I’m off visiting with family this holiday, and just like you, we’re bound to have lots of leftover turkey. Here’s a recipe from my kitchen that’s sure to please:
LEFTOVER TURKEY ENCHILADAS
4 cups chopped turkey
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
1½ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
8 oz. package cream cheese
1 16 oz. can green enchilada sauce
10-12 medium sized flour fajita tortillas
Combine all ingredients except tortillas; mix well. Place ½ cup of the mixture along one end of a tortilla; distribute evenly along the length. Roll up into a tube shape. Place in a 8×10 cake pan, seam side down. Repeat with other tortillas. Pour green sauce over the enchiladas; make sure they are all covered. Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes. You can make enchildadas ahead or freeze prior to baking. Bake up to 60 minutes if frozen.
Top as desired with chopped black olives, grated cheese, chopped green onion and finish with a dollop of sour cream.
Enjoy your turkey time, and thank you, Orcas Island, for your support throughout the year.
Trees are budding, birds are singing and one by one, my friends and family have succumbed to end-of-season coughs and sniffles. Determined to remain healthy, I’ve been vigilantly washing my hands, getting my rest, taking Vitamin C – the usual defenses. Still, this week I was invaded by the dreaded Spring Cold. Even on beautiful Orcas Island, the Spring Cold ain’t pretty!
I instinctively felt the urge for a healing pot chicken soup. Cooking is not my “thing” and in the past my homemade chicken soup has been blah at best. So I scoured the internet for recipe ideas and picked elements of each that I combined into one Awesome Chicken Soup! This soup has a delicate but complex blend of flavors with enough punch to break through those gunky taste buds when you’re sick, and would also be a tasty treat for a healthy palate. I’m happy to report that after three courses (along with other homeopathic goodies) I’m on the mend. 🙂
Awesome Chicken Soup
2 bone-in chicken breasts
1 large onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 stalks Celery, chopped
Carrots – I used baby carrots but you could chop whole carrots
Sea Salt Pepper Curry powder
Nutmeg 1 Lemon Rosemary – fresh
Optional – bay leaf, fresh parsley. I didn’t have these on hand.
Put chicken breasts in pot, cover with water
Add whole quartered onion, 4 crushed garlic cloves, sea salt, curry, nutmeg, pepper. Note: I didn’t measure the spices but used generous amounts!
Bring to boil, cook approx 30-45 minutes uncovered till chicken done
Remove chicken, onions and garlic from stock pot. Save the chicken and throw out onions and garlic.
While shredding meat off the breasts, bring stock to boil, add chopped celery
After 5 min, add carrots
After 10 minutes, add pasta (I used ½ box of Barilla Plus rotini), Bring to boil, cook for 10 min and reduce to simmer
Stir in shredded chicken, squeeze of whole lemon and fresh rosemary
Serve with fresh grated parmesan on top
Serves 6-8
There are endless ways to vary this, and if you have an Awesome Chicken Soup recipe to share, I’d love to hear it!
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island? Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
Here’s a wonderful recipe I’m preparing for friends and family this Thanksgiving on Orcas Island. It’ll keep them all happy while I’m getting dinner ready! Even if you’re not here with us, you can treat your guests to this delicious appetizer of butternut squash, cranberries and cheddar cheese. You can be sure they will thank you! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Butternut Squash, Cranberry and Cheddar Wontons
1 small butternut squash
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup extra sharp or Habanero cheddar, grated
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
24 wontons
1 quart vegetable oil, for frying
Preheat oven to 350F
Cut squash in half and remove seeds, sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Place cut side up in baking dish. Add 2 cups of water and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 45 minutes, or until tender.
Scoop out ¾ cup of flesh into mixing bowl. Stir in cheese and cranberries, salt and pepper to taste.
Arrange wonton skins on work surface. Place a ½ tablespoon scoop of filling in the center of each. Brush two edges with water, fold in half to make a triangle and press to seal.
In heavy sauce pan or deep fryer, heat oil to 350F, and fry wontons in batches until golden brown. Watch carefully: they can burn easily.
