hungry poodle

Most of us who are watching our weight have sworn off comfort foods such as chicken pot pie because of their high fat content. The crust is usually the biggest culprit, although the creamy white sauce that envelopes the chicken and vegetables can also pack a fatty punch.

So when my (excellent) Jazzercise instructor, Jenny, told me about a lighter recipe that she found in Martha Stewart’s magazine, “Everyday Food”, I was eager to try it. It’s been at least 15 years since my last taste of chicken pot pie and I was hoping to end the drought.

This version, which uses frozen phyllo sheets in place of pie crust, really fits the bill of real, honest-to-goodness chicken pot pie. It’s creamy and loaded with chunks of chicken and vegetables, it has a crispy topping and it’s the kind of comfort food that warms the soul as well as the body. As Martha says, “It’s a good thing.”

By the way, as we were enjoying this last night, we chatted about other vegetables we could add in future renditions. Chopped broccoli would work, even asparagus. Use your imagination and whatever you have on hand in the fridge or freezer.

One more tip, Cooking Light Magazine often uses Pillsbury pie crusts in their recipes, which is an option here in place of phyllo dough. It would add more fat and calories to the recipe, but the total increase would be minimal.

Here are leftovers from last night's dinner. Slightly drier but still delicious!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, 12 to 14 ounces each, cooked and cut into chunks
2 T. Olive oil
4 carrots, sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 t. dried thyme leaves ( I used poultry seasoning)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1 10-oz. package frozen peas, thawed
2 T. fresh lemon juice
6 frozen phyllo sheets, thawed*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the olive oil in large saucepan and add carrots, onion and thyme. Cook until carrots are crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, until smooth. Cook until mixture comes to a simmer and thickens.

Remove from heat and stir in peas, lemon juice and chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pour filling into a 9″ deep-dish pie pan or a square pan.

Stack the phyllo sheets and using a paring knife cut them into a shape that fits the pan you are using. Place two of the cut sheets on a work surface and either brush them with a bit of olive oil or spray them with an oil mister. Repeat with remaining sheets and then stack them over the filling. Press down about 1/2 inch from the edge so the dough fits inside the rim of the pan. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Serves: 4
WW Points per serving: 8

*The maker of Athens Phyllo sheets recommends removing the thawed phyllo you need for your recipe, then re-rolling and re-wrapping the remainder in plastic and refreezing for up to 9 months.

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I used to make oven-fried chicken with dried bread crumbs mixed with seasonings and parsley. It was passable, but it didn’t have the crispy texture of real fried chicken. Thus I relegated it to my “healthy-but-not-as-good-as-the-original” list of recipes, of which I have many. I don’t make them often for obvious reasons. Why bother?

My favorite place to turn for the best way to cook anything is Cooks Illustrated. They experimented with all the usual oven-fried chicken toppings,  including crushed corn flakes, Ritz crackers, even Japanese panko bread crumbs, and came up with an unlikely winner–plain Melba Toast.

It makes sense when you think about it. Melba Toast is very crunchy, has no fat and doesn’t have a distinct flavor that would mask the taste of the chicken. I was very pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

The original recipe calls for 4 bone-in, split and skinned chicken breasts, about 10 ounces each. I used chicken tenders because they can be eaten with the fingers, which makes them way more fun for both adults and kids. Use your favorite dipping sauce for them. I like barbeque sauce.

One more tip: this is a middle-of-the-road  spice blend. If you really like spicy, add more cayenne. Be sure to liberally salt and pepper the chicken before coating it.

1 (5 oz.) box plain Melba Toast, broken into small pieces
2 T. vegetable oil
3 large egg whites
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 t. fresh thyme leaves, minced (or 1 t. dried)
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
2 lbs. skinless chicken tenders*
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil spray (Pam also works)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and adjust rack to upper-middle position. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top.

Process Melba Toast in a food processor into coarse crumbs. Spread the crumbs in a shallow dish and toss with the oil.

In a separate dish, whisk together the egg whites, mustard, thyme, garlic powder and cayenne.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Using tongs (you can use your hands but it’s messy), dip one piece of chicken at a time into the egg white mixture, then coat with the Melba crumbs. Press the crumbs onto the chicken to make sure they adhere. Lay the chicken on the wire rack and spray the tops with olive oil spray.

Bake until the coating is golden and the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 12 to 15 minutes.

(If you’re using bone-in split chicken breasts, bake as long as 40 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 degrees.)

Serves: 8
WW Points per serving: 5

*I haven’t tried this yet, but you can also use this coating for fish, including catfish, tilapia and cod. If the pieces of fish have thin tapered ends, tuck them under before breading them to prevent them from overcooking. Bake at the same temperature, 450 degrees, until the coating is golden and the fish just flakes apart, about 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

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Mac and cheese and now meatloaf:  I’m obviously looking to my dinner plate for copious quantities of comfort. But with Christmas just around the corner and all those cookie and candy treats everywhere, it doesn’t seem prudent to indulge in such rich concoctions, does it?

Ha Ha, fat police, we can have our meatloaf and eat it too, which is exactly what we did this last weekend. On Saturday, my Italian girlfriend Marguerite and I cooked up this turkey meatloaf, and we had way too much fun cooking together. It’s adapted from Cooks Illustrated, the recipe-testing people who make recipes every which way to find out which one tastes best. They don’t mess around either. If it doesn’t taste good, they won’t recommend it.

And was this ever good. It was moist, flavorful and surprisingly meaty (considering there’s not a hint of the usual suspects, beef, veal and pork). Can you use dry bread crumbs instead of fresh? Yes. Can you add mushrooms? Yes. Can you leave out the mustard? Yes. Can you even use beef instead of turkey? Of course. Make it your own, but if you decide to try it this way, you will not be disappointed.

1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. olive oil
Salt
1/2 cup milk or plain yogurt
2 large eggs
2 t. fresh thyme leaves finely chopped (or 1 t. dried thyme, Italian Seasoning or Herbes de Provence)
2 t. Dijon mustard
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. Tabasco sauce
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ground turkey (93% lean)
1 1/3 c. fresh bread crumbs*
1/4 c. minced fresh parsley
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
4 t. cider vinegar

*Cooks Illustrated suggests using a French bread loaf, cutting off the bottom if it is very browned, slicing the bread into 1″ cubes and processing into crumbs in a food processor.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top. Fold a piece of heavy-duty aluminum into a 10″ by 6″ rectangle and set aside (you will place the meatloaf on this later).

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Combine onion, garlic and 1/8 t. salt and cook at low heat until onion has softened, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, thyme, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, pepper and 1/4 t. salt.

In a large bowl, with your hands mix together the turkey, bread crumbs, parsley, cooked onion mixture and the egg mixture until combined. Turn it out onto the prepared foil rectangle and shape the meat into an evenly thick loaf about 2″ tall and 1″ smaller than the foil on all sides.

Transfer the foil with the meatloaf onto the wire rack. Stir the ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar together and brush half of this mixture onto the meatloaf. Bake the meatloaf for 45 minutes.

Brush with remaining ketchup glaze and continue to bake until the center of the loaf registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 20 minutes longer. Cool at least 20 minutes before slicing into 1″ thick pieces.

Serves: 8
WW Points per serving: 6

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In recent years brining has become a popular way to prepare a turkey for holiday roasting, the theory being that submerging the bird in a salt-water solution for a long soak made it juicier and gave it more flavor. This method worked only with a natural turkey, because the “butter-basted” (such as Butterball) or kosher turkeys had already been injected with a saline solution.

The brine-shy need not worry: this is not a brining recipe. I’m relieved to say that I’ve found an easier preparation that seems to work just as well. What a relief. Although brining has its merits, every year as Thanksgiving has approached I’ve dreaded the whole submerging-the turkey-in-salted-water routine.  Nonetheless, until now I have sloshed my way through the sloppy, bucket-toting process because it seemed the best way to inject what was usually a fairly tasteless bird with some flavor.

Food science to the rescue! This year both Bon Appetit and Cooks Illustrated have come up with an easier way to produce a flavorful, juicy turkey without the fuss of sinking it in a vat of salt-water. This simpler method calls for rubbing kosher salt all over the turkey and refrigerating it overnight before roasting. Pretty easy, huh? And it works. This turkey was moist, juicy and very flavorful without being too salty.

By the way, another complicated technique, starting the roasting process with the turkey on its breast and then turning it over with paper towels at the midway point, has bitten the dust, at least at my house. As far as I’m concerned, the last thing I need to be doing on the cook’s most daunting day of the year is to flip over a hot turkey. Besides, by then I’ve had a glass of wine and am probably not in my best turkey-turning mode.

