Serves: 4

Ingredients:
50 g butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
500 g cooked turkey, boned, skinned and in pieces
60 g plain flour
500 ml turkey, chicken or ham stock
150 ml cream or milk
A pinch of ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
150 g mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley, tarragon or thyme

Method:
Heat the butter in a medium or large saucepan or flameproof casserole, then add the chopped onion and celery and saute them over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the turkey pieces and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook gently for a minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add the stock and stir until the sauce boils and is thickened and smooth.

Add the cream, nutmeg and lemon juice, add salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil slowly, stirring. Add the mushrooms, cover and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until heated. Stir in the parsley, tarragon or thyme. Serve hot with rice and a green vegetable or salad.

** Asian Recipes **

Although both of them are white stews, they are not the same dish. A fricassee is made from poultry and other white meat, and the meat is just turned in fat but not browned before cooking in a white sauce.

For a blanquette, the meat or seafood is poached in stock and a sauce is made with the liquor after cooking, to pour over the meat.

Fricassee really should be made with fresh meat but sometimes using leftovers could also be an excellent way.

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A well-flavored stock will give a better taste than plain water. However, it is quite acceptable to use plain water with the tougher cuts of meat. These are anyway best left to cook for a long time along with other flavorings such as herbs, vegetables, spices and wine.

Adding some bones is another way in which you can help to improve the taste of a casserole. Shank bones have a hollow center that contains a soft material called marrow. Putting these bones in enhances the stock flavor as well as providing good nutrients.

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The cooking time for a casserole depends largely on the cut of meat that is used. Nowadays, relatively tender cuts of meat are included, and these can be cooked successfully in as little as 1-2 hours.

In previous times, traditional casseroles were made with the tougher cuts from the leg, neck and shoulder of older animals. The well-developed muscle fiber and connective tissue could be broken down only by slow, moist cooking. Casserole meat is usually cut into pieces to accelerate this process.

These tough cuts of meat usually have an excellent flavor, with the connective tissue dissolving to a gelatine during slow cooking. This gives a very soft texture and an excellent rich, velvety sauce, but the process may take 3 hours.

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The meat is fried partly to seal in the juices, and also to give it a rich brown color. Flour protects meat, and helps to thicken the gravy.

Fry the meat in small batches, for only about a minute or two each batch. It is not necessary to move the meat around in the pan. Simply turn each piece so it browns all over.

To flour meat, place the cubes into a clean paper or plastic bag and add the flour and seasoning. Hold the bag closed and shake until all the meat has been coated. Using the plastic bag to toss meat in flour helps to ensure an even coating.

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All of them use long, slow and moist cooking in a covered container to tenderize tough meats and vegetables, but they differ in the ingredients and type of pot used.

A casserole uses small pieces of meat and vegetables and is usually cooked in the oven. A stew is made on the top of the stove. In fact, it was originally would have been cooked slowly over an open fire. A daube makes use of a large cut of meat, often beef, braised in wine. Traditionally, it was cooked over a fire in a tall casserole with an indented lid full of hot carcoal, so it had heat from both the top and bottom.

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If you want to avoid unattractive holes in your poultry when carving, turn the fork over. With some practices, you will find that you can actually hold the bird securely with the back of the prongs without making marks in the meat. Try it.....

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Electric carving knives are labor-saving if you have large amounts of meat to carve. However, they can be unwieldy and noisy and are not very suitable for use at the table.

Besides, it can be difficult to achieve very thin slices with an electric knife, especially when carving hot meat. Great care must be taken as electric knives are very sharp and can be dangerous to use.

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Whatever meat you have roasted, you should always take it out of the oven and leave it to stand for about 15-30 minutes, depending on the size, before it is carved.

Cover the joint with aluminum foil and put it in a warm place. Resting allows the juices to sink back from the surface and they can then be reabsorbed to tenderize the meat. It also makes meat easier to carve, as juices will not spurt out.

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