Turkey Part Deux

Turkey Oola!

(Mexican turkey and dumplings--a  Thanksgiving leftover staple.  This is the slow cooker version of chilaquiles. )

For years, we hosted Thanksgiving at our home for relatives.  We would have from 5 to 30 guests for dinner.  The next day, we traditionally went to a movie (for years--Harry Potter). While at the movie, this dish would cook in the slow cooker. We’d come home to a steaming bowl of Turkey Oola!

The origins of Turkey Oola! are from my mother.  I’m not sure where she got it.  She either made it up or she and her girlfriends passed the recipe around.  Nevertheless, it is much anticipated.

This dish is the capstone to the T-Day experience.  The big bonus is that you really do not need a recipe—it is more a method.  In fact, you don’t even need a slow cooker.  You just need a variety of ingredients, some heat, and a covered casserole.

Basic ingredients:

4 flour tortillas 
3 T butter
2-4 C chicken broth 
2 C diced turkey (or chicken) 
1-2 C shredded cheddar cheese or pepper jack or other favorite melty cheese 
1/2 C diced green pepper
1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies (10 oz can)
1/2 C diced green onions 
1/4 C diced red onions

Topping options:

diced cilantro

diced bacon

diced jalapeno

limes/lemons (to squeeze over the top)

avocados (sprinkled with chile powder if you like it hotter!)

shredded lettuce or cabbage (Napa or Savoy preferred)

Composition:

This is a layered dish. Divide up your ingredients into the number of layers you want (3-4 layers is optimum).

In a slow cooker:  spread a thin layer of butter on the bottom of the cassarole. Put one layer of torn flour tortillas, then turkey, cheese, Rotel and veggies.  Repeat this 2 or 3 times, ending with a topping of tortillas covered with cheese.  You can make as much or as little of this as you want.  If you want to make sure you get the dumplings, you need 2-3 layers of tortillas.  Once done, pour chicken broth over the casserole until you see the liquid beginning to appear at the sides, but not to cover.  

Cover and cook on medium for 3-5 hours. You will know it is done when it is bubbly and moist looking.  Let it rest for 10-15 minutes, as it is hot, hot, hot usually. 

Talk amongst yourselves about the latest Harry Potter movie while it cools off some.

Serve in bowls with some shredded lettuce or cabbage to top. Diced jalapeno, crispy bacon and some avocado would be a nice addition also with some lemon or lime squeezed over the top.

Hint--while this is good on the first day, it actually gets better the next day!

Enjoy!

Sinfully Good Hoisin Marinated Pork Tenderloin

This recipe is really not so much born out of inspiration as it was out of leftoverization.  I had this really nice pork tenderloin and no particular plan for its glorification on the dinner plate.  The grocery store was having a sale, so I actually bought several of these and froze them for future  use.  Scrounging through the fridge, and looking that kimchi eye to eye, I realized I had the makings of something tasty possible. 

Hoisin sauce is made from soy and wheat.  It is a rather thick sauce, almost like a paste.  It is sort of sweet, and for a long time, I assumed that there was fruit in it.  But that was before I read ingredient labels.  Now that I do read the labels, my life is so much more marinated with information. 

I got so enthused with making this that I forgot to take pictures, and there were no leftovers except for sauce.  Number 1 son said I should not include a picture of the sauce because it looked like what his friend Luke puked up on our livingroom carpet once.  Ha, I scoff at puke. And since I am the one who has to clean it up most of the time, I declare that this looks nothing like what Luke left on the carpet.  (Hey! this blog is for fun, not profit!)

Here's the picture (of the marinade):


The marinade!

  RECIPE

1 pork tenderloin

Kimchi to serve on the side
   (see previous blog post:What's Going On? Kimchi)

1 C  beer (whatever you like)

Marinade (below)
2 T olive oil to brown the meat

               

Marinade
3 T hoisin sauce
1 T fish sauce
1 t soy sauce
1 T rice wine or apple cider vinegar
1 T sesame oil
1 T minced fresh garlic
1 t fresh ginger (use the tube!)
1 t sesame seeds
2 t Chinese Five Spice Powder
¼ t red pepper flakes

Mix the marinade ingredients and pour over tenderloin.  Let marinate for 1-4 hours.  Remove pork from marinade (reserve the marinade).  Brown the tenderloin on all sides in the olive oil, about 3 minutes per side. Put into a baking dish/casserole dish/ or cast iron frying pan (all the better if you browned your meat in this!).  Add 1 C beer and the rest of the marinade.  Cover with lid or foil.

 

Bake in a 350 oven for 15 minutes.

Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.
While it is resting, you can reduce the marinade if you want it thicker by boiling it on the stovetop.

Serve over white sticky rice (Japanese style)—prepare according to package directions.  Drizzle hot marinade over it all.  Put kimchi on the side or mound it on the top.  Serve with a crispy salad for more veggie action.  Yum.