The hoax of leftover-turkey recipes

[Luckylies]

Turkey's gross.

but I could imagine it good in:

creme croquette

pot pie

turkey salad

gumbo

empanadas

bbq sandwich

tamales if you really want to waste a day (hellooo that's why god invented pigs...)

[WiscoNole]

Easy for her to say, she's probably pretty secure financially.

Does she honestly expect America's low and middle class families to throw away POUNDS of perfectly good meat?

What a crock.

[Dr. Teeth]

I'm with the Fat Guy on this. Turkey leftovers are fine in limited fashion.

I think turkey leftovers are tolerable as long as they a) are not paired with some sort of gloppy white sauce (a la King, Pot pie, my mother's dreaded turkey tetrazini) b) brief.

Repeat of the thanksgiving meal the day after, sandwiches once or twice, legs and wings for snacking.

[Carolyn Tillie]

The only reason I ever really want to cook a turkey is for Saveur's Turkey Tetrazzini.

The recipe in the cookbook, NOT on the website (which -- for god's sake -- includes Ketchup!?!?! )

My trick - more than double the mushrooms and utilize shiitake or other wild mushrooms in the dish.

[jayejo]

I'm still in a food coma from yesterday and haven't eaten yet. At some point today, I'll have a reheated plate of leftovers. After that, I'm done. I don't want to see any of this stuff again until next year thank-you-very-much.

Right now though, I've got stock going in the oven. It's an experiment since it was a smoked bird. I removed all the skin and hacked it up and covered with water per Ruhlman's blog. I figure I might at least get a nice smoky soup base out of it and if not, what have I lost? At least I tried, no?

[Pam R]

Smoked turkey makes wonderful soup. I like to add some beans, carrots, celery, onions, maybe some mushrooms and wild rice.

Turkey leftovers are good. It wasn't even Thanksgiving up here, but I'm looking forward to some leftover turkey sandwiches this weekend.

[racheld]

Right now though, I've got stock going in the oven. It's an experiment since it was a smoked bird. I removed all the skin and hacked it up and covered with water per Ruhlman's blog. I figure I might at least get a nice smoky soup base out of it and if not, what have I lost? At least I tried, no?

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We ALWAYS have a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving, and quite a few times during the year, even in Summer. The soup in Winter is always a celery/onion simmered stock, with a late addition of a few broad noodles, some one-minute-from-the-table-added snow peas, and a few drops of toasted sesame oil, which rounds out the whole bowl into a smooth, breath-of-smoke/hint-of-toasty dish which is one of our favorite soups.

It is so enticing that once a guest left the cocktail gathering as I was setting the filled bowls on the table, sat down at her place, and had eaten about half of hers before the others left the living room.

[Susie Q]

We always cook a larger bird than necessary. But I love the leftovers. Thanksgiving Round 2 served the next day, turkey sandwiches. Sunday is usually Turkey Rice Soup that is so good when paired with fresh made, no knead bread. I'm not so keen on casseroles but turkey and dumplings with thickened stock and not a cream sauce is nice too.

It's the same reason I always roast a second chicken. I'd rather have good leftovers than second rate fast food.

[Lapin d'Argent]

The only reason I ever really want to cook a turkey is for Saveur's Turkey Tetrazzini.

Ditto, except I use the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.

- L.

[Holly Moore]

There was a Philadelphia restaurant columnist who offered up his recipe for Turkey Hash first in his column and then rehashed for another local publication. He credited his mother, too good a cook to ever actually consider such foolishness.

The recipe calls for taking all the leftovers from the Thanksgiving table, chop them bite size if necessary, mix them together, form patties, sautée or bake in butter til done and serve covered with giblet gravy.

Fortunately, nowadays, he is rarely paid for offering up such falderal and must limit his flimflammery to the likes of eGullet

Edited November 23, 2007 by Holly Moore (log)

[chezcherie]

just back from tuscany, i used a bag of great penne (martelli), a sage infused bechamel, with pancetta and leftover turkey, with a ciabatta-pecorino crumb topping. can't wait for dinner....and tomorrow? turkey gumbo. i love leftover turkey recipes.

[andiesenji]

Earlier today I discussed this with a couple of my neighbors (had to go out to the road to retrieve the mail) and one said her sons always insist that she remove and set aside the drumsticks as soon as the turkey is done. They like the dark meat simmered in a sweet and sour chili sauce, served over rice, for their Friday evening dinner.

