Kate Gosselin's Love Is in the Mix (5 page)

If using prepared gravy and turkey: Place the gravy in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the frozen vegetables and chopped turkey. Heat through. Set aside.

If using my Homemade Gravy and the leftover turkey or chicken from my Homemade Turkey or Chicken Stock: Measure 4 cups of gravy into a large pot. Add the 4 cups of mixed vegetables and the 4 cups of cooked turkey or chicken. Season with the salt and pepper. Cook on medium until heated through; turn off the heat and set aside.

Note:
If using meat from the stock recipe, be extra careful to avoid the bones! After cooking all day, the bones break down, so be sure to sort out the bones carefully. Throw away all of the remaining bones and reserve the usable meat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Use dough from
Kate’s Basic Bread (Maker) Recipe
.

Divide the bread dough into two even pieces. Roll each piece out onto a floured surface. Each piece of rolled-out dough should be a little larger than the size of a deep 9 by 13-inch baking pan.

Lightly grease the 9 by 13-inch pan and place the first piece of rolled-out dough into the pan. The edges may hang over the sides and that’s okay! Place the dough pan in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the crust is partially (not fully) baked.

Remove the pan from the oven and pour the gravy, vegetable, and turkey (or chicken) mixture into the crust.

Place the other piece of dough on top of the baking dish, pinching the edges of the top crust to the bottom crust. If it doesn’t adhere, that’s okay. The top crust can hang over the dish in the same manner as the bottom crust. This makes an extra delicious crust!

Apply the melted butter evenly over the top piece of dough. Cut a few tiny slits in the top crust.

Place in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the top crust is golden brown.

Note:
You can also make these in small ramekins, rolling out smaller pieces of dough, so each person gets a personal mini pot pie.

T
his recipe is an “ode” to my favorite dish at my favorite restaurant in NYC. I have enjoyed it so many times and have craved it fiercely in between visits to the city, so I decided to come up with my own version, using many ingredients different than my beloved dish from NYC. Somehow though, it manages to curb my craving, and now it’s up to me to satisfy my kids’ cravings for my own version of it!

In a large bowl, combine all of the vegetables, except the sundried tomatoes. Add the garlic and at least 4 sprigs each of rosemary and thyme. Mix well. Add the olive oil, the sundried tomatoes (plus the oil and the seasonings from the jar), the salt, and the saffron, and mix again.

Carefully add the individual pieces of fish to the veggie mixture, covering the fish with the mix. Cover the bowl tightly and place it in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours, mixing once, to let the flavors combine.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the bowl from the fridge. Tear off 4 (12-inch) pieces of parchment paper. Place about a cup of the vegetable mixture with one serving of fish in the center of each paper. Top with one sprig of rosemary and one sprig of thyme, using the marinated sprigs from the veggie mixture. Sprinkle each serving with a pinch of additional salt, then fold the paper over the top and seal the edges with folds. Fold the ends in and continue to fold around the edges to ensure that the packet stays tightly closed.

Repeat with the additional pieces of fish and place them onto a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for about 17 to 20 minutes or until the fish flakes with a fork.

Serve the fish in the parchment paper displayed on a plate.

If you have veggie leftovers, you can cook them in serving sizes in parchment paper or in a covered casserole dish. They can also be sautéed quickly on the stove top as well.

I
often serve this with two other favorites—green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. I like the ability to “hide” veggies. It stretches the meal and pumps the kids full of nutrition. On the rare occasion that I have leftovers, I put a thin serving of meat loaf, a slice of tomato, and a lettuce leaf on two whole-grain bread slices. I mix some mayo and ketchup together (à la French dressing!) and spread on bread for a delicious meat loaf sandwich for lunch the next day.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and divide equally to form two separate meat loaves. Add a squirt of ketchup to the top of each loaf in a zigzag design, then sprinkle with parsley. I cover the loaves with foil and bake in either a meat loaf pan or a glass bread baking dish for about an hour, or until the juices are bubbly and the center is no longer pink.

During the last 15 minutes or so of baking, I remove the foil covering and finish baking uncovered because my family likes the top nice and crunchy.

A
few years ago, the word “cacciatore” kept popping into my head. I didn’t know what that dish entailed, so I started researching and found many variations. As with every recipe, I changed it to make it more suitable for my family … and here it is! It’s a relatively quick one-dish meal that I make mostly during the summer when fresh colorful peppers are available. I also freeze sliced peppers so that I can make this during the winter, too.

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and sauté the sausage until it’s fully cooked and no longer pink. Remove the sausage from the pan, reserving all of the liquid. Set the sausage aside.

In the same pan, combine the beans, peas, peppers, and garlic. Sauté until the vegetables are cooked but still crunchy. Add the sausage to the vegetables, then add the oregano, wine, and the tomatoes on top of the sausage. Cover and cook for 30 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, scallions, salt, and pepper. Cook, covered, for another 10 minutes.