Comfort Food

My buddy, Carole, had a post about her favorite comfort food -- macaroni and cheese -- complete with recipe. This girl can cook and you should go visit and get the recipe. I told her I had been thinking about a comfort food post myself and had just been lazy. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the horrible photo I took of the turkey tetrazzini I made and planned on sharing with you. I'll share the recipe ... it really is good!

What is your favorite comfort food? Macaroni and cheese, BLT sandwich, Granny's chicken soup, cheese enchiladas (we did live in New Mexico for many, many years), chocolate .. what else says comfort to you?

For us (besides the above), we really like turkey tetrazzini. I use the recipe out of one my favorite cookbooks: Campbell's Great American Cookbook: A culianary treasury of more than 500 best-loved recipes from Colonial times to the present. It was published in 1984 by the Campbell's Soup Company. It's a little worn around the edges, but still holding together. Not only are the recipes down home good, but there are little snippets (don't you just love that word?) of information included with many of the recipes.

Here's the recipe for Chicken/Turkey Tetrazzini

Chicken Tetrazzini

Although the name sounds Italian, Chicken Tetrazzini is a thoroughly American dish created in San Francisco early in this century (20th) in honor of the great coloratura Luisa Tetrazzini. This version has become popular as an elegant last-minute dish for company meals.

Begin: 1 Hour Ahead 6 Servings

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup light cream
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1/4 cup chopped pimentos
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. In 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, in hot butter, cook mushrooms and onion until tender. Stir in flour and salt until blended. Gradually stir in chicken broth. Cook until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Stir in cream, sherry, chicken, pimentos and parsley; heat until just boiling, stirring often. Remove from heat.

2. In 12 by 8 inch baking dish, spread spaghetti. Pour chicken mixture over spaghetti. Top with cheese. Bake at 450 degrees F. 15 minutes or until cheese is golden.

Easy Tetrazzini: Use ingredients as above but use only 2 tablespoons butter or margarine and omit flour, salt, chicken broth and cream. In 2 quart saucepan over medium-high heat, heat only 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. In butter, cook mushrooms and onion until tender. Stir in 2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, 1 cup water and sherry; heat through. Stir in chicken, pimentos and parsley; heat until just boiling, stirring often. Remove from heat. Proceed as in step 2.

***

And because this is a food post, I found this while browsing through a catalog and couldn't resist sharing it with you.

Don't forget to smile today!