The other neighbor says she "absolutely loves" having lots of turkey leftovers because that means her family can fend for themselves and she doesn't have to cook for at least two, often three days. If they have a ham for back up, she can push it to a fourth day, especially if her husband (a firefighter) is on duty. She has teenagers who know their way around the kitchen.

Edited November 24, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[slkinsey]

We do two things with leftover turkey:

1. Recreate the Thanksgiving-dinner entree plate: reheated turkey, stuffing and gravy, plus cranberry sauce.

2. Make turkey sandwiches.

These are my main TG leftovers. I also make turkey a la reine in crêpes with the braised leg meat.

We don't make turkey stock from the carcass, in part because the carcass doesn't make particularly good stock (compared to cheap, readily available chicken parts) and in part because we don't typically take possession of the carcass after dinner at my mother's place.

Since I debone the whole turkey and cook the components separately, I make stock with the raw bones. Most of this goes into sauce making for the big dinner and moistening the dressing, but there's occasionally some left over. In that case, I like to just have it as a broth with rice.

I agree that carcass bones don't make an appealing broth.

One year we had a good experience making turkey hash. I can't say it was as good as hash made from, say, leftover beef brisket, but it was a tasty, productive, un-forced use of leftover turkey meat.

Turkey hash is good, but I agree that it's not as good as corned beef or brisket. It's also a good way to use up other Thanksgiving leftovers (buttered peas, creamed onions, roasted carrots, etc.).

[Bill Miller]

Go on www and google "Hot Brown"--richest sandwich ever--from Brown Hotel in Louisville--I don't even like turkey, but this is better than Thanksgiving.

[Emily_R]

I totally disagree with the original thesis that leftover turkey isn't worth putting into new recipes and should be thrown out. My traditional day-after thanksgiving recipe is an asian turkey salad, with napa cabbage, bean sprouts, red pepper, scallions, lots of cilantro and thai basil, fresh peanuts, in a lime juice and rice vinegar dressing. It is fantastic, much better with turkey then when made with chicken, and I always look forward to having roast turkey so I can finally get around to eating this salad again!

Emily

[Jaymes]

We ALWAYS have a smoked turkey for Thanksgiving, and quite a few times during the year, even in Summer.  The soup in Winter is always a celery/onion simmered stock, with a late addition of a few broad noodles, some one-minute-from-the-table-added snow peas, and a few drops of toasted sesame oil, which rounds out the whole bowl into a smooth, breath-of-smoke/hint-of-toasty dish which is one of our favorite soups.

Few drops of toasted sesame oil? That sounds delicious.

And speaking of summer, as I said in another thread, around this time of year when turkeys are a loss leader in the markets, I usually buy two extras, and have the butcher saw them in half. Then I wrap the halves and store them in the freezer. In the summertime, I drag them out one by one and smoke them on the grill. Served with a wonderful congealed cranberry & apple salad, it's a delightful summer meal.

[Jamie Lee]

I suppose it follows the "I love it because mom always did it this way":

Turkey Divan. (Someone sorta dissed it above.)

It truly is "Betty Crocker cooking": In a 13" x 9" glass casserole: frozen broccoli spears, topped with chopped cooked turkey, topped with a creamy mixture of two cans of your choice of Campbell's "Cream Of" soups, which have been mixed with generous amounts of packaged curry powder, topped with grated ched cheese, and then bread crumbs which have been tossed with a bit of melted butter.

Baked until lightly brown and bubbling..

Damn. Would taste like home!

[KLwood]

Im surprised that nobody has mentioned Turkey Tamales yet...maybe with a Cranberry Chipolte sauce..

[dividend]

Maybe it's because I've mostly cooked for only myself or for two, leftover protein is part of my usual cooking strategy. For instance, if I want to roast a chicken or a pork loin, I have three choices -- eat exactly the same thing for several days in a row, waste a lot of it, or use it in recipes later. So using cooked turkey in other recipes seems completely natural to me -- it's just another ingredient. It's true that turkey is not anywhere close to my favorite protein choice, but if I have it, I'm going to use it.

Doesn't anyone else in the country regularly use leftover cooked chicken, pork or beef? What's the big deal with using turkey the same way?

I very much agree with this. I cook mainly for myself, and I cook those mini turkey breast roasts several times a year and have a repetoire of adventurous recipes to use it up. The article is not indicting protein leftovers in general. I think the difference is the kind of mindset surrounding Thanskgiving, and I think the article captures that:

In some ways, the leftover feast is as sacred as the meal itself. The guests have left, you've cozied up in your PJs, and the only remaining company is your closest family, the people you love most. There's the huddling around the Tupperware as you all seek the perfect bite of cold stuffing; the soft hum of the microwave in the otherwise quiet house as it warms the mashed potatoes; the smell of toasted bread slathered with mayo for the perfect turkey sandwich...

