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Turkey Redux - leftovers you love


RAHiggins1

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How did you get your poached eggs to come out so perfectly?  Mine sure don't look like that.

Elsie

a little salt in the water,

bring to a rolling boil,

remove from heat,

stir in one direction to create a swirl,

slowly slip cracked eggs into swirl,

reduce heat to low,

let cook until desired degree of doneness.

Edited by RAHiggins1 (log)
Veni Vidi Vino - I came, I saw, I drank.
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We turned the already crispy skin of our turkey into "Bacon" by crisping it in the oven:

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I've used it in two dishes so far. First, for dinner (to accompany leftover turkey slices simmered in gravy):

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Sichuan Green Beans

I used the Turkey Bacon instead of the usual handful of ground pork.

This breakfast was a melange of leftovers:

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Mise for Leftovers Breakfast Omelet

Left to right: Chopped turkey meat, leftover Sichuan Green Beans, Miller Farm Eggs w/salt and pepper, 5 year old White Cheddar, Turkey "Bacon".

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Since there was Turkey Bacon in the green beans, I kept the large slices whole and warmed them in the side of the pan.

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Breakfast is served with a slice of Bob's homemade whole wheat bread with Hartzler Butter. Yum.

"Life is Too Short to Not Play With Your Food" 

My blog: Fun Playing With Food

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No pictures, but I made turkey and red bean soup (turkey stock, mirepoix, 1 small can tomatoes, turkey, small red beans, lots of thyme, topped with Pecorino) and I made Leftover Holiday Turkey Gumbo which was fantastic. I've never made gumbo before and this was a great way to use up the turkey stock from the carcass. If I had more turkey, I'd do turkey chili. Tonight's dinner will be the last of the turkey in sandwich form.

nunc est bibendum...

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I wasn't armed with a camera over the weekend but I had a pretty good Thanksgiving-leftovers dish. We were up at some friends' house in Connecticut and they had a TON of leftovers. So we decided to make a Thanksgiving-leftovers casserole. Bottom layer was mashed potatoes. Then a layer of stuffing. Then a layer of shredded turkey mixed with gravy. Then a layer of a different kind of stuffing (cornbread). Topped with a layer of creamed spinach topped with breadcrumbs. Baked under foil for about 40 minutes at 350, then without foil for about 10 more minutes. We had it for breakfast with eggs. It came out great. Their leftovers had a pretty good amount of residual moisture. If they hadn't, I'd have suggested adding a little stock but that wasn't necessary.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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For those still faced with turkey leftovers, King Arthur Flour has several ideas on their blog, including turkey pot pie in herbed bread rolls: click here! and turkey with dumplings.

Oh man, steal my thunder! Turkey Pot Pie is what I was planning on next. I bought a 22# turkey and it's just my wife and I and our animals who are happily enjoying their turkey comas.

You have forced me to make Turkey Salad Sandwiches instead.

Edited by RAHiggins1 (log)
Veni Vidi Vino - I came, I saw, I drank.
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On any day EXCEPT the day after thanksgiving I make a turkey sandwich with mayo and various types of bread or additions, but on the one Friday of the year after the holiday I always make my turkey sandwich exactly like this: white bread, turkey, romaine lettuce and butter. I have no idea why I do this, but it's special.

Tonight we had the first of two turkey soups. The first one is just turkey broth with a little rice and a sprinkle of chives. Plain and pure, essence of turkey broth. Tomorrow or the next night will be a hearty turkey soup with barley and vegetables.

By the time I make it home with the family carcass there isn't a lot of turkey left on the bone for a pot pie and I need every bit of that for my soup. But I do steal away the leftover fabulous gravy/sauce my husband makes so I can use it as a base for a chicken pot pie.

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Turkey soup but with pozole overtones. Hominy plus tomatillo salsa verde using poblanos, or pasillas, as we call them in California for some reason. Adding a few serrano peppers for heat Turkey sausage sliced and thrown in for fun. One or two corn tortillas shredded and tossed in for added flavor. It came out great.

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On the morning after Thanksgiving, I used leftover mashed parsnips and turnips to make cakes, similar to potato pancakes, for brunch. I just added an egg and some flour until the mash reached a firmer consistency and then formed into patties and fried on each side in bacon fat. The parsnip pancakes were served with leftover mushroom gravy on the plate, pancake on that, a small mound of baby spinach and bacon dressing on the pancake, and a few pieces of braised turkey leg to top it off.

My wife and I also enjoyed the required Thanksgiving leftover sandwich - sliced turkey breast, sage stuffing, cranberry chutney, baby spinach leaves, and whole-grain mustard on homemade wheat bread.

