Chicken Paprikash

I'm on a renewed kick of cooking more (and more healthily) - though unfortunately I have to get back into the habit of snapping a picture before I dig in! Tonight was a recipe I found from Eating Well.

Ingredients:
2 skinless chicken breasts, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 large onion,halved and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons hot or sweet paprika
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add bell peppers and onion to the pan and cook, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add paprika and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine; increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until mostly evaporated, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan; reduce heat to a lively simmer. Spoon some sauce over the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until the sauce is reduced and the chicken is cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream.

Turkey Waldorf Salad

This Thanksgiving Leftover recipe brought to you by Food Network.

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded leftover turkey meat
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 crisp apple, such as Gala or Macintosh, cored and chopped
1 cup red seedless grapes, halved
1/2 cup pecans, toasted, and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup non-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper
Lettuce

Directions:
In a large bowl, gently toss the turkey, celery, apple, grapes, and pecans until combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until well combined. Add the dressing to the turkey mixture, season with salt and pepper, and toss gently to evenly dress the salad. Serve on top of lettuce.

Leftover Turkey Soup

November was a pretty slow cooking month for me - the beginning of the month was my birthday and the various celebrations that surrounds that date, then we went on vacation for 9 days, which was immediately followed by Thanksgiving! All of which means that post-TDay is the first opportunity I've really had to cook all month, and what a better way than to make use of delicious leftovers! The first leftover dish I made was Turkey Soup, the idea of which came from this Food Network recipe, with my own little twists.



Ingredients:
Broth:
Turkey carcass
2 quarters of a large onion (or 4 quarters of a medium onion)
Celery tops/leaves
Sprig of fresh thyme
Sprig of fresh rosemary
A few leaves of fresh sage
Bay leaf
Salt and pepper

Soup:
Leftover turkey, shredded or cut into bite-size pieces
Half of a large onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
Box of frozen corn
Leftover vegetables (I had leftover roasted potatoes which I quartered)

Directions:
Cover turkey carcass in soup pot with water. Add remaining broth ingredients. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour.

Remove stock from heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve, saving the liquid, and throwing away the carcass, vegetables, and herbs.

In the soup pot, add a bit of oil and cook onions and celery over medium heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Add strained stock. Add the turkey and remaining vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle the soup into serving bowls.

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

A Martha Stewart Recipe! Made this for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit!

Ingredients:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate (preferably 55 percent cacao), chopped
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Ground cloves
Pre-made graham cracker crust or make your own in a deep, 9 1/2-inch pie dish
1 ounce milk chocolate, melted

Directions:
Sprinkle bittersweet chocolate over bottom of crust. Put in oven at 350 degrees to melt chocolate, about 1 minute. Spread chocolate in a thin layer on bottom and up sides. Let cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Make the filling: In a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt semisweet chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat.

Mix pumpkin, milk, brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves in a medium bowl. Whisk 1/3 pumpkin mixture into chocolate mixture. Whisk in remaining pumpkin mixture until completely incorporated.

Transfer pie dish to a rimmed baking sheet, and pour pumpkin mixture into crust. Bake until center is set but still a bit wobbly, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pie dish on a wire rack. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours (preferably overnight). Before serving, drizzle melted milk chocolate on top. Serve immediately.