Remove from oil and transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve warm with Sesame Cranberry Dipping Sauce.
Sesame Cranberry Dipping Sauce
½ cup jellied cranberry sauce
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp sesame seeds
This is soooo easy, fresh and light. A dish that is just right for a summer casual patio dinner. I pulled the recipe out of a magazine (Rachel Ray’s, Whole Living, Light Cooking or Martha) Not sure which one. I have since lost the recipe so I create by memory… that’s my style. I do not like to follow directions.
Serves two people with a little left for Jay’s next day lunch.
Peel a hand full (10) prawns, set aside.
Local prawns
½ package of fettuccini. Place pasta in boiling pot of water while you make sauce below. Cook fettuccini to al dente. I have used many styles, rice, whole wheat, egg noodle. Any style you choose will be great with this light sauce.
Add 2 tbsp. of olive oil to a skillet (I have the biggest collect of cast iron skillets in San Juan County!)
Add chopped or grated garlic and sauté, careful not to burn.
Add ½ c. white wine and bring to a simmer.
Turn heat to low, add ½ c. Crème Fraiche and mix well. I have added more if my noodles seemed too much and needing more love.
Add 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice.
Add prawns and cook 2-3 minutes, just until they turn pink.
Add cook pasta and toss. Salt and pepper to taste.
Light, fresh sauce adds just the right touch to local seafood
Serve in bowls with freshly grated parmesan cheese, a hint of grated lemon peel and chopped chives.
I serve this with a side green salad. Top with a splash of color with sliced green grapes and strawberries.
Crudités are a great side as well
I recommend serving around a fire on the patio with a great bottle of wine-bonus= ROMANCE!!
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island? Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
I was honored to receive an invitation to breakfast from Carl and Sue Silvernail, owners of Otters Pond Bed and Breakfast. The date was the Friday before Easter week-end and the B&B was booked for the holiday. However, Carl and Sue found time to share their home located on a tranquil forest-wetland, Otter’s Pond, with a few of us locals.I met Carl and Sue 15 years ago when they were purchasing this home and needed a permit for the Bed and Breakfast. Permit in hand and the purchase behind them, they set out to create a romantic, cozy, nature based island getaway where people will feel welcome and relaxed.The home sits on the edge of Otters Pond where a variety of wildlife swim, swoop and waddle. I’m saying this pond is alive! I watched the newly arrived hummingbirds sip sweet nectar adjacent to several bird feeders loaded up with bird seed. The amount of bird seed Carl and Sue need on hand was shocking, but the affect is something all visitors will remember
Melt in your mouth sorbet
I arrived that morning to find Carl and Sue busy in the kitchen creating tasty, colorful courses soon to put smiles on their guest’s face. First course was a melt in your mouth guava sorbet. Presentation is everything and each course was a feast to the eye before your taste buds wanted more. Spiced baked pears followed with a very simple presentation, yet also a promise to the palette. Just when I thought it could not go on, a mini dutch apple pancake was served with lemon.
I found myself asking for the recipe and Sue handed me a recipe book show casing her favorite recipes, Featherbed Eggs and Other Favorite Recipes. I served my husband dutch apple pancakes for Easter!!!
Taking time to share this special place with a few of us locals that morning before a busy week-end tells you the business plan for the B&B is about people and comes from the heart. Give Carl and Sue and call 1-888-893-9680 or check out their website www.otterspond.com and tell them Teri sent you 🙂
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island? Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
I have never thought about finding a honey comb in our local woods. Well now I am thinking and looking.
Found Honey Comb
Jay was at the local neighborhood “club house” and saw a honey comb sitting on the counter. One of the guys had found it out in the woods and brought it in.Just another show and tell at the end of the day where a few beers are enjoyed and stories of the day’s goings on echo around the room. But, nobody was getting too excited about the bee’s work.
Jay can’t think of anything going to waste, and more importantly, he is always looking for a “find” to gift his bride-me!