Yesterday I used what little remained of the braised turkey legs and thighs to make soup. Nothing too involved - chicken stock, chick peas, green lentils, chopped turkey meat that was braised with rosemary and sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach. I also threw in a handful of dried cherries just because I like the tart sweetness with the spinach and chickpeas.

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After seeing the Hot Brown Throwdown with Bobby Flay earlier this year, and wanting one for a while, I made them Friday morning -- they were a huge hit. Quite easy, too; fry some bacon up while making a mornay sauce, slice some tomato, and toast the bread before putting it all together.

Edited by Reignking (log)
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Since I was generous and gave all the white meat left over to my daughter & SIL to take home with them--no sandwiches for us!

But I am making soup--at the stock stage, haven't decided which direction to go in--it may be Italianish because i think I have some tired broccoli rabe in the fridge I didn't get to before Turkey Day--so will add white beans and either rice or pasta.

Turkey enchiladas are great--make a red chile sauce for them , pour it over and bake--stuffed also with cheese, and sauteed onions.

It's pretty good in a stir fry--just add the turkey last and heat it through before you do the sauce.

But I, too, was planning a pot pie--I like a biscuit topping--make one with lots of cornmeal--maybe add some chopped sage and parsley.

Zoe

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In all the confusion, I didn't notice that my recipe for Parker House rolls would have fed an army. After baking two half-sheet pans full (for four people!) I realized my mistake. The next day I just baked the rest of the dough in a loaf pan. DH said, "You've made Wonder Bread!"

It was perfect for the day-after sandwiches. :wub:

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In no particular order we've had (since thanksgiving)

Turkey Taquitos

Turkey Enchiladas

Turkey Melt sandwich

Turkey Chowder

Miso Soup (with sliced turkey of course)

I think I'm done with turkey for now.

(except for the highly reduced now frozen stock that will enrich many sauces).

--at least we fully utilized the bird

Edited by 6ppc (log)

Jon

--formerly known as 6ppc--

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Here are the two best tasting ways I know of for using leftover turkey:

First, lightly toast some white bread and make some well stuffed turkey sandwiches with mayo, lettuce, and tomato. Wrap each sandwich thoroughly and heavily in aluminum foil.

At least 2 hours before dawn, get in a small, flat bottomed boat and travel across a nearly frozen lake to a crude duck blind and go duck hunting. Near noon, in the duck blind build a charcoal fire in an old five quart oil can with some air holes punched in the side about 1/3rd of the way up. When the fire has stabilized, place the wrapped sandwiches on the coals and warm until can smell the bread start to burn. Turn the sandwiches and continue on the other side.

Eat. Wash it down with some hot beef consomme from a thermos bottle.

If at noon the temperature is about 20 F, the wind is about 20 MPH, and there is a lot of snow falling, guaranteed to be one of the best tasting foods ever ate, turkey or not! Can instantly develop a deep affection for the aroma of burned toast that will last for decades!

Second, in an individual casserole dish, line the bottom with toasted bread. Top with diced left over turkey well coated with sauce Parisienne: Chardonnay, turkey stock, shallots, mushrooms, bouquet garni, reduced, added to blond roux, thinned with hot milk, combined with heavy cream, enriched with egg yolks, finished with lemon juice, S&P, and soft butter.

Eat with more Chardonnay and a good friend of the opposite sex.

Edited by project (log)

What would be the right food and wine to go with

R. Strauss's 'Ein Heldenleben'?

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breakfast after turkey. toast bread, nuke giblet gravey. serve gravey on the toast. serve w/ a side of cranberry sauce. favorite from childhood.

later make a gumbo...that's for sat., none here (my house) cook on Friday...some shop, I clean and sleep. It's all good.

I have wondered as an aside, about doing something with leftover bread stuffing. I always make too much and people eat a)what comes out of the bird, or b)the cornbread/shrimp stuffing...I was thinking it would be good in some sort of soup, you know like an italian soup, with serious rosemary overtones.

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I wasn't armed with a camera over the weekend but I had a pretty good Thanksgiving-leftovers dish. We were up at some friends' house in Connecticut and they had a TON of leftovers. So we decided to make a Thanksgiving-leftovers casserole. Bottom layer was mashed potatoes.

Seems like mashed potatoes belong on top, like in shepherd's pie ... Mom sometimes makes a leftover casserole this way, with stuffing on the bottom and of course some cranberry whatever thrown in.

With leftover congealed gravy and this spicy cranberry ketchup Mom also makes, I sometimes do the following: Slice potatoes into thin rounds, spray with olive oil (I use a Misto) and bake until golden on both sides. Then place these "fries" in a baking dish, scatter with globs of gravy, grated cheddar and a few erratic dollops of the cranberry ketchup. Back into the oven.

The result is rich, gooey and really hearty.

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