I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and as many people I’ve already got my sights on recipes for Christmas.
But, before I get too deep into that I wanted to share some highlights from our Thanksgiving meal. As I mentioned in my previous post, we decided not to do the traditional turkey and sides. Instead we did a different take on each classic dish. My favorite dishes ended up being the Turkey Strudel and the Potato Croquettes so I figured I’d share those two recipes for you. I did the turkey recipe once already on here and honestly that is what gave me the idea in the first place. But in case ya missed it, here it is again!
Turkey Strudel
(based on Rachael Ray recipe)
- 7 tablespoons butter
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 8 ounces baby spinach
- Salt and pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
- 9 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, cardamom and cinnamon and cook, stirring, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and cook, breaking up the meat, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the pine nuts.
- Return the skillet to high heat. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Drain, squeezing out the excess liquid. Chop the spinach and add to the turkey mixture; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the egg.
- In a microwave, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, lay out a sheet of phyllo and brush with some melted butter. Place another sheet on top and brush with more butter. Repeat with the remaining phyllo and butter.
- Mound the turkey mixture lengthwise into the center of the phyllo. Fold the short ends over the filling and brush with butter. Fold a long end over the filling, then roll up to enclose. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
Potato Croquettes
- 4 cups mashed potatoes
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 can evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 2 egg yolks, beaten
- 2 eggs, beaten
- Dried Italian style bread crumbs and panko bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil, enough to fill pot 1-inch or so- in our case we used a deep fryer but these can easily be done in a regular soup pot.
Directions
Add milk, evaporated milk, butter, salt, pepper, goat cheese, garlic, and beaten egg yolk of 1 egg to the mashed potatoes. Chill in refrigerator and then shape using an ice cream scoop. Dip in one bowl with the beaten egg, then roll through another bowl with bread crumbs. Fry each croquette in shallow oil until brown on all sides. It’s best to cook these in small batches, this prevents the croquettes from crumbling while frying.
And here are pictures from some of the other dishes we did including the Butternut Squash Apple Soup, Green Beans w/ a Soy Sauce mix (from of a couple of our friends who brought this delicious dish!), and a pizza with Brussels Sprouts – an idea I got from We Are Not Martha, and Stuffing with Pomegranate Seeds.
Happy Hump Day! I’ll be back later this week with the first installment in my comfort food recipe series.
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