The honey comb came home and placed in a plastic freezer bag, small hole cut in the corner and the project was hung by the wood stove with great hope of something sticky and sweet. I was feeling a bit like Winnie the Pooh!!
Thoughts of Winnie the Pooh in my head
We are now enjoying the sweetest of treats and dreaming of more edible finds in the woods.A great website for honey: www.honey.com
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to cook and feed people, so when my son asked me if we would like to do the rehearsal dinner for his upcoming wedding here on Orcas, I jumped at the chance! He reminded me that this was not going to be a traditional wedding. Good, I said because this was not going to be a traditional rehearsal dinner. My invites read something like this- “Welcome to Orcas………Island Style. We begin with a bonfire; add good food, family and friends. What to Bring: warm clothes/outdoor shoes”. Then I reminded my son to inform our guests of the weather here at the end March!
Next…menu planning. Welcoming guests to Orcas for the first time or anytime is meaningful to me and has to include as much of what we offer here as possible.
I called Becca Gray, Island Hoppin Beer, www.islandhoppinbrewery.com and ordered up one of their hoppy beers. My son and his bride live in Portland where IPA’s are very popular. City brewing has nothing over Orcas brewing!
Next I contacted Rick Hughes, Ray’s Pharmacy (more than your mainland Rite Aid) and ordered wine. Jay gave me an organic red for Christmas that seemed to swallow easily, Green Truck, www.classicwinesofcalifornia.com/585winepartners/redtruck.htm . Rick recommended a white also and the beverages were checked off the list!
A call to my favorite oyster business, Judd Cove Oysters, check them out at www.oysterguide.com/maps/northern-puget-sound/judd–cove. Bill and Char were more than happy to provide me with more than enough to satisfy any “crassostrea gigas” craving. Add some garlic butter and parmesan and we may need to leave more time to rest our tummy before the main dish is served.
King Salmon
My last order was placed with Troller Point Fisheries, Troller@alaska.net . Mark and Diana Hoffman, Orcas locals, who have found their passion in fishing. The Kings are on their way as I write.Salmon Recipe:
Place 1 large bay leaf on a square piece of parchment paper. Top with thick slice of
beefsteak tomato; add several slices of red onion. Place room temperature piece of salmon (one portion) on top of the pile. Mix 2
Parchment Salmon Main Dish
Tbsp of mayonnaise and tsp of dill together and spread on top of salmon. Fold and close up the parchment paper. Place package on a cookie sheet and place in a 300 degree oven. Depending on thickness of the fish, bake 20-25 minutes, just until fish is turned color and flakes apart. Do not over cook. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. The fish will continue to cook in the parchment pouch. Serve the pouch next to a Caesar salad. Lay several spears of cooked asparagus on top.
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island? Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
We’ve had such a mild start to our fall/winter season it has left many of us cleaning the garden in late November early December. I love the clean up and putting the beds to rest for the winter just as much as I enjoy the planting in the spring. The planning of the next season’s bounty is always in my head any time of the year.
I love Brussels sprouts and had a large crop, almost by accident last year. This year I planted many starts, thinned and spread them throughout my raised beds and dreamed of roasted gems for Thanksgiving. Well you can see here my harvest included a hand full of pea-size sprouts. Most plants had no signs of little cabbage heads popping out. What a disappointment, but I decided to cherish the one meal I would have. I sautéed these little guys in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and topped a bowl of quinoa with them-yum. I wish I had a bag full of thee sweet garden treats and I’ll be picking next year’s crop while they are still young. Always optimistic about the next years bounty!
Here is one of my favorite winter salads that includes Brussels sprouts. Enjoy 🙂
Winter Greens Salad with Sunflower Seed
1/3 c. raw sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp whole grain mustard
3Tbsp fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)
¾ tsp salt
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
2 tsp sunflower oil (can use a good olive oil)
½ pound Brussels sprouts (can be raw or sauté for a minute to soften crunch)
4-6 leaves of leafy greens such as Swiss chard, baby spinach, kale
(I’ve also added finely chopped broccoli and/or chopped apple)
Preheat oven to 375. Toast sunflower seeds (careful, this is usually where I burn somethingJ). Set aside to cool. Meanwhile stir mustard, lemon juice, salt and maple syrup together in a small bowl; whisk in oil until emulsified.
