CREATIVE LEFTOVERS

What do you do when you have lots of leftovers and you are going away for Thanksgiving?  You combine all the different ingredients to make one wonderful meal. ALL THESE RECIPES WERE SHERRY'S IDEA.  I'm just the poster!!!

We had two mini pumpkins left over from our Pumpkin Risotto adventure, two chicken breasts from the Chicken Soup, and a lot of the roasted garlic from Sherry’s Brisket (prepared when Marilyn and Jerry had visited last week).  We decided to make a Pumpkin Polenta (rather than Pumpkin Gnocchi, which we will try another time) and Chicken with Roasted Garlic and Caramelized Onions.  I found a recipe that called for rendering bacon, and then cooking the ingredients in the bacon fat.  Instead, I poured out the fat and used olive oil instead.  The smoky taste still remained, and with smoked paprika added, the result was “tasty”.

Creamy Pumpkin Polenta

4 strips thick cut bacon, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup pumpkin puree (or the juice of two mini pumpkins)

1 cup whole milk

2 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used the broth from the soup I made)

1 cup polenta (yellow corn meal)

1 cup shredded cheese, any kind (I used Italian 4-chees blend, because it was in the refrigerator)

Creamy Pumpkin Polenta

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat cook the bacon until it is crisp.  Remove the bacon from the pan, and drain the fat.

Still over medium heat add the olive oil.  Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the paprika, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.    Add the pumpkin puree and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly darker in color, about 2 minutes.

Whisk in the milk to the corn meal.  Add chicken broth to the pot and once it comes to a boil slowly whisk in the polenta.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 8-10 minutes, or until the polenta thickens.  If the polenta seems stiff add a little more milk. Reduce the heat to medium low.

Stir in the shredded cheese until thoroughly melted.  Pour the polenta into a serving dish and garnish with the crisp bacon.  Serve hot.

SHERRY'S CHICKEN BREASTS WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND ROASTED GARLIC

This recipe used pre-cooked chicken breasts.  You can bake chicken breasts, and then follow this recipe.

In a saucepan, sauté ½ chopped red onion and ½ chopped yellow onion (or 1 chopped yellow onion) in olive oil until caramelized, about 5-10 minutes.  Add 10 cloves of roasted garlic, ½ tsp each of paprika, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne, and stir until combined.  Add ¼ cup chicken broth, and cook until reduced by half. 

Pour over chicken breasts and serve.