I love how she puts that, because that's certainly how I feel about the days after thanksgiving. Yesterday, even though there were only five of us, Dad smoked a 20 pound bird, and I brined and roasted a smaller 13 pounder. We generally spend the weekend lazily decorating the house for Christmas and eating reheats. I like to make stock from the carcass* while doing the clean-up, and then a pot of really simple turkey soup (it's an Alton Brown recipe) the next day, because it's nice to have a lighter alternative. Generally this weekend none of us want to do anything more complicated foodwise than reheat something or make have a sandwich and a bowl of soup. It's a lazy, comfortable time, full of warmth and Christmas music and family traditions.

*I stashed the smoked carcass in my chest freezer for later - I'm thinking that smoked turkey stock would be perfect for pots of beans or lentils.

[lancastermike]

*I stashed the smoked carcass in my chest freezer for later - I'm thinking that smoked turkey stock would be perfect for pots of beans or lentils.

My smoked turkey carcass is also in the freezer. It makes a wonderfully smoky tasting stock. And you are right, it goes much better with beans than with rice or noodles.

[Davydd]

I make pizzas generally on Saturday night and was wondering about this topic of leftovers and what I could do. Here is the pizza I made with Thanksgiving leftovers. First I put on some turkey gravy in place of tomato sauce. I topped that with sliced brie cheese. Then I sprinkled it liberally with chopped up turkey meat leftovers. The final was some left over cranberry/orange spiced salad that I globbed on. I baked it directly on a pizza stone at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. Everyone was skeptical of the combination but on taste it was deemed a winner.

[Chris Amirault]

Hot turkey sandwiches have never done it for me, and after being required to make traditional Thanksgiving items for the better part of a week, I'm not eager to concoct something "creative." I wanna nap.

So I look forward to the weekend after Thanksgiving, when my wife makes her family's pot pie with leftover turkey and stock made from the carcass. Had it tonight. Bliss.

[Katie Meadow]

Even if the breast meat is moist on Thursday night, 12 hours in the fridge can dry it out. But hey, no reason to waste it. I like one ritual turkey sandwich the next day: fresh chewy bread, lots of mayo, lettuce and tomato and pepperoncini. Take it for a hike along with left-over pecan pie; after a couple of hours wrapped in foil the sandwich knits itself together, the meat has picked itself up out of the doldrums and it becomes a once-in-a-year treat. If it's raining and you have to stay indoors add a little bacon and make a turkey club. Put some cute toothpicks in it!

And if you didn't have a left-over turkey, how could you pick out the remains of the stuffing that's hiding next to the leg or way in the back? Cold or warmed with left-over gravy...not too shabby.

No one has ever claimed that left-over turkey was heaven on earth, but if you really are sick of it or it's just too dry after a night in the fridge it's easily tossed into the soup pot along with the carcass, no? Truthfully I'm ho-hum about turkey. My husband and I make a very good turkey after about 20 years or practice, but it isn't the turkey that inspires me--what I'm really after is the carcass. Luckily my husband and his mother carve off and covet the meat; I 'm thrilled they want it, since every slice gets me a little closer to the bone. Saturday night I make stock. Sunday night I make turkey soup. Nothing tastes quite like it. Fabulous.

[JohnRov]

I agree that some recipes are a little out there. But I was going to make a thread about wasting turkey until I came upon this one. I got two carcasses to make stock, one that I had carved and another that my wife's aunt had "carved" (hacked is more appropriate). The amount of meat she was going to throw away was in my mind sinful, mainly because she had no clue how to properly deconstruct the bird. I ended up with a dinner plate stacked with meat.

After reading Ruhlman's latest blog entry, it upsets me more that people are gluttonous and wasteful on a holiday that is about giving thanks for what we have, not taking it for granted and throwing food away.

I just keep it simple and redo the thanksgiving meal, make turkey salad for sandwiches, and have sliced turkey sandwiches.

[andiesenji]

How about turkey empanadas. My Mexican neighbors made some yesterday for snacking during the football games today. (That is the women made them while the men and boys were watching college football yesterday.)

A plate full was brought to me and I just tasted one cold and it is delicious. I am told they are even better if warmed in the microwave and dipped in salsa.