Turkey and Cheese Enchiladas Verde

We mixed it up this year and enjoyed turkey leftovers on Thursday, waiting to officially celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday. Flight schedules and weather get the blame - or credit - for the change this year. It's always worth waiting for family to arrive and join the party, plus this gave me an extra day to get organized.

Leftover turkey before you roast a bird??? It's easy enough when you roast several turkey legs and thighs for gravy stock several days ahead of time. Today we enjoyed turkey and cheese stuffed enchiladas filled with said poultry, three cheeses, onion, poblano chile, mini sweet peppers, cilantro and some heat from ground chipotle chile and green taco sauce. Yes! they were delicious, and hooray! there's still some turkey left to enjoy in turkey posole or gumbo later next week. 

My enchiladas are random creations, never the same twice, but here is a close approximation of today's version. 

Turkey and Cheese Enchiladas Verde

1 Tbs oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 large poblano chile, seeded and diced, divided
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried cilantro
1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder
1/4 cup green taco sauce (La Victoria)
3 cups homemade turkey stock (+ 1/2 additional to mix with cornstarch)
1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch 
salt and pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked turkey thigh meat 
4 mini sweet peppers, seeded and diced
1 cup kale, destemmed and rough chopped
generous 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
generous 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
3 slices havarti, sliced for topping (or substitute another soft cheese)
5 medium-sized flour tortillas (more or less to fill the baking dish)

1. Saute the onions in tablespoon of oil until translucent; add half of the poblano and cook to soften. Stir in the seasonings: oregano, cilantro and chipotle. 
2. Add the taco sauce and turkey stock and simmer a while. Mix cornstarch with the additional 1/2 cup of cool stock and add to the pot to thicken into a thin sauce. Keep simmering (but don't boil or the cornstarch will loose its thickening effect). Taste, add salt and pepper if desired, and adjust seasonings as needed.
3. Spoon some of the sauce into a baking dish to cover the bottom with a thin coating. (I used an 8x10-inch pan)
4. In a medium-sized bowl mix combine the shredded turkey, shredded cheeses, remaining poblano, sweet peppers and kale. Add a little of the sauce, just enough to moisten and flavor.
5. Dip a tortilla into the sauce and place on a dinner plate. Spoon a line of the turkey/cheese mix down the middle and roll up. Place seam side down in the sauced baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.
6. Drizzle any remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas (optional). Cover with remaining cheese.
7. Tent the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 325 F. Uncover and bake an additional 20-30 minutes or until the top crisps up a bit and the cheese turns golden brown. Let the dish stand for several minutes until the sauce and cheese firm up a bit. 
8. Serve with additional taco sauce, sour cream, avocado slices or guacamole. 

Microwave Risotto with Lemon and Broccoli

Hilary and Chelsea came by for another cooking session (see previous post) and their requested topic was Side Dishes 101. That covered a huge range of possibilities, so we narrowed it down to a vegetable and a starch. The girls suggested Brussels sprouts and rice, two ingredients that can be prepared in a variety of ways. We began with the sprouts, first Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Potatoes and Bacon and then Sprout Chips with a honey and Sriracha sauce. Next came a traditional stovetop Risotto with Mushrooms, Lemon and Basil followed by a Rice Pilaf with Nuts and Dried Fruits. The girls measured, chopped, stirred and tasted, and we filled the afternoon with good eats and laughing conversation. I organized, and they did all of the work cooking and cleaning up. Lucky me!

Evidently the leftovers were popular the following day as well:

"Thank you, thank you for such a fun cooking lesson yesterday! We could not stop talking about the dishes when we got home. I added some chicken to my rice pilaf and packed it up for lunch today...sure beats a cold turkey sandwich! I wonder if there will be any risotto left when I get home tonight ;)" 

Each dish took 45 minutes or longer in combined preparation and cooking time, an issue when you arrive home super-hungry after work and want something quick to eat, quick like right now. I wondered if risotto in the microwave would (1) speed up the process significantly and (2) produce an acceptable, authentic-tasting risotto. Barbara Kafka's 575-page Microwave Gourmet, a terrific guide to all things microwaveable, provided helpful guidance. This cookbook is so useful that I keep a copy in the kitchen ashore and have another copy onboard in the boat galley (thank you Jean for that second copy).

Kafka's risotto recipe recipe provides variations and directions for portions to serve 6, 2 or 1 as a first course. Single portions are handy when you want to test a new recipe, or to experiment swapping ingredients. I added lemon juice and zest, broccoli florets and parsley to the basic recipe-for-one, and was pleased with the result. The rice kernels finished perfectly, midway between too soft and too toothy, and the dish's overall flavor had a lovely citrusy tang. This was definitely a tasty rice dish worth repeating, but... not quite my usual, creamy risotto. Perhaps a larger 6-person batch, with more liquid and its longer 30-minute cooking time, would better approximate the classic version, but it wouldn't save much time for the cook. 

Final thoughts: microwave risotto is a useful preparation for one or two, but I will continue to use the traditional method for company meals. This is still a work in progress. Now, about risotto in the pressure cooker... there's another quick-cook method to try.

Microwave Risotto with Lemon and Broccoli

based on Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet

Serves 1 as a first course, 2 as a side dish

1/2 Tablespoon butter
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup Arborio rice
2 green onions, chopped; divided into white and green portions
handful of broccoli florets, chopped; divided into flowers and stems
juice of 1/2 lemon (approx 1 tablespoon)
1 1/4 cups homemade or lo-salt chicken broth, at room temperature
salt and white pepper, to taste
2 Tbs shredded fresh Parmesan
2 Tbs loosely packed, minced, fresh flat-leaf parsley
zest of 1/2 lemon (optional)

1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a deep pie dish, uncovered, in a full-size microwave at full power for 30 seconds. 
2. Add the rice, the chopped white portion of the onions and the chopped broccoli stems to the dish and stir to coat. Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes.
3. Add the broccoli florets, the lemon juice and all of the broth. Stir to mix and cook, uncovered for 6 minutes.
4. Stir again and cook, uncovered, for 6 minutes. (Yes, that's a total of 12 minutes with some stirring in the middle.)  
5. Remove from the microwave and let stand, uncovered, for 3 or 4 minutes. If you want a creamier risotto, this is a good time to add an additional tablespoon of chicken broth. Taste, then add salt and white pepper as needed.
6. Stir in the Parmesan, green portion of chopped onions, minced parsley and lemon zest if you are using some.

Risotto can be made ahead of time, IF you hold back a portion of the liquid and stop the final cooking 2 minutes early. Cover the partially cooked dish and hold at room temperature. When you are ready to serve, add the remaining liquid and cook, uncovered, for 2 or 3 minutes.