Thinly slice Brussels sprouts and leafy greens, toss together, add seeds and pour in dressing; toss to coat. Serve immediately.
Serves 4; total time 15 minutes.
You can play with maple syrup, salt and lemon juice to find your taste. If you add apples, they will add sweetness. I’ve also added other favorite seeds.
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island?
Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
One of the simple pleasures of fall is canning the summer’s bounty — especially when you invite a girlfriend over to can along with you. Last week a friend and I had fun making Red Pepper Jelly — a recipe idea from Pacific Northwest: The Beautiful Cookbook by Kathy Casey.
This versatile pepper jelly is a “must have” for your pantry. It’ll spice up an impromptu “happy hour”, add pizzazz to your Sunday Brunch or put a new twist on the same old entree (see chicken idea below.)
Christina Bollinger, import from Lopez, family friend, blogger and connoisseur of fine food helped me can jelly.
Red Pepper Jelly
3 large red peppers, cored and seeded.
3 fresh Serrano (small hot red) chili peppers. Cored and seeded.
¾ cup white vinegar.
3 oz. (1 box powder) of liquid pectin.
3 ½ cup white sugar.
Cut the peppers and chilies into rough cut chunks and puree’ in a blender (approx 2 cups). Add vinegar, sugar and pectin and bring to a hard boil. Boil 20 minutes stirring constantly. Pour into 4 oz jam jars. Process 10 minutes in a water bath (cover jars with water 2” above jars and bring to boil before you start the clock.)
Serve with cheese and crackers.
OR
Serve with sour cream as a side to scrambled eggs.
OR
Baked Chicken with Red Pepper Jelly I got this idea from watching an Emeril Lagasse cooking show. Didn’t write recipe down, but remembered the gist of the dish.
Place chicken thighs and legs on a baking pan. Cut apple into 4 pieces (with skin), cut large chunks of yellow onion, and add both to baking pan. Dump jar of red pepper jelly on top of all ingredients and stir to coat all. May take 2 jars depending on size of your pan and amount of ingredients. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until chicken is done and apples and onions are to desired doneness. Serve with a green salad and rice.
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island?
Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
Here’s another use for our delicious dungeness crab – I found this recipe in Fine Cooking Magazine. Wonton wrappers baked in muffin tins make a perfect crunchy cup to hold this succulent crab salad spiked with sweet mango, cilantro, scallions and lime. Fresh and light – a great summertime appetizer!
For the Wonton Cups:
Cooking spray
18 wonton wrappers
2 tsp. canola oil
¼ tsp. kosher salt
For the Dressing:
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
¼ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbs. olive oil
For the Salad:
½ lb. lump crab meat
1 rib celery, finely chopped
½ c. peeled and finely diced mango
¼ c. thinly sliced scallions
2 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray.
Make the Wonton Cups:
Brush both sides of the wonton wrapper with the canola oil and place each wrapper into a section of a muffin tin. Gently press each wrapper into a tin and arrange so that it forms a cup shape. The edges will stick up out of the cup. Sprinkle with salt and bake until brown and crisp, 8-10 minutes. Allow the cup to cool then remove from tin. These can be prepared a day ahead and stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
Make the Dressing:
In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice and zest, salt, black pepper and red pepper. Add the olive oil and whisk until well combined.
Make the Salad:
In a medium bowl, gently toss the crabmeat, celery, mango, scallions and cilantro, trying not to break up the crab too much. Add the dressing and gently toss to combine. This can be prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. To serve, fill each cup with crab salad and serve immediately.
Yields 18 wonton cups
Looking to enjoy the simple life on beautiful Orcas Island?
Contact T Williams Realty – we’ll help you find your way home.
I’m off visiting with family this holiday, and just like you, we’re bound to have lots of leftover turkey. Here’s a recipe from my kitchen that’s sure to please:
