Turkey and mushroom supreme - an easy way to use up cooked turkey or chicken

Left Over turkey/chicken

You've roasted the turkey for Christmas or perhaps you have the remains of the chicken from your Sunday roast, what can you do with it? Now I adore curry, but unfortunately, my hubby can't eat an Indian style curry, so instead, I make my Thai curry. If there is too much leftover turkey at Christmas though you don't want to eat curry every day, so I like to make my turkey and mushroom supreme as an option.

This is a very simple dish to make but has a couple of options, you can either serve with plain rice or pop some puff pastry into the oven and make a deconstructed turkey and mushroom pie instead.

I've discovered Osem chicken soup mix makes the best stock, plus it's vegan too. I now use it in all of my dishes where I need stock. It's a powder that you can mix with hot water and add straight to your dish, don't add additional salt until the end though when you taste as there is a high salt content. My tip is to add 1 tsp to 125ml hot water for this dish.

Ingredients

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

25g butter

25g flour (I use gluten-free) - use plain or self-raising, no difference in the end result

125ml chicken stock (see tip above)

125ml milk

sliced mushrooms

leftover cooked turkey or chicken

salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

In a medium pan, gently heat the olive oil and butter (the olive oil will prevent the butter from burning) and add the onion, fry over medium heat until the onion has softened. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring continuously. Gradually add the stock stirring continuously to help stop any lumps forming, then add the milk gradually, keep stirring. You can remove the pan from the heat as you add the liquid, then return to heat to cook. You can add a little more milk if the sauce is too thick.

Let the sauce cook for a couple of minutes, keep stirring.

Add the sliced mushrooms and cooked turkey/chicken. Continue to cook gently for 5 minutes until the mushrooms have softened and the meat is piping hot. Season to taste.

Serve with plain rice and sprinkle over the fresh parsley to serve.

Optional extra - add a small tin of drained sweetcorn when you add the mushrooms.

If using puff pastry to make a deconstructed pie, take a roll of puff pastry, cut the sheet into the number of people you are serving (4) works well, put them on a baking sheet and brush with milk. Pop them in a hot oven (check packet instructions), bake until golden brown. These can then be served on top of the supreme when plating your meal.

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Mushroom risotto

Served with the pancetta wrapped chicken

A mushroom risotto is really easy and makes a great accompaniment to a main meal.

I love to use a few porcini mushrooms in mine, it brings out the flavour of the chestnut mushrooms. If you want to make this vegetarian, then use a vegetarian stock.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

25 g of butter

1 onion, chopped

250g chestnut mushrooms

1 handful of dried porcini mushrooms

250g  Arborio risotto rice

1 pint chicken stock (I use a chicken stock pot)

Method

Dried porcini mushrooms

Pour 1/4 pint hot water over the porcini mushrooms in a jug, leave whilst you start cooking the risotto.

Stock simmering in pan

In a small pan, add the water and stock pot and bring to the boil. Turn heat down until barely simmering. It's important to keep the stock very hot when adding to the pan. This is the secret of a good risotto.

Gently heat the olive oil and half of the butter in a saucepan, (the olive oil stops the butter from burning). Add the onion and gently fry until softened.

The onions and chopped mushrooms gently cooking

Chop 1/3rd of the mushrooms into 1cm cubes, add to the onion and continue to cook until soft. Turn the heat to low.

Add the risotto rice to the pan and keep stirring for about 1 minute until the rice is well mixed in, it should start to squeak a little. The Italians say it "screams like Aida".

Add a couple of ladleful's of the stock and keep stirring, always add stock 2 ladleful's at a time and wait until the pan screams.

Remove the porcini from the soaking water (don't throw it away). Chop the porcini and add to the risotto.

Use the stock when you next need to add more, don't use the bottom of the water as their may be grit in the soaking water.

Chop the rest of the mushrooms in half and then finely slice them. After half the stock has been used, add the mushrooms to the pan.

Keep adding the stock and stirring regularly. Check the rice is cooked, it should be creamy and just al dente. You may need to add a splash more boiling water.

When it's cooked, remove from heat and stir in the rest of the butter.

Serve.

I served this with the chicken stuffed with chorizo and wrapped in pancetta.

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Pancetta stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pack of pancetta
2 large chestnut mushrooms (flat cap)
1 red onion chopped
1/4 green pepper finely sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1oz cheddar cheese grated

Method

Fry the onion and pancetta until onion is soft, add the chopped stalks from the mushroom, chopped tomato and the green pepper.

Pop the mushrooms cup up in a shallow oven proof dish, divide the onion and pancetta mix between the mushrooms, top with the grated cheese. Bake in a hot oven Gas 6 for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown.

Serve with a salad and crusty bread.

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Chicken Fricassee

I bought a whole free range chicken and then took the breast off for our meal.

Electric Steamer

We were lucky to receive an electric steamer last year from my sister-in-law, which is brilliant for cooking the vegetables to serve with the dinner, just pop them in using however many tiers as necessary, I even cook my rice in it too, saves on pots and pans and also doesn't need to be watched. The biggest benefit is you don't need salt and keep the vitamins and minerals in the veg, none is cooked away in the water.

Potato Ricer

I also have a potato ricer, this is amazing, no worry of lumps and I don't need butter or milk unless turning into "creamed potatoes". I use the potato ricer to produce small threads of potato, I carefully spoon them onto the plate when serving without compressing them. I also use the ricer directly onto fish pies and cottage style pies, low calorie, lovely crunchy top.

Chicken Fricassee

Ingredients (serves 3)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 banana shallots, finely diced

1 red pepper (I used a long thin pepper) cut into thin strips

2 large chestnut mushrooms, halved and cut into thin slices

1 organic chicken stock cube

1/2 pint water

1 free range chicken breast, cut into small bite sized chunks

handful of french beans, cut into small pieces

Skimmed milk

2 tablespoons cornflour

Method

Heat the oil gently and add the shallots, gently fry the shallots until soft, then add the peppers, keep frying until they soften. Once the peppers and shallots are soft add the mushrooms and fry for another minute.

Add the water and stock cube and turn up the heat until the stock is bubbling, add the chicken and beans and lower to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until chicken is cooked and the beans are just tender.

Mix the cornflour in a small cup with enough water to make a thin paste. Carefully add this to the pan stirring constantly, thin out the sauce with milk until it is the desired thickness, it should be thick enough to cover the vegetables and chicken with a thick layer.

Check seasoning and add pepper if needed.

I served with mashed (riced) potatoes, tender stem broccoli and carrot batons

Feedback from family was yum.

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Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

1 onion, sliced

125g button mushrooms, sliced

50g butter

250g sirloin steak

25g plain flour

Salt & pepper

1 tablespoon tomato puree

125ml pot sour cream

Method

Fry the onions in the 25g of the butter until soft add the mushrooms and fry together until soft. Spoon the onions and mushrooms onto a separate plate, keep the remaining butter in the pan, add the rest of the butter and melt.

Slice the beef into thin strips and then toss in seasoned flour. Remove excess flour and then fry the beef until golden brown. Return the onions and mushrooms to the pan with any juices. Add the sour cream and tomato puree, stir carefully over a gentle heat, season to taste.

Serve with boiled rice or noodles.

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