Foodie Friday

I've had an interesting week in the kitchen.  To begin with, I finally made a successful omelet!  The last time Jason's parents came to visit, my FIL showed me the trick... just leave it alone and flip it once it's mostly on the plate.  Well folks, for the first time ever for me, I listened and it worked.  I have major issues leaving a pot alone... I think it comes from my mother...


In the pan (I know, I know, canned mushrooms, but it was morning and I'm particularly lazy in the mornings!)

And on the plate:  After looking at Wikipedia, I think this may be a French omelet because it's thin and barely has any color.  Either way, it's tasty!  :)

Directions for the perfect omelet:  beat eggs well, with a little water.  Season to taste.  Pour into a med hot pan filmed with melted butter, and walk away until the eggs are mostly set.  Add toppings.  When it's done enough for you, slide out of pan, halfway onto plate.  Fold omelet in half using the pan.




Chicken Tetrazzini:
I failed on this one, but I'll give you the recipe first so you can see where I failed.  I got the recipe from my mom, and I'm not sure where she got it.  I did find a very similar one here.


1/4 cup butter, 
1/4 cup flour, 
1/2 tsp salt, 
1/4 tsp pepper, 
1 cup chicken broth, 
1 cup whipping cream (or light cream or half and half), 
2 Tbsp sherry, 
1 pkg (7oz) spaghetti, cooked and drained, 
2 cup cubed chicken or turkey, 
1 cup sliced mushrooms, 
1/2 cup grated parmesan


Preheat oven to 425°.
Cook spaghetti or noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat; sauté sliced mushrooms until golden. In a saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter; stir in flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth; remove from heat and add chicken broth and cream. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened. Add chicken, cooked mushrooms, and sherry; heat through. Place noodles or spaghetti in a buttered baking dish; pour on sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425° for 15 to 20 minutes, until hot and bubbly.
Chicken tetrazzini serves 8.


Seems simple enough, and I get to stir constantly (yay!).  However Jason and I tend to get lazy when we make things in the oven, so we try to throw our veggie in with the dish, that way it's a one pot meal.  Generally I use broccoli, and that has worked well every time (If you try it with broccoli, use fresh and give it a light steam before adding it to the dish, or if you like it crunchy, add it fresh without steaming).  This time I went crazy and tried to use frozen spinach.  Big mistake.  Don't do it!  It didn't taste quite right and over powered the yummyness of the tetrazzini.  I also made the mistake of using milk instead of cream of half and half.  The sauce did not set up as well and the flavors were just off.  Not inedible, just not good.  Anyway, here is the finished product:

I chose this pic so you can see we've bought the essentials for the kitchen: a knife set and wine glasses!  :)


So what do you do with that huge 9x13 of leftovers when you need the dish in two days because Jason is making lasagna?  Giada to the rescue.


I stumbled over a recipe for Pizza di Spaghetti and have actually tried it with my own spaghetti recipe when we were still living in the States, but it didn't set up properly and failed.  I did a slightly different take on this recipe with my tetrazzini this morning.


2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup parmesan
salt and pepper
2 cups leftover tetrazzini
EVOO

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Add leftover spaghetti and combine well.

In a large 10-inch non-stick skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add spaghetti and egg mixture, spreading evenly and pressing down in pan. Cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Carefully invert onto plate, add a little more oil to the pan, and slide mixure back into skillet and cook the other side for 6 minutes. Turn out onto serving platter and cut into wedges and serve warm.

Those are Giada's instructions.  I didn't use the amount of EVOO she called for, just lightly filmed the bottom of the pan.  Instead of inverting the dish onto a plate since mine did not set up after 8 minutes, I cooked it in the pan until it had set a bit more.  Then I realized I did not have a plate nearly big enough to catch it (or cutting board for that matter... I checked).  So I turned on the oven, covered the non-ovensafe skillet handle with foil, and slid skillet into the oven for 20 minutes.  I just turned on the upper heating element to 200 degrees Celcius and let it go until it looked brown and delicious.  A definite save for the tetrazzini!