Turkey a la King & Peach Glazed Carrots

Sometimes you’ve just got to go with what you have.  Certainly that has been true during my life when limited resources, finances, or abilities have seemingly closed doors.  Forging ahead and making the best of tough situations have almost always proven to be positive growth experiences for me.  I highly recommend it.

It’s no different in the kitchen.  Improvising and finessing are often required, and such was the case two weeks ago when I peered into the “Frigidaire,” as Uncle Russell used to call it.  It’s funny how one word can bring back a flood of memories.

Uncle Russell was the first-born of the “bakery” Latshaws.  Born in 1895, he fought in WWI and never married.  He was born in the bakery, as were all twelve of the children of Hosea and Zaidee.  Russell lived on the Latshaw farm on Wall Street with his sister, Sara, who also never married and was a school teacher.  Russell could improvise with the best.  Some said that his resourcefulness came from living through the Depression.  Others said it was because he was cheap.  Still others said it was because he was a Latshaw.

Uncle Russell and me.  He was almost 60 in this
picture, and lived to be 90.

Growing up, one of the most entertaining adventures for us was the weekly trip to the dump.  Yes, you heard correctly.  Spring City operated a town dump on South Main Street near the water treatment plant.  I suppose it was closed in the early 70’s.  But up until then, Russell would come for the trash every Thursday, and if we were lucky, we were allowed to ride along in his Chevy pick-up truck...and then later in his Datsun truck.

Chevy and Datsun Pick-Ups, just like Uncle Russell's.  (His Datsun didn't have mag wheels!)

What was the attraction?  I’m not sure.  Maybe it was the chance to heave stuff out of the back of a pick-up truck as far as you could throw it.  (And some things made impressive crashes.)  Maybe it was watching the large bulldozer covering the refuse with dirt.  More than likely it was watching Uncle Russell retrieve items of value that others has discarded.  I remember one occasion when Uncle Russell got out his “dump tools,” as we referred to them, and proceeded to remove about a dozen door knobs and lock sets from old doors that had been trashed.  I’m not sure if this is true, but we used to say that there were times when he’d come back from the dump with more than he had taken.

Back to my refrigerator…The pickings were slim for making dinner.  I had about a half of a turkey breast leftover from Easter, a half of a green bell pepper and half of a red one as far a raw ingredients were concerned.  For whatever reason, I remembered a Chicken a la King dish that a friend of our family, Reba Overholtzer had served us many years ago.  Maybe I could make it with turkey.  I was off to the computer to research recipes.

As is often the case, I assimilate several recipes I find into the final approach I use.  The recipe that made the most sense to me was found on allrecipes.com, and I adapted it.  I found a small can of sliced mushrooms and a bag of frozen peas, and I was good to go.  This a la king dish is a great way to use up leftover chicken or turkey.  It’s important to note that it must be already cooked for this recipe.  Here are the steps I used, followed by an improvised way to make glazed carrots.

CHICKEN OR TURKEY a la KING

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained

½ green bell pepper, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup (½ stick) butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 chicken bullion cube (Knorr’s preferred)

¾ cup milk

¾ cup hot water

2 cups cubed cooked turkey or chicken, cut in to ½” pieces

2/3 cup frozen peas

Chicken a la King is usually served over toast points, noodles, or rice, so have that ready to go, too.

Before getting started, heat the water and the bullion cube in the microwave for a minute or two.  This will help dissolve the bullion.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the chopped peppers and mushrooms for about five minutes.  Remove the pan from the burner.  It’s generally a good idea to do this between steps.  That way things don’t get “away from you” while you’re obtaining ingredients.

You want the flour to blend as much as possible with the remaining butter in the pan

Blend in the flour, salt, and pepper over medium heat until the vegetables are uniformly coated.  

Remove the pan from the burner again and incorporate the water, bullion, and milk, stirring until somewhat blended.  Return the pan to medium high heat until the mixture boils.  

Don’t stop stirring as you allow the mixture to thicken.  This should happen fairly quickly.

After adding the turkey and peas, this started to get a little thick.
I thinned it with a 3-4 Tablespoons of water.

Reduce heat to medium and stir in the chicken or turkey and the peas.  Allow to heat through completely, remembering that the meat is already cooked.  It just needs to be heated.  Serve over rice, noodles, or toast points.  If the mixture is too thick, add a small amount of water and stir gently to thin.

PEACH GLAZED CARROTS

Another spur of the moment recipe, I again used what I had on hand.  Most glazed carrot recipes call for apricot or peach preserves.  As I had none, I improvised.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 cups chopped carrots (approx. 1” pieces)

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

6-8 slices canned peaches

Chopped carrots ready to be steamed.  Note the holes in the bottom of this pan insert.

Peel and chop carrots into 1” pieces.  Cutting them diagonally makes them more interesting.  Cook the carrots.  I prefer steaming them as they accept more of the glaze than if they are boiled.

Steamer insert - Measure the base before buying
to make certain it will fit in your saucepan.

If you don’t have a steamer pot, you can buy an expanding insert that will fit most larger pans.  Steam the carrots until they are almost tender, and set them aside.

While the carrots are steaming, puree the peach slices, along with a little of the juice, in a blender or food processor.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a separate saucepan and add the brown sugar.  Stir over medium heat until bubbly.  Remove from the burner.  

Add the pureed peaches and stir.  Finally add the carrots and continue heating over medium heat until the carrots are tender.  If possible, allow the carrots to steep/marinate until you’re ready to serve them.

Fairly simple…basic ingredients…and the savory taste of the Turkey a la King goes well with the sweet glazed carrots.  Enjoy!

This week I tried another sorbet recipe….mango!  Practice makes perfect.  This mixture was ready after only 15 minutes in the ice cream maker!  I’ll try to post that recipe later this week.