Try this recipe. And when you receive the eventual compliments, wipe your brow with a kitchen towel and tell everyone how very difficult it all was. Remember, the day after Thanksgiving is the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Perhaps your family will feel compelled to buy you a special gift for all your hard work!  Or better yet, buy yourself a gift and put it under the tree from Santa. Nothing like getting exactly what you want, in the right  color and the right size!

Sage-Butter Roasted Turkey

3 T. kosher salt* (regular table salt does not work here.)
1 T. dried rubbed sage
1 16-pound turkey (or thereabouts)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped
1 cup chicken broth

*I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, which I get at Penzey’s

Combine kosher salt and dried sage in a small bowl. Loosen skin over turkey’s breast and legs (try not to tear the skin; Cooks Illustrated suggests using the blunt handle-end of a wooden spoon to loosen the skin). Rub the salt mixture all over the turkey, under the skin and inside the cavity. Wrap turkey in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and set oven rack on lowest position. Pat turkey dry and tuck wing tips under. Tie legs loosely together with kitchen twine. Stir butter and fresh chopped sage together in a small saucepan over low heat until butter melts. Brush all over the turkey and sprinkle with pepper.

Roast turkey for 1 hour. Baste with any pan juices, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting for 45 minutes. Pour chicken broth over and turn pan around. Roast until the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 to 175 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about another 1 1/4 hours. If roasting pan juices evaporate, pour on more chicken broth. Total cooking time will be approximately 3 hours, depending on the size of your bird.  Don’t overcook! Easier said than done, I know, but using the instant-read thermometer will assure when it’s done.

Transfer turkey to a platter and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 30 to 45 minutes before carving. This will give you time to finish other dishes. Don’t worry; the turkey will stay warm that long.

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Don your festive holiday apron because Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we all need to get serious about planning the big (in the virtual sense only, please) meal. This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten’s newest cookbook, “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”.

Roasting a whole turkey for Thanksgiving or any time during the winter months can be daunting to someone with a small family. Frankly, I am also pretty weary of roasting the whole bird and dealing with the carcass afterwards. I know, people love to make soup with a turkey carcass. But me? After a day or two of poultry feasting I want nothing to do with soup that tastes anything like turkey. Give me black bean soup with chilis, corn chowder, minestrone. Anything but turkey!

Ina’s stuffing recipe is fabulous, but that’s no surprise. I reduced the amount of butter she used (also no surprise) and used turkey sausage instead of pork. Otherwise this one is a keeper. The figs and cranberries lend a dense, fruity texture, and the Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix makes the whole process that much easier. Go, Ina!

Whole Foods regularly carries boned natural turkey breasts.

3/4 cup diced dried figs, stems removed
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup Calvados or brandy
2 T. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1/2 lb. turkey sausage, casings removed
1 1/2 T. fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
3 T. toasted pine nuts (or pecans)
3 cups Pepperidge Farm herb-seasoned stuffing mix
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 egg, beaten
1 whole turkey breast, boned and butterflied (about 5 lbs.)

Place figs and cranberries in a small pan with Calvados and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet and add onions and celery. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes. Add sausage and saute, breaking up the sausage into small bits with a spatula, for 10 minutes, until browned. Add the fig/cranberry mixture with its liquid, the rosemary and the nuts. Cook 2 more minutes.

Pour dry stuffing mix into a large bowl. Add the sausage mixture, chicken broth, beaten egg, 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper and combine. (Ina says you can prepare this ahead and refrigerate it overnight.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place a baking rack onto a large sheet pan.

Lay out the butterflied turkey breast skin side down and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the stuffing mixture in a 1/2-inch-thick layer over the meat, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides. There will be leftover stuffing–place it into a small gratin dish sprayed with nonstick spray and bake for the last 30 to 45 minutes of roasting alongside the turkey. Starting at one end, roll up the turkey like a jelly roll. Tie it securely at 2″ intervals with kitchen twine.

Place the turkey breast seam-side down onto the rack on the sheet pan. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle again with salt and pepper and roast for 1 3/4 to 2 hours, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 150 degrees in the center. Test in more than one place to get an accurate temperature. Remove from the oven, cover the turkey with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice into 1/2-inch thick slices and serve with the extra stuffing.

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