Leftover Turkey & Cranberry Pizza

I love turkey (and who doesn’t!) I want the aroma of roasted turkey in my house at Thanksgiving and bags of leftovers in my refrigerator for days afterward. But usually, my sister-in-law hosts the family Thanksgiving feasting at her house and there are never any leftovers.  We, however, always cook a turkey at home on that weekend as well. We then go through the usual dishes – turkey salad, hot turkey sandwiches, sometimes even turkey croquettes.  We discovered this gourmet left-over turkey pizza recipe from the Ocean Spray Cranberry recipes website a few years ago. It is now a family favorite - quick, easy to make and very, very good. 

Ingredients

16-ounce precooked pizza crust (Boboli is the best)

16-ounce can Whole Berry Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce

3/4 cup sliced green onion

8-12 ounces of shredded Monterey Jack cheese

¼- ½  pound leftover turkey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place prebaked pizza crust on an ungreased baking pan and Spread the cranberry sauce evenly over it. Sprinkle with green onion then the cheese. Top with turkey. Bake for 10 -12 minutes or until heated through and cheese has melted

NISU - Finnish Sweet Bread

Here is another recipe inspired by my trip with my pals up north this summer. Once again, our breakfast at Suomi's Bakery and Restaurant in Houghton introduced another breakfast treat that I just HAD to make myself.  Nisu is a sweet Finnish cardamon bread that is fairly easy to make and smells (and tastes) heavenly.  It can be eaten warm with butter or made into great French toast.  This recipe makes two loaves.  Eat one fresh and freeze one for later.

Ingredients
1 ½ Tablespoons of active dry yeast (2 packages)
1/2 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees
1 teaspoon  sugar (for the yeast)
1/2 – 1 cup of sugar (depends how sweet you want it.)
1 can evaporated milk – warmed (105 to 115 degrees)
2 teaspoons salt
2 – 3 teaspoons ground cardamom
4 eggs, room temperature
7+ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup melted butter

For the glaze:
1 slightly beaten egg
2 tablespoons cream (or half & half)

   In a stand mixer; mix warm water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar.Let stand for 5 minutes until yeast gets bubbly. Add warm milk, remaining sugar, salt, cardamom, eggs, and half the flour. Mix until the dough is smooth and shiny. Beat in the melted butter. Add remaining flour, one cup at a time until dough is stiff, but not dry. (You may need a little more than 7 cups but no more than 8.)  Let dough rest for 15 minutes. Using your mixer’s dough hook or your own strong arms - Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth (about 10 minutes.)

   Add dough to a large bowl sprayed with oil and spray the top as well. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Turn risen dough out on a bread board and divide into two equal portions. 

   Divide each portion into three parts. Roll each part out to a rope about 2 feet long. Make two braids, using three strands each. Place each braid on a separate baking sheet lined with parchment. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. 

   Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix milk and eggs and brush each braid with the glaze. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on cooling rack.

Pannukakku - From up dere in da UP doncha-know

In 1970, I went with my boy scout troop on a trip to the UP.  Forty-two years later, I had the great pleasure of travelling with a few of my boy scout buddies on that same trip.  We had a great time exploring the 'Yooper Wonderland' ~ Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Some of the next few posts were inspired by the people and places we had the pleasure discovering.

While in Houghton, we ate at Suomi's Home Bakery and Restaurant, a local hang out specializing in Finnish dishes (especially breakfast.) Pannukakku is similar in taste to a Swedish  pancake except it is oven baked and more like a custard.  Super simple to make (especially in a food-processor) and very, very tasty.

Ingredients:

4 cups milk

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

4 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

Beat eggs then add everything else (melted butter last). Mix well and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees until the custard is set and browned on top (40-45 minutes)  Serve with powdered sugar and your favorite jam or jelly. 

St. John's Lutheran Ladies Marvelous Meatloaf

This very simple but delicious meat dish is a staple, served by the ladies at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waltz, Michigan for most of their big group functions.  My dear friend, Elsie, one of the many hard-working ladies that volunteer to cook at funerals, dinners and other such events, gave me a copy of the recipe that they use. I had to convert it from 100 servings to a reasonable 6-8 servings.  This tried and true recipe is the only meatloaf my big brother Bob will eat (and he’s a very persnickety eater.)  Thank you St. John's for many good friends, all the great memories, (and this delicious recipe.)

1½ lbs. lean ground beef

½ lb. ground pork

2 eggs

1½ cups tomato juice

1 cup oatmeal

4 tsp. dried onions

3 dashes pepper

1½ tsp. salt

Directions: Mix all the ingredients; form into a loaf, place into a loaf pan and spread the top generously with ketchup, the cover with foil. Bake for approximately 1 hour at 350° F. Remove foil for the last 20 minutes of baking time.