Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 24, 1993 TAG: 9303230214
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Toni Burks
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
TRY THESE TIMESAVERS FOR POULTRY
Chicken and turkey lovers have more cooking choices than grandma had with her old stewing hen. More and more timesaving, easy-to-use items come fresh or frozen, often in smaller cuts that cook quickly. Consider these work-saving poultry options when you need dinner on the double.Cut-up chicken pieces have long been a great work-saver, now they're a great peacemaker, too, because you can buy pieces packaged by type. So if your family likes white meat, you can opt for a package of chicken breasts. Or if the kids fight over the drumsticks, you can buy a package of those to cook along with a whole cut-up bird. Removing the skin cuts the fat significantly.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are ideal for rolling with fillings or for cutting into stir-fry strips. Because the work of boning and skinning has been done for you, this product costs several times more, but the convenience can be worth the extra expense when time is short.
Turkey breast portions come cooked or uncooked, fresh or frozen. You can slice or cube the cooked version for sandwiches, casseroles, or salads. Roast the uncooked portions as you would a whole bird.
Turkey breast steaks and slices are cut crosswise from the breast. They come in 1/2-inch or 1/4 to 3/8-inch thicknesses. You can broil, grill, pan-fry, or cook these versatile cuts in the microwave oven. Turkey breast tenderloin steaks are sliced lengthwise from the breast and look a little like fish fillets. You can often substitute them for boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Frozen, cubed, cooked chicken steps in when recipes call for leftover chicken. Use it in casseroles, soups, pasta dishes, sauces, or in any recipe calling for cubed cooked chicken or turkey.
Ground turkey or chicken cooks just as quickly as ground beef. It's an alternative for ground meats in pizzas, chili, spaghetti sauce or just about any of your favorite ground beef recipes. Be sure to drain off the fat after browning the poultry.
Deli poultry products include turkey ham, bologna, pastrami, or smoked or roasted cooked meat. You can cut up and use the smoked or roasted slices in stir-fries, pasta sauces, sandwiches, or wherever you might use cooked chicken. You can also substitute turkey ham, bologna and pastrami in recipes that call for their meat counterparts. Use these meats as an emergency substitution because the price for deli meat will be higher than for regular cooked chicken. - Associated Press
\ HOT AND HOMEY The countless versions of this favorite Italian soup all have one thing in common - they're chock-full of garden vegetable goodness. This recipe for minestrone relies on either canned or frozen vegetables or fresh vegetables that are available year-round. Minestrone 1 cup chopped onions or 2 medium leeks, sliced
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsps. olive oil or vegetable oil
2 14 1/2-oz. cans chicken or beef broth
1 16-oz. can tomatoes, cut up
1 cup shredded cabbage
3/4 cup tomato juice
1 tsp. dried basil, crushed
1 15-oz. can cannellini or great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium zucchini, sliced 1\4-in. thick
1/2 of 1 9-oz. pkg. frozen Italian-style green beans
2 ounces spaghetti or linguini, broken (about 1/2 cup)
2 ounces prosciutto or fully cooked ham, diced
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese or 1\4 cup pesto
In large Dutch oven or kettle, cook onions or leeks, carrot, celery and garlic in hot oil oil until onion is tender but not brown. Stir in broth, undrained tomatoes, cabbage, tomato juice and basil. Bring to boiling; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in beans, zucchini, green beans, pasta and prosciutto or ham. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes more or until vegetables and pasta are tender. To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Top with Parmesan cheese or pesto. Makes 4 main dish servings. - Associated Press
\ PIZZA! PIZZA! Preferences in pizza vary greatly, depending on where you live, according to a study done by Stouffer Foods.
The South, it's hamburger. In New England and Florida, it's cheese. Sausage is tops in Chicago and the Midwest, and pepperoni is the choice in Cleveland and the Great Lakes. In the West, pizza hounds go for everything (the deluxe version), with a small group liking the more esoteric versions, such as vegetarian or goat cheese.
\ FLIP OVER PANCAKES If you want to keep pancakes low in fat, cut back on the oil, substitute apple juice and top them with syrup and little or no butter. Honey-apple pancakes 1-1\4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. apple pie spice
1/8 tsp. soda
1 egg
3/4 cup apple juice
2 Tbsps. honey
1 Tbsp. cooking oil
In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, apple pie spice and soda. In a small mixing bowl beat egg slightly; stir in apple juice, honey and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture; stir until blended but still slightly lumpy.
For each pancake, pour about 1\4 cup of the batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until pancakes have a bubbly surface and slightly dry edges. Turn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more or until golden brown. Makes about 8 4-in. pancakes. - Associated Press
\ SPICY APPETITE America has a spice tooth. The country's appetite for spices keeps growing - to the point where 1991 consumption (the last year for which figures are available) totaled a record 821 million pounds.
That's a load of spices, if you consider that a single ounce of oregano can season 432 slices of pizza, the same amount of ginger can spice up to 160 slices of gingerbread and an ounce of basil can spark up 250 portions of spaghetti sauce.
The biggest increases in spice sales, recorded by the American Spice Trade Association, were posted by black pepper - up 18 percent to 85.6 million pounds - and the capsicums (the pod pepper family, which ranges from mild paprika to hot chilies) - up 10 percent to 155.4 million pounds.
The six top-selling items on the spice shelf? Dehydrated onion and garlic (201 million pounds), the capsicums (155.4 million pounds), mustard seeds (146.5 million pounds), black pepper (85.6 million pounds), sesame seeds (80.4 million pounds) and cinnamon (31.6 million pounds). - The Washington Post