I have to admit that, as much as I want to be more versatile, a traditional Thanksgiving meal is what I will make, no matter what “fashionista” celebrity chefs say otherwise. However, it’s afterwards, with the leftovers, that the adventures begin - turkey pot pie, turkey stew, turkey strata, turkey noodle soup, turkey panini, turkey, turkey, turkey. Some folks try to use them up immediately, or look forward to sending them away with departing guests. Freezing them, for future turkey cravings, is more my style though. I have even, when finding turkey breast on sale, portion out and freeze for future use.
Still, the question of what recipe to create still looms, and having an assortment of cookbooks is always helpful, well, sometimes. For example, one Yule, I received a new cookbook along with a new crock pot which had 3 sizes of ceramic pots – 2-quart, 4 quart and 6-quart. I will not give the book’s name, as, well, you might have it and love it; and I do not want to diss your faves. My copy though ended up being donated to the local library.
I will mention that the recipe I was looking at was in a section titled, “Impress Your Guests”. At first the recipe name sounded interesting, but as I read it, all I could say to myself was, "Huh?". Rereading it once more only got me to the, "What the...?", stage. Sadly, I was not very impressed.
…and here is that recipe that seemed to boggle my mind.
Scalloped Tomatoes and Corn
Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can cream style corn
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup saltine cracker crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsps. sugar
3/4 tsp. black pepper
Preparation:
Combine corn, tomatoes with juice, cracker crumbs, egg, sugar and pepper in crock pot; mix well. Cover; cook on low 4 to 6 hours or until done.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
This basically reminds me of those meals, from the 1940s to 1960s, when women began leaving the home to work actual paying jobs. The slow cooker aka crock pot was introduced to housewives in the 1940s, a boon during the WW2 years. They could start dinner cooking in the morning before going to work, and add finishing touches in the evening, when they came home.
Now back to the recipe…
My first question for the preparation is "What size crock pot?" For the best cooking medium, a crock pot should be almost full (allowing for liquid produced during cooking); no way the ingredients listed would fill a 6-quart, or even a 4-quart. Second question, "Why the sugar?" The cream style corn would release sugar during cooking; isn't that why salt wasn't added, due to the salt in the crackers? Third question was "How is this scalloped? Scalloped means a casserole with cream and cheese incorporated; ok, the cream style corn could act as the cream, but where was the cheese?
This is where turkey leftovers come into play, and I just happened to have some in the freezer.
However, if you want to make the recipe, I will give you next, soon after Thanksgiving, fresh is always best. Oh, another item I like to keep in the freezer, applewood smoked bacon, and we all know that bacon makes everything better!
The cookbook recipe plus a little bit of this, a little bit of that and skip the sugar altogether. All the ingredients fit inside a 2-quart crock pot, cooked in four hours and created a complete meal, for four, of delicious comfort food.
Now come see what I have created in my lab...umm, kitchen, I meant kitchen.
Scalloped Turkey with Bacon
Ingredients:
1 lb. cooked turkey breast, chopped
4 slices applewood smoked bacon, cut into on- inch pieces
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 (15 oz.) can cream style sweet corn
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 cup crumbled saltine crackers
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. crushed dried thyme leaves
Preparation:
Spray inside of a 2-quart crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Layer the turkey, celery, bacon; cover with the Swiss cheese slices.
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| Turkey and Celery Layers. |
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| Bacon and Swiss Cheese Layers. |
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| Liquid Mixture Over All. |
In a medium mixing bowl, gently mix together corn, tomatoes, crackers, egg, black pepper and thyme so as to not break up the crackers any further. Spread over ingredients inside the crock pot.
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Cover, set on low, and cook for four hours.
Makes four servings.
Mary Cokenour
After 4 hours on low.
