abundance of greens into gumbo. This recipe sounded interesting, and uses lots of random greens instead of okra. I used spinach, bok choy and arugula. We didn't have collards, and threw out our turnip and beet greens last week, or I would have used them.

It was very good, but could have used a little thickener. I added some chicken stock, sausage and frozen shrimp to the base and served it over rice. I would try filé powder next time. We have 6 cups of the base frozen for future use.

I used some cajun seasoning mix instead of the paprika, cayenne, cloves and allspice, and green Tabasco instead of Pickapeppa sauce. the seasonings were about right, but there is a lot of room for playing with them.

Gumbo Zeb from The Passionate Vegetarian

Roux:
½ c mild vegetable oil
½ c unbleached all-purpose flour

Vegetable Saute:
4 T margarine
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
½ bunch celery with leaves, chopped
½ large bunch scallions, chopped

Seasoning Puree:
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 T Pickapeppa sauce
2 T tomato paste
2½ t Tabasco
1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried thyme
½ t paprika
¼ t cayenne
¼ t ground allspice
¼ t ground cloves
3 to 4 good grinds of fresh black pepper
1 can (8 oz.) whole tomatoes, drained, coarsely choped, the juice and tomatoes reserved separately
½ bunch Italian parsley, leaves and stems, rinsed and coarsely chopped

Stock and Greens:
Cooking spray
3 c any well-flavored vegetable stock
1 c tomato juice or V8 juice
½ t salt
2 bay leaves
3 bunches assorted greens, well washed and cut into ribbons

Make the roux with the oil and flour: Pour the oil into a large skillet or pot. Turn the heat to medium and immediately whisk in the flour. Stir frequently as the roux changes color from white to yellow to fairly brown. While the roux cooks, proceed with the other steps, but be sure to keep an eye on it, stirring very frequently. Warning--this is a long, slow process requiring attention.

Prepare the vegetable saute: In a heavy cast-iron skillet, melt the margarine over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the bell pepper and celery, lower the heat slightly and continue sauteing for another 10 minutes. (Don't forget the roux--keep stirring it while the vegetables saute.) Add the scallions and saute until limp, about 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, between the sauteing and the roux-stirring, you will have time to prepare the seasoning puree. Place all the ingredients for the seasoning puree except the tomatoes and parsley in a food processor. (Pause to stir both roux and vegetable saute.) Buzz the puree ingredients until the garlic is finely chopped.

Check the roux again, then add the tomatoes and parsley to the food processor. Chop coarsely.

Pause to take note of where you are, and go stir the roux and vegetable saute (By now you have three mixtures: the roux, the sauteed vegetables, and th spicy, chunky paste in the food processor.) When the vegetables have softened, remove from the heat and set them aside. Keep working on the roux until it has reached a nice toasty brown. It may be ready now, or it may take a little longer.

Now prepare the stock and greens into which the other three mixtures will eventually go. Spray a large soup pot with cooking spray. In it, bring to a boil the stock and 1 cup of tomato juice (from canned tomatoes). Add the salt and bay leaves. Drop in the fresh greens. Bring back to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered for about 30 minutes.

Stir the roux. By now it should be dark caramel brown, but if it isn't, continue to cook it, stirring. When the roux has browned, remove it from the heat nad let it cool for a few minutes. Drain off any excess oil that has separated out, but be sure to leave every bit of the browned flour. Vigorously whisk in the 1 cup tomato or V8 juice. It will be smooth and thick and a pale orange paste.

When the greens have finished their 30-minute simmer, remove them from the heat. To the stock pot, add the roux mixture, the vegetable saute, and the seasoning puree. Give a taste and adjust the seasoning, set the pot back on the stove, and let simmer over the lowest possible heat, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir often.

Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

(found here, with some typos corrected, but recipe referred to in the NY Times is in The Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread by the same author)

Final veggies

It was a fairly light final box, by recent standards. We didn't get everything that was listed (no collards or kohlrabi, and as far as I can tell they all look like turnips, not rutabagas). It will still take us a while to get through everything, but we will be buying vegetables at the store again for the winter.

• Arugula
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Collards
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• Braising Mix
• Parsley
• Rutabaga
• Sage
• Thyme
• Turnips

The end is near

Next Sunday is our last week of vegetables. As much as we love them, we are feeling oppressed now. this week:

• Arugula
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celeriac
• Lettuce
• Braising Mix
• Parsley
• Radicchio
• Turnips

I made mashed rutabaga this week. We eat salad as often as we can. We're doing well on broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, but we can't keep up with the greens. We haven't eaten any of our recent raddicchio. we have a drawer in our fridge given over to turnips and radishes. It will be a relief to receive our last vegetables of the season next week. By the time they start up again in May, we will certainly miss them, though.