Julia Child, Campbells Soup, and Me

One of the 10 cookbooks I kept in my purge was Julia Child and Company.  Julia and I spent many Saturday afternoons cooking our way through this book.  Well, Julia cooked on the show of the same name, while I soaked up every little morsel in information I could.
When I found the cookbook, I bought it.  I have been happily cooking from it since 1978.  Anyway, I remembered her recipe for Turkey Orloff.  A rich rice suebise combined with sliced turkey and mushroom duxelles, covered in a rich gratin.  Of course, when I reread the recipe, I realized I didn't have the time to do her recipe, considering the turkey was still a bit frozen and the only cheese in the house was Tillamook.  What to do?  Improvise!

When Selene was living at home, between jobs, she did most of the cooking and cleaning.  Her favorite 'go to' dish was Chicken and Rice Casserole found on the Campbell's Mushroom Soup label.  She fixed it once a week until I complained it was getting a bit, well, boring.  She changed up with Chili Dogs.  Since I only eat hot dogs rarely, she would make me a baked potato and top it with the Nalley's Chili.

Okay, where is this going?  I decided to make a casserole combining parts of Turkey Orloff and Chicken/Rice.  It came out better than I thought it would. 

Grandma's Turkey and Rice Casserole
Preheat oven to 350F
Butter a 2 quart casserole

Start a skillet on heat; melt butter and fry until golden:

1/2 a Turkey breast sliced thin
Remove and set aside.
Now, brown

1/2 onion, chopped fine
5 crimini mushrooms, sliced
When the onions and mushrooms are browned deglaze the pan with

1/4 cup white wine
Pour into the casserole.
Add to the casserole:
1 1/2 cups white rice
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups water
4 sprigs thyme
Stir to combine the mushies.
Tuck the turkey slices into the rice
Cover and Bake 1 hour.
Serves 4

Roasted Brussells Sprouts and Carrots

In a shallow pan combine:
11 Brussells Sprouts  alright, you caught me, that's all there were in the fridge
2 large carrots, unpeeled and cut into 1 inch circles   lots of vitamins in those peels
Drizzle with 2 tsp olive oil and toss to coat.

Bake 350F for one hour.
Serves two.
A word on crimini mushrooms.  Of course you know that criminis are just baby portabellos, right?  And portabellos are a bit pricey.  Well, at the Waremart Foods in Independence, I find crimini for about half the cost of the portabello.  The crimini are larger than I find at the Safeway or Roth's.  In fact, some are opening and are just about an inch in diameter smaller than the portabellos.  I find they have more flavor and are not as tough as the portobellos, so that